Happy New Year …this for the Community Garden has commenced as the Year of the Cucumber!
Over the last few weeks, we have harvested many cucumbers, from just two plants, and they continue to produce. Each week we seem to fill an entire shelf in the Larder. This trend is not uncommon…cucumbers have surpassed the usual glut of courgettes that flood our plates at this time of the year. All gardeners at the Community Garden report similar excesses of cucumbers, and we have attributed this to the long and excessive rain through the spring.
This excess prompted a bit of a look at the humble cucumber, which is, in fact a fruit , not a vegetable.
- It is high in potassium, which helps to lower blood pressure.
- High in nutrients and low in calories.
- Contains antioxidants- flavonoids and tann.
- Promotes hydration- 96% water, so helps to meet daily fluid needs.
- Aids weight loss- low in calories: high in water.
So, all in all not a bad thing to have an excess of.
We continue with a rotating supply of lettuce: currently being planted in well -watered soil; packed with plenty of straw mulch, and well -watered again; then netted to keep hungry birds away.
Pleased to report that the pumpkins planted by students from Martinborough School are crawling for miles and starting to form good, sturdy pumpkins. Courgettes have been woeful this year, but again that seems to be the case for many gardeners.
We have huge crops of tomatoes, just waiting for them to colour up, so keep an eye on the Larder for these over the next few weeks.
All are welcome to join us (enthusiasm being the key requirement) on a Wednesday morning from 10-12, at 51 Oxford Street.
