Made a start on clearing the spent pea and bean stalks and haulms. I did not dig them out, just chopped them at ground level so their roots remained in the soil. These legume roots have nodules of nitrogen fixed from the air during their growing season. I’m told this is valuable for the cabbage [...]
Archive for the ‘Apple’ Category
6 Oct
BALBRIGGAN FOOD FESTIVAL STRESSES LOCAL FOOD CULTURE GOOD FOR JOBS AND BIODIVERSITY – FIRST WEEK IN OCTOBER 2010
Ar an chéad lá de Dheireadh Fómhair, d’fhreastail a lán daoine ar Fhéile Bia Bhaile Brigín a bhí urraithe as Bridgestone. Deireadh Fómhair or October literally means ‘end of Harvest’ so the first of October was a good day for the first ever Balbriggan Food Festival. The sponsorship of Bridgestone was a big help and linked the Bridgestone Food Guide with the town where Bridgestone in Ireland is based and [...]
17 Sep
NATIONAL ORGANIC WEEK JUICING WORKSHOP – SECOND WEEK IN SEPTEMBER 2010
Monday, September 13th was the start of National Organic Week which An Bord Bia organises every year to shine a light on who and what is growing organically and where of course. A couple of months ago the invitation was extended to farmers, restaurants and growers big and small to put on an event to highlight [...]
30 Mar
LAST CHANCE TO PRUNE APPLE TREE AND CLEAR POND WEED AND REEDS BEFORE SPRING GROWTH STARTS IN EARNEST – FIFTH WEEK IN MARCH 2010
Another week or two and leaf buds will be opening and the growing season will pick up momentum. Time to get out in spite of the icy showers to prune the trusty ‘James Grieve’ apple tree before it is too late when leaves appear and sap is in full flow once more. In January or [...]
1 Oct
DEALING WITH APPLE POWDERY MILDEW – FIRST WEEK IN OCTOBER 2009
After the joy of winning a first prize in the Naul Horticultural Show for parsley which grows well under the apple tree, I was then brought back down to earth to discover a white fungus on a branch of the apple tree above. I read up on the symptoms in ‘Natural Pest and Disease Control’ [...]
9 Sep
ORDERING SEEDS FOR AUTUMN PLANTING – SECOND WEEK IN SEPTEMBER 2009
The ‘Indian summer’ has arrived and high pressure from mid-week on is good news for harvesting and sowing. I open up the seed catalogues therefore and order seeds for autumn sowing such as: 1. Radar – autumn onion sets, 2. autumn shallots, 3. garlic, 4. Aquadulce – broad beans, 5. cress, 6. mustard. Seeing these sets and seeds [...]
30 Aug
FIRST APPLE JUICE OF THE HARVEST – FOURTH WEEK OF AUGUST 2009
Harvesting continues throughout the garden. Onions, peas, beans, cabbage, kale and courgettes all need regular picking. The biggest job this week is setting up the apple juicer, retrieving empty bottles from the attic and containers to keep juice in the freezer for the months ahead. Someone with a larger kitchen garden would be thinking at [...]
23 Jun
Mid-June review.
The garden is full of lif right now. It’s fantastic to see how much growth there has been in the last month. The weather has been almost ideal, with lots of bright sunny days and the occassional shower to keep things moist. The video gives a quick tour of the garden and it’s interesting to [...]
16 Feb
February, 2nd. Week- Pruning fruit trees & Blackcurrant bushes
Second week in February Pruning the Apple Tree My fruit trees and blackcurrant bushes especially need to be pruned in the New Year before the sap rises and buds open. The garden is too small to allow the apple tree, in particular, to grow as large as it would in the wild. A long-armed loper [...]
