Johnplotman's Journal

A journal year in the garden and a Happy New Year.

Soon it will be in full colour again.

Through the year we have had plenty of ups and downs in the garden.Earlier in the year the weather gave a terrible blow in the form of some serious frost.

After a few months on the recovery lists for some of the plants the sunshine returned.Later on in the year with some of them in the form of a few prizes in the vegetable area at the local show,but also giving a supply of home grown food that brought good meals to our table.Much appreciated.

Rain paid a visit at times and diseases were in the air,but we put up with them.Then near the end of the year we were given a very,very,severe attack of snow,and ice which left its own trademark with damage. I will say no more about that.

Over the weekend i will spend an hour or so looking back over past notes kept here down the years and compare the outcome,with this years events.Maybe i might even get to pluck from them,some badly needed buckets of sunshine for 2011.

Who knows i might try out some stop signs at the garden gate during the summer to maybe banish away the garden pests and diseases,along with bad weather,all of which caused the need to destroy some of the vegetables that had been doing fine for months of growth before the weather attack.

Happy New Year to all my garden.ie friends and good luck with all your plans for 2011.Bring on the sunshine,we want to sow and grow.

Tidy up job with the garden notes.

Note checking time.

I decided late last night to spend a few hours doing some notes about the garden.

Time was also spent checking through pages i had thrown under books etc.Not any more as they are now all in single folders.

No more rooting for different pages.I could not leave without doing an hour or so about the January sowings.Those started in late December and those yet to come.

Irish Garden Magazine in the post..

Reading time.

I picked up my post earlier today and delighted i was to see this months Irish Garden Magazine there.

Over the weekend i will have a good look through it,especially the vegetable section.

Temperatures up well today.

This is what we need.

The temperatures are well up today.For the last couple of days similar.One time a disaster,now a sign of garden life in the air.Maybe Jack Frost thinks that it has done enough of harm.

I cant put aside the need for some early jobs in the garden.Those such as fleece,canes,and a check on the lawn mower all need a visit.Later this week i hope to do so without fail.

The saved seed Potatoes are doing well despite a few lost to weather.Now that 99% of all the other crops are lost,including the inside the tunnel,the thinking cap is back on.First though any damaged seed Potatoes must be burned as they will be of severe damage to the compost heaps.Damage to the Potatoes will be like another way of leaving disease in the ground if used.I saved enough earlier,so time to stop thinking about them.

The early Cabbage,Onions, and Tomatoes have been started indoors,and i will proceed from there.Bring on the New Year.

A helping hand.

During the bad spell,water was the main supply from here for a large section of my friends.

Just last night i was given a few calls to tell me at last their supply is back to normal and all is well.

Though i sometimes wonder,now the rain is here it is flodding we need to think about.

Not expected this time of year.

The frozen kettel inside in the shed.

The like of such weather is not expected at this time of year.Hopefully we have seen the last of what has been a very severe bout of snow and frost damage to all the gardens in 2010.I need to look through some of the seed trays later and see the next move with them.

Severe damage to the vegetables.

Wiped out.

Walking around the vegetable garden earlier on this morning,my first sighting were the dead stalks of Brussel Sprouts.Destroyed at the base.Some of the stalks are as if a bolt of thunder in the form of frost,struck them.Time to save what is left on the stalks and clear the bed of the remainder.

The raincoat.

Time for a wash out.

Time for the raincoat again.What else could i think of as the rain tapped against the kitchen window,just as breakfast was being served.

The much needed thaw takes place,now all eyes are on flodding,along with all the damage that wa caused.What do we reach for now,only buckets,brushes and lots of luck.

Nowhe garden is back to its green colour again,after the blanket of snow.Stay with us,mild weather.

Christmas greetings to all my friends.

I made it round,no matter the weather.

That time of year again.A year when quite a few areas of all gardens in Ireland had a visit from frost and snow,and lets not forget rain on the way to also pay a visit.Plenty of damage has been left to recover from.

What we do now is enjoy Christmas time and try and try again.We are the people that would take on the highest mountain peak in the World,and though covered in winter weather from snow and ice,we often fall back,but get up and try again.All the gardeners dig deeper,as they know there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.

On a final note,just to extend my Christmas greetings to all my friend,and good luck with your plans for the coming year.[Sorry about not getting to send Christmas greetings to all my friends.]

Even the raindeers were not used to cold like this here,but still the man in red made it around to all houses.

The pleasure of meeting another garden member.

Sadly i did not have my camera.

Yesterday morning on the way out of town i called for the daily paper.On the way back to the car i had the pleasure of meeting Alma [Up Cavan] for the first time.After a short few words i had to rush off.Delighted to speak to Alma in person,especially with both of us from the Oldcastle area.Im delight to see Alma is recovering well.Sadly i did not have a camera with me.Maybe another time.

The young smiles of Christmas.

Tender young smiles.

Having paid a visit to me relations on the way home i notice one of the gifts in the background is for me.

Either made up of vegetable seeds,or indeed some little item for the garden.They have a fair idea,gardening is my main subject.

No matter what is there in the gift,the smiles of my niece Ciara,and my nephew Alan,are worth a golden present to me.Long may they be there.

Finally some light for Christmas.

Shine on.

I check in many shops,that i passed by,with no hope of the type of bulbs that have been used here for many years.

Finally i got my hands on some that will do the job fine.Not the same but will do.Above all places we needed light in each window.

All lighting finished finally,on Sunday evening..

Christmas time.

That time of year.

That time of year is here again.A special moment approaches.

I often how gardeners manage in those days.Pests and diseases would have paid a visit im sure,but would also be solved in their own ways.

That time of year.

Santa still under the weather.

I need a blanket.

Passing a garden on the way home,i see yet again this man looks a little under the weather attack.

Though the words ho,ho,ho,or indeed hoe,hoe,hoe,need a mention.It looks more like snow,snow,snow.

Hopefully the weather will improve as mentioned at the weekend.

Dinner,for the card players this evening..

More of the same.

Often wonder where to go in a case like this.One time to look up at the blue sky,that reminds me of summer,then to look at the ground,winter attacks in full force.

Yet again we have to put up with unwanted visits from snow and ice.The big ??? is for how long more.We have had enough of it up to now without more hold ups..

I had planned to spend time in the main flower bed,to remove some of the small tubs.That will go,yet again on hold until another day.Some of the very tiny 360 holder trays will be taken into the garden shed and prepared.They need a final washing.

Plans for any inside gardening are on hold later on,as the Christmas dinner takes place for the local card players,at eight this evening.Hard to know who will get to attend.Have to wait and see..........

Protection time again weather.

Frost damage earlier in the week.

Time to prepare for more snow and frost.Just after the last set backwith damage,and now to be ready for more.Not to be as bad [we hope] as before.

Coming close to the time for starting some Broad Bean [Vicia fab] of the Leguminosae family,and then the time for a gardening year will really start.Im looking forward to the new years garden tasks.

Can i do better with this bed of vegetables,will i get to defeat certain garden pests,and maybe even fool the sunshine to stay shining on our sides plenty of time.All to ponder about as we enjoy Christmas time.

Some of the vegetable beds we given their Christmas present in the form of some home made compost.They helped in many ways,now time to help them.

A little on the damp side here this morning,but more snow on the way.How long for,is the big question.

Planning time.

That time again.

Now that soil in the veg,garden is on hold right now,its time to look ahead.Having a well deserved rest,some of the beds are.Frost is seeing to that.It has left them like solid stones.

Normally i have great belief in holding to this.This year,that full stop has arrived sooner than expected.It is all indoor jobs now with the vegetable garden.When time suits with the evenings,i do as much as possible out of doors,on return home.

Gardening comes in many ways.At times the splendid sun will shine,and then another part of the year,it can appear like a torrential bolt of thunder.Some of the trees are bare now,with cold skies looking over the gardens.When will that improve.That is the burning ?????.

All we can do is hope for the best.Weather has improved a little this morning.For how long though,we often wonder...........

Some of the baby Rhubarb on the way.

Stay growing well for me.

Good signs are showing well with the young [Rheum rhapinticum] in the seed room.Some of the buckets have been taken inside.On an earlier journal,starting dates,etc were noted.

A few of the outer beds are also under cover,and will be checked on very early in the morning.

Back on the cool side at night time,with the tunnel down to - 6 this morning after a noted early reading.Not looking the best for the coming week either,with plenty more frost  to come.

The Pampas grass,on the frosty side this morning..

A little off colour.

At around 8.30 this morning i had a walk around the garden.

Both the lawn and the Pampas grass were similar in colour,thanks to the frost.

Indoor christmas lighting checked on.

Part of the job done.

Late last night after some study with particular veg,i managed to spend a short while,starting to set up the indoor christmas lighting.

One stage complete.The rest will have to wait another while.

An early gift left in for me.

The start off.

Some Peas [Pisum sativum,var arrense ]  along with a bird calendar were waiting for me earlier today.

Went to visit my friends garden to admire the Christmas lights that were erected.Spent  about an hour or so,doing some work with my own lighting here.

The area around the Honeysuckle,,is finished with the trailing lights,and over the porch will have to wait until tomorrow evening.

Colour returns part of the way.

Almost there.

Earlier in the week,with light spells of sunshine,my neighbours tree showed signs of frosty weather.

Though almost on the bare side now,while looking at the blue sky in the background we still have hope.It brings out summer to the gardens.

Stay with us good weather.Goodbye to snow.

Snow departs,and this we will do,when time lets us

Dig when the weather is with us.

When time will allow,we will do this in our own ways.We look ahead to better times in the gardens.

When we win against bad weather part of the way,we do what the picture says, and dig to victory.

A different picture now,that the thaw has started well.

Cleaning time.

Soon life will return.

Some of the steps around the Sorbus Mountain Ash have been cleared a little.When time comes all that area will change its look.As appeared almost in an earlier journal,only now we have a white base,and soon that will be our green colour again..

Poinsettia shines.

Time to be with us.

As they have done for many years now,the Poinsettias take their place at Christmas time here in the house.They play the part of bringing in just some of the inward life of gardening here.No matter what frost,snow,etc attack out of doors,they wont be defeated by it.

My garden friend.

My garden friend.

Cold is in the air.Still not defeating this member of the mini flower bed.Though weather has tried several times,still it holds well among the plants..Every morning on the way out the gate,i have to gaze an eye over to see all are well.

Though at this time,much of the area is white,soon we will be back to normal look and get back on track.Much off the beds around the garden are still hidden because of the white attack but that will all change soon.A big thaw is on the way.

Problems with water are expected,but bring on the green grass and get the gardens back to life again.Some of the vegetable beds need attention as does part of the flower area.Mulch has to be called upon for a section.Hopefully all will go to plans soon.

Snow returns again to cause trouble.

Snow returns to visit.

From about three hours back,snow has been falling constant this evening.The white blanket has returned.

After doing some cleaning up here yesterday on the entrance etc,now it is back to square one again. More frost is also due to visit later,worse than it has been earlier.

Not to nice an evening to head out to the garden shed.Time will be spent in the seed room doing some study.

My neighbours dog joins the fun.

Joining the fun.

Passing by my neighbours house at lunchtime yesterday i had to stop and look out at the group playing in the snow.The dog had to have his turn for a slide.

The last of the Carrots [Damens carota

Get us out.

Any left in the ground should be up for storage now,unless done so already.They will store well in some sans or peat.

The ground is rather messy at present with snow and ice to allow any outdoor clamping with them.

When time will allow give a fast check around the veg,garden where they were grown.

It is important that all are removed to have the ground ready for the next crop,when time lets us do so.

Early Potatoes [Solanum tuberosa].

Potatoes [Solanum tuberos] for 2011.

Some of the saved earlies will be given a hand on with the chitting process,and that will happen over the next few weeks.They need a cool room,and dont want direct sunlight.

If it be a cold frame,frost free shed,etc then it is time to think ahead about an early start to the coming year with Potatoes.

Time to check about more seeds.

Still on the white side this morning.

In the main garden.

Roads here are in a serious state.Not much of a thaw out yet.A let up is not in the air yet.

Still though no snow falling,so not to bad,and able to walk around the garden this morning.Despite been messy,it is a bit of the way.

Moved back in some more plants to the seed room.

Keeping them warm.

Late last night on return,i took no chances and moved back into the seedroom,some of the young vegetable plants.Though well covered in the greenhouse,still i feared the worst after the other weather damage.Seed Potatoes [Solanum tuberosa] have been checked on also.

Plans for today.

Time to check around.

In a short while i hope to give a little time to some of the beds in row two,area three of the vegetable garden.Covers had been left on them and they will be removed to clear off snow and allow in some of the sunshine we have this morning.The vegetable garden is in a right mess now,thanks to the weather.

Back to a serious stage inside the tunnel.

Dangerous looking.

The sight of some areas inside the tunnel looked in a distressed state.Those at the critical stage like Brassica for spring are not to happy going below -12 app,and they went close to that earlier in the week.Winter Lettuce will take up on app -23 to -24 and they should recover well.Nail biting time again.

Another snowfall strikes again.

White and bright.

Roads are in a right state here,thanks to the weather attack.Plenty of snow.Now that frost has also left its mark this morning along with it,getting from one area to another is quite dangerous.Neighbours have been called upon last night to make sure all is well with them.How long this weather will last,is hard to know.