Beachcombing for brassicas

The regular beachcomber approaches their task with a sharp pair of eyes and a metal detector, prepared to probe gently. We descended on Folkestone’s shingle beach with hopeful hearts and strong arms, buckets of water and spades, prepared to start digging… and digging… and digging. 

 

Our evening had started with a planning meeting when Diane plied our group with tea and biscuits, then fully focused our minds on the deadline of 30^th September for the scheduled talk about our shingle garden, as part of the SALT festival events. 

The idea is to create some instant impact for a patch of garden in the soon to be revealed East Yard, close to the Harbour Arm entrance. So we took to the beach to seek treasure in the form of sea kale plants – a few handsome specimens that we could try transplanting. 

And our party did make a poignant image, trudging across the shingle as silhouettes against the early evening sky in the manner of seven dwarves going off to work, hi ho. 

 

Our mission was highly experimental because the knowledgeable Wendy  warned us that sea kale roots run extremely deep. When we started digging, we discovered that she was not wrong. However far down into the shingle and surprisingly pungent, earthy soil we probed, we could not find the tail end of the sea kale roots. Still, we dug up what we could and have planted them into an old wheelbarrow with fingers crossed. 

 

 

Is sea kale edible? Yes! The roots used to be eaten like asparagus in the spring and it became established as a garden vegetable in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. It was also served at some of those opulent dinners held by the Prince Regent at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Oh and by the way, it’s Latin name is Crambe maritima of the Brassicaceae family. 

While some of us were on the beach, Julia and Anje turned their artistic skills to planting up a few containers, using specimens that we had previously transplanted from the railway line. They have thrived in our nursery and look just beautiful  in the adapted water butts that Chris described in last week’s blog.

Finally, a reminder that the talk, Shingle Garden, is in East Yard at 12 noon on Friday 30^th September. Book through the Quarterhouse website or on 01303 760750.