Last Post 702 days 11 hours ago
21 June 2011 23:04:59
Does anybody know anything about spinnach? every year I try and grow something new, and usually they are kinda straight forward. Plant in the ground, wait til it grows, pick and eat it. However this year i have grown spinnach, a thing I know nothing about. read a little about it, but basically justs says to pick the leaves every so often and not strip the plant. My question is do you pick the leaves from the bottom up, do they have to be a certain size or what? Also my plants look like they are going to seed, I think. All advice no matter how insignificent you think it is, will be greatly accepted.
21 June 2011 22:57:57
The weather, a favourite subject of the Irish. Well we certainly have a lot to talk about with this weather. The question I ask is, A LATE WINTER, OR A EARLY WINTER? Up to this little or no growth as it was to cold, now monsoon weather flooding the place. This evening, well about an hour back i went for a bit of a walk. Still was fairly bright, even with all the rain, and there was a thrush singing his heart out, like he would on a lovely summers eve. I hope he is a sign for good weather
21 June 2011 22:48:01
Apologies for long absences during the year. I was doing skillvec course and it was taking up a lot of my time. The assisgnments took up a hell of my time in the evening. Also I had three exams last week as well and i had to study for them, so I had to stay away from the website for the last two weeks. I had my assisted physiotherapy exams in the physiotherapy dept in the mater hospital saturday week ago. That was followed last thursday and friday by my phsiotherapy theory exam, and the by anatomy and physiology exam. however all is now finished. I can now concentrate on the garden and reading peoples journals and seeing what gone on in their gardens. they say your never to old to learn something new, but it was a hell of a job kickstarting a brain back into life after letting it lie dormant for over 20 years. I killed a few brain cell over the last few weeks.
08 June 2011 00:54:25
Poppies
It is the last time I will mention poppies, but I have to say I love this picture. The more you stare at it, the more it brings a smile to the heart and happiness to the soul
08 June 2011 00:50:50
When I was at Bloom On Saturday, I went into the exhibition area to see Gerry Daly. I did not want to see him over a sick plant or even get advice of him, only to say thanks for setting up this wonderful website, and allowing me to communicate with people who have a similiar interest. I get daily to communicate with people all over Ireland and even outside Ireland, people who In a normal lifetime I and they would never possible spoke to each other. I have even met some of the wonderful people who contribute to this site and others have welcomed me to their home. A small action by gerry and his team of createing this site, has set about the creation of gardening discussions and lifelong friendships. Once again thank you Gerry and Team.
06 June 2011 23:45:39
walled garden
I know I sang the praises of the walled garden at Bloom, but you have to admit that walled gardens are really something special, and how I would love one.
06 June 2011 23:31:42
The pictures i took this morning of the poppies are not of a great quality for a couple of reasons. I carry a cheap digital camera in the car for the reason, I see something and then wish i could photograph it. But the main reason I could not take a good picture this morning as the sun was shinning and I was unable to see the picture I was taking on the camera screen. I had to return to the car to see what picture i was taking. I will bring the good camera in the morning and hopefully take a better picture. I put up an album of them if anybody wants to glance at them
06 June 2011 19:25:45
poppies
I was reading some of the journals this week about poppies and how big they were and how well they were doing for the gardeners. Today while travelling to work i came across a field of poppies, a mass of red surrounded by a green landscape. unforunately my camera I carry in the car does not do the picture justice. I will bring the good camera tomorrow and take a better picture
05 June 2011 18:53:41
Recycling
I would not say i am the greatest at recycling, but i do me best. This year I bought no pots at all for my seedlings, instead using Ambrosia cream rice pots instead. A person I work with eats one everyday, so I collected the pots and used them instead. have to say they do the job lovely.
Recently I was in a garden centre and they have steel bins where they allow you to take stuff they no longer use. I took some trays, the ones wher they display 8-10 flower pots in. I use them for growing beetroot, spring onions and radishes. They do the job lovely as they save me over sowing some crops i do not have a big need.
05 June 2011 18:43:37
I went to Bloom on saturday, the youngest lad decided that he would travel with me, which suprised me as he really has never shown an interest in the garden.
I arrived early at Bloom and was amazed at the crowds there so early in the morning. I am not a great person for the crowds, more liking to stroll around, rather than being pushed around by the multitude of people. This was the first garden show I was ever at, so did not know what to expect. I loved it all, there was something there for everybody. Yes there was show gardens competing and everyone will have their opinion on whether they were great or not. To me they were a perception of what the designer would like a garden to be, but I think in reality these gardens are created to inspire us lay gardeners what we can do if we think outside the box. If you were to ask me my favourite garden of the show, I will surprise you all by saying it was none of the competing gardens. It was not that I did not like them, some were even brilliant, but to me the best garden was the walled garden.
It was a pleasure to see such a fine garden and it was pure heaven to sit in on a hot day, eating icecream and listening to the wonderful music being broadcast by Frank Mcnamara. Im love these old walled gardens and I think that they should be treasured as I cannot see them being ever built again, only restored.
I think Bloom to me was brilliant, as it suited everybody. It raised questions among the professionals of why one show garden was better than another. It allowed hobby gardens to see different planting schemes and how others idea of a space could be utilised for gardening. For those who had a passing interest in gardening it was there to inspire them to get up of their bums and do a bit more with their garden. To those with no garden it was a lovely day out in the sunshine admiring the flowers.
However the winning garden overall to me was the Phoenix Park herself. Was-nt it lovely to see the crowds that graced it, people admiring gardens, others lying on the lawns enjoying picnics and icecream, others enjoying each others company and the sun smiling down on us. What a beautiful day and a well spent day.
Oh the highlight for my young lad, he got to go on a double decker bus and the luas. everything after that did-nt really matter to him.
01 June 2011 20:47:41
I have justed finished printing out my ticket for Bloom. I have managed to get the day of work and I am going on Saturday. For a few minutes i thought I would not be going. The computer was trying to scuttle the plans and I nearly gave up. earlier today I tried to ring the ticket line. I am one of these people who prefer to talk to a person, who assures me all is well and I have a ticket. No joy as very hard to get through on the phone. So this eaving i resorted to booking online. never done this before and it certainly was an experience.
First of all it would not accept the code given in The Irish garden magazine and after some begging and grovelling, it did. Then it would nt accept the mastercard and then there was something about a phone number. Sorted that out and then a clock started to run down on the screen next to me, telling me if I had a certain amount of time to complete the transaction. Trying to follow instructions and keeping one eye on the clock was nerve wrecking. managed to print the receipt.
back to my e-mail account to print the ticket, and the first sentence I read, was what to do if the ticket did not print. Here i lost my sanity as i knew it would happen to me and i threatened the computer with the hammer. nothing like scaring the fecking thing, I now sit here, exhausted with a ticket. I feel like Charlie after winning the ticket to Mr Wonka's chocolate factory.
01 June 2011 20:33:58
I am of the opinion that there is very little growth. The tomatoes in the greenhouse are not drinking water as they should be, and veg such as cabbage, peas and cauliflowers are not growing as well as they should be. Even new seedlings in the greenhouse are not on as well as they should be. I think the weather is still to cold for proper growth. I see farmers around me feeding silage to cattle in the fields as there is a shortage of grass. We need some heat to put a bit of spurt into things. We need sunshine and heat