Sophie Verhagen, our head grower in Hackney, shares some news and photos from the Patchwork Farm. She manages the growing sites at Clissold Park in Stoke Newington and Springfield Park in Clapton. She's currently doing all the work on the sites with no volunteer help, which is keeping her very busy!

"The week before we closed the gardens I got the hugest pile of wood chip I have ever had delivered by Mick Parkin's team, which took at team of 4 of us 2 hours to barrow into the site and spread it, leaving all the paths with a beautiful golden carpet.

The daffodil garlic is flowering in the polytunnel and looks stunning. And the salt bush (at the forefront of the other photo of Clissold, above) is loving this dry weather - I'll be putting the tips in the salad again next week.

Finally, our glasshouse at Springfield is full to bursting with our seedlings, which are very nearly ready to be planted up.