Month: February 2010
The birds were making a bit of a flurry up in the top corner of the garden so I stood on tippy toes to see what all the fuss was about. My lettuce was the source of their excitement as they flew down, landed and had a damn good pick.
The lettuce variety is ‘butterhead’. I have it about 2 months now and have it planted in with my rhubarb plant (received from Jacinta). Instead of letting it become heads of lettuce, I was treating it as salad leaves and just picking a few leaves as I want it. Originally there were 8 small plants. I lost one plant with the wind – it obviously hadn’t anchored itself properly in the container and the wind blew it away. The wind does a lot of damage in my garden as it seems to be tunnelled up the back gardens of the row of our houses. I found it about 3 days later, behind the garden seat, looking very sorry for itself. The cold snap didn’t help the remainder but they were all coming on well over the last week or so.
Now the birds are making a feast out of them. Any suggestions as to preventing them? I thought of strawberry netting but the rhubarb plant is starting to grow and the gaps in the strawberry netting would be too small for the rhubarb to come through.
I finally got out into the garden this evening and did a few jobs. Everything looks so miserable but I did notice great growth already. Of course all my bulbs are up and that cheered me up and of course the snowdrops add a little colour and the crocus. Its lovely to see something growing after the dreadful weather we had and it can only get better.!!! When things improve in the garden I must take some more photos.
I spent some time today re-setting my young strawberry plants. It’s amazing how far they were forced out of the ground with the recent frosts. The first few millimetres of roots were clearly visible in some cases, a perfect recipe for the little plants drying out and failing when temperatures beging to rise.
This last two months have been very difficult only able to get out on rare occasions.
Anyway spring vegetables planted in greenhouse, summer perennials lifted and split. I have so much stuff and not enough space!
I am coming down with lilies, foxgloves, hollyhocks, dahlias, peonies,chrysanthemums and many other varieties. Luckily, my parents and friends are poking around with interest, otherwise it would be a very large garden sale.
Have added some pics of Dun na Ri last summer taken by my son who is very interested in both photography and wildlife.
Found a bee, bug and butterfly garden for kids while mooching in C-Discount in Dundalk yesterday. My five year old wants to know how you grow butterflies! Anyway it contains seeds of fennel, coriander, snapdragons and a couple of others to encourage insects, and to get kids interested in growing so this evening we shall be in the shed potting out the new additions.
Sweet pea, sunflowers, cornflowers, busy lizzies and other saved seeds now planted as well.
Really starting to notice the stretch in the evenings now and can’t wait for a bit of heat to really make things poke their heads out!
We have very wet soil here in Gorey. I spent the day mucking out the compost heap and then dug out a border in front of my garden shed. As I dug the ground filled with water. My drainage is very poor here but hopefully as the summer comes nearer and the rain stops falling the ground will dry out again.
Hi everyone Thomas Nixon here from Growmoor Horticulture! Just a little chance to show off our product range for 2010. We have an extensive range of composts for the professional grower to the green fingered weekender! As we say it never hurts to look!!
If you are interested at all take a wee look at our website at www.growmoor.co.uk
Hope you all injoy and dont be afraid to get in touch with any questions!
Thomas Nixon
Had a bad dose of boitrytis (bad spelling probably) year before last – used the elderflower tea in the greenhouse and had none last year! – who knows if it works or not but I’m a believer and will use again this year.
Came across some interesting information based on using natural products
Elderflower tea discourages moulds on everything! including boitrytis
Chive tea is particularly good with the grey, dusty mould that blights the rose
Nettle tea treats mildew on cucumbers
Horsetail tea helps to protect against fungus due to its high silica content
How to make these teas?
Herb Tea recipe
1 cup dried or fresh herb
2 cups water
boil the water – pour onto herb and leave for at least an hour
strain off the liquid and store
use 2 tablespoons of this tea diluted in 4 litres of water and spray or water the plants
Presume you all know that the Irish Times property section on Thurs has an article on gardening, largely veg, and the Irish Examiner property section on Sat has one mainly on shrubs , flowers etc and upcoming events. Also the Irish Times magazine has one on Sat.
Went to Lidl this morning to get some seed compost and a Witch Hazel. It was packed in there. Quite funny to see all trollies laden with primroses. It was like they were giving them away free. Everyone had some. Great selection of seeds there too. Made my way back to the car, carefully put my lovely Witch Hazel in the back of the car, still amused by the trolly loads of Primroses passing me by.
Started the car and a great big puff of black smoke came out of the engine, it sounded like a train puffing away. So had to stay put till hubby came to collect me. He too was amused by all the Primroses in the car park. He opened my boot to swap over the shopping and low and behold there was four trays of Primroses đŸ™‚
Did anyone else get the scope? I bought it but it is awfully complicated. I couldn’t spot anything in the garden, loads of branches but I couldn’t make out what was what. A friend had told me it was difficult but I had to see for myself! It’ll go back tomorrow!
Has anyone else checked their delpheniums lately… yesterday I checked mine and I could hardly believe my eyes some of them are up already.. isn’t it very early?? last summer was my first summer to try delpheniums because my garden is very windy I was a bit unsure but with a lot of attention and staking they produced a fantastic display…
Got my finger out today, between the showers, got a good bit done finish it tomorrow.
I am sowing seed in earnest for my newly dug borders and large annuals border.
Plans for this year include a tropical border and a bog garden to hold my carnivorous plants. I also have three larger projects, which involve hiring a big digger, but only time will tell if I stretch to them this year.
With my bird problem, various suggestions were gratefully received. Jacinta suggested a wire hanging basket less the lining. I was a bit baffled with this as I couldn’t see how that would stop the birds so I went investigating.
This is what I should do:
Cover the hanging basket with a piece of the glazing film or cling film, attaching it to the rim with double-sided tape. Leave about 5cm excess at the edges.
Use a hairdryer to blow the film until all the wrinkles disappear and it goes tight. Snip off the surplus film with a pair of scissors.
Doesn’t sound too difficult even for me. Will try at the weekend and see how I get on.
No gardening, no Lidl and no Aldi today. Did, however, get the wonderful privilege of driving around Dublin city centre at 30km – what a pain in the bum! It’s actually worse driving in the city centre now as people walk in front of you, on the assumption that you are obeying the limit. Add to that and the rain – it certainly would put you off taking a car into the city. I pity the traders; they certainly aren’t getting it easy.
- Uncover the seedlings as soon as they germinate and put them in the best light available. You can normally grow the plants on at a lower temperature after germination. Continue to water from the bottom up if watering is necessary.
- When the seedlings are large enough and start to push roots through the sides of the pellets or grow trays, pot up into the appropriate size of coir pot. These pots provide excellent aeration and drainage for the young plant and cut down on plastic pot waste
As I just about managed to get seeds to grow last year, almost by default, I was delighted to get this email from ‘Green Gardener’
- Make sure all equipment including compost, trays, pots and the bench on which you are working are sterile. Use Citrox as a disinfectant to wash pots etc. Germinating seeds and young seedlings are vulnerable to fungal diseases, which cause the seedlings to rot at ground level (called damping off disease).
- Use fresh seed whenever possible. Seed can be saved from year to year, but it will deteriorate, so best to start fresh each year. With modern techniques of production seeds will germinate given the right conditions, so read the packet and check the conditions required.
- Wherever possible try and sow the seed in an individual container, so you don’t have to handle young seedlings. This will save you time and prevent damage to young, delicate seedlings.
Small seed – For seeds such as begonia and lobelia sow a tiny pinch of seeds into individual Starter Coir Pellets. Do not cover the seeds as these very small seeds germinate better if they are not covered (check the seed packet for details).
Medium sized seed – For seeds such as tomato simply drop 1 or 2 seeds into the Starter Coir Pellet. I prefer to cover these larger seeds with a sprinkling of vermiculite. This keeps the seed moist during germination. - Large seed – For seeds such as marigold and many of the vegetable seeds (cucumber, beans etc.) single sow them in Medium Grow Trays containing sterilised compost, such as our Coir Compost. Fill the tray with compost and water before sowing, allow to drain and single sow one seed in each pot. Cover with vermiculite.
- If possible place the pots/trays in a propagator set at the correct temperature. Remember seeds have an optimum germination temperature – too high or too low and the seeds may be slow or even fail to germinate. If you don’t have a propagator then a warm window sill may be OK. Cover the pots/trays with the lid of the propagator or with a sheet of glass/perspex to keep the moisture in. Given the right conditions seeds should normally germinate before you need to water. If they are slow and you need to water, then place in a shallow bowl of water and water from the bottom up. This will help to reduce the risk of disease.
Its a lovely day here today in Laois, looking forward to some garden time over the weekend. But I will be sporting my wellies, my garden is pretty waterlogged we had a good bit of rain yesterday. Benji is nearly black every evening when he comes in from the garden but sure he loves running around in it. I notice a lot more bulbs showing at the moment, looking forward to all the colour :O)
Have just read a wonderful book instead of working in the garden!! My excuse is the weather hasn’t been too good this week and I had a birthday yesterday having reached that magical age in the Lennon and Mc Cartney song.
It is The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift. Katherine took a lease on the Dower House at Morville in Shropshire for 20 years and has created a beautiful garden. Before that she had worked as a rare books librarian in Oxford and Trinity College.
The book describes the making of the garden but also contains some of her family history. It is in the form of a Medieval Book of Hours. Definately recommended reading.
If anyone happens to be up North on the 29th April, there is a plant sale at Clanmurry, Lower Quilly Road, Dromore. It is from 7.00pm onwards. Proceds to Christian Aid and an orphanage in Bangladesh.
Contact Sara Mc Corkell 028 92 693760
What a lovely day today, a real touch of spring about it. Well I started to clean out the greenhouse at last. Most thing had perished in the frosty weather so I dumped almost everything, except a few pits that might come back. Tomorrow I’m going to wash down the glass inside and outside and wash out the floor. When that’s done I will start the seed sowing. Looking forward to that.
The fish were up at the top today looking for food, I crushed a few food sticks and gave it to them they just nibbled at it so I will hold of feeding them for another few weeks.
Having terrible trouble with broadband in the last couple of days, surprised I’m on line now. It was just lasting a few minutes and then crash. The laptop yesterday was nearly going out the window. Like Jacinta patients is not one of my virtues.
Tomorrow I will start my on my veg. plot…..hopefully if the weather permits. Fencing should be up at around midday (to protect from the very livestock of the 3 dogs, 6 cats and 6 horses) and then its dig, dig and more dig. Some seeds have been sown – don’t have a heated propagator but what the heck if they grow they grow. If there are any few tips on offer I’d be most grateful.
I’m reading everyone’s journal entries and it seems the sowing has started in earnest. I’ve got a few trays on the go, but I’m trying to maintain calm and not get ahead of myself. I know that I sowed my tomatoes around the 20th of February last year. That worked out pretty well, but I do recall a lot of shuttling between the tunnel and the house as I brought 2 crates of baby tomatoes inside every night until the temperature was adequate. Not sure I want to do that again, but I did have ripe tomatoes at the very beginning of July which was quite early for me. I’m thinking that the choice of early ripening varieties was a smart move — I believe the earliest were ‘Stupice’ and ‘Sweet Olive’ F1.
I’ve peas and broad beans just now putting on growth in the tunnel. I thought for sure that the frost had got to them, but they seem to be ok. And the asparagus I sowed from seed (for the craic) that I was getting ready to dump in the compost heap today, was rescued at the last second when I saw a bit of new growth at the base of one (‘Connover’s Colossal’ for the interested party).
The big project this year is getting that front ornamental bed planted so I’m sowing lots of perennials in an effort to pretty up the place cheaply. I’m busy watching the calendar to see when it’s time to take the damned Astrantia seeds out of the fridge. And yesterday I sowed Rhodochiton (thank you, Liga) and Cerinthe (thank you, Alison), as well as a couple of Agastaches, Coreopsis (very early 90s of me, I know) and a rudbeckia. I bought this lovely Agastache from Mt Venus in the autumn and boldly pruned it for a couple of cuttings immediately — and I’m happy to say that old Jack Frost didn’t get to them, though I was sure he would. It’s Agastache ‘Black Adder’ and it’s gorgeous.
Nothing in the new bed yet — I’ve dumped a barrowful of garden compost on it and let the hens spread it for me (they have to earn their keep somehow since they’ve not started laying yet after the ould moult) — and a good job they did too. But I did get mypex laid on the path as I was tired of dragging muck all over the place.
So we’re getting there.
not a lot done today, the two mutts cant agree on the one bed, so i had to divide their space into two, the small one is deaf and the hairy one is a bully and is her ofspring, its looking good so far, bit of luck i’ll get finished in the garden tomorrow then i’m ready to go.
Thanks for all your comments yesterday great interest.
With our economy in a perilous state and increasing concerns about the quality of our food system, there is unprecedented interest in producing organic food in back gardens, allotments and community gardens. Unfortunately, right at the time when it would be most useful, there is a deficit of practical expertise about growing food. As individuals and as a society we have lost the necessary knowledge and skills that a generation ago were taken for granted. GIY (Grow it Yourself) Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation which promotes and facilitates amateur food growing. Our mission is to encourage people from all walks of life and of all ages to grow their own food in their home, allotment or community garden and to provide them with the practical skills they need to do so successfully.
We do this on three levels: (1) by promoting GIYing through the national media, (2) via our social network www.GIYIreland.com, and (3) at a local level through GIY groups that meet in local communities. These local GIY groups aim to take the ”self” out of ”self-sufficiency” by getting growers together so that they can learn skills from each other and connect with like-minded individuals.GIY group activities include monthly meetings, talks and demos; garden visits, seed and seedling swaps; produce bartering, mentor panels and grower’s meitheals. GIY activities are free and open to people interested in food growing at all levels, i.e. from growing a few herbs on a balcony to complete self-sufficiency, from beginners to old hands.We provide GIYers with a vision of a thriftier, healthier future, and the practical assistance they need to realise that vision. The project has created a new sense of community among GIYers and has brought together people from all walks of life, all ages and all social backgrounds.
Key Achievements To Date
1. September 2009: GIY Ireland hosted a successful launch event in Waterford Institute of Technology which was designed to publicise the organisation and identify local champions to run GIY groups around Ireland. The launch conference was attended by 250 delegates from around Ireland with almost every county represented. Speakers included Minister for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sargent TD, Ballymaloe founder Darina Allen, world-renowned horticultural author Joy Larkcom and chef/author Clodagh McKenna.
2. September – December 2009: We put significant effort in to establishing an organisational framework. We established GIY Ireland as a Company, limited by guarantee having no share capital (CRO number 477525). We also appointed a CEO, an executive committee and a board of directors. We have applied to the Revenue Commissioners for charitable status.
3. September 2009 – January 2010: Since our launch event, we have established almost 50 GIY groups around Ireland with an average of 50 members in each group. Prior to the launch, our target was to establish 30 groups within 12 months. We have a network of enthusiastic "local champions" around Ireland who are running GIY groups voluntarily with the help of a steering group and with support from GIY Ireland.
4. November 2009: Following a substantial development process, GIY Ireland’s social network (www.giyireland.com) went live. The website allows visitors to share information, tips, expertise and war-stories, as well as finding out more about GIY groups nationwide. The website is on target to achieve our goal of 75,000 unique visitors for 2010. We have also recently set up a "GIY Store" where members can purchase GIY merchandise – proceeds from these transactions go directly to funding our services.
5. September 2009 – January 2010: We have secured significant sponsorship and funding from Woodies DIY, AIB, Bord Bia and Agriaware.
6. January 2010: In association with AIB, GIY Ireland produced a GIY 2010 calendar which includes profile photos of GIYers in their vegetable plots and monthly tips. 3,000 calendars will be distributed to GIYers around Ireland free of charge this year. The calendar includes a "Friends of GIY" page which allows members to donate to GIY Ireland.
7. September 2009 – January 2010: We have secured invaluable publicity in the national media (TV, radio and print), for example RTE’s Ear to the Ground and Nationwide, RTE Radio’s The Tubridy Show and Mooney, Today FM’s Ian Dempsey Show, Newstalk’s Moncrieff, 4FM’s Gareth O’Callaghan Breakfast Show, national newspapers (The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and The Examiner) as well as local print and broadcast media.September 2009 – January 2010: We have appointed four Patrons of GIY Ireland – Diarmuid Gavin, Darina Allen, Clodagh McKenna and Joy Larkcom
major major problem with my garden this year after all d rain and snow its more like a swimming pool than garden dont even know where to start being honest grrr
