I was delighted to be asked to open the very special vegetable garden in St Teresa’s National School, Balbriggan, last Friday. Principal. Mr Pat Furlong, caretaker Richard along with Ms Ann Lee, her pupils, and their parents pulled together to create a spectacular and very productive organic garden, complete with bug hotel and scarecrows. The full [...]
Posts Tagged ‘June’
21 Jun
SUNNY GROWING CONDITIONS ENCOURAGE ME TO HARVEST ALLIUMS AND POTATOES EARLY AND TO USE THE FREE SPACE TO GROW ON COURGETTE AND PUMPKIN PLANTS – FOURTH WEEK IN JUNE 2010
Great weather if you like watering and if you have access to water. Luckily I find early morning watering with my 8 watering cans quite therapeutic and a good time to think about what the day ahead has in store. This being the longest day, I am set upon harvesting the patch growing onions, shallots and garlic. [...]
15 Jun
FIFTY VISITORS LAST THURSDAY EVENING TO OBSERVE AND DISCUSS THE RAPIDLY GROWING ‘GROW IT YOURSELF’ PHENONENOM – THIRD WEEK IN JUNE 2010.
Last Thursday, 10th June, 50 fellow kitchen gardeners dropped in at 7pm for a ’tour’ of the garden and I managed to rustle up a cup of tea and cake for them all. It was Naul GIY group through Denise Dunne of The Herb Garden who first mooted the idea of a GIY garden visit and it turned out [...]
9 Jun
GROWING TOMATOES ON AN UPSTAIRS SOUTHFACING WINDOWSILL – SECOND WEEK IN JUNE 2010.
No more space for tomato plants in the phone box sized greenhouse. The 2 plants in there already are filling out and starting to flower. So with plants to spare, I needed another south facing growing space under glass. Time to experiment and try a windowsill. Not wanting to destroy the wooden window sill, I [...]
1 Jun
STAKING AND TYING UP SUNFLOWERS AND TOMATOES IN THE NICK OF TIME – FIRST WEEK IN JUNE 2010.
With watering most mornings and calm warm weather, I have seen all young plants as well as hedge and lawn put on a spurt of growth. Unfortunately, injury to my right arm, (pulled ligament – 6 week recovery ahead – don’t ask, long story!), has curtailed me in the garden. So the lawn and hedges, [...]
25 Jun
SAVING THE BRASSICAS FROM THE CHARMS OF THE WHITE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY – FOURTH WEEK IN JUNE 2009
This is the week when I bought an 8m x 6m garden net for €8.50 from Charlie Corr’s my local hardware shop. I need it to protect my cabbage patch from the alluring but potentially devastating cabbage white butterfly. Although this little creature is very soft on the eye, unfortunately it’s offspring are very hard [...]
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 [...]
14 Jun
HARVESTING EARLY SPUDS TO MAKE WAY FOR TENDER COURGETTE PLANTS – THIRD WEEK IN JUNE 2009
Primary schools all around the country have been harvesting the crop from the two ‘Colleen’ seed potatoes which Agriaware and I sent to each school in February last, thanks to Bord Bia, An Post, Safefood Ireland and many generous fruit & vegetable company sponsors. I sowed a couple of the same seed potatoes in the [...]
8 Jun
SECOND WEEK IN JUNE – PLANTING OUT LEEKS AND SPINACH BEET
This week I see the leek and spinach beet seeds I planted in seed trays in early May are big enough to be planted out in the open ground. The leeks will go with the onions, garlic and scallions in the allium family patch. The spinach beet will go beside the beetroot as they are [...]
2 Jun
FIRST WEEK IN JUNE – GOODBYE BLACKFLY ON BROAD BEANS
What a scorcher of a holiday weekend with temperatures in the mid twenties! Thanks to Bord Bia and their key sponsors, Bloom in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, did a great service in encouraging armchair gardeners to have a go at growing some of their own food. I had the honour of opening the Michelle Obama [...]
