There were plenty of delicious bright red tomatoes in the garden this year, of all shapes and sizes. But as the evenings drew in and the record breaking, baking summer finally cooled off, ripening slowed, and for tomatoes was pretty much over. With a mild reprise even in mid November, ripening can continue, if slowly. But with this mild and often damp weather there is the increasing risk of late tomato blight spoiling those last pickings…
Gardens
Spring garden meet up and pizza firing
After one of the coldest and wettest Springs on record, optimistic Shrubland gardeners met up to survey the winter damage and plan their year ahead. There was a good sort out of the seed box, and liberal swapping of seedlings and plants between plot holders. After a long day, cheer was provided by a test firing of the community’s new wood fired pizza oven.
Preserving vegetables
As part of the Capital Growth’s Urban Harvest, Shrubland community garden and kitchen held a preserving vegetable session in the garden. Residents led on different types of preserving. There was preserving in oil, by fermentation, in vinegar and heat.
Pumpkin festival
Shrubland community garden and kitchen held a pumpkin festival to highlight all the delicious dishes we can make using pumpkins. So next time, you carve a pumpkin use the flesh … Read more
Where is the Shrubland garden?
The garden entrance is between numbers 40 and 42 Shrubland Road, Hackney, London E8 4NN.
Gardening club – harvest, meet and eat session
On a very hot Sunday afternoon, the gardening club met to harvest vegetables from the community plot and to turn them into lunch. Marjon led this session with the help … Read more
Gardener’s blog 2021
After the driest winter for 20 years, April experienced half its average rainfall. It was cold too, especially at night. Things were slow to grow – it was as if … Read more
Kid’s after-school gardening club
There is now a free after-school gardening club starting up in the garden. Aimed at primary age children 5-12 years (-ish), it’s being organised by teacher and Shrubland Road resident … Read more
Gardening club gets up and running
The Gardening Club held its first session on Saturday. New members came along for a tour of the gardens, fill in a questionnaire, and planted peas, onions and garlic in … Read more
Greenhouse and new growboxes installed
The garden now has a fine greenhouse and an additional eight growboxes, including an extra long one for community use. The new growboxes have arrived just in time for Spring, … Read more
Peter cooks up a dream
When Shrubland TRA treasurer Peter Jarvis set about his growbox early in spring 2016, he had a vision: onions, potatoes, leeks, celeriac, some fresh herbs, all grown in his growbox … Read more
Mayor visits Shrubland growboxes
The new Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville, dropped in to the growbox garden for an impromptu visit on a freezing January morning. Shrubland gardeners John, Marloes, Marjon and Peter were … Read more
New gardening club to launch this spring!
It’s early days still, but a new gardening club is set to get going this spring. The main focus will be on growing vegetables, fruit and herbs in the growing … Read more
Plant sales a great success
Shrubland Community Garden growers held a series of early-summer plant sales to raise funds for the garden, now entering its third summer. Over 20 varieties of edible veg, fruit, flowers … Read more