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Showing posts with label Upchurch Horticultural Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upchurch Horticultural Society. Show all posts

Friday 13 October 2023

Upchurch Horticultural Society - October Show




















October Show

Saturday 14th October 2023

In the Barn at the rear of 97 Chaffes Lane
Open to the public from 2:00pm

A showcase of adult and junior plants, vegetables, flowers and arts and crafts

Plants for sale
Fun auction of homegrown showcase items
Refreshments and homemade cakes for sale
Great benefits and discounts for all members

Over 70 years of village horticultural history!

Toilets
Ample free parking
New members always welcome
Membership - £10 per year

For membership enquiries, email: upchurchsociety@gmail.com

Upchurch Matters

Saturday 9 September 2023

Upchurch Horticultural Society - September Show



















September Show

Saturday 16th September 2023

In the Barn at the rear of 97 Chaffes Lane
Open to the public from 2:00pm

A showcase of adult and junior plants, vegetables, flowers and arts & crafts

Plants for sale

Fun auction of homegrown showcase items

Refreshments and homemade cakes for sale

Toilets
Ample free parking
Open to all new members to enter and have fun
Membership is £10 per year

For membership enquiries, email: upchurchsociety@gmail.com

Upchurch Matters

Monday 28 August 2023

From the Potting Shed - August 2023




Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

Midsummer is rapidly approaching and the weather is warm and damp, and everything is flourishing. The internet is talking about apocalyptic hot weather on the way, but at the moment all is well in the garden. The Junkyard Mutt gets a walk each morning and evening, which allows me to watch what is going on around the farms. The local fields of wheat have largely been harvested and planted up again with either maize or sugar beet. The farming up here is intensive, and very little is allowed to go to waste, but then the soil is very good. The fields are large, and farming is definitely the biggest industry in this area.

The lawn appears to be improving but definitely needs a second high-nitrogen weed and feed. There are still a lot of weeds in it, but the wetter weather is doing a lot of good. Regular cutting with the blades high is helping it to improve, but it will need some serious attention to get it halfway to being decent. For now, I am happy with that and will take the long-term view as there are more important things to tackle in the garden.

The vegetable patch has been going well, and although everything was sown and planted later than normal this year, the crop is earlier than usual. I can only put it down to the quality of the soil and stress how important soil preparation is. The soil in the back garden has probably never been cultivated before and is a fertile clay loam. Everything has been planted in pre-dug trenches and pockets that have been refilled with a mixture of sieved soil and well-rotted compost. The Broad Beans have produced a bumper crop in excellent condition, which will store happily in the freezer for up to 6 months. That provides a good option for a “seasonal vegetable” up to the middle of January. Some vegetables will store frozen with little loss of quality, whereas others need to be eaten fresh. The first Marrow of the year has also been picked in July, and hopefully, the last will come in October. They will comfortably store in a cool, shady, dry spot for 3 months, providing another “seasonal vegetable” from July to January. The Early Potatoes are being harvested and I went for a salad potato this year called Charlotte. These will be taken fresh up until the end of October when the Maincrop will be ready for lifting and should last until February. The aim is to achieve self-sufficiency in seasonal vegetables and to propagate from seed. Everything then becomes fully sustainable from nature… I just need to put in the labour.



















Broad Bean Harvest - First Marrow in July.

The Duchess is still slaving away in the cottage garden, battling to retrieve an overgrown plot of land. It is dominated by a large Sumac that has thrown up numerous suckers that require digging and breaking away from the main roots. Most of the shrubs have needed serious pruning to get them back within bounds, and the weeds are rampant. She will be waging that war for a long time to come. The back garden is a little better, but all the borders need clearance and are overrun with Day Lilies. We haven’t started on the containers, most of which are broken and rotten. It’s a question of salvaging the good stuff and discarding the rest.

There are a lot of period cottages up here in Suffolk, which is a county of villages. Ipswich and Lowestoft are the only big towns. There are a number of small market towns and hundreds of villages. As such, the villages are still a vibrant community. Stradbroke is smaller than Upchurch, but there is a Butcher, Baker, Community Centre, Library, Post Office, Sports Centre and Pool etc. Property is available, especially the cottages that need a bit of work, as most people want places that are already done up. It is also cheaper than Kent, and a modest property in the SE can get you something more substantial up here with money to spare. The pubs are still old village haunts and unchanged for decades. We recently visited the Huntingfield Arms near Laxfield and had a home-cooked cottage pie with seasonal vegetables for £9.50 and a good laugh with the Landlord. The ale in the Green Dragon in Bungay costs £3.20 per pint, and he has just put the prices up.

It's like stepping back in time, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a more rural life.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Membership Secretary Tracy Wellsupchurchsociety@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Tuesday 4 July 2023

From the Potting Shed - July 2023




Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

Well, summer has arrived and at last, we have had some good weather. We still had the central heating on in early June and wrapping up against a cold north wind which has finally moved round to the south. The patio was cleaned up with a wire brush to remove years of lichen to reveal pink cottage style paving underneath. The chiminea has had a re-spray, and we are ready to eat outdoors… just need to make some friends! Finally got some 2-stroke oil from Amazon (couldn’t live up here without it) and getting stuck into the last of the logs with the chainsaw and maul. Will end up with about 6 cubic metres of Sycamore and Acacia logs with a big pile of kindling. I am really taking to this lifestyle, although it is not the “soft option” and I am running out of belt holes.

The Weed and Feed is getting to grips with the pathetic excuse for a lawn which is more weed than grass. The clay soil is starting to bake hard, so as the weed dies away the lawn looks even more sparse. Getting rid of the weed is the first step to restoring the lawn as the grass can recover later in the year, especially with an early autumn reseed. One good thing about a clay soil is that it holds a good edge where the vegetable patch has been cut out. Another large patch of the lawn will be lifted next spring to extend the vegetable patch, which has become more important to us as we aim for a greater level of self-sufficiency. Fruit and vegetables are an important part of the diet, and prices are getting silly, especially when a lot of the suppliers are local and do not have high distribution costs!

The vegetable patch is well up and running with very few casualties. A Muntjack Deer has been sniffing around and walking over the patch and taken the tops of some Broad Beans. A couple of Leeks were too delicate when dibbed in and given up the ghost. Otherwise, it is looking successful, although later than normal. Just starting to take a salad crop and doing a second sowing and will take the small Broad Bean pods when they reach 2” in length. The spares have now gone on the compost heap as we can’t even give them away as the local gardeners have been selling their seedlings for weeks… just too late this year.


Muntjack Deer in the garden!

The Duchess is grafting hard in the cottage garden and has cleared a border directly in front of the cottage, which was mainly weed. This will be the perennial border, and we have added the plants we brought from Oak Lane. Many of these did not survive the winter in Norfolk but include the Belladonna Delphiniums, which are a deep metallic blue colour, Phlox, Penstemon and the “Suki” Charm Chrysanthemum. These will now be stock plants for future years, and we will set about increasing the numbers to form large clumps. The Delphiniums come good from seed and can also be divided. The others are clump forming and can be divided or propagated from basal cuttings in spring. None of the Dahlias survived, so a trip to B&M in Beccles was required to replenish them. (Not easy to find a B&Q in Suffolk). The cottage garden is crisscrossed, with old brick pathways which are getting cleaned up. In between are a variety of shrubs and curious plants in amongst a lot of weed. The plan is to plant this area with a mass of cottage plants and wild seed and create “managed chaos.”

The southern boundary was a tangled mass of bramble on the other side of the fence, which had grown up into the trees and then festooned down in a 20' high curtain which completely blocked the light to the southern aspect of the cottage. Armed with secateurs and loppers, I started on the inside and snipped my way through the brambles until finally emerging the other side to meet the neighbours in the cul-de-sac behind. This has allowed a lot of light and air into a previously dark and damp part of the garden, which will now become the courtyard. Having created a breach, I now need to widen it and clear the entire southern boundary. However, having now found the neighbours, I am enjoying a lot of pleasant conversation and have even been invited to join the Veterans’ Tennis Club. The Duchess has commented that since the breakthrough the activity level has tailed off and been replaced by warm air from the south!

I recently popped back to Kent for a visit to the Dentist, as you can’t get one up here. I left at 0930, got back at 1810 and spent precisely 10 minutes in the Dentist's Surgery. The main problem was traffic in Essex, which was jammed up between the Dartford Crossing and Colchester. However, as I drove north from Ipswich, the traffic disappeared and was replaced by open fields, a big blue sky and empty lanes (except for the tractor). There is a big contrast between Suffolk and Kent, an idyllic pace of life on one hand and dental hygiene on the other.

I would like to end this month by remembering my friend and neighbour, Don Diffey, who sadly passed away recently. When we first became neighbours, he complained that the ivy on my side of the fence was damaging the felts on his shed rooves. I replied that he shouldn’t have built them so close to the boundary, which he countered by saying they were the statutory 4” inside. However, things got better after that, especially when we had a wood burner installed as Don was a Carpenter. Rosey and I were sad to hear the news. We had 18 good years in Upchurch and send our sympathies and best wishes to Beryl and the family.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Membership Secretary Tracy Wellsupchurchsociety@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Friday 16 June 2023

Upchurch Horticultural Society - Best Garden In Upchurch Competition 2023


Overall competition winners in 2016.
Tina and Roger Harris at 15 The Poles.

The hard work and skills of keen Upchurch gardeners will be recognised once again, thanks to Upchurch Horticultural Society.

The Upchurch Best Kept Garden competition was last held in 2019, before the Covid pandemic began in 2020, and was organised by Upchurch Parish Council.

UHS has now taken over the reins and brought the competition back for 2023.

Village front gardens will be judged at the end of June. And don't worry if you are out or on holiday - your garden will still be judged.

This year's 3 competition categories are:

Traditional Garden
 Hanging Baskets & Containers
 Nature Inspired

The winners will be invited for presentations at the Upchurch Horticultural Society - Summer Show on Saturday the 1st of July.

Summer Show details are at >> https://bit.ly/3CmctXB

Good luck!

For information, please contact Membership Secretary Tracy Wells: upchurchsociety@gmail.com

Upchurch Matters

Monday 12 June 2023

From the Potting Shed - June 2023

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

June will soon be here, and the summer is coming. May has been a better month with some warm sunny days, but there is a sharp wind up here which means that people are still in coats. Temperatures are definitely a couple of degrees lower than in Kent and still using the central heating. We are busy working on the garden. The Duchess is doing sterling work in the front, but the people are so friendly here that she seems to spend a lot of time chatting to passers-by. She did take me to task recently complaining that I was taking all the credit for the hard work, so I thought I would give her a mention. I am working out the back, and the vegetable patch is nearly complete, although there are still plenty of logs to cut. The chainsaw needs some 2-stroke, but the nearest petrol station is 7 miles away. Life in Suffolk is much more secluded, and a trip to the Supermarket is an expedition. Getting rid of rubbish is not easy as there are only 3 refuse collection sites in the whole county, and the wheelie bin is tiny.

The lawn has had a cut but is little more than a rough patch of grass and shows no sign of thickening up. I have been looking at local seed merchants, but they seem to specialise in paddock and livestock pastures. The best option for grass seed seems to be Amazon. A lot of standard lawn seed mixes are not very drought resistant, and conditions seem to be getting hotter and drier. It may not be a problem this year, but it is probably sensible to look for a mix that can handle drought better. Bermuda grass is a good option and is available from Amazon. It is slow to germinate and needs temperatures between 16°C and 22°C. Kentucky Bluegrass is easier and is also known as Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass (SSMG). It will turn to hay in hot conditions but is tougher than Ryegrass. I did look for Kikuyu, which is very tough but also very expensive.

Hopefully, your vegetable patch is up and running, and you may already be taking salad crops. As you clear a patch, re-sow more seed and keep the Lettuce, Radish and Spring Onions coming. Spring Onions are a good addition to stir fry dishes. Either cut lengthways or sliced. I also like to throw a fistful of sliced Spring Onions into a chilli or curry for the last 5 minutes to give a bit of crunch. Early Potatoes should be ready this month, and simply lift the whole root when the flowers start to fade. No need to cut down the haulms as this thickens the skins which is only required for Maincrop Potatoes. Early Broad Beans will be ready and should not be left too long. As the beans mature, they get tougher and need more cooking. A fully ripe bean can be eaten raw with a salad. Take a look at the “scar” where the bean connects to the pod. It should be green. If it has turned black, it has gone over. It is still perfectly edible but needs simmering for a while. Take your vegetable crops as they ripen so they are fully tender, and don’t let them get tough, stringy or woody.


The colour of the scar indicates the condition of the bean.

The borders and containers will start to billow and need some attention, and it will become obvious which plants are too close to each other. When planting young shrubs and seedlings, it is so easy to put them too close together only to see them grow and smother each other. Follow the planting instructions on the label or simply look them up in a book or on the internet. Height and spread will tell you how far apart to plant or whether it should go at the back or the front of the border. The clever bit is to check colour and form to achieve contrast. Dahlias and Fuchsia complement each other well and tend to flower from June through to the first hard frost.

We hope to establish a small fruit orchard next year, but at the moment, we have no fruit in the garden. In fact, I have not even seen an Apple Tree in Suffolk yet. There seems to be a complete lack of orchards up here and hardly any fruit trees in the gardens. Maybe I am walking around with my head down, but I haven’t noticed any blossom at all. I suppose the Cherries will be ripening in June/July and Strawberries, but all I can see are acres of Wheat. I miss the Braeburn Apple Tree from Oak Lane, the Victoria Plum and the ancient old Beurre Hardy Pears, which used to belong to the Vicar. June was the month when the trees would naturally jettison a lot of fruit as if to select the best ones for ripening. Then after June, it was the time to thin out a bumper crop before the branches got ripped off… happy memories.

June is also the start of summer and time for outdoor living. Get the patio cleaned up and brush down the garden furniture. Smarten up the chiminea and think about the marinades and punches. If you have some friends, you might like to invite them around. If you don’t, it doesn’t really matter. There is a saying up here that goes... “Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits”…. company will only spoil that. However, a pint of Green Jack Golden Best will compliment it wonderfully.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Membership Secretary Tracy Wellsupchurchsociety@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Upchurch Horticultural Society - Summer Show

Summer Show
Saturday 1st July 2023

In the Barn at the rear of 97 Chaffes Lane
Open to the public from 2:00pm

Exhibits of homegrown flowers, vegetables, arts, crafts and baking,
including a junior section

Fun auction of exhibits to finish
Refreshments and homemade cakes for sale

Toilets
Ample free parking
Open to all new members to enter and have fun
Membership is £10 per year

For membership enquiries, email: upchurchsociety@gmail.com

Tracy Wells
Membership Secretary
Upchurch Horticultural Society

Wednesday 3 May 2023

From the Potting Shed - May 2023

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

The year seems to be flying by, and May is approaching. April had a sting in the tail with some wintry weather, and the wise gardeners up here in Suffolk are telling me not to plant out until after the first full moon in May. I cannot remember a frost in May down in Kent, although a few years back, we had a frost on 29th April, which clobbered my seedlings. A local landscaper has been in and taken down a number of trees in the garden and along the southern boundary within the fence line. This has allowed a lot more light and air into the garden, which will be more noticeable in the summer without a canopy of leaves taking all the light. The brambles and undergrowth are slowly getting cleared, and things are starting to take shape.

The lawn should be growing vigorously in May, especially if it got a weed and feed in April, and any re-seeding will start to show this month. Keep cutting and scarifying if you are keen, and it should look full, green and weed-free in time for the BBQ season. I have yet to get started on the lawn, as much of the time is spent logging up after the trees came down. It is the first time I have split logs with an axe, and there is definitely a knack to it. The Sycamore splits quite easily, but the Acacia is hard work.

The sod has been cut for the new vegetable patch, and the turves have been placed green side down in the ditch, which is now 80% full of all the trimmings and clearing up. The soil at the surface is a fertile loam, which starts to turn to clay at a depth of 6” and becomes yellow at 12”. It is full of roots which need to be cut and cleared with a sharp spade. I am digging trenches down to a depth of 12” and have given up on the idea of double digging. That should be sufficient for most vegetables except maybe for Parsnips, which can go a lot deeper... I will see if I have the energy. The seedlings are up and running in the shed, including Broad Beans, which I have started in pots. They normally go straight into the ground in March, but the patch isn’t ready yet. Similarly, the New Potatoes are still waiting to go in, not to mention the Maincrop, but still time. I usually get seed potatoes from B&Q, but they are few and far between up here, so I bought mine from DT Brown of Stowmarket. The longer you wait, the more deals the seed merchants offer, but you risk missing out on the popular varieties. I have gone for Charlotte as an early this year instead of Rocket. It is a salad potato, and it will be interesting to see what it is like. However, they offered a good deal on Picasso, which in my opinion, is the best mashed potato.














The sod is being cut - Turves green side down.

The spring bulbs are still putting on a good show, although the Daffodils are finishing up. It is best to deadhead the flowers, let everything die down and then tidy up at the end of the month. The borders will be getting going, and there is a good opportunity for basal cuttings from a lot of perennials and division of clumps to increase stocks. The Easter Bank Holiday is traditionally a time to purchase hardy annuals from the Garden Centres and start making up containers. Annuals are also ideal for filling gaps in the borders due to winter casualties.

Fruit will be blossoming, and the small fruits forming, so provide trees with a good mulch to provide a slow-release feed, which they need at this time of year. Miracle Grow is a good all-round fertiliser to use as we get well into spring as it is high in phosphate and potash, which generates root growth and encourages flowering.

May is a very busy month, but everything for the summer should be planted out by the end of the month, and then all is set. Personally, I will concentrate on the vegetable patch and just tidy the borders this year. Next year we hope to start creating a cottage garden in the front, but you can’t do everything at once... and it is meant to be fun... stressful gardening is a contradiction in terms. If I can get the trees logged up, dig out the vegetable patch and get the seedlings planted out by the end of May, I will be delighted.

If I can’t do all that, I will have to drown my sorrows... which sounds like a good option!

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Monday 3 April 2023

From the Potting Shed - April 2023

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
April is upon us and there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. As the temperatures warm up and spring takes a hold, everything gets going. I miss the Kent orchards which are spectacular when the buds burst and the blossom starts to show. I haven’t seen a single orchard up here in Suffolk, which is more Sugar Beet and Swede. Nothing wrong with that of course, just not so pretty! The weather has turned wet and cold again and slowed down progress. It is very manly clearing brambles (without gloves of course) with rain and sleet lashing your face… but also very stupid. I have made some progress on the southern boundary, clearing the undergrowth and discovering all sorts of old tools and discarded bottles. Apparently, the previous owner was a publican who had a local pub and quite clearly had some good parties in the back garden.

I have yet to make a start on the lawn, and the recent cold snap appears to have slowed it down a bit and bought a bit of time. It is pleasing to see the birds gathering up the moss for nesting material, although it is leaving large bare patches where there is very little grass. At least moss is green. April is the month to give the lawn its first Weed & Feed. High Nitrogen to get it going and green it up, and if possible two weed killers to start clearing all the weeds. Weed killers vary in effectiveness, so it is best to find a product that has two or even three to help eradicate all the weeds. Cutting will also clear most annual weeds, so lower the blades a little and aim to cut every two weeks. Seed can be sown into bare patches, but wait a few days after applying the Weed & Feed.

Now is the time to get the seedlings going, so dig out the trays and give them a good rinse, unless, of course, you did it when you planted out last year… ? Use a good compost for seedlings. A lot of cheap, poor-quality compost has appeared in the garden centres in recent years. The seeds will germinate naturally but then struggle to generate much growth and are too tender for fertilisers. Some seed is best going straight into the ground, like Parsnip, which doesn’t like being transplanted, so follow the instructions on the packet. Most will germinate within 7-14 days, except Parsnip, which seems to take weeks. When they do show it is hard to differentiate them from the weeds. Seedlings in trays should be uncovered once the leaves start to show or else they are prone to fungus infection, which kills them off.


Leek seedlings ready to pot on.

Tidy up the borders and clear out the weeds unless you have already done so. I like to turn the soil over with a hand fork which makes short work of the weeds and looks so good afterwards. The Snowdrops have gone over now, but collect the seed heads and plant them about 1” deep and they should come up next year. That helps to spread them out into drifts rather than tight clumps. The Daffodils are in full force and just what you need in early spring to cheer things up. The Tulips will follow but are not so long-lasting. Personally, I like strong vivid colours in spring and go for bold yellows and reds. However, there is a myriad of colours available these days for those who prefer contrasting pastel shades rather than clashing primaries.

There is a lot to do now, and it can seem a bit daunting, but by the end of May, you can take your leisure and enjoy outdoor living. It is good to invite family and friends around for a BBQ and completely show off all the work you have done while maintaining extreme modesty and pretending that it is nothing.

There is nothing wrong in taking satisfaction in your labours, and it is a great pleasure at the end of the day to prepare a meal, pull a cork and see where you have been. Also, the sleep of a labouring man is sweet even though his back may hurt in the morning. Another good thing is that the Laithwaites wine box has arrived, so I need to get the Gruner Vetliner in the fridge in time for the evening entertainment.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Wednesday 29 March 2023

Upchurch Horticultural Society - Spring Plant Sale


Saturday 22nd April 2023

The Paddock, Upchurch
9:00am - 12:30pm

A wide variety of locally sourced plants will be available at
great prices with experts to assist you with your choice.

Homemade Cakes - FREE Parking

For more information, Email: upchurchsociety@gmail.com


Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

Upchurch Matters

Wednesday 8 March 2023

From the Potting Shed - March 2023

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
March is here and with it the spring, which means that the garden swings into action for another year. The real work starts in April, but if the weather is fine, it is worth getting off to a good start this month. We are pursuing enquiries about a parcel of land on our southern boundary with a line of Sycamore trees that when in leaf cast the house and garden into shade.

The lawn, moss in our case, can get the first cut in March with the blades high and scarify it with a spring tyne rake to get out the dead thatch and clear any winter debris. That will freshen up the lawn, get it standing upright and allow air and light to get to the roots. Most of our lawn will be lifted for a vegetable patch, so I will just rake around a marked-out area and leave the rest. Tidy up any edges with a half-moon cutter and then leave till next month when it will start growing vigorously.

Dig over the vegetable patch, lift the remainder of the winter vegetables and add a general fertiliser. New Potatoes should be in by March if they didn’t go in by February as they take approximately 3 months to come to harvest. My favourite is Rocket which can be ready in 11 weeks, so February planting will give you a crop in May unless it’s a cold spring. The first sowing of Lettuce can be done in March under glass followed by successive monthly sowings through to July. Although winter varieties of salad crops are now available and I intend to experiment with a winter Spring Onion this year to see if it is true! Broad Beans can also go in this month and the more frost-hardy varieties could have been planted in February. The Leeks are well up now in seed trays and getting sun and light on the south-facing bedroom window sill. I will leave them a little longer, then pot on into 3” pots and put them in the shed.

The Duchess has made a brave start on the borders and pruned back the ancient roses… maybe a little early, but then what do I know? The unwelcome shrubs are getting cut back savagely, and the undergrowth is getting cleared. Meanwhile, I am clipping away at overgrown honeysuckles and brambles, and slowly, the garden is getting tidied up. A local landscaper has given us an amazing price for removing two large Acacia trees, some tall Sycamores, grinding the stumps and trimming 60m of conifer hedge. So he will be starting at the end of the month.


Revenge for the low offer!

The momentum should be building with April and May, the really busy months, just around the corner, hopefully with some fine weather and the longer evenings. But you can do as little or as much as you like. We are just getting to work on a retirement cottage with a lot to do, and really looking forward to the project ahead. However, if you just wish to tackle a small project in the garden this year, then now is the time to start getting to work so you can enjoy it when the summer months arrive.

The land here in Suffolk is very open, and with bare trees, you can see for miles, Norfolk and Lincolnshire even more so. Big brown ploughed fields stretch as far as the eye can see, ready for this year’s crop. The people here are close to the soil, and land management is important. Rivers are dredged, banks built up, sluices in place to water the fields with ditches and gullies cleared for drainage. When I was a boy, one of my favourite programmes was Out of Town with Jack Hargreaves, and I feel like I am starting to live that life. I have a black dog. I just need to get a pipe. There is another accoutrement that goes with a dog and a pipe, but then there is nothing new about that.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Wednesday 15 February 2023

From the Potting Shed - February 2023

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Well, it finally happened, and we moved into Priory Corner Cottage in the quiet Suffolk village of Stradbroke on 16th December. It was probably the coldest week of the winter so far, so the oil boiler and central heating became the first priority. The property had been empty for 20 months, which meant two Autumns worth of leaf and tree debris to clear.

The entire plot was carpeted with fallen leaves, including all the gullies, drains and gutters. The garden is overgrown and neglected, and the previous owner, now deceased, had a habit of piling leaves and prunings behind the garage, sheds and summer house. Fortunately, there is a 4 feet deep redundant drainage ditch that terminates in the back garden, and the mountains of garden waste are being raked up and deposited in the ditch. That will compost down nicely and form part of the vegetable patch next year.

          Priory Corner Cottage.                         Back Garden.                                Christmas Present.

February is a quiet time in the garden and still in the grip of winter, however, winter bulbs and primula will start to show. Some impressive Snowdrops have already appeared, and we lifted some “in the green” from our garden in Oak Lane last year, and they are starting to show. We also brought some Primroses with us, which are looking healthy and coming into flower. Other than tidying them up, we intend to leave the borders alone for 12 months to find out what is in them.

The lawn is rather sparse and full of moss, and I have been making enquiries about seed merchants. A lot of the lawn will be taken up to create the vegetable patch, but it would be good to maintain a relatively small lawn and keep it in good condition. The plan is a bespoke mix of seed that will provide a good degree of drought resistance. It will be based on Canada Green which has a high level of Fescue, which spreads to fill bare patches. Then add additional Bermuda and Kentucky Bluegrass plus Kikuyu, which is used for landscaping in Africa! Also incorporating hard landscaping will give the garden a Mediterranean style.

A vegetable patch will be a big part of the new garden, and a plot has already been earmarked to get things started this year. The turf will be lifted and placed green side down in the ditch, followed by the pleasure of double digging. This only needs to be done once as it is more efficient to plant into pre-prepared trenches and pockets each year where the soil can be conditioned in the spot where the vegetables are to be grown. “Carpet bombing”, a vegetable patch with manure, does help, but it also produces a lot of weed between the rows. I have made a start by sowing some Leek seed which are sitting in the boiler room. They should germinate after 14 days and will then go in the shed, which has a clear plastic roof, or it will have when all the muck is cleared off. I have chosen a new variety called Porbella which has an RHS Award of Garden Merit and costs 99p from Amazon. The best 32 seedlings will be selected for planting, which should give us a crop from October to March, plus the best 2 plants to be left to go to seed.

One major problem is that the southern boundary is overgrown with a number of tall trees, which cast the whole house and most of the garden into shade. A successful garden, particularly a vegetable patch, needs a lot of sunlight and fresh air. At the moment, everything is very damp, and there is a lot of wet rot in the shed timbers, which will need repairing. I contacted the local council who maintains the patch of land between my fence and the adjacent road. They then discovered that the land is still owned by the builders who developed the neighbouring estate, and they have unwittingly been maintaining it for them for years! They now intend to stop doing it, so we will see how this one ends up.

There is still another month before work starts in earnest in the garden, and hopefully, your plans for next year are in place. I can’t wait for some decent weather to really get going this year. There is an annual Horticultural Show held in the Community Hall in the summer, which is directly across the road from the cottage. It would be great to enter some produce this year. At the moment it is a cold, wet, windy evening with mud and leaves all over the place. Adnams is the main brewery in Suffolk but there are a number of small and micro breweries producing an interesting selection of ales. So it is time for a pint of Green Dragon’s Chaucer Ale and to dream of giant Marrows and future glory.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Tuesday 17 January 2023

Upchurch Horticultural Society - Meetings and Events 2023

UHS has lots happening in 2023, and we have worked to ensure it's all fun, educational and sociable.

UHS meetings, talks and shows are held in the barn at the rear of 97 Chaffes Lane, Upchurch, and begin at 7:30pm. Event times are TBC. Talks and trips are for members only. Look out for show times and details nearer the date.

AGM
Wednesday 1st February
Re-election confirmation of roles. Plus short talk and Q&A
“Planning for the year ahead”
Chris S

Talk
Wednesday 1st March
“The work of Plant Heritage and the National Collections” 

Talk
Wednesday 5th April
“A year at Doddington Place Gardens” 

April Plant Sale in The Paddock
Saturday 22nd April

Meeting
Wednesday 3rd May

Doddington Place Gardens
Sunday 14th May / Sunday 21st May 

Planning for July show
Wednesday 21st June
UHS BBQ - Details TBC 

July Show
Saturday 1st July

Meeting at Upchurch Allotments
Wednesday 5th July 

Meeting
Wednesday 2nd August 

Farm Visit
Thursday 10th August
Details TBC

Talk
Wednesday 6th September
“How artists and garden designers lead us up the garden path”

September Show
Saturday 16th September

Trip to RHS Hyde Hall
Sunday 1st October

Planning for October Show & Demonstration
Wednesday 4th October

October Show 
Saturday 14th October

Role Re-election & Talk
Wednesday 1st November
“A gardener’s response to climate change”

Christmas Social Evening at
Upchurch River Valley Golf Course
Friday 1st December

For membership enquiries, please Email: upchurchsociety@gmail.com

For more information, visit: https://linktr.ee/upchurchhorticulturalsociety or scan the QR Code below.















Tracy Wells - Membership Secretary
Upchurch Horticultural Society

Thursday 1 December 2022

From the Potting Shed - December 2022

Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

Autumn has finally started to get a hold and temperatures are dropping after a mild start to November, leaves are falling, and the rain is coming down. The only thing that appears to be going up is prices! East Anglia is a very arable farming area with lots of local produce being retailed by independent traders. So a weekly shopping trip to the market town of Beccles is proving to be an interesting experience. This town has two independent greengrocers and a weekly market stall offering excellent fruit and vegetables at highly reasonable prices. I was delighted to find a large torpedo shaped Marrow for £1.50, which allowed me to engage in my passion for stuffed Marrow. The shop owner was quite surprised that anyone could get so excited about a lowly vegetable. I really cannot wait to get another vegetable patch up and running, but we are yet to complete on the cottage and still living in temporary accommodation out on the marshes. We do like it here. It reminds me of how Kent used to be 50 years ago with wide open countryside and lots of peace and quiet.

After tidying up the landscaped area around the lodge, the management of the park have appointed a firm of landscape contractors to tidy up the rest of it. I appear to have become the gardening consultant, which makes me feel uncomfortable as the position is unpaid and leaves me susceptible to picking up the blame. They are doing a good job, but I wince watching a young lad prune the shrubs with a hedge trimmer.

A lot tidier, but the shrubs have been massacred.

Hopefully, all the tidying up in the garden is completed by now, and you can enjoy the quieter Winter months, possibly in front of a wood burner, which is a good thing to have these days. Now is a good time to order seeds for next year and a number of catalogues should already have been delivered through your door. I actually bought my seeds through Amazon and was amazed that I could buy them more cheaply than directly from the seed merchant. The plan is to take up part of the lawn to create the new vegetable patch, but just do half this year and then double the size next year up to 800 sq ft (approx 3 poles). That should be sufficient to feed the two of us. I have selected 16 varieties of vegetables for starters and will increase to 32 the following year. These are tried and trusted old favourites but will concentrate more on Winter varieties in the second year. This will then hopefully provide a number of crops to choose from each month of the year.

Other than looking after Winter vegetables and containers and raking up leaves, it is a quiet time of the year. Leek and Onion seeds can be started in December if you are keen as the large varieties need plenty of time to fully mature. That brings us to the end of the year and time to think about the year ahead… if you want to that is. I keep on extolling the virtues of a kitchen garden and try to encourage people to “grow your own”. It has been a long time since money has been this tight, and the professional advice is that it will get worse before it gets better. Now is an ideal time to create some space and start digging. If you need advice, contact the Upchurch Horticultural Society, who will be happy to help.

It has been a cold, wet day today, so I am going to knock up a Beef Pie with mash from Picasso Potatoes (the world’s greatest mash), Hispi Cabbage, Carrots and Leek in beef gravy… and a cook’s glass. That way, I can fill up on both vegetables and beer!

Happy Christmas, and I hope to be writing to you next year from Suffolk.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Tuesday 8 November 2022

November News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

We have now packed up our worldly possessions and left Upchurch for a new life in Suffolk and have moved into temporary accommodation while we wait to complete on a cottage. It turns out that we have ventured just across the border into the Norfolk village of Burgh St. Peter. To Suffolk people, this is the equivalent of being on the wrong side of the A2. We are in a Park Home on the Waveney River Centre on the edge of the Norfolk Broads National Park. It comes with a marina on the Waveney River, a pub, a restaurant and a swimming pool. If it wasn’t for the Land Registry, we would have been here back in the Summer!

Each Lodge has a parcel of land, which has been landscaped with shrubs and grasses in the past. Like so many organisations in the leisure industry, they are struggling with staff levels, so I have set about the age-old task of weeding and pruning to try and get the landscaping back under control. In earlier years, the sea inundated this area, which then slowly silted up until there were just a number of tidal rivers and shallow lakes (broads) remaining. The soil here is drained marshland and incredibly sandy. In fact, the Eastern coast is very sandy, including the cliffs, which are eroding rapidly. Suffolk Coastal Council has now abandoned attempts to prevent coastal erosion as there is very little that can be done. As you move away from the coast, the soil becomes a heavy thick clay which will not be easy to work.

A mix of shrubs and grasses with a lot of weed!

There is no lawn here to worry about, just clumps of various coastal grasses. As the weeds are cleared and shrubs pruned, I will divide the grasses and fill the empty spaces. The Duchess has brought all her pot plants along, including a rather striking black grass which can be divided to add a bit of contrast. Cotoneaster is doing well in this soil, so the long green stems of the ground cover variety have been trimmed back to show off the bright red berries. This can be done with a lot of shrubs that produce berries this time of year, especially Pyracantha, which produces a mass of either red or yellow berries.

Other than tidying up the plot, cleaning down the outside of the Lodge and treating the wooden decking, there isn’t much to do until we can move into the Cottage. Now is the time to start planning the new garden and to think about seeds for next year. A key part of the garden will be a vegetable patch, and being a bit of a survivalist this is becoming more important to me. Without trying to be gloomy, it is reasonable to say that energy and food inflation is becoming a serious problem. As far as food inflation is concerned, a kitchen garden can provide some of the answers. I am looking to develop a vegetable patch that can provide seasonal vegetables all year round, which can then be propagated from their own seed. Some vegetables are suitable for storage e.g. Potatoes, but with the introduction of a wider range of Winter/Spring plants, it should be possible to harvest fresh vegetables for 12 months of the year. Whether those hybrid plants will come good from their own seed I have yet to find out. Anyway, that’s the objective, I just need to decide on the seeds required for the first year.

I hope everybody is well in Upchurch and that UHS continues to thrive as life skills like gardening seem to be less popular among younger people these days. That may change in the future, and the experience and know-how of active growers may become an asset to local communities.

As I look out over the marshes towards the river, a thick mist has rolled in and dampened everything. Which reminds me that I need to put a few Ghost Ship beers in the fridge if I want a chilled one this evening… ONE!

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk

Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society

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