Magical Mosaics, Raging Rain!

We were thrilled that so many folk braved the deluge to come to Windmill Community Gardens and make gorgeous mosaic robins with the help of the wonderful and talented Anna Dixon. It was wonderful to see the care and attention that everyone gave to the task, and the lovely mosaic robins that they managed to create - each one to the same pattern but with its own distinctive character.

It was really chilly before folk arrived, but we proved that tea lights under clay pots will warm a polytunnel quickly, and that Tracey's pumpkin pancakes with caramel are just the thing to eat on a damp chilly day. Everyone who wanted, was supplied with hot drinks and / or hand-warmers as well, and those, together with 16 people in the polytunnel meant that we were warm and dry despite Noah's flood being re-enacted outside.

Thanks to those of you who have already posted photos of your finished robins on Facebook. We look forward to seeing more of them soon and displaying them here.

We wish you a good festive season. We'll be back at Windmill Gardens on the first Monday in January. so hope to see you then, or at our celebration of Old Twelfth Night and the Lohri festival on Sunday 17th January from 2pm, when we'll be wassailing our fruit trees and celebrating the Punjabi festival of Lohri.

Next steps on the tyre bed

We're feeling pretty pleased with ourselves because today we were able to finish the tyre bed. Yesterday, we began with a curve of tyres, which was angled so that the curve will provide shelter from the coldest Northerly and Easterly winds, whilst leaving the area in front of the bed open to the south. This means that the sun will heat up the tyres and that heat will also make the area inside the south-facing curve a little warmer - a good place to try outdoor tomatoes, pumpkins and cucumbers. 

A filled tyre on the first layer

The first layer of tyres were placed to create the basic shape and then filled with a rim of partly composted wood-chips to fill the walls of the tyre. The centre of each was then filled with sieved soil to make sure we removed any plants like bindweed or ground elder which could be a problem later.

Adding the next layer of tyres, overlapping the first
Note there is a gap which needs to be bridged to stop soil loss

The next layer of tyres went on top overlapping like a course of bricks. It helps if you have made sure the first layer of tyres are about the same size and are sitting level, but we didn't manage to do that perfectly, and it still worked ok. Unless the tyres are being set into a bank, this second layer will need to have a brick or bit of slate inside it to stop soil falling out of the middle of the tyre where it overlaps the two beneath it.

Using slates to bridge the gap and stop soil falling out

If you sieve the soil first, it hopefully means
less weedy surprises later on!

The tyres are filled as before, and then a final layer of tyres is put in, again overlapping like bricks. The three layer structure should be tall enough to give new plants a good start, but it could be made taller if you are very pessimistic about summers in the UK!

Thank you to all the Gateway to Nature folk who came again this week to help us to finish the tyre bed. The work you did today will make all the difference to us getting it finished in time for the school group who will be planting up the tyres with strawberries!

New Tricks with Gateway to Nature

Windmill welcomes Gateway to Nature

This year, we are aiming to get more of our ground into production than in previous years, but that's also given us a chance to try out some different ideas which may help folk trying to garden in our currently extremely changeable and changing climate. Our good friends from Gateway to Nature were pleased to join us to help start the ball rolling on making the new beds, which also helped us to get things organised quickly.

One of our aims is to create a half-moon shaped tyre structure which will act as a wind-break and also as a warming bed, as the tyres will warm up fast in sunlight and some of that heat will collect in the middle as well as being released overnight. If we get it right, it should mean early strawberries, some happy mediterranean herbs on top, and a good space in the middle for plants like tomatoes or pumpkins.

The other aim is to make a hugelkultur bed. This is an idea from several sources, but got its name from Germany. With hugelkulture, a hole is dug, then this is filled with rotting wood which is then covered over with the same soil to make a mini hill. In our version, the gap will be also contain composted and fresh bark chips. In all cases, the wood should gradually rot down, warming the soil and also eventually breaking down to form humus-rich soil and being both free draining and offering a store for water.

Making a start on clearing the ground

Of course the first step in any project for us is to weed thoroughly. Our Gateway to Nature friends helped a huge aamount with this, setting to and making short work of vegetation removal, as well as helping us to process some of the wood that had been stored on the site previously. Thank you so much, and we look forward to showing off the finished beds very soon!

Ground quickly cleared - thanks all!

Thanks for cutting more firewood for us folks!

We also got some help from Stevan, who is an experienced gardener, but now has mobility problems, so he was happy to help us with our raised beds. He and one of our regular volunteers, Andrew helped us to finish planting up our potato and onion bed - just what we needed!

Stevan and Andrew make a start on the spuds.

And anyone who fancied a rest from the more energetic work helped us to pot up seedlings. It was really nice as some of the group had never had the chance to do this before, but they quickly got the hang of it.

A newly expert potter-up!

How to make a Tip Tap (Windmill style!)

Send a Cow has a great "how to" video for making a tip tap, but we made a few variations, so here is our "how to" version.

To make a Tip Tap, you will need:

• 1 plastic milk bottle at least 2 litres in size
• 2 stout sticks with pointed ends about 1.5m long as the support posts
• 1 strong stick with straight cut ends about 1m long as the top bar
• 1 strong stick about 30 - 50cm as the foot pedal
• Strong string or thin rope
• 2 sharp nails
• 1 phillips screwdriver or round-wire tent peg
• 1 mallet
• 1 claw hammer (claw is handy in case you get it wrong!)

Stage 1. Use one of the nails to make a hole in the handle of the bottle at about the half way point. Widen this as necessary to fit the string / rope through the hole.

Stage 1 - set up the handle hole for your bottle.

Stage 1 continued 

- thread the string through the hole in the handle of the bottle

Stage 2 - Use the nail to make a pattern of holes in the bottle on the opposite side to the handle hole at about the same level. Also make a small hole just above the handle to make sure that air can get in easily. This helps the water to come out more easily too. Put some water in the bottle and test to see how well the water runs out in case you need to make more or bigger holes.


Stage 3 - Dig a hole about 30cm across and at least 20cm deep. Fill this with rubble or gravel to provide a soak-away under the tap. Alternatively, provide a wide basin to catch the water so you can use it for watering afterwards.

Stage 3 - Create a soak away

Stage 4 - Set up the supports on either side of the soak-away making sure they are close enough together to let you fix on the top bar. Hammer the thick posts with the pointed ends into the ground until they are firmly in place. Tamp the ground down around them with a log or mallet if the post needs further firming in.

Stage 4. Putting in the supports.

Stage 5. Attach the top bar between the support posts. We nailed ours into place, but it can be fixed by lashing it on.

Stage 5.  Nailing on the top bar

Stage 6. Tie the bottle to the middle of the top bar and fill it with water. Make a hole in the lid of the bottle, thread another rope through this, and make a stopper knot in it so that it is fixed in place when the bottle lid is put back on. Now pull down on the rope coming from the bottle lid to test how well the bottle releases its water.

Stage 6 completed - testing the bottle.

Stage 7.  Tie the end of the shorter stick to the rope so it can sit at an angle at the side like a foot pedal. Now tie the end of the rope to the frame, leaving enough slack so this "pedal" can be pushed down to make the bottle tip (probably easier to look at the picture to fully understand this bit!)

Foot pedal in use!

Black Magic at Windmill!

Thursday was one of those grey and chilly days that makes gardeners want to curl up in a warm room with a mug of cocoa and a few seed catalogues. Tracey had noticed the forecast, and planned a relatively warm regime of moving wood about followed by sowing seeds in the polytunnel, but that all changed when our friend Pete, from our neighbours, the Mill Allotments, came to report that our compost delivery had arrived. 

Each year, Pete has arranged for several lorry loads of municipal compost to be brought to the site. We only have to pay towards delivery, so it's a great deal. It's even more valuable this year, because the old Speedo Factory that bordered the site is being demolished, and it's not clear if we'll have access in future to get a lorry through the carpark there (our track being too narrow for a lorry of any useful size).

Jai and Pete from the Mill work on their part of the delivery

Of course, the compost arriving has to take precedence in the work schedule, because if you don't collect it when it arrives, there is always the risk that some kind person will arrive and "tidy up" what they think is a freebie or "unwanted" resource! That meant all hands to the pump, and everyone taking a turn at forking our portion of the steaming heap into barrows. This was actually quite fun, with a nice group atmosphere developing, as people turned up from the Mill allotments and the Windmill allotments to get their shares and we all toiled alongside each other in harmony (with just a slight care that we were all keeping to the marked limits of our portions!)

An exotic bird-call turned out to be Edgar turning up with his squeaky-wheeled barrow. It was quite impressive and we were almost disappointed when he found some oil to fix it on the third trip (almost!). 

Edgar from Windmill with his amazing
squeaking barrow (now de-squeaked!) 

Municipal compost is created from the stuff that those of you with a compostables collection have been supplying. It is sometimes a bit twiggy, but we've found it pretty good. It does sometimes turn up some odd things. The last load we had contained 3 separate socks, which was a bit of a surprise! This one was still quite hot, so we warmed up from that as well as from the hard work.

Mark with the steaming pile!

We think this is a great example of recycling in action! It certainly makes a lot more sense than sending garden waste to landfill. Of course if you can make your own compost, even better.

Andrew on the return leg.

Putting the fruit cage to bed for Winter

Our fruit cage is a bit of a pain. The folk who designed it seem to have decided that a lot of innocent fun could be had by installers, if the attachment points only had little arms to fit into the sockets of the top-tubes. Much hilarity could then ensue as the top tubes randomly detach and fall on the unfortunate person trying to put in the next component.... 

Pete battles the dastardly fruit cage.

Amazingly, despite its truly duff design, the fruit cage has stayed up for almost 2 years now. The jury-rigged bracing with washing line has done a grand job in keeping it together, but we still don't want to tempt fate, so like last year we decided to remove the top netting. If we left it on, there is a real risk that the whole thing could collapse, or at least be bent, if we have a heavy snow, as it can sit on the mesh if it's icy enough. As it is, it's a good move, because it allows birds to get in to clear up any tasty minibeasts that have designs on next year's crop. Alex and Pete did a great job with that, rolling the netting and attaching it along one side, ready to be redeployed once the bushes are at risk of the wrong type of attention from birds.

Austin, Mark and Chris de-weed

The next job was to give the cage a careful weed through. We also added a sprinkling of bonemeal for each bush and a thick layer of mulch to keep the weeds down, and help keep moisture around the roots of the bushes. (You do need to make sure the mulch doesn't sit around the actual stem of the plant to stop it trying to root into the mulch, though).

Austin learns the gentle art of pruning.

We took the chance to take cuttings from the blackcurrant as we were pruning it (Austin did a good job despite it being his first attempt).

The finished cage - all snug and wrapped up ready for winter    

The next job was to create a bean-trench. We have been saving our compostable stuff from the office kitchen at Groundwork, and from events here (in the compost tumbler), so Chris got to work digging down about 1 spades depth, spreading out the goey stuff and then covering it up.

Chris really digs making a bean trench...

This should have rotted down enough by late Spring to create a good moist root run for growing beans. Pumpkins and squashes should like it too.

Add compostable stuff and cover for a great
place to grow beans next year (good for
pumpkins and squashes too!).

Well done to the team - we got loads done and the weather was gorgeous.

If life hands you lemons...

At Windmill, we know we have a reputation as the local branch of the Wombles, but we're pretty pleased with ourselves today, even so!

We knew we needed to weed the bark-chip paths because they have developed a healthy population of couch grass weeds that have grown through the landscaping fabric that is underneath. This should be a fairly quick job - just expose the fabric, pull it back and remove all roots that you find. The fun bit came when we did the work and discovered that the existing bark has now half broken down, so the bottom part of the path surfacing is beautiful moist compost. That was too good an opportunity to miss, so new volunteer Warren, and stalwart Dan got going with the sieves. This does make it a bit long-winded, but they did a very thorough job, so we've ended up with some super compost and a lovely weed free section of path. Now all we need to do is the rest of that path and the other three!

Daniel vs couch grass.

Warren gets on with the sieving

Warren celebrates a job well done

Whilst the compost grab was going on, Alex set to on the sensory bed in the orchard. This should now have dropped all its seed and be ready for next year. Even so, we'll give it a week or two, weed it again and then sow some cornfield annuals ready for next year. With any luck, they will come up and then sit all ready for action when the Spring warmth comes. Alex is our secret weapon here, because he can recognise the leaves of all the plants we want to keep, so weeding is fast, but also ensures we don't loose things we wanted to keep or have forgotten we even have (don't mention the thyme!)

Alex tackles the sensory bed.