My Garden: 29th July 2015

Today I harvested my garlic. The bulbs on the right are the Solent variety and the reddish ones are from a bulb I saved from 2014's crop (variety forgotten by me). I shed a silent tear for the three [expensive] bulbs of seed garlic that got misplaced in the house (ahem thrown out by my lesser half I suspect) and that never made it into the ground. I should have had a bumper crop!

I used one whole head of Solent to make today's dinner of bean enchiladas. Here are some leftovers packed for tomorrow's lunch and looking nicely layered on a bed of rice and peas, baby salad leaves and coleslaw with a few cherry tomatoes thrown in.

Remind me to do a post on the bean enchiladas some time....

If you follow me on Facebook you might have seen this happy face greeting you good morning earlier in the week. My sunflower is about four feet tall. It is wondrous how such a show stopping plant can be so low maintenance and easy to grow. Right now I make a pledge to grow at least twenty next year! Although I said that about leeks last year and I don't have a single one...

This pretty in pink lady is Phlox. I have taken cuttings from the little plants that sprout up around the mother plant and they are coming on nicely in their pots (real size about 8 inches - sorry about the bad quality, just took them in the kitchen as it is night time):

My tomato plants have a nice amount of immature fruits but they are ripening at a painfully slow pace and in my impatience I have removed three almost ripe Indigo Rose tomatoes and am trying to force them to edible stage inside a brown envelope on my sunny kitchen window. Come on come on!!

That's all folks.

"Weeds" Are Beautiful

With the recent heat and rain, the garden is claiming back its wild areas. This morning as I was pottering and poking around, I was amazed at the range of pretty little flowers that are growing naturally. I love the way they grow out of cracks and corners, while your expensive purchased plants fail to thrive. I've tried to get the correct names for them all.

Veronica persica (Speedwell)

Delicate little blue and white flowers brighten up this patch of green foliage. These hardy flowers have erupted from behind a piece of wood.

This patch of wild flowers has emerged from the corner of my onion patch. I don't think the photo does it justice but in the flesh it really is so pretty with tiny red, white and blue blooms and an array of different leaf shapes and heights.

Prunella vulgaris (Selfheal) adds a dash of purple:

I think this creeping tall pink flower is Stachys officinalis (Betony):

The humble Bellis perennis (Daisy) is so widespread that it is easy to stop appreciating just how beautiful this flower with its vivid yellow centre and brilliant white petals is. Holly Blue butterfly anyone? 

And it's very sweet when my 3 year old hands me one as a present. They really are the archetypal child's flower.

Here we have some Trifolium repens (white clover) and Ranunculus repens (creeping buttercup) hanging out together:

This persistent pink flower, Geranium robertianum (Herb Robert) grows out of cracks in the paving, the roof shoots and here out of a disused barbecue:

These precious little red/peach flowers are Anagallis arvensis (Scarlet Pimpernel):

My favourite weed of all, and one that has a great public campaign promoting it in recent years, is the lowly Taraxacum vulgaria, commonly known as dandelion (or pissy bed for those in the know!). I've seen bees, hoverflies, butterflies and a huge range of other flies visiting my dandelions. And remember that all insects who visit flowers are pollinators, even the little black fellas that you'd hardly notice.

Small Tortoise Shell:

Honey Bee:

Red Soldier Beetle:

Might look like bee but it is in fact a hoverfly:


And another honey bee:

So don't be too quick with a hoe and let your garden surprise you with its native wildflowers.

Caught a Garden Thief

And here was I thinking I had a very thirsty rabbit!

My Garden: 7th July 2015

I picked up a Phlox plant at a sale back in March. The variety wasn't labeled but as it is becoming a tall plant, I am assuming it is the common variety Phlox Paniculata. Mine has yet to flower but when it does I imagine [hope] it will look something like this:

"Phlox Paniculata" by Atilin - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Mine is looking much more under-whelming at the moment, but still healthy:

Flower buds are starting to appear. I am afraid to put it in the ground incase my rabbit eats it.

Lots of little plants have sprung up around mother plant so today I have taken cuttings and potted them on. I cut away the baby plants trying to preserve some roots and have planted them in pots of seed compost. Some of the cuttings had no roots attached so remembering something I read somewhere on the Internet, I applied honey to the cut end, to act as a natural rooting hormone. We'll see about that! I stripped off the lower leaves and covered the pot with a plastic bag.

They are sitting in my greenhouse at the moment. Tomorrow I think I'll cut a corner off the bags as the conditions might be too humid. I will know they have rooted when there is new growth but I suppose if they aren't limp looking in a week's time, things are looking good.

My Garden: 28th June 2015

Another glorious day. From reading this blog you would think that the sun always shines in Ireland but I must only be inspired to post on the good days. We were out in the garden before 8 this morning; I in my pjs and wellies and toddler in his wet gear as it had rained quite heavily last night. Torrential rainfall followed by warm sunshine is a combination in which the garden really blooms. My courgette plant opens a new flower almost every day but none as fantastic as this morning: 

Where another flower has dropped off, a courgette stands waiting to be picked. I had heard that courgettes were prolific fruiters and I've found that to definitely be the case so I am glad that I only have the one plant.

My little helper illuminated. He had great fun poking his finger in the centre of the flower. Helping along pollination I'm sure:

Basking in the sunshine:

I am growing four varieties of tomato this year - Moneymaker, Sungold Select, Black Cherry and Indigo Rose (pictured):

I bought the Indigo Roses as plants in a local GIY plant sale, the rest I grew from seed. The purchased plants were much more established that my own and they have been the first to start fruiting. I am really excited to see the purple black tomatoes emerging. Most of my plants have started to flower at this stage so it shouldn't be long before I have a range of colours.

See you in July!

Crusty Life: 23rd June 2015

This week I am bottling my Elderflower Champagne. If you haven't already, check out MY POST with step by step photos of how to make this simple and light summer drink. It's makes a great gift for all those occasions where you would like to give something small but meaningful. It's so easy to do and great fun.

From the garden I am eating salad crops such as radish, courgette, pak choi and young beetroot leaves. My tomatoes are starting their first tiny fruits. All but one of my pears have fallen off the trees (apparently there is something called June Drop) but the remaining one is swelling nicely so fingers crossed for this baby!

Water charges were introduced last month (our bill was €55) so I am being even more conscious of my garden related water use than ever. Next big job is to get a water butt and make use of that wonderful rainfall we get. It has been quite dry lately and the plants are suffering.

Onwards and upwards!

Cleaning with Lemons

Lemons are best used fresh in slices stuck into the neck of a bottle of Miller but for more sober moments, I like to keep a bag of whole lemons in the freezer. I buy them when on offer and just put them in a ziplock bag and into the freezer. To defrost, just put into a cup of boiling water and it'll be ready to use in 15 minutes or so.

I use my defrosted lemons mainly for cleaning surfaces. Simply squeeze the lemon into a plastic container and add warm water. Floating pips for decoration. You could spread out the remains of the lemon and rub directly onto the surface you are cleaning. I cleaned my kitchen work tops and the high chair top with lemon juice and water this morning and they look superb. It leaves a nice neutral smell and it's so much better to prepare food on a surface that you haven't sprayed with a harsh cleaner. I do use disinfectant sprays, mainly around the sink area, but never on the high chair. I don't have any illusions that lemon is a great killer of bacteria so I do take care to use something stronger after dealing with raw meat.