The days are lengthening, everywhere flowers are appearing, it is that delightful and energising time of the year again. Still under strict lockdown here in Ireland, many of us are giving full attention to our gardens, it is also the right time of the year for it, and the pleasure that being busy with plans and engaging in the actual garden work must not be underestimated. And so that is what I am doing too. We can still only go out 5km from our front door and although I have plans to go further afield and I have things in mind to photograph and write about, this will have to wait. Latest news is that maybe lockdown won’t be lifted until the end of April. Meanwhile everyone’s hair gets longer and longer! 🙂
A few delicate tulips are flowering inside, they are wonderful and have opened a week or two ago. Their colours are pastel pink and yellow. I bought the bulbs last year. They are called Tulipa Foxtrot. I really love them and was glad that they could withstand growing inside which probably made them last longer.Here is my mood board for this summer’s flowers in our garden. As you can see I am planning to grow a lot more flowers, some of which I have just sowed yesterday. But central to my plan are a few perennials, to start off with I plan to buy a Daphne shrub and a dwarf lilac tree . I love their scent. I have this vision of a bench surrounded by flowers and I’m hoping for a lovely warm summer, so that Ian can enjoy sitting in the garden and soak up the beauty of it. To me it means creating, in cooperation with nature of course, and creating is good for the soul.
Some baby hyacinth bulbs rescued
These mini daffodils are very fragrant
Last year I started to grow more flowers from bulbs and many are coming up again this spring, they have given us immense pleasure by their beauty and seeing them come up and waiting for them to bloom is also exciting. Even the lilies are doing well and I have those in the kitchen. Beginning of the season my kitchen is more of a greenhouse in actual fact, seedlings, plants, bulbs, soil testing, it all goes on in my kitchen, and I like to be surrounded by it all. Until the weather improves and it can all go happily outside.Seed packets ready for sowing.
And during late winter I had another go at clearing our shed. I did get a bit side-tracked though, first by this most beautiful peacock butterfly, it was hibernating but I accidently disturbed it. After taking the photo it settled down again and I have not seen it since, I do hope it survives.
I also hope that nobody minds my photos of the spiders, these are Steatoda grossa, although I think the light coloured one is a Steadoda nobilis. They also live in our shed and I have become quite fascinated by them. There are at least a few of them.
Steatoda noblis ?
Steatoda grossa
My solution for not having a greenhouse to protect tender shoots from constant harsh rain and wind.
And because we are experiencing such a lot of rain and stormy weather this spring, lets just say it is cosy inside and there is such a variety of activities or just sharing some time with Ian in the evening in front of a warm fire. At the same time I say…roll on dry and warmer weather so that I can spend days creating our garden. If you have noticed that my English is not flowing, the reason for this is that I am absorbed in writing in my mother tongue everyday for the past month, I am presently in a Flemish mode. It is nice!
I hope that everyone is keeping well. I think that I am very behind again with reading all your blogs, so from tonight onward I will make a start with that again, looking forward to connect.
While on the island of Gozo I took notes of and enjoyed some of the trees unfamiliar to me. It is nice and interesting to find out what they are called and then to search on Google about their uses, growth, country of origin and so on, it keeps me quite busy at times. Then I will take many photos of all the different attributions, leaves, flowers, seeds, seed hulks, shoots, trunks etc. And of course I like to share this in my blog, my blog is after all a celebration of all that the earth so generously has to offer to us and to life itself. And so here goes, I hope you enjoy.
The Ombu tree, or to give it its proper name the Phytolacca dioica L. is an attractive tree. I found it growing in the area of Ghajnsielem along the main road. I was amazed to…
Hard to believe that we are already getting close to the middle of February. Winter is giving way slowly to early spring, though today you would not think so. We are experiencing a bitterly cold wind from the East and lower temperatures than is normal for this part of the country, which usually has mild winters.
This beautiful landscape, colours natural and not edited. Taken on a very recent walk close by.
But while the cold spell lasts there is plenty of planning and creativity going on inside. I made a true to scale plan of the garden so as to have a good oversight of it (and for the fun of it too). And I tested the soil on all of the 12 raised beds and found that they are poor, some beds depleted even in Phosphorus, and Nitrogen, but did a little better on Potash. So now I know what to add and where. I’m also cutting out snippets from gardening magazines that apply to our garden in particular. I do have some good gardening books but I find this somehow more personalised as I only keep what applies to my experience here.
Scaled plan our garden
Cut outs for my map
I use standardised tests bought in shop
Test information
Primroses are all the go here in the shops and we are all buying them as they herald spring and hope.And so this year I am getting on well with clearing our garden sheds and I am finding quite a bit of wildlife while doing so. This most perfect example of Peacock butterfly I accidently disturbed but I am happy to say that it went to sleep again a bit further into the shed, I guess that it realised it was too early to go flying about. ~ Be warned about the next photo as there is a spider in it!
So these are some other friends in the garden shed, a small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) also overwintering and being paid a visit by our residental Steatoda Grosso (cuboard spider). This is a slow enough moving spider and quite beautiful really. I don’t mind him and I know that I will come across him again and a few more of his family as I’ve seen them. I would not like to be bitten though, they are know not to be aggressive and I have noticed that. I obviously wear a good pair of gardening gloves while clearing the shed! I’ve also come across large house spiders (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) but they are harmless.
Here in the small market town of Skibbereen a spice and exotic vegetable shop has opened and it did not take me long to go and check out the vegetables with which I learnt to cook in both S.India and in Mauritius. The delicious meals made thereof and the pleasure of the memories got me to buy quite a selection and for a whole week those dishes were on the menu. Among them okra and bitter gourd would have been most know to me, also the chayote squash. Some of the vegetables did not make it into the cooking pan as I want to root them and I was lucky enough to see a shoot coming out of both the taro root and the chayote squash, this is an experiment. Once before I grew a large plant from a taro root but it died when I went travelling.
A selection of my first purchase
Taro shoot – hoping it will send out roots too
Chayote squash sprouting
Some of the dinners I enjoyed I improvised and did not stick to traditional Indian or Mauritian cooking, but did I use spices!
And then there is the garden! Well we have had so much rain now for many weeks that the garden is saturated and I am hoping that this present wind will dry the things out a bit. The garden looks forlorn at the moment and I am not doing much in it until the weather turns. I have lots of spring bulbs coming on though and they are a pleasure to see. (in my home-made small greenhouses to protect from heavy rains). There are still quite some vegetables ready for use, the cut and come back Kale and the leeks among them.
A very light dusting of snow last week
Leeks and young Mullein plants
More leeks and wild three-cornered-leeks
Kale
Our daffodils stay in the soil all year round, they are doubles.
Wild strawberry plants
One of my grandchildren showing me the strawberry flower
And to finish off a picture of how cosy it is inside while out there the icy wind rages, throwing lashes of hail and sleet against the window panes. The wood burner keeps us nice and warm.
I’m finding that although we are quite isolated here and especially so with the current lockdown, I am making very many interesting contacts online, being invited to interesting social media groups on culture and art and on growing in calmness, quietness and reflection. Some of these groups are in my mother tongue (Flemish) and I enjoy that very much. Making new friends and maintaining existing connections with old friends. I was also invited to become part of a meditation group. It all goes to make this lockdown time quite interesting and a place of growth for me.
I hope that all your activities and experiences are keeping you inspired too.
On the way home, a very scenic view in the village of Leap.
A beautiful evening at almost mid-winter time of year. Today saw me driving the 91 km to the nearest city from where we live. Cork city is beautiful and as I had to drive through some of the oldest part of it in the area of the Shandon tower and the butter market, I was absolutely delighted to have had a reason to travel up. It does not happen so often these days, partly due to all the lock-downs and partly because I do not like to leave Ian alone for too long. It takes about one and a half hours one way from our little town to the city, and along the way you travel through two other small towns. What I noticed today is that these little towns are growing rapidly, but they also have lovely older areas with interesting architecture.
But to talk some more about Cork city, it is a place that I love, I learnt my English there originally. There are so many interesting places to see and take in. Today I could not stop to linger where I wanted to take photos and just admire the old quarters as I had an appointment for a Covid test, routine before any procedure in hospital which is to follow on Thursday. The test centre was right up the hill through a residential area, many of these are small one story Irish houses, some of them have interesting features of Irish vernacular architecture. (taking a note to come back some time with my camera). The streets were fairly quiet which I was happy about as I do not drive often in the city. I felt relaxed and glad.
It made me realise that in these troubled times where for most of the year we have all been very restricted in our movements, it is so uplifting to be among people, to feel the buzz of the city, to admire the beauty of it all. It made me come alive and it energized me.
Two city scenes taken at traffic lights, and another view of Leap, a small village along the way.
It was a mellow October afternoon and I decided to plant out some spinach seedlings which I still had growing in a pot. I had a wander through the rest of the garden and saw that there is actually quite a lot of winter produce doing well, and it pleased me. I also saw how beautiful everything looked, the colours, the autumn shades which are wonderful. An October sun illuminated everything. It was a perfect afternoon.
Our winter leeks
Huge kale plants
A few beet leaf
Glorious colours of the hydrangea even after the summer.
I will grow these beautiful Rudbeckia again
The Mediterranean oak tree in full colour
Another oregano plant
Italian flat-leaved parsley
A type of catnip
Lemon thyme
Our lavender bushes
A new hydrangea
Some of our produce
There is so much to find growing even at this time of the year, and it will do so during the winter months thanks to the gulfstream which gives us a very mild climate.Pleasure can be gained both from tending to the garden and growing some things, or from just having a wander around.
Enjoy a lovely weekend everyone, and I would love to hear about your autumn garden too.
Yes we are all experiencing more restrictions because of a recent increase in covid cases. We find ourselves living in quite a changed world these days, but the most important thing now I think is to look after our mental health, and the mental health of our loved ones and of the wider community if we can help in any way. Staying positive and finding things of interest to do where we don’t have to travel, as even taking a journey to other areas of Ireland is now not possible. And this is something that requires some pondering over, and adjusting to, for many of us.
So far for us personally it has not caused a problem as it seems we don’t get time enough to do all the things we want to do. Ian has started on his book again and bought some new software to help him understand more about writing using characters, personalities and settings. It is complicated and hugely interesting he says, and he is busy with it all day. His book is progressing well and he’s enjoying himself.
To where I moved the lemon balm – Bed 7
Winter vegetables and Mullein -Bed 7
Some of my review work
Comfrey plant -Bed 12
Late Rudbeckia -Bed 9
Another planning page
I for my part have been busy too, not only with my course, but I’ve also made a detailed (15 pages) illustrated review of what is happening in all of our 12 raised beds in the garden, noting what is going on, what has to be changed, what is growing well, what is not doing so well, what topping up of nutrients my soil needs (which is slightly different for each bed). And finally what my plans are for the next season. It’s been such fun putting this together and it has given me a very good oversight and a vision that I can work toward in the coming months.
Morning coffee with Ian
Still wildlife about
Young Mullein plants – self seeded
Sweet peas are still going strong
My Herbal course involves a lot of hands on work….
Last year I let our garden do mostly its own thing. No wild plants got pulled up and it all ended in a delightful wilderness. It also ended up in quite a bit of work and in a huge pile of compostable plant material. I decided to keep a little more order in the garden this year and have been pleased that I am finding quite a number of wild plants still growing which I am now learning about. Plants like plantain, cleavers, nettles, mullein, evening primrose, borage, dandelion for example, are all there for the picking. I find it such a luxury, and it makes it easy for me getting material for my herbal course. We study the plants in detail, having to draw the different parts of the plant which makes us more familiar with the whole structure, including roots and seeds. A very absorbing activity it is.
So that is one small part of our lives here in West Cork. I hope that wherever you are, all my dear readers and friends that you are well and that you stay well.
Blessings
Oh and I enjoyed that cup of dandelion coffee very much indeed 🙂
When summer gathers up her robes of glory, And, like a dream, glides away. Sarah Helen Whitman
I took a walk this evening and felt a real bit of a chill in the air, but it was still lovely and the breeze was actually refreshing after I spent the day painting inside. And I did find some time to check a few herbs in the garden. I also include a couple of photos from a few days ago. I’m busy with my new herb course. I am also learning more about the wild plants that come growing into the garden, at this time of year the woundwort is still in full bloom and much desired by the bumblebees, lots of them. The flower bud on my ginger plant has not changed for the past two weeks, I wonder if it will reach actual flowering but I fear not as already there is not enough sunshine and we are slowly heading into the fall season.
Stachys palustris – Marsh WoundwortTagetes Lucida, Mexican marigold ~ I think.Our endive plants are flowering, a lovely blue display.
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.” ― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
There is a light breeze gently moving the tops of the trees, but otherwise it is very quiet on this restful day. West Cork has seen warmer than usual weather recently, though the last two days we have also seen very much rain. The humidity is high of course and I quite like that. You go outside in the garden and the scents and colours are intense, everything is fresh from the rain and the heat makes it almost feel as if steam is rising from all the plants and foliage. The garden is very lush at this time and I counted very many bees, hoverflies and some butterflies while I was out earlier. Autumn is actually not far off and the garden spiders are busy. Some of the decorative trees are already shedding their leaves. The hawthorn and the chestnut tree are beginning to look a lot like autumn too. The ‘turning of the seasons’ is starting to happen.
Ian is back home, his troubles are not over yet but he is slowly feeling better. It’s great to have him home, he’s my soulmate and the best of companions.
On this beautiful, calm and wind still morning the garden has been transformed into what reminds me of fairy land, the reflexion of light in the dew drops makes the spider webs shimmer and reminds me of fairy lights, or even the Christmas tree and brings me back to early childhood days, to innocence and happiness. I wander around the garden taking in this beauty and allowing these feelings to be. Autumn leaves have been brushed up yesterday, but it is the spider webs that really herald the beginning of autumn here in West Cork. There is not a sound to be heard, all the neighbours are still asleep, then a robin takes the floor and cheerfully sings its heart out. Wind still and glorious, another day has begun. My heart fills with gratitude.
I wrote these words some years ago but because we have recently been living with so many raindrops, not dewdrops, and we are all quite saturated with the damp and the darkness ~ I decided to give life to this post again as the beauty of watery drops really is something incredible and we might as well enjoy them.
