After one of the wettest winters on record the days are finally becoming longer and warmer, so it is the time to start giving your garden or allotment attention to ensure your outside space maximises its potential. We are pleased to forward your Spring newsletter from Streamside Horticultural Association which we hope will give you help and advice for the season ahead.
CAN YOU SPARE A FEW HOURS TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION…
Streamside is a local association run by a team of volunteers, and are looking for some new recruits to join us, and reduce the work-load for the existing Streamside team. We need members to help out on Fridays for preparing the products for sale in the Store, and also for helping during trading hours on Sunday mornings (which is run on a rota basis and generally involves a duty every 5/6 weeks). If you have a few hours to spare, please do contact us, we would be delighted to expand our team to include you.
Benefits include 10% of all purchases at the hut, plus working, meeting and socialising with a great bunch of like-minded people!
Please call into the Trading Hut on Sunday (open hours 095hrs - 1215hrs) to register your interest.
UPCYCLING FOR A DECORATIVE GARDEN
In a bid to reduce the amount of garden waste we produce, households are being urged to upcycle items instead of throwing them away. Even if you don't consider yourself a green-fingered garden pro, or a DIY expert, these upcycling tips are easy for everyone to give a go. With many of us adding eco-resolutions to our goals list for 2020, why not get sustainable in the garden, too...
Jam jars
Not sure what to do with your empty jam jars? Once you have finished your marmalade or jam, give the jar a rinse with hot water to sterilise it properly, and remove any labels. Then, purchase some glass paint, get creative and place them outside. They'll look brilliant with a tea light inside. If you want something easier, why not just use them at home to place freshly-cut flowers inside.
Tiles
If you have any spare tiles laying around the house, these could be used to create garden labels. Simply use pens to write – or draw – what's been planted in the soil, stick these tiles to lollipop sticks then they can be put into the soil.
Ladders
If you have an old ladder lying around that you no longer use, give it a new lease of life with a lick of paint and place it outside. You can place small planters on there or could even weave growing plants such as willow around the structure, creating an arch.
STREAMSIDE DAYS OUT IN 2020…
Once again, we have arranged three great “garden themed” days out which members of Streamside are invited to attend during 2020. All trips will depart from the “Streamside Trading Hut” in the morning by coach, returning in the evening.
This year’s outings and dates for your diary are –:
Tuesday 19th May
PENSHURST PLACE and GARDENS
The medieval Baron’s Hall and gardens are set on the banks of the river Medway in the beautiful Weald of Kent.
Historic, famous gardens. (self-guided tours of house and garden)
Cafe and full facilities.
Cost £30.00 coach departs 0830hrs
Thursday 9th July
GREAT DIXTER
The family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd with 17th and 18th century furnishings
Historic, famous gardens. (self-guided tours of house and garden)
Cafe and full facilities.
Cost £32.00 and coach departs at 0830hrs
Friday 11th September
RHS FLOWER SHOW, WISLEY
Our annual trip to this famous event.
Cost £15.00, coach departs at 0930hrs.
All bookings to be made in person at the Streamside Trading Hut during normal trading hours – 9.45 – 12.15 on Sundays, and tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis. Members only please.
PRODUCTS IN STORE THIS SEASON…
Please see the scheduled dates for sales of plants and bulbs throughout 2020, so that you can plan accordingly. We will send reminders to members nearer to the time -
3rd February – Seed potatoes, Onion Sets, Shallots, Vegetable and Flower seeds.
1st March – Spring Plants.
3rd May - Summer bedding and vegetable plants.
6th September – Autumn bulbs
And of course throughout the year there will be a great selection of seeds, composts, fertilisers, weed and pest control, and other gardening sundries available to assist you with all your gardening tasks.
Our prices are extremely competitive on a wide range of products from bird seed to garden canes, to watering cans and plants labels – and much more besides....come and check out our prices, you will be pleasantly surprised.
NOTIFICATION OF THE AGM
We will be holding the Annual General Meeting for Streamside on Monday 20th April, at the Streamside Trading Hut from 7.30 pm. This will be your chance to hear about our plans for Streamside for the coming year, and also to contribute any ideas or suggestions you may have to develop the Association.
SEASONAL RECIPES
Healthy pasta primavera
Serves 4
Ingredients
75g young broad beans (use frozen if you can't get fresh)
2 x 100g pack asparagus
170g peas
350g spaghetti or tagliatelle
175g pack baby leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
tbsp butter
200ml tub fromage frais or Crème fraîche
handful fresh chopped herbs (we used mint, parsley and chives)
Parmesan shaved to serve
Method
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and put a steamer (or colander) over the water. Steam the beans, asparagus and peas until just tender, then set aside. Boil the pasta following pack instructions.
Meanwhile, fry the leeks gently in the oil and butter for 5 mins or until soft. Add the fromage frais to the leeks and very gently warm through, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn’t split. Add the herbs and steamed vegetables with a splash of pasta water to loosen. Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce. Adjust the seasoning, then serve scattered with the cheese and drizzled with a little extra olive oil.
Rhubarb crumble muffins Makes 12
Ingredients
For the muffin mix
175 caster sugar
175g rhubarb, halved length ways then diced
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
125ml buttermilk
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
For the crumble topping
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g light muscovado sugar
50g plain flour
25 porridge oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g butter
Method
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases. Stir the sugar and rhubarb together and set aside while you make the crumble topping. Mix together the muscovado sugar with the flour, oats and cinnamon, then rub in the butter until clumpy with your fingertips.
Stir the oil and egg, vanilla and buttermilk into the sugary rhubarb (don’t worry if it’s a little bit juicy). Now, add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir well.
Quickly spoon into the cases, then scatter each with a thick layer of the crumble mixture. Bake for 15-18 mins until golden and a cocktail stick poked into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
SOME THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN THIS SEASON
The following lists are just some of the seasonal tasks that you may like to consider to ensure that your garden or allotment continues to look good, and produce a good level of crops -:
March
Fruit and Veg
Plant out broad bean seedlings after hardening them off.
Buy and plant sage and rosemary to bulk up any gaps in your veg patch.
Dig up overgrown mint or chives to divide and replant – or pot them up.
Harvest forced rhubarb.
Mulch around fruit trees, staying clear of the base of the trunk to avoid rotting or damage.
Start watering pots of fruit trees as the weather warms up to prevent them drying out,
Plant out salad rocket plus on warmer days, for a peppery harvest
Choose seeds for this year’s summer crops.
Start sowing cabbage seeds for an early harvest.
Chit early seed potatoes on a sunny windowsill indoors.
Place cloches over empty beds to warm soil.
Sow summer cauliflowers in trays every few weeks to ensure a succession of crops.
Plant Jerusalem artichokes 30 cm apart.
Sow spinach under cloches.
As soon as the ground is dry and workable, onion sets and shallots can be planted.
Lift the last of winter leeks and parsnips.
Prune apples and pears to remove congested branches before growth starts.
Hand pollinate your strawberry flowers to ensure a good fruit harvest in a few months.
Flowers
Life overcrowded nerines and clean up bulbs before replanting, retaining as much of the root material as possible.
Finish pruning elder, late-flowering clematis, roses, buddleia and caryopteris.
Place seedlings in cold frames for hardening off.
For bushier plants, pinch out the tips of the dahlia seedlings when 10cm high.
Plant container grown roses into well-dug soil.
Cut down the stems of hardy fuschias.
Prune back thick stems of overgrown ivy plants.
Add annual weeds to your compost heap.
Water pots of spring bedding in spells of dry weather.
Prune winter flowering jasmine to encourage new growth for next year’s blooms.
Deadhead hydrangeas and cut back to just above a healthy bud.
Deadhead pansies and primroses.
Rake debris from under hedges.
Divide snowdrops whilst “in the green”.
Start sowing hardy annuals.
Plant forced hyacinths that have finished flowering indoors.
Pot up dahlia tubers and place in a bright warm position.
Plant lilies in borders and pots.
Give pelargoniums liquid feed as new growth starts to appear.
Miscellaneous
Make sure blades of pruning shears are sharp.
Scrape moss from paved surfaces.
Top up stocks of composts and fertilisers.
April
Fruit and Veg
Prune fig trees wearing gloves as protection from sap burns.
Water newly planted vegetables and fruit trees whenever the weather is dry.
Protect plum tree blossom from late frosts
Take a close look at gooseberry and currant bushes in search of sawfly caterpillars – pick off any you find.
Feed spring cabbages outside with a high-nitrogen fertiliser.
Check fruit trees for woolly aphid and blast of with water.
Sow Brussels sprouts, leeks and spinach.
Harvest asparagus cutting stems below soil level.
Sow salad crops direct into pre-warmed soil.
Use nets to keep pigeons off brassicas.
Tie the new growth of cane fruits to supports.
Pot up containerised strawberry plants.
Chit second early and maincrop varieties of potato.
Support the stems of peas with twigs.
Flowers
Prune dogwoods back hard, if well established, to encourage vibrant stem colour next winter.
Shade young seedlings under glass with newspaper to protect them from scorching on clear days.
Cut out any plain green shoots on variegated shrubs.
Plant sweet peas outside at the base of wigwams or obelisks.
Spray roses that are disease prone.
Apply fertilisers at the base of summer-flowering shrubs.
Deadhead primroses and pick off diseased yellow leaves.
Harden off tender young plants.
Re-pot exotic plants into clean pots of oil-based compost.
Reduce the amount of water to cyclamen so plants go dormant.
Be on alert for red lily beetles that will attack new shoots of lilies and crown imperials.
Place supports over or around tall growing or floppy plants.
Pull away dead outer leaves from phorniums.
Lift and move badly sited shrubs to new homes
Miscellaneous
Add lawn clippings to the compost heap in thin layers.
Treat fences and wooden structures with preservative.
Protect plants from slugs using gritty barriers.
May
Fruit and Veg
Prune citrus trees, establishing a strong and open framework, by removing excess inward growing branches.
Harvest mint to make teas and flavour dishes.
Sow basil in greenhouse beds for months of pesto ingredients.
Pot on aubergines, cucumbers, peppers and indoor tomatoes as soon as their roots have filled their first pot.
Make final sowings of melons and sweetcorn.
Spray to control asparagus beetle.
Sow leafy salad in small batches.
Continue to earth up potatoes.
Harvest spring onions.
Hoe between rows of crops on days when dry and sunny.
Harvest rhubarb and pour liquid feed on the soil around plants.
Start sowing squash in pots pushing them approximately 2 cm deep.
Pot up chillies for the patio
Plant a large pot or container with herbs to suit your culinary tastes.
Plant tagetes and other companion plants among vegetables to attract hoverflies.
Prepare the site for climbing beans by digging in bucket loads of garden compost and put up support framework over the site.
Flowers
Plant out zinnias, cosmos and tithonias after hardening off, from the middle of the month.
Water all newly planted flowers frequently to help them establish.
Cut back aubrieta hard after flowering then water and feed. The plant will quickly regrow.
Trim topiary using a string-line to ensure straight edges.
Sow perennials such as aquilegias and lupins in pots or trays and keep them outside.
Feed spring bulbs with a high-potash liquid fertiliser.
Plant clematis near warm, sunny walls.
Dig up and dry off tulip bulbs after they have flowered.
Plant gladioli in a sunny patch of well-drained soil.
Clear spring bedding composting plants that are disease free.
Pile compost around the stems of lilies in pots to encourage roots to form on the buried stems.
Train sweet peas to supports.
Thin out hardy annuals.
Move self-sown plants to more suitable locations.
Plant up tubs of bedding plants.
Lift and divide spring flowers such as primulas now to keep them fresh.
Miscellaneous
Clip back new growth on conifers to keep them compact.
Give your compost a turn to accelerate the decomposing process.
Clean houseplant foliage with a damp cloth and watch out for pests such as scale insect.
The Summer newsletter will be available at the end of May/ beginning of June 2020.