Archive for the ‘Lettuce’ Category

4 Aug

THANKS TO ST TERESA’S SCHOOL VISIT, THE KITCHEN GARDEN GETS A SLOT ON TV3 – FIRST WEEK IN AUGUST 2010.

Posted by Trevor Sargent in Bees, Cabbage, Lettuce, Potato, Radish. Tagged: , , , , .

Got a call from TV3 to come on the Morning Show programme on Tuesday 3rd August to discuss this website. The spark of interest was

On the set of The Morning Show with hosts Brian Daly and Sybil Mulcahy

lit by the impromptu visit by pupils from St Teresa’s National School and the al fresco recording of ‘The Garden Song’, I think. So a big thank you again to Ms. Lee and her young vegetable growing and singing students. The number of visitors to the website after the TV3 broadcast would have filled the garden itself many times over! Take a look here.

Meanwhile the Mammoth Russian sunflowers are flowering one by one. They are the skyscrapers of the garden and the bees love them. The lavender also is in full bloom and festooned with bumblebees and honey bees. The bees are not in the least bit bothered by me or any other mammal moving about the garden. It saddens me to hear about the phobia people mention about bees and wasps. I would be more cautious about wasps as they can sting and sting again later. However a bee will not sting unless the hive is threatened. After all, a bee dies in a gruesome way once it has stung, laying down its life for the hive.

Bees enjoying the Sunflower

This is the time of year to enjoy the fruits of earlier labour in the garden. However, the forward thinking gardener will be preparing to sow Spring Cabbage, Pak Choi and other salads, Radish every week or two and even Potatoes with harvest at Christmas in mind. Myself, I’ve put in a few more radish seeds and in a tub of soil, some lettuce seeds. Not very confident with the lettuce however as the packet says ‘ will not germinate over 18 degrees’. So fingers crossed. I’m not too worried as the garden is full of leafy plants which when mixed together make very interesting salads, such as chard, cabbage, nasturtium, dandelion, lettuces and various herbs. Even rose petals grown organically make an exotic addition to a salad bowl. As the person who said it said, variety is the spice of life (in as salad bowl).

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10 Feb

FIRST SOWING OF SEEDS INDOORS – SECOND WEEK IN FEBRUARY 2010

Posted by Trevor Sargent in Lettuce, Seed sowing. Tagged: .

No doubt I’ll be told that early February is too early for sowing seed with temperatures still low and flurries of snow here and there. I realise I’m taking a calculated risk but the seed packets in question do say to sow from February onwards. However, February 2009 was a little warmer than February 2010 so far.

Nevertheless, if my impatience is punished I can make further sowings in March. So I have nothing to lose and maybe a slightly earlier harvest to gain. Rather than repeating myself, I hope the video clip below  says it all. Lettuce, tomato, sweetpea and lobelia seeds are now sown and sitting on my windowsill in their 3 inch pots. Their very presence seems to herald in milder and brighter days.

21 Oct

SETTING UP GREENHOUSE FOR WINTER – SECOND WEEK IN OCTOBER 2009

Posted by Trevor Sargent in Basil, General, Lettuce, Strawberry. Tagged: , .

Spare time has been in short supply. Any couple of hours free on a Sunday afternoon has been spent in the garden. With the dry mild weather and the wish to be outdoors, the Trevor’s Kitchen Garden.ie  site has been neglected. You could say I was saving the blog update work for a rainy day.

This week was ideal for clearing out the spent tomato plants from the greenhouse. The grow boxes of soil which had given a good crop of cherry and brandywine tomatoes were emptied onto the bare patch of soil from where the onions had just been harvested.

Having swept the floor and washed down the glass, I then put back the removeable shelving in the greenhouse. These shelves are now stocked with pots of winter lettuce and basil. Another pot is growing shamrock as an experiment. The floor space is now filled with a three tier strawberry planter which will go outdoors in Spring when next years two tomato plants need their space again. The lettuce pots will also give way to next Spring’s seed trays in due course but not until I have had my fair share of salad sandwiches.

23 Jun

Mid-June review.

Posted by Trevor Sargent in Apple, Asparagus, Beans, Beet, Beetroot, Blackcurrant, Brussels sprout, Cabbage, Carrot, Compost, Fruit, Garlic, General, Kale, Leek, Lettuce, Onion, Peas, planning, Potato, Radish, Raspberry, Strawberry, Vegetables. Tagged: .

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 compare it with the overview taken in May. It’s geting difficult for the camerman to find a place to stand!

18 Mar

Lettuce

Posted by Trevor Sargent in Lettuce. Tagged: , .

18 March 2009