Well, Summer didn't last too long, but it's sunny again now and parts of the garden are a riot of colour.

Produce is really starting to get going; the sweetcorn is thrusting upwards through a sea of pumpkin and squash...

Beans are in full flow too. These are the runner beans and they are still flowering as they climb skywards... 

And these are the borlotti beans; Lingua di Fouco, or tongues of fire, with their fiery red stripes.

The runner beans are delicious right now, nice and tender and not yet stringy...

We like them simply boiled and then tossed in good olive oil and some of our freshly lifted garlic. A squeeze of lemon, some crusty bread and there's lunch.

In other news, we have just been assessed by the Kent Wildlife Trust for their Gardening for Wildlife awards, apparently we garden in a very wildlife friendly fashion - although more by chance than design. We should learn how we got on in the Autumn, we'll let you know.

Summer has finally arrived at the Garden. With all the rain of the past few weeks everything has gone wild,  quite literally in the case of wild flowers, and, as ever, we're working like crazy to keep on top of the grass and the weeds...

In the polytunnel the tomatoes are all in and the salad leaves are growing nicely, the French beans are just starting to appear...

while outside the brief asparagus season has finished and currently broad beans are the bumper crop. 

We began by eating the tiny little young beans straight from the pod - delicious with a hunk of Pecorino cheese and a glass of Frascati. Now the beans are more mature they are best shelled and boiled for a couple of minutes and then mashed with olive oil and garlic to form a filling for ravioli or a topping for bruschetta.

Next up in the vegetable beds should be garlic, runner beans and the first of the main crop potatoes. In the fruit garden the raspberries are beginning to ripen and the gooseberries are tantilisingly close to being ready.

There is still lots of  weeding and watering to be done and some beds to prepare for brassicas and winter produce.

The last of the, very straggly, tomatoes, runner beans and squash that didn't get planted are still here if anyone forgot to put theirs in or need to replace failures.

The Garden Gate Project is a Charity offering Horticultural Therapy to adults with mental illness and/or learning difficulties. We are located in a one and a half acre walled garden situated within Northdown Park, Cliftonville.

We are open Monday to friday from 10am to 3pm.

The Garden gate
Northdown Park
Cliftonville
Margate
CT9 3TP.


07952 492139
gardengateproject@yahoo.co.uk