Although I have had a garden for years, I have not grown very much food, other than a few lettuces. So when I got to the garden in mid-summer and Chris, the senior gardener explained that we would be picking vegetables to sell on the barrow, I was happy to be helping and learning new things.
Although it would seem a simple task to pick and harvest vegetables; from potatoes to runner beans, I soon realised that my lack of knowledge might be a hindrance. For instance, how do you know whether an interesting looking vegetable (Cavolo Nero in this case) needs to be cut down to ground level, dug up or just have its leaves cut back on a “cut and come again” basis?
Fortunately, Chris was on hand to help and showed enormous patience in explaining some of the basic tasks. All the Saturday volunteers worked together; discussing which vegetables were ready for harvesting and then picking, weighing and displaying the results on the Barrow. Working as part of a team with everyone helping each other, is one of the great things about volunteering at Fulham Palace. Members of the public were delighted with the fabulous food on offer, quickly snapping up nearly everything we could put out and occasionally we had special requests which we then went off to harvest.
My favourite task was digging up the potatoes. There is something uniquely satisfying about gently easing a fork into the soft mound that has been built at the base of the plants, wiggling it a little, and then teasing out beautiful, perfect potatoes.
As the autumn has now well and truly set in, the beds are being cleared of the last remaining herbaceous plants and vegetables, ready for mulching before winter. We also have the exciting prospect of putting up the wires and hooks on the now repaired walled garden walls, ready for them to take the new fruit trees which we will soon be planting. It’s really quite amazing to be part of an historic event - there were originally fruit trees around the walled garden and we will have the privilege of reinstating them.
It used to be that I didn’t like autumn very much; what with the nights drawing in and temperature beginning to cool, but now I see the season in a different light; with beautiful autumnal colours emerging, as the chlorophyll seeps away from the leaves, revealing their amazing tints. The air did not feel cool as we prepared the soil for a winter sleep and then all the wonderful planting ahead of us in the spring.
Paul Russell
Volunteer Gardener