For the Love of Gardening

Posted on May 12, 2013 by FionaGrowsFood

I am often asked what it is I love about gardening. Why I spend my spare time ankle-deep in nettles, (don’t get me started on all the nettle stings I’ve had in the past week), why I go out in the rain and wind to pull weeds or plant seeds. I never quite know how to answer. The truth is, there are a million reasons why I garden. Far too many for me to even begin to articulate. But, if I had to give one solid reason, it would be this: I love gardening because, every time I go to my plot, I see something new. Something I’ve never seen before, something exciting or unusual or amazing. Whether its a hare or a pheasant on the plot, a new plant growing, the birds signing in the trees or a neighbouring plot with a great new feature, there’s always something that creates wonder. I don’t think I’ve ever been to the allotment without being amazed by something. It is an education like no other. I guess that’s why I continue to garden, why I go out in the cold and wet, even when my crops fail and the weather infuriates, there’s always a reason to keep going.

This morning nature surprised me again. I went to the plot for a very quick visit, it was wet and miserable and it wasn’t too easy to drag myself out there. I simply wanted to plant my celeriac which was given to me by my dad who grew it from seed. I instantly noticed how much has grown in the past week, the plot was looking green and pretty, but I always think it looks nicer in the rain.

I was inspecting my thriving rhubarb, when I noticed a huge mushroom growing on the path in the shade of the rhubarb leaves. Now, I am not a fan of mushrooms or fungi, but this was fantastic. It was very large and pretty, with a spongy texture, I’d never seen one like it before. I have since been informed that it looks like a morel, which are quite hard to find and very popular and supposedly delicious (I never thought I’d use the word delicious to describe a mushroom). It was a bit decayed though so I didn’t pick it, I left it there to continue on its fascinating life cycle.

Morel

The mushroom isn’t the only thing to have shot up virtually overnight however. My peas have started to germinate, as have my broad beans. In my root beds there are beetroot seedlings and radishes and I think there might be parsnips but its difficult to differentiate them from the weeds. My fruit bushes have all taken a growth spurt, my blueberries, gooseberries and blackberries all have foliage now and my raspberries are flying up at an alarming rate.

Pea

Raspberries

The thing I was most pleased to see however, was my asparagus bed. Last year, I planted a few crowns in the hope I’d get some but they didn’t take too well and I wasn’t quite sure if they’d come back. Dave has been telling me for months to give up and plant something else but lo and behold, there’s some very small spears of asparagus beginning to come above ground. It’ll still be another year or two before we can even think about harvesting any but it’s good to know they’re there.

Asparagus

There’s still a lot to be planted out, it’s still quite early in the season; and despite the bad weather, the garden continues to grow. I continue to grow with it.

If I’ve learned nothing else in the past year it’s this: life will always find a way, even when you’ve had no hand in it and that is why there will always be a million reasons for a gardener to keep gardening.

Blue Beds, Blue Hands

Posted on April 22, 2013 by FionaGrowsFood

It’s amazing the difference one weekend of hard work can make in the garden. Last week, I was beginning to panic at the lack of progress on the plot this year, I’m at least three weeks behind with my planting and the place was looking very bare and brown and boring. Something needed to be done.

My new herb garden

The sun was mostly shining this weekend, with the exception of some lovely rain showers and the temperatures are finally up after what was the coldest March on record. Last week I dug up the terrible wasted area outside the shed, this weekend, I used the space to create a small herb garden. I planted rosemary, sage, lemon thyme, French tarragon (avoid planting Russian tarragon if you can, it has very little flavour), chives, lavender plus some echinacea, chamomile and bergamot. I also have some mint and lemon balm (bee balm) from last year and after saying I was not going to plant borage this year, I found a borage plant growing under my artichokes, it obviously wants to grow so I might as well let it. I’m also going to add some parsley, basil, coriander and caraway later in the year. It looks a bit bare at the moment but should be a lovely addition to the plot once it’s established.

The shed area, big difference from the mound of weeds and rubble that was here two weeks ago. I love that you can see a neighbouring plot in the background with its lovely neat drills.

I had been meaning to treat the wood on my raised beds for a while but kept putting it off. I decided this weekend that I should get around to doing it as the beds were looking a bit worse for wear after the winter. I toyed with the idea of getting a natural colour wood stain but I eventually chose a bright blue, I wanted to give the plot a bit of personality and thought blue would be nice and bright during the lean months when there’s little colour in the garden. It took me hours to do but it was well worth the effort, I’m hoping to add some more blue later, maybe a blue gate. Though maybe next time I’ll wear gloves, my hands were an almighty blue mess when I was done.

Blue Beds

Blue Hands

Having painted the beds, I spread a mountain of bark mulch along the paths, these had just been muck and weeds before so I was very eager to do something with them. It really makes a difference to the plot.

I’m planning on using the empty bed in the left foreground as a hotbed.

The entrance to the plot, definitely an improvement

I planted very little at the weekend, just some beetroot and radishes. Next week I need to get my peas and beans planted before it gets too late. Despite all my hard work, there’s still a huge mess to deal with next weekend, one whole end of the plot needs to be dug as it’s where the legumes are to be planted. It has been started but it’s a big job. It’s the embarrassing messy end of the plot and it must be conquered, especially now; no point in having pretty raised beds and a big pile wasted ground beside them.

Also, there’s not much point in having pretty beds with no veggies so this week I’m going to do some serios planting, excited!!

What The Fliuch?

Posted on March 29, 2013 by FionaGrowsFood

View from my window on Tuesday

The weather this week has been almost unbearable, at least it has been for gardeners. We’ve had cold, some freezing cold, sunshine cold, snow cold, wet cold, a little-bit-less-cold-than-yesterday cold, then back to snow cold. Today is the 29th of March and it is currently 3 degrees celcius outside. Three! This time last year we were experiencing a bit of an unusual hot spell, I was at the plot every day in a t-shirt; so this year I’m getting very frustrated at the lack of gardening. Somebody may have to restrain me before I eat all of the easter eggs in Ireland in an act of despair.

I have done, literally, no gardening since I planted my onions two weeks ago. Even my seedlings on my windowsills won’t grow as there’s no light in the sky. Last weekend the rain was absolutely torrential, constant rain causing floods country wide and making every one very miserable. There were dark grey clouds for six consecutive days. This week, it has been mostly snow, rain, sleet, some rain, some snow, more rain. Today is thankfully a bit drier. It’s a long weekend this weekend, I do have to work tomorrow but have a half day. I will be visiting the plot come hell or high water (likelihood of high water is great). Or even snow. At least I have these bad boys to keep me warm.

The warmest mittens in existence (possibly)

For those of you wondering about my title, “Fliuch” is gaelic for wet. And yes, it rhymes with the F word.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

Posted on March 17, 2013 by FionaGrowsFood

Happy St Patricks day from a cold, wet and snowy Dublin. Today is our national holiday and I suppose we are lucky that it is celebrated all over the world but there’s nowhere I’d rather be than here in Dublin, the weather might be terrible but that won’t dampen our spirits (especially if those spirits are whiskeys, vodkas or rums). I tend to avoid the city centre on Paddys day, the parade is great for the kids but I’m not a huge fan of the crowds of drunken idiots. I had planned to spend the day on my plot but the weather is far from being gardening friendly, it’s cold and wet with heavy snow and sleet showers.

St Patricks Day is traditionally the day to plant your first earlies but I’m not growing spuds this year. I did visit the plot yesterday morning in the glorious sunshine (I’m beginning to see why we call it “March many weathers”).

Whiter than white “Snowball” onion set

It was bright and warm yesterday morning, the sky was blue and I spent a few hours on the plot, getting my soil ready for my onions. I planted two types of onion and some shallots. I planted some Red Barons, which I had great success with last year, I also planted some shallots, a variety called red sun which have lovely pink flesh and are slow to bolt. I planted a variety of white onions called Snowball which are lovely pure white onions with a mild flavour. I also have some 50 Stuttgarter sets to plant later this week. I realised after planting my onions that I had no netting to protect them from the pesky birds, who love plucking onion sets out of the soil, so I covered them with some fleece which I had. I’m glad I did now, while onions don’t mind the cold, the frosts can force onion sets out of the ground.

Onions ready for planting

All wrapped up

The plot still looks very bare and messy, it’s going to take some serious hard work to get it the way I want it. Good thing I love getting out and digging because there’s plenty of it to do over the coming weeks.

I hope you all have a great Paddys Day and don’t get too drunk, if you were planning on planting your spuds today, maybe hold off for a few days or you’ll freeze your hands off.

Lá Féile Pádraig Shona Daoibh.

Dot Com

Posted on March 11, 2013 by FionaGrowsFood

Yesterday was a pretty important day, not only was it my birthday but it was also the first anniversary of the day I received my allotment. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already! I’ve come a long way from that first day I set foot on the plot. I’ve learned so much in the first year. I’m less concerned with having an unrealisticly beautiful plot and far more interested in the quality of my soil, the crop rotation and growing healthy organic vegetables; which is a good thing because my plot is a mess!

This time last year however it was far more of a mess, we were beginning to dig, there were no raised beds, no fencing, no shed, no pathways, just weeds. It’s amazing just how much the plot has changed and continues to change, it is in itself organic, always evolving and it continues to surprise me.

The weather was quite nice this time last year, it was dull but mild, we were able to go out every day and do some work. This year it’s entirely different. Today we have blizzards! The wind is freezing and gale force and it’s bringing snow with it. I do love snow though, it might be cold and brings everything to a standstill but it’s beautiful. According to Met Eireann it’s set to continue for the next few days so there’ll be no gardening for me.

I had a really lovely birthday, I went out for some drinks on Saturday and had a lovely quiet day on Sunday. I was very spoiled and I even received some gardening gifts. If you look up in the address bar of the browser, I now have my own domain name, courtesy of Dave who bought it for me as part of my birthday gift so my blog address is now http://www.fionagrowsfood.com

I also received a lovely old Encyclopedia of Gardening from a friend, it’s a lovely book with beautiful illustrations. My parents bought me a potting shed kit complete with dibbers, line marker and a paper potter for making my own pots (blog post on this to follow in the coming days). Needless to say I’m very spoiled (and that’s not mentioning all the dvd’s, make up, chocolates, video games and clothes).

Next weekend is Paddy’s Day so I’ll have three days off, think I know where I’ll be spending them, I just hope it stops snowing.

A March Miracle

Posted on March 3, 2013 by FionaGrowsFood

Yesterday, something miraculous happened. I woke up early (yes, on a Saturday, I was as surprised as you are) and the sun was pouring through the window. For a moment I thought I was dreaming, until I looked out the window and there it was, high in the sky, yellow as the daffodils outside my door and I realised, spring is finally here.

I’ve been stuck in a winter rut. I haven’t been able to find the motivation to get up and go out to the plot in the cold and dig and weed and freeze my bottom off. The sunshine was like the flick of a switch, my mood instantly changed. I was all of a sudden itching to go to the plot, plant some seeds, do some digging and get some much needed fresh air.

So, off I went, Dave in tow, to put on my wellies and get to work. Unfortunately however, my wellies had been left out on my last visit, they had been caked in mud and I left them to “dry out”.

My “Dried out” wellies

After much slagging from Dave about my waterlogged wellies, we got to work. First port of call, was to move the raised bed that I grew my carrots in last year. When we first built the six raised beds, I had already planted my onions in the spot where I wanted to put one, so instead of disturbing my onions, we put the bed elsewhere for the year. It looked out of place where it was however, so we decided to move it so it was in line with the other beds. Dave dug the muck out from the edges and we lifted the bed to it’s new location. We did have a little “incident” however, and the bed is now in two pieces. With the bed moved, we had a grave-like pile of muck left behind. I’m sure the neighbours thought that Dave had met an untimely end after said “incident” with the raised bed.

I made short work of the pile of muck, I transferred some of it back into the raised bed and used the rest to fill two brand new one metre square beds which went in it’s place. These little beds might only last me a year but they’re very handy and just what I needed to fill up the now empty space. I planted my garlic in one. I know it’s about two months late but we’re still getting enough frosts for it to get the cold snap it needs to start off and maybe I’ll get some small bulbs. It was the first thing I planted on the plot this year and it gave me a thrill. Next week I’m hoping to plant my onions and shallots too.

The new beds

I also took the opportunity to use up some of the billion pine needles I have in the shed, left over from great Christmas tree Massacre of 2013.

Dave the monster

The day we took down our tree, Dave, the heartless sod, took it outside and ruthlessly hacked off all the branches with a knife. We decided to recycle the tree ourselves instead of dumping it, or doing as most people do and letting rot away in the back garden until mid-summer; we bagged up all the branches and we now have six black sacks full of pine needles and braches in the allotment shed (which I still havent gotten around to tidying). Yesterday, I used one of the bags of pine needles to create a nice mulch for my blueberry bushes, which I noticed yesterday have lovely green buds on them. Blueberries love acidic soil, and while my soild is slightly acidic already, it does no harm to help them along. Pine needles are very acidic, and are excellent for using as a mulch for blueberry plants.

Before going home for a much needed cup of tea and a pat on the back, I had a little drool over my rhubarb, it’s looking very healthy. It’s hard to resist pulling off a stalk and munching away, but in just another few short weeks, I’ll be making rhubarb crumble. Yum.

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2012 by FionaGrowsFood

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year from Plot P26

The plot in glorious winter sunshine. Not how I expected it to look mid-winter.

I know I haven’t been blogging much lately, I’ve had a very busy few weeks, I moved house and work has been crazy. I haven’t hung up the gardening gloves however and I’ve plenty to write about in the new year. Hoping you and yours enjoy the season.

Fiona

Bird Watching and Trouser Dropping.

Posted on October 6, 2012 by FionaGrowsFood

Last week I wrote a blog post about a hare we spotted on the plot, well, today we found a pheasant!

It was a gloriously bright day for October so we decided to dop into the plot, just to have a little look around and maybe pick some veggies. We were just about to walk onto the plot when we heard a rustling and saw a huge male pheasant running away from us into a neighbouring plot. We tried to snap a few photos but it was running around like crazy, and boy could it move! I was amazed at how fast it could run. I mentioned how pretty it was, Dave mentioned how tasty it would be. I of course shot him a “don’t even think about it” look. You know the look; the one we reserve for our boyfriends when they’re being particularly outrageous (since I met Dave it seems to be permanently plastered to my face). The pheasant hid behind the shed of a neighbours plot for a minute before taking flight. I managed to get a blurry shot of it.

It seems that the plot is teeming with life, and I don’t just mean plant life. There are bugs and spiders everywhere, the daddy long legs seem to love the green mesh netting around the plot and every time I bend down to do something I spot a ladybird, a beetle or a caterpillar. I know I should be trying to eliminate them but they’re just so cute. It also looks like the hare was back, we found telltale signs in the carrot bed again.

Dave with a caterpillar, how could I kill it? Look at it’s little legs!

Last Friday, I took a half day from work and it was another bright day so I made my way to the plot for a while. I realised I forgot the keys to my my shed so had to unscrew the bolt off with a secateurs. See, us gardeners are a resourceful bunch. I just hope nobody thought I was a burglar. I changed into my old jeans in the shed as I had a dinner date later and didn’t want to go in mucky jeans. I realised while trouser-less I had forgotten to cover up the window or secure the door and I turned around to realise the door of the shed was wide open. So to any fellow gardeners who caught a glimpse of my knickers while I was changing in the shed, you’re very welcome.

Wanted: For burglary and indecent exposure (clearly those years I spent as a graphic designer are finally paying off)

I was feeling rather productive in my dirty jeans and wellies, spurred on by my Catwoman-like burglary skills and wanton disregard for my dignity; I decided it was high time I used my skills to make some sort of compost heap. I felt like the plot looked empty without it. I’ve been admonishing myself for not having one up until this point. I made a very simple compost bin using three wooden pallets.

It could be worse.

My efforts, however noble, were not exactly laudable. I struggled to lift the heavy pallets and I managed to (I’ve no idea how) drop one on my foot, which is still quite painful a week later. I also managed to hammer my hand, because, lets face it, a woman with a hammer is like a man with a mascara wand.

I also managed to build the bin where the entrance to the plot was, as I decided to move the entrance to the other side of the plot for ease of access. I didn’t think, though, to make the new entrance first so essentially boxed myself into the plot. It was like that dreaded moment when you realise you’ve mopped yourself into the corner of the kitchen and you either have to stand there to wait for it to dry or walk all over the clean floor. I chose the latter option and moved one pallet to the side to get out so it’ll need to be secured into place again. It’s very rough and ready but it’ll do the job for now and Dave promises he’ll fix it for me next week. I don’t think he’s too impressed with my DIY skills. My mam summed it up today with this little gem “My compost pit, looks like sh*t”.

Well, at least I tried.

I hope this nice bright weather keeps up for a while, the evenings are getting shorter and the mornings are darker every day. The leaves on the trees are gold and red and today I saw quite a few on the ground. Dry leaves are great compost material, so get out there and fill up a bag for your garden. I’ll leave you for now with my new sexy gardening photo. Thirty seconds after it was taken, myself and Dave did a tango around the plot.

No not really.

It’s the only photo I could find with the broken compost bin in it, I swear!

The Prodigal Gardener

Posted on July 29, 2012 by FionaGrowsFood

Forgive me, garden, for I have sinned, It’s been four weeks since I last paid you attention.

You see, dear garden, let me explain, it’s not that I don’t love you or want to spend time with you; it’s not that I’m lazy and not bothered to dig you, it’s simply that life has gotten in the way, and the real world has hindered my ability to tend to your ~~needs~~ weeds.

Fear not, my garden, I have returned. (With help, of course.)

We arrived this morning, myself and my parents, whose help I enlisted to battle your weeds. I’m sorry we stared at you aghast, I’m sorry we laughed at the sorry state you were in, I shall endeavor not to mock you again. Your beauty was hidden behind weeks of weed growth, spurred on by the horrible, wet, summer weather. Your lovely shed door was almost wide open, if not for the kindness of my lovely allotment neighbour, who tied it closed, after what it seems, a huge bunch of weeds had forced it open.

I am full of remorse.

We spent three hours, pulling up weeds, tidying you up, making you look nice again. We pulled up your beautiful borage plants, who were so prolific they were choking everything else, we massacred at least one hundred poppies, we pulled up at least a thousand and one nettles; my arms (my penance) covered in stings.

You began to look lovely again, your sweet peas and cornflowers, glorious in the sunshine.

You, my garden, despite the neglect, have continued to grow and provide me with crops. Your poor potato patch, badly blighted, looked forlorn and beyond redemption. On closer inspection, much to our surprise, hidden below were hundreds of beautiful, baby Maris Pipers, healthy as anything. Only a few were rotten. It’s truly a miracle.

No such thing as too many spuds

Onions nearly ready

Your raised beds, when freed from the grasp of the weeds, revealed a bumper crop of huge beetroots, some almost as big as my face. Your cabbages, celery, brocolli and lettuces, your peas, your rhubarb, your strawberries and artichokes all huge and healthy, despite the bad summer. Your swiss chard and spinach decided to bolt, but are beautiful bright lights in the centre of the plot. And your onions, oh your onions, they are almost ready, I can almost taste them. I long to dig them up.

So, my garden, you have been restored, I promise not to neglect you again. You have provided me with dinner for the week. I do not deserve it.

May the weather bless you and keep you until next weekend, when I shall return, to reap more of your bounty.

Amen.

P.S. Many thanks to Janette and John, without whom, you’d still be a mess.

Yum!

Giant beetroot

Purple Haze

Posted on July 8, 2012 by FionaGrowsFood

Apologies for my absence on the blog lately, I’ve had a very busy month. I haven’t been to my plot nearly as much as I’ve liked, and when I have been, I haven’t had the time to blog about it.

It’s been a fruitful few weeks on the plot. We’ve finally had the chance to taste some of our produce. Last week, we dug up our early potatoes, partly because they were ready and partly because they got very bad blight and I decided to just pull them up instead of trying to fight it off. We ended up with a mountain of lovely, bright purple baby potatoes which were miles tastier than any new potato I’ve had in a long time. Maybe it was the satisfaction of knowing I had grown them myself but they were really delicious, fluffy and floury. The variety of new earlies we grew were Red Dukes of York and I’m so pleased with them that I think I’ll grow them again next year.

Bucket of spuds

We’ve also had some lovely swiss chard, rocket and perpetual spinach over the past two weeks. There seems to be a very purple/pink theme happening in the plot at the moment. We’ve had purple potatoes, chard, and of course, yesterday we pulled up some gorgeous, bright purple, baby beetroot.

My rhubarb which, you may remember, had been destroyed by the bad weather in April, has come back to life and is now absolutely huge, thick purple stalks and huge leaves, it’s torture not to be able to pick some but I’ve been told time and time again not to pick it in the first year so alas, I just have to admire the view and wait until next spring before I indulge.

Rhubarb and a million weeds

My strawberries are starting to ripen and I stole a cheeky nibble of one yesterday. It’s amazing to be able to sit on my plot and eat veggies, straight from the ground.

The plot is, however, in dire need of some work, the weeds in some parts are knee high and unfortunately, a lot of my plants have bolted. My swiss chard, which has been doing well until now, bolted over the weekend and I had to pull up two of the plants as they were no longer viable, I also noticed a few of my red onions were starting to bolt so I cut off the centre stalks and I’m hoping I caught them early enough. My dad tells me that bolted onions do not store as well so to pull them up as you need them, thankfully it only happened to a few. The weather continues to be a challenge this year, the warm, wet conditions are a haven for blight, pests and of course it’s causing many of my plants to bolt, but it is my first year and there’s a huge learning curve, I’ve already learned some invaluable lessons for next year. I’m just pleased I’ve had so much success so far.

I’m very excited about one thing in particular. My peas, they have pods! Only a couple of weeks until I can pick my favourite crop from the plot, nothing beats fresh peas from the garden. They make all the hard work worthwhile.