Not much time for gardening with late Dáil sittings. I just about manage a few minutes in the garden to bring vegetable, fruit and kitchen paper waste out to the compost tumbler every couple of days.
I notice the garlic cloves sown a couple of weeks ago are sprouting and the green shoots of new growth are evident. (A good omen for the ‘green shoots of economic recovery’, let us hope!). This is the last Thursday of Dail sittings for 2009 and the Party Leaders and An Ceann Comhairle have exchanged Christmas Greetings. It is time to turn attention to the Christmas Tree at home.
For eleven months of the year a miniature fir tree grows away slowly beside the raspberry canes under the apple tree in the back garden. Now is the time to take a spade, dig around the tree doing as little damage as possible to the roots, and transplant the whole tree (rootball and all) into a clean black bucket.
The tree is now ready for a sojourn in the sitting room window, suitably decorated and lit up for the Christmas season. After Nollaig na mBan on January 6th it will be replanted in the garden. While most of us head home for Christmas, this fir tree heads indoors for a holiday. Each to their own.
Meanwhile, time to put on the kettle, stick a log on the fire and have a good look at a couple of seed catalogues. Nollaig shona duit.
Posted by Trevor Sargent on February 10, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Eoin, a Chara,
Sorry for late reply. Christmas tree now happily planted in garden I hope. They are not fussy, I find. Not too wet, not too dry and with reasonable light. I stick to a miniature conifer for my Christmas tree as I want to mainly grow food in the garden.
Le meas glas,
Trevor