For the horticulturist this time of year is all about nurturing new life – a responsibility not to be taken lightly. The plant works tirelessly throughout the year – forming new shoots, buds, flowers and finally seeds.

Then it’s over to the green fingers – to sow, nurture and plant out this blue print for new life enveloped in a seed coat.

Well, since it was getting on in March, we didn’t have time for this sentimentalism at the seed sowing workshop. Instead we got down to the practicalities – how to sow, when to sow, what to sow (for more information see www.hcfa.org.uk/documents/factsheets/seed%20factsheet.pdf) – with Peter Clarke, the perfect man for the job.

With 30 years of farming and sowing experience Peter is a man who has spent his life putting this sentimentalism into practice. We quickly followed suit and, with an impressive turnout, sowed hundreds of different seeds. We now have to concentrate on the tricky bit – nurturing. As many an experienced horticulturalist will tell you “anyone can sow a seed, not everyone can grow a seed”.
 

Just a quick reminder that Andy Eddy, the head gardener from Osterley Park will be on site this Sunday, between 10.30am and 12.30pm, to deliver the Shrub Workshop.

This is a good opportunity to pick the brains of an experienced horticulturalist and learn all you can about shrubs and their uses – all for the bargain price of £3. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Compost making – an environmental service?; a profitable business?; or food for the plants? Richard Wallis, the composting guest speaker, has convinced us that HCFA can manage its composting facilities with all three objectives in mind.

The bank holiday weekend meant that numbers were thinner on the ground than normal. Those who did attend were treated to an amusing and informative demonstration on the art of composting.

Richard explained the essential components of good compost – aeration, layering green (grass cuttings, hedge trimmings etc) and brown (wood chippings, bark etc) materials, heat retention and moisture. These factors all improve the structure of the compost and the microbial activity necessary for breaking down the organic matter into essential elements (nitrates, phosphorous, potassium, calcium etc) for plants.

We then set about turning…….. the theory into practice (and the compost pile). Richard showed us how to layer, turn/rotate and insulate a composting heap.

HCFA would like to thank Richard for his expert guidance. We were all left wondering why such beneficial materials are called a waste at all – as they say one mans waste is another mans compost.
 

Just a quick reminder about the Brassicas workshop coming up on 6th June

Jessica from Kew Gardens will be delivering the next HCFA workshop on brassicas. We will be taken through the preparation, planting and pests of a number of brassica varieties including – Kale, Borecole, Purple Sprouting Brocolli, Red and Curly Headed Cabbage and Chard. We will also be looking at techniques for protecting brassica crops from pigeon.

Subject: Brassicas

Guest speaker: Jessica Evans

Date: 6th June

Time: 10:30 to 12:30

Venue: Faggs Road allotments - www.hcfa.org.uk/faggs-road-site

Cost: £3 entrance fee

We look forward to seeing you there.

For further information contact Alex Morrell – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Peter Clarke delivered his second, and HCFA’s fourth, weekend workshop. The HCFA workshops are quickly developing their own unique teaching style; explanation, demonstration, participation. And, with this template in hand, Peter furnished us with some pearls (well beans) of wisdom from his treasure trove of horticultural knowledge.

We started with broad beans (since we are a bit late in the planting season from broad beans), moved onto peas, then runner beans and finally dwarf french beans.

Once again Peter was very thorough and it was difficult to remember all he said. Consequently, inspired by Peter’s crib sheets, HCFA will be publishing some post workshop “factsheets”. But, if you can’t wait, here it is in brief;

Broad beans; sow in October or March, no supports, watch out for black fly and bean weevil. Peas; plant in succession March to May, space twigs in rows for them to climb, harvest regularly, watch out for pigeon. Runner beans; very tender – plant after the last frost, need 8ftish supports, pick from August onwards. Dwarf french beans; no support required, plant after last frost (Borlotto particularly tender), sow in flat bottom trench 1-2inches deep.
 

Ray Hulm was the guest speaker at the third HCFA weekend workshop.

The plan was for participants to prepare and sow two beds during the two-hour workshop. Ray had other ideas!

Clearly our lack of experience showed and, as Ray explained, it is worth investing more time in seed-bed preparation to avoid disappointment. So under Ray’s expert tutorage we finely raked the seed-bed and carefully set the seeds out along perfectly aligned rows.

Other handy hints picked up during the course of the morning; never leave carrot thinnings lying around (and possibly interplant with marigolds/onions), be generous with the seeds when sowing parsnips, pigeons like turnips so beware, beetroot is a relative of spinach so eat the leaves and scorzenera is an odd root vegetable.

Many thanks to Ray and once again to Nathan for fighting off a cold to cater for the masses.

Just a quick reminder about our Root Vegetables workshop this Saturday.

The guest speaker this time round is Ray Hulm, a Royal Paddocks allotment holder and experience grower. Ray will be demonstrating how to prepare and plant carrots, turnips, parsnips, beetroot, swede and scorzonera.

This workshop runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm at our allotment site off Faggs Road, in Feltham

More details can be found on our calendar here.

We hope you can make it along!

The workshop schedule has been updated so please check the new dates in the calendar.

The first HCFA workshop took place last Saturday (6th March) and was a great success!

The Hounslow Community Farming Association are pleased to announce their first series of horticultural workshops for local residents taking place from March 2010 at their site on Faggs Road in north Feltham.