July My emblem is the Lion, and I breathe The breath of Libyan deserts o'er the land; My sickle as a sabre I unsheathe, And bent before me the pale harvests stand. The lakes and rivers shrink at my command, And there is thirst and fever in the air; The sky is changed to brass, the earth to sand; I am the Emperor whose name I bear. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Heat Hit Hard…
.. and it sometimes resulted in unsafe temperatures for extended outdoor work. Some days, a few of our usual Gardening Clubs had to be cancelled, while others had low attendance as the community - quite reasonably - retreated to cooler, more shaded spots.
Did you know that Leyton Boundary Garden enjoys approximately 360sqm of growing space? An absolute dream for green-fingered-types living in an urban environment, but hard work to keep consistently nurtured at scale without many hands, and a series of heatwaves will most certainly bring this to the forefront. Nevertheless, those not on their summer travels and able to help did so with much heart and enthusiasm. Whenever we could, we opted to water in the evenings and early mornings (and as deeply as possible beneath the surface to get hydration where it was really needed).
By mid-July it was becoming clear that we might have a few crop failures here and there. But we carried on - the game’s not over ‘til its over!
…But a Few Residents Thrived
Some of our plants and wildlife soaked up the sun and put on a show.
The sunflowers predictably boomed, with branching varieties like fireworks and container varieties dazzling with hues or vivid orange and deep red, streaked with ginger.
In the Food Forest, Greater Knapweed was sitting pretty, inviting bees and butterflies in from all around. We had a long season of winged visitors like the Painted Lady and Red Admiral butterflies. Like so many UK residents this year, we also said hello to the Hummingbird Hawk Moth, who could be spotted darting around the madder on late afternoons.
But, a very special mention goes to the entirely self-seeded courgette that grew in the new Food Forest area - what an absolute beast! It was July’s reigning champion.
Crop-wise, the courgettes and tomatoes in general were doing very well for themselves, the raspberries and elderberries also had a nice flush. Drought-tolerant herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme were doing just fine. The grapes were getting there, although some had turned to raisins. But, for all the intensity of the heat, our volunteers already had some great harvests to enjoy, and it looked like the chilis may reward us in a few weeks’ time too.
Watch This (little corner) Space
We started the formation of a rather lovely new spot in the garden for the little ones to enjoy - a future mud kitchen / mini outdoor play area!
One of our very talented volunteers suggested the idea of a small outdoor play area or mud kitchen for the smaller kids. The area was cleared out and cleaned up in preparation, free building and dressing materials were found and a perimeter layout was constructed by a few of our regular volunteers. After addressing some important access issues, the space was set-up for future exciting additions.
We have many young families come to visit the garden, and quite helpfully we’re situated right next door to a play park. But sometimes it’s nice to have the option to stay in the garden for a little bit longer. We hope that this tiny play space may help our families feel more comfortable before needing to race to the swings next door!
More fun to come, but you’ll have to read our future newsletters (or drop in to help the build!) to see what comes next in the project.
Coming soon: Our August newsletter. Read about how we helped the garden to cope as best possible as the heatwaves just… kept… coming; some of the lessons we’re learning, and some ideas on how we might prepare the community garden for future intense summers - as well as other climate changes in our traditionally cooler seasons.
