Most are from the Tralee town park and rose gardens but others are just from on my bike rides home/locally.
"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not" - Georgia O'Keeffe Most are from the Tralee town park and rose gardens but others are just from on my bike rides home/locally.
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The above 2 photos were both taken on the same day. not today but recently within the last week or so) Crazy right? I find it hard to believe that we are at the end of the first week of July as looking out the window it looks more like a wet/windy November afternoon. That said, it's not cold and up until recently, we have had some lovely weather and everywhere you look there is colour and life in all forms.
My tomatoes are coming on in leaps and bounds and am giving them a weekly liquid organic feed as well as removing any side shoots before they get a hold, they really grow so fast now and what was a 2cm shoot will soon be 30cm and producing its own flower buds. You can of course not remove the side shoots as they would when they grow wild but since tomatoes are most often grown in large buckets (like pictured) they only have a certain and limited area to grow and thrive in, even with good feeding. Make sure you keep a good routine of regularly feeding/watering them as right now they should have fruit starting to swell and if you want a good crop of tomatoes, these things are key. Irregular watering can cause split fruit (still edible) and potentially Blossom end rot (much worse and normally deems the affected fruit inedible) Don't let them dry out to the point of wilting (and potentially no return) but let the surface of the soil dry out a little in order to encourage the plants to put down deep roots in search of water and extra nutrients. Also as your plants get bigger and taller, make sure they are staked/supported well (cordon varieties) with bus varieties like Tumbling tom/Tiny Tim, you don't remove the side shoots (if you want fruit) you just let them do their thing!
The local garden Center always carries a huge range of plants and all different varieties. I bought some seed of Echium blue steeple early in the year online and while I was passing I said I'd see did they have any of them so I could have a few as back up, they did and even better as this is more rarer white or pink variety. These plants can grow up to 4m in height if they have all the right factors, and they are wind tolerant and appreciate good drainage. When in full bloom they produce masses of flowers scattered on the spire. (great for pollinators!) The only thing though is that they have to go through 2 winters to produce flowers but they should be worth the wait and in the mean time, the foliage should make enough of a presence! I also got some fantastic Raspberry canes (variety Autumn Bliss ) there for €2.50 each and they were not small plants but good, strong healthy plants so next year with the combination of the summer and autumn varieties, I'm expecting good things! My apples, fingers crossed will also produce a decent crop, this is only their 3rd year but every year their yield has increased! After the atrocious weather we have had up until recently, the sun finally comes out to say Hi and looking at the long- range forecasts, it looks like it might hang around for a while too. Despite the fact that I'm a little behind in comparison to last year due to a combination of the weather and other reasons, the last few weeks of warm weather have really given things a kick in the right direction and there's its lovely to see all the colour everywhere. With all the rain we had this Spring you'd think we'd never have to water our plants/garden but you'd be surprised how quickly ground dries out. This is more of an issue for plants in pots and containers as the roots can only go so far to search for water and more often then not the containers aren't that deep in comparison to being in the ground. The best time of the day is to water in the morning before the sun really hits, avoid watering the plant itself to avoid mildew and sun scorch. With the tomatoes in large buckets I always water from the base or have an upturned bottle in the planter to deliver water/feed directly to the roots. Always give the plants a good soaking, a sprinkle of water is pretty much pointless. If you just barely water the surface of the soil, the plant will not bother sending out larger roots and will dry out quicker and may not be as productive. Also watch out for plants bolting (running to seed) as the combination of cold to sudden high (relatively speaking) temperatures can confuse them and if they feel like their survival is threatened they will bolt to ensure there are some plants for next year. Watch out for lettuces, spinach, radishes, broccoli and cauliflower who are notorious for doing just that. Keep them well watered and you can plant/sow varieties that are less likely to bolt (i.e leaf beet instead of spinach which will bolt very quickly in hot weather). Notice on the right side the broccoli plants bolting, once again proving how much they hate root disturbance! (I had a few spare seedlings with no room so I transplanted them about a week or 2 before into a container) Tralee town park + Rose gardens It's so nice to have such a beautiful and well maintained Park in the center of town, right now it's really full of life and soon when all the roses are in bloom it will be even more beautiful, it's hard to beat a nice walk amongst the flowers and trees on a summers day/evening. Reduce Reuse Recycle & Finally a walk on the beach during a recent storm (just before the good weather hit) made the tides go quite wild as one would expect, It's quite concerning though the amount of rubbish/plastics that are continually being thrown up, I know nowadays the term using our rubbish as a dump is used a lot but the results are quite sad to see and it really does take a way from some of the most beautiful beaches inn Kerry and indeed all over the world. Not only is it unsightly but sea birds often mistake floating particles of plastic for food and on feeding them to young or themselves asphyxiation/starvation is often the result. However silver linings and all that, I found 2/3 new planters for my garden that had been washed up on the gravel. They are old fishing crates of some kind I'd imagine and have some come with ready-made drainage holes. The green one is filled with scented sweet peas and the red I'm just going to used as another salad crop box.
I had a tray of Livingstone Daisies to prick out last night, I knew I had quite a few because the seeds were so tiny but I never figured they would nearly all germinate, There must be nearly 100 of them and I was quickly running out of space/boxes to hold them all! Here's around 40 of them with a few sneaky tomato plants there too. While most plants can be started off in trays/modules and then moved on into bigger pots as they grow until the weather outside is suitable for planting out, there are some crops that don't take well to it. Carrots, because the carrot has a tap root, of course they will grow in modules but when you plant them out they will be all twisted and bent and not come to much. People who grow their carrots for exhibiting at shows often grow their crops in 4/5ft deep barrels of a sand/soil mix to get the perfect clean, straight carrot! Parsnips, the same as carrots however be grown in empty toilet rolls which make good little root trainers, you can then plant the whole thing out as the cardboard will degrade and there is minimum disturbance to the plants. Rolled up newspaper can be used too but there is the issue of staples. Parsnips can be be hideously annoying to get them to germinate and sowing them in cold, damp soils can reduce the germination rates even more. So you can start them off by placing them on damp kitchen towel, and when they start to chit/germinate you can then plant out the ones that have germinated so you wont have huge gaps in rows where ones that were direct sown didn't germinate. Broccoli, Although you can start in modules/root trainers and plant them out in time, I have found that generally they hate root disturbance and do no take too it kindly. Beetroot, you often see them for sale in garden centers in modules but they also have a tap root so you must be careful not to disturb it. Also a beetroot 'seed' is actually a cluster of 4/5 seeds so they must e thinned out if you want decent sized beetroot. Just a few crops that can be sown now Squashes/pumpkins Sweetcorn celery Chards Lettuce/salad leaves Beetroot Spring Onions Carrots Kohl Rabi Spinach Turnips Swedes Most Brassicas (Cauliis, broccolis etc) Radish Peas Sunflowers fennel Runner/french Beans If however you still want to grow some tomatoes/peppers etc It is too late now to sow them and get a crop this yer so check garden centers who will have lots of young plants at a fairly good price. The varieties will be limited compared to what you can grow if you buy seeds online yourself but you normally find the old favourites there like Gardener's delight and Money Maker. The only thing though is that they wont be organically grown and will probably have been fed/protected from pests but it's a good alternative if you still want to have tomatoes etc this year. They are also great to have a few as back up in case your sowings go pear-shaped. I happened to find some lovely specimens the other day for 80c in a local fruit/veg merchant and I couldn't say no. When you get then though most of the time they will need potting on straight away as they can be sitting in the same space for a a while. If their roots are showing coming out the base of the pot (pictured), give them a good water so the soil is moist and then transfer to their new pot. It's quite interesting the difference in quality of plants that you will find from the different places. Some commercial garden centers who charge a higher price often have tomato plants out in April when it's too cold for them and in very small pots for the size of the plant. Then you might get a much smaller scale shop with fewer but much healthier plants so as with everything look around and don't be talked into buying a plant that looks sickly or diseased. The ones I found for 80c were much better then ones I have seen for €1.50 each. hey also had some lovely strawberry plants too so i couldn't say no. Finally if you have cats or you live where there are cats nearby remember to cover your crops with fleece or thin wire because otherwise you're precious trays of seeds will become improvised deluxe litter trays. I lost 3 trays in the last week, one of sunflowers (which I only had a few seeds of each), a tray of leeks and a tray of brassicas but it was my own fault for not covering them. Our previous cat, Oscar who passed on a few months back never even looked at my plants so I never even thought about the potential damage they could do to crops. I do now however have more empathy for gardeners who are plagued by cats tearing up their ornamental plants and flowers etc!
weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. ~Doug Larson I do like the above quote, although growing vegetables in perfect rows is not something I have yet mastered either yet, which is something I do admire in gardens that are tended well. Although an annoyance and something you'd rather not have to deal with, weeds area fact of life in the garden. Thankfully though most don't have the high consequences that are associated with the likes of knot weed. I had a quick look at the most common plants that I would consider "weeds" in my garden, although I don't tend to do much with them bar hoe them off when they are small. This is not a comprehensive list by any means and in a few weeks I'm sure Ill have plenty mode to add. 1) Common Daisy Bellis perennis (pictured above) Considered to be a weed by most although I quite appreciate the small clumps of flowers in amongst the patch so unless i'm full power-hoeing method, it normally gets to stay. 2)Dandelion:Taraxacum I never really remove this as it's both edible and it's one of the first flowers for bees in the springtime. I've also bought seeds of this weed (yep you read that right) so I can grow them a little more organized them in random clumps, primarily for making jellies/jams. Watch this space! 3)Couch Grass: Elymus repens One of the few plants that really annoys me, it spreads like a carpet s I normally (in vain) try and dig it all out, it spreads by rhizomes so simply chopping it up creates more plants. 4)Nettles, Urtica dioica again not really a weed as they make good liquid plant feed. I don't usually remove unless they are obstructing a way for me. 5)Smooth sow thistle Sonchus oleraceus 6)Dock leaf Rumex obtusifolius Not too much of an annoyance, I leave a few at the edges just as part as the 'wild patch' 7)Chickweed Stellaria Can be annoying, grows quite quickly but hoeing when young sorts it (until next time) 8)Sticky Weed (cleavers) again like the dock weed I leave a few around the edges but if it tries to grow on of my plants, its' gone, It seems to love my gooseberry bush for some reason! 9)Creeping Buttercup Ranunculus repens Like with the dandelion, I tend to leave it alone unless its in the way. 10) Burdock Arctium 11)Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis I quite like it when it grows (and stays on) the ditches as the flowers are quite pretty and insects love them too. 12)Charlock Sinapis arvensis Although I have lots of seeds trays waiting to be planted out and lots of ideas, My garden has taken a slight push to the side lately. Between college reports and now exams starting this week but at least the most important ones are ready ad just need transplanting out. Also the weather has been quite dismil, It feels like it's been raining far too much lately! (which it has) However I was in Killarney National Park last week for my last field-trip of the semester (boo!) We saw an amazing variety of flora/fauna. Pine martins, sika and red deer, ravens, dung beetles, frogs, ant nests, shield bugs. kerry slugs and much more. We also got to see two carnivorous plants that grow happily in the boggy uplands. The sundew and Large flowered butterwort For such a small size, they are very impressive. We also saw 2 ant nests which were amazing to see, its quite hard to appreciate the sheer number of ants patrolling the area bringing back food/materials to the nest. These particular ants were called formica lugubris also known as the hairy wood ant and are very rare. Much bigger then a regular wood ant but different in appearance. When searching for them, you'd mistake them for spiders (and visa versa). They squirt formic acid when threatened. Killarney National park is also a prime example of why invasive species (like the Japanese Knotweed) need to be controlled as the rhododendron has caused considerable damage there, although it is being controlled, in areas where it has taken over it forms its own jungle thicket blocking out light and out competing all other plants. The few leeks I left in the ground over winter are now starting to run to see so I'll collect these in a few weeks and I can use them next year. My apple trees are also in full bloom, this is their 3rd year now so I'm hoping for an improvement on last years crop.
Out if all the alien species growing growing this country Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica is probably the most hated. For those of you who don't know about Japanese knotweed you'll know it's not just an annoying plant, it's certainly not something you want to have growing near your house. Basically it's a non native alien species that is not eaten by anything over here. As well as taking over wherever it grown, it grows to a considerable size blocking out the light and out competing all the native plants already there. It can also cause considerable damage to house and buildings and will grow in cracks of tarmac/foundations lead to potential structural damage which is probably the main concern of people. Once the plant gets hold though it can be a nightmare to eradicate . (one real example of where herbicides most likely have to be used with repeated applications). Digging it up can be successful but every tiny bit broken off will potentially regrow, and this is how it often spreads under tyres of cars etc through rhizomes so you would have to dog very very deep. Despite all the negatives of the plant, it is edible when young/tender, I actually had the chance to try a 'crumble' made out of a few weeks back at a 'food for thought' workshop. I have to say it wasn't that bad considering, although maybe a little 'chewy' for my taste. Although I knew it was in Kerry growing in various locations, I never thought I'd find it my direct locally. In the space of 2 days while walking with my dogs, I found it in two separate locations, both growing at the right side. They literally seemed to spring up overnight. I don't know so far is it anywhere else but when there's one or two, there are probably more starting to shoot up near by. Although in England it has to be notified to the respective councils, I'm not 100% sure what the protocol here is in regards ti notification but it's probably best to notify anyway and get it under control before it takes over/seeds and strangles the local flora.
This year, even though my main focus will still be fruit/veg, I'm putting a big emphasis on flowers, not just because they're darn pretty but for the bees also, between pesticides and declines in wildflowers and wild habitats, the poor bees (and butterflies and other insects) are suffering so its up to everyone to try and encourage them where you can. We need them too as they are crucial for the pollination of many plants, they could live without us but we could definitely not live without them. Thankfully though you're spolit for choice with all the different colours and shapes of flowers out there to chose from. Aldi right now have a great choice of flower and vegetable seeds and at only 79c a pack you can't go wrong. I haven't been to Lidls recently but they normally have good seeds too for a similar price. Again, www.Seedaholic.ie is my preferred company online to order from. I ordered more seeds online last Thursday morning (around 10:30) and I got them yesterday morning (Friday) before 10 am so they have an excellent and reliable service. All individual seed types come with their own information sheet of how and when to sow/harvest/when they bloom.
The weather the last 3/4 days has been fantastic for gardening and everyone alike. Temperatures reached around 16oC at some areas. Last night though the heavens opened, I went for a walk down the village with sunglasses and was too warm and I came back drenched! You can reallyl have all the seasons here in one day. It felt so strange because just the day before, I was relaxing on the beach. Today it's sunny but quite cool and windy at the same time. The sun was still lovely to see none the less, good weather seems to instantly makes everyone happy and whats nicer, especially in the morning listening to the birds chatter and then in the evening as the sun goes down for the night to sit and watch the bats coming out from their roosts for a night of hunting. Here's hoping we get a good summer, I have high hopes anyway (positive thinking and all that). Here's another incredibly positive thing- My ex-batts which I posted about in an earlier blog post, Just look at them now! I can't wait to watch them experience the full joys of being a hen during summer time, things like dust bathing in the cool soil on a hot day. Recently at my college there was a food event called "Food4Thought" and I went to a really interesting demo/workshop all about foraging for wild food/seaweed. I thought it was fantastic and I'm keen to try some of the recipes, who knew you could make a crumble out of the dreaded Japanese knot-weed, If you can't beat them- eat them comes to mind! Thankfully I don't have it where I live and no where really close, as far as I know. There was also a salad made out of seaweeds which actually didn't taste bad considering it was seaweed. He also spoke of lots of interesting ideas, like making flour out of dock leave seeds (dried) I also went to another workshop which focused more on the importance of using local suppliers and foods which is something very important So I'm a little behind this year with everything gardening related for various reasons and I'm sure a little procrastination is the cause too. Although I think it's more of a feeling then actually being behind because I always find April is a month for catching up. Seeds sown earlier now will catch up very quickly and often overtake seeds that were sown a little to early and may have gone straggly or have become pot bound. Thankfully though the long evenings are upon us (finally!) so getting a good evenings work done in the garden after work/college is much more likely. In the last few weeks though I've been gathering and sorting out my seeds for the coming year, I did a seed swap earlier on the year with some fellow gardeners and I'm so excited to try out some of seeds I received, things like soya beans, romansco cauliflower + cucamelons. In a few days I'll post a full variety list of what I am growing this year. I'm also trying Oca Tubers, whether or not they'll produce tubers is another thing but I really want to give them a bash. They're also known as New Zealand yams and are an excellent substitute for potatoes or if you just want to try something new. They're easy to grow and aren't really affected by many diseases (e.g. potatoes / blight).
Now I haven't grown them before so I don't give any tips/hints but I'm going to plant them this week and hope for the best. One thing though is that they are grown pretty much like potatoes (chit and then pant) so they are straightforward in that respect. They do like more heat then spuds so undercover is best as they were never intended for growing in this climate. The leaves are also edible but should only be so in small quantities because like Sorrel they are high in oxalic acid |