My hope of growing a Halloween pumpkin in the same grow bag from which I harvested the early potatoes unfortunately did not work out. Some pumpkins did form but they never swelled to the size required. I now realise the extensive root system really needs the expanse of open soil to develop and support the [...]
Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
27 Feb
FROZEN GROUND MEANS ONLY CULTIVATION POSSIBLE IN GARDEN IS UNDER GLASS – THIRD WEEK IN FEBRUARY 2010
Only a garden with a greenhouse or at least south facing windows can make any decent headway in seed propogation right now. With strong daytime sunshine, the growing spaces under glass (or plastic) dry out surprisingly quickly. It seems strange to be out watering when the weather is so cold. My ‘telephone box’ sized greenhouse [...]
18 Jan
THE PLEASURE OF PLANTING ROSES ON A MILD SUNNY SUNDAY – SECOND WEEK IN JANUARY 2010
After the rain, snow and ice, a dry weekend, not to mention a still and sunny Sunday was in relative terms, heaven on Earth. Although growing fruit and vegetables is my main activity in the kitchen garden, the cultivation of roses is very rewarding. For anyone concerned about ‘carbon footprints’, the sad reality about roses is [...]
17 Dec
GARDEN FIR TREE BECOMES CHRISTMAS TREE INDOORS – THIRD WEEK IN DECEMBER 2009
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 [...]
2 Dec
GROW IT YOURSELF COMES TO SWORDS – THURSDAY 10 DECEMBER 7pm
INTERESTED IN GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD IN SWORDS? Inaugural Swords GIY Meeting on Thursday 10th December in Scoil an Duinnínigh, Feltrim Road The Grow It Yourself movement comes to Swords! GIY networks aim to take the ‘self’ out of ‘self-sufficiency’ by getting back-garden growers together on a regular basis to talk, learn from each other [...]
26 Nov
THE BIG PICTURE – U.N. PLANS TO FEED THE WORLD – FOURTH WEEK IN NOVEMBER 2009
The garden is almost on automatic in November. I am still harvesting lettuce from pots in the greenhouse along with basil. This goes well in sandwiches with tomatoes grown by Matt Foley in nearby Rush. Outside, parsley, sage, rosemary, kale, leaf beet and cabbage are going strong. Brussel sprouts are coming right while the chives [...]
21 Jul
HARVESTING SECOND-EARLY POTATOES AND GIVING THE GARDEN SHED ROOF A ‘HAIR-CUT’ – FOURTH WEEK IN JULY 2009
The growing of Duke of York in car tyres and Carlingford in large 2 foot diameter pots has yielded a reasonable harvest. Both varieties are second-early potatoes. However the tyre grown Duke of York produced larger tubers and a heavier crop overall. It seems the tyres retained moisture better than the pots. The tyres were [...]
29 Jun
ENCOURAGE BEES, MAYBE TAKE UP BEEKEEPING – FIRST WEEK IN JULY 2009
The honey bee does so much more than produce honey. A by-product of collecting nectar is crop pollination. The value of this farming service has been estimated per colony of bees as around €1,500 worth of pollination a year. In order to collect a pound of honey, a bee flies on average a distance equivalent [...]
