November update - shed art and December party!

Artist Rebecca Lindum Greene has contacted us to propose an art intervention to be held at the Empty Common Community Garden as part of the Pivotal - Cambridge Festival of Change. As nature slows down toward a winter's slumber this project is a fabulous idea to inject some zest into our wonderful open space.

Our black metal shed is being revamped with eye-catching linear drawing inspired by the garden around it and colourful abstract shapes, a nod to Kingfisher Way and the cycle of nature. Below are a few more pictures of the work in progress. The artwork will be unveiled at a special event held at the Empty Common Garden in December. Click here to find out more.

Recollecting British butterflies

With the nights drawing in noticeably and our volunteers stuck into autumn chores around the garden, summer is starting to seem a distant memory. Yet there still might be a butterfly or two visible in the garden… Speaking of butterflies, the UK organisation, Butterfly Conservation, has recently released the results of its 2015 Big Butterfly Count. Similar to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, the Big Butterfly Count is an annual survey that gets members of the public involved in tracking the numbers of 20 different butterfly and moth species in a variety of habitats. Started in 2010, the Big Butterfly Count is now the world’s biggest survey of butterflies, and over 52,000 people took part in the count this year.

Gatekeeper by I, Anevrisme, Wikipedia 

On a sunny afternoon in the first part of August, I was one of these butterfly counters, completing the 15-minute survey from a central vantage point in the Empty Common Community Garden. It is actually harder than it sounds to sit in one place and try to count and identify (but not double-count!) each butterfly that flutters past, but it’s still a very pleasant way to spend a quarter of an hour. To the best of my rather amateur butterfly identification knowledge, the Empty Common Community Garden count totalled 22 or 6 Large White, 5 Small White, 3 Green-veined White, 3 Brimstone, 1 Gatekeeper, 1 Peacock, 1 Common Blue, and 2 Small Copper. These results can be viewed along with the counts for other locations, organised by habitat type and postcode, on the Big Butterfly Count’s searchable map.

Peacock butterfly by Charlesjsharp, Wikipedia

The UK-wide results for 2015 showed an increase over last year’s numbers for eleven of the target species, while the numbers for seven of the target species decreased. At the same time, the average number of total butterflies logged per count decreased from 15 to 13 this year, a drop that Butterfly Conservation attributes to the poor weather conditions during certain parts of the summer.

Returning to the present, there are still things that gardeners can do to help butterflies at this time of year. Most butterfly species in Britain spend the winter in egg, caterpillar, or chrysalis form, but some – including the Brimstone, Peacock, and Small Tortoiseshell – do hibernate as adult butterflies (though in recent winters, these and other species have been visible on the wing on very mild days). These butterflies are now stocking up on food in preparation for hibernation and so can really benefit from some late-blooming perennials. Butterfly Conservation recommends planting sedums, such as Iceplant or Butterfly Stonecrop (Sedum spectabile). Sedums come in a variety of colours and are a good nectar source not only for butterflies but for moths and bees as well.

And if, over the winter months, you happen to come upon a butterfly in your home that is active because of the central heating, it is best if you can move the butterfly to a better location for the duration of winter. Catch the butterfly and put it in a cardboard box. Hopefully, the butterfly will have a chance to calm down, and you can then try to relocate it onto the wall or ceiling of a shed, garage, porch, or other unheated space. Just make certain the butterfly can escape when spring really does arrive again!

Thank you Emily for this wonderful contribution! Thank you to all those who sent words and photos, there are more in the pipeline...

Autumn is here...

A pictorial review of our gardening year

We are still harvesting our crops, but as things are slowing down there are some exciting plans afoot on how to utilise the polytunnel during the winter months. Watch this space!

The Hugelkultur mound was weeded and sowed with phacelia seeds as a winter green manure. We are planning to sow broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia) and onions. Each broad bean needs to be planted inside a one-litre plastic bottle cloche, held in place with a cane as a pheasant ate the tops off them last year. Click here to see a picture of our colourful intruder.

It's also the time of year to do some maintenance. The iron shed needs to be sanded and painted, and the battle of the weeds is still raging on, especially in the forest garden and in the wild garlic patch.

Fungal eruptions

Volunteers planted daffodils by the big tree near our entrance to brighten the area next spring and some new members are going to share their knowledge on how to grow Chinese vegetables. Would you like to see the garden for yourself? Read our very first post and get in touch. We welcome volunteers of all ages and abilities!

Spudship

Birthday marrow, excess produce and a goodbye

Andrew sent us this picture of a birthday stuffed marrow, which looks delicious and no doubt it's full of natural goodness as it grew in our community garden. Andrew cooked the marrow as a surprise for a friend - a tasty alternative to the ubiquitous sponge cake.

Our veggie crop has been plentiful. Veggies were placed in our sharing box by the path and Terence took excess produce to St Paul's church, which provides community meals. 

We would also like express our thanks to Anne, who is leaving Cambridge. She has left us her gardening stuff, including a Complete Gardener's Manual. She emailed to the group: "To all the gardeners I have had the chance to meet, it's been a delight gardening in your company and sharing this adventure with you. I remember when Charlotte had only just drawn up the initial plan and it's fantastic to see the result now. The garden is looking amazing. Long live the Empty Common Community Garden!" We wish her all the best.

Seed collecting and saving

Seed bonanza

Mary, one of our volunteers, emailed this lovely picture in August. She wrote: "I have begun seed saving from our Empty Common Garden and from things I have found in the trash such as this bonus of nigella/ love in a mist that I found yesterday. So far we have a nice collection: nigella, poppy, calendula, foxglove and columbine."

You can find useful information on saving seed online. "Seed can be saved from many trees, shrubs, perennials, aquatic plants, alpines, annuals, biennials, bulbous plants, ornamental grasses vegetables and herbs," states the RHS, which has an informative guide on seed collecting and storing. Click here to read more. 

Happy Holidays - and food swaps

As our volunteers keep up the watering rota, harvest delicious crops - some of which turned up at a local fresh produce swap - the blog will take a break until September. 

If you want to find out about food swaps in Cambridge, subscribe for the newsletter at www.cambridgesustainablefood.org/events/.

Mary, one of our volunteers, sent this update to the group: "There is much to harvest at Empty Commons: beans, zucchini, chard, some tomatoes, some corn, cucumbers and herbs. The corn is ready when the silks turn brown... we usually husk, put corn into rolling boiling water for five minutes and then eat in the traditional American way 'corn on the cob'. For best results cook and eat right after harvest for the sweetest flavor. Blackberries seem to be everywhere!"

Enjoy the rest of the summer! If you want to join us, please read the first blog post, which has a map showing the garden's location and contact details for the group.

Here comes the harvest....

Peter potato planter

Peter potato picker

There is always something to be done at the Community Garden. Watering rotas need organising, bindweed has invaded the wild garlic patch, the shed door's has become stiff... but on the upside, harvesting has started!

There are beans, courgettes, cucumbers and more... Spare produce is placed in the sharing box by the Hobson's conduit, which is busy with walkers, cyclists... It will be a welcome surprise for those passing by in the next few days.

There is a sudden glut of cucumbers, which are right for pickling, has anybody got a favourite recipe for gherkins to share?

We have lots of potatoes. We store them in the wooden shed in a bucket covered with a compost bag to keep them in the dark. The potatoes were planted by Peter and Terence (not pictured), both regular members of the group. No pesticides were used.

Join us to share in our bounty!