THOUGHTS OF SUMMER 2023

June 11, 2023July 3, 2023 | gaiainaction

This summer is moving along nicely, after a rather cold spring with lots of icy eastern winds. Today I’m sitting under our hawthorn tree thinking of writing another blog post which I feel is long overdue. I want to write about where I am at this moment, what is inspiring me and how I’m filling my days.

Right at the beginning of spring I felt the desire to work with a greenhouse in order to grow more and better plants in this unpredictable climate, and soon after longing for it I started looking at different designs, and ordered our present tunnel, Ian treated me to it. It is a small tunnel but then we have a small garden. I’ve never looked back.

I’m growing more vegetables this year, I’m not leaving things up to my intuition like I usually do or did, this year I’m actually reading up in gardening books and on the web what are the best ways to grow certain crops, and most important, how can I improve my soil, or at least help it to keep fertile. Up to now I’ve always collected my garden waste and thrown it into a corner at the end of the garden, but not anymore. I realise that I need to put nutrients back into the soil. Ok if there are some wild plants among them that I don’t want to regrow necessarily, if they are in seed, then they go into the compost barrel, but all other green waste stays on the soil where it grew, it’s a good mulch and it kept the soil moist during the driest weeks earlier in the summer. I’m also keeping a good garden journal this year, noting everything I sow and grow and how it is doing and other notes on how I can improve their growth in future years. It’s useful!

My interest in gardening lies not alone in beautifying my surroundings, or in growing vegetables, I also like to experiment, not only with growth but also with the soil, with the sort of pollinators that are visiting, and with the changes to our trees and other long standing growth, such as what type of wild plants keep germinating and growing to maturity, as that changes over time. For a few years I had Evening Primrose and Mullein growing and self-seeding, now they are gone. But the pale Hedge Woundwort has been a loyal wild flower all over the garden for decades, as has the Herb Robin. I practise polyculture.

Now and then I take test of the soil to see if there is anything lacking and usually there is. I have tried to rectify this over the years with seaweed fertilizer. I garden totally organic! I find this testing immensely interesting and am learning more every day. Listening to podcasts or webinars that discuss the important of soil building and organic growing and so on keeps me fired up.

At this time there is also the produce collecting, the use or storing of same. Delicious dishes are being produced in my kitchen, I enjoy all the cooking of the fresh produce. There is the herb collecting and drying, I grow a huge collection of different herbs, many of which I dry for winter use. Teas also, like Hawthorn, Lemon Balm and Lemon Vervain, Mint etc… Collecting seeds for future use or for swapping and sharing will be the next step as the summer moves along.

The big experiment this season is growing my own potatoes. Early in the year I bought Mirabella seed potato in one of our local garden centres. These seeds are blight resistant and organic. So I dug up all the grasses from a patch at the back of the garden and after chitting the seed potatoes, planted them out. They grew fantastically well. I had 22 plants! Only to discover that they were early potatoes that do not store well, my idea was to have potatoes over the winter as we are not big potato eaters. I’ve dug up some to date and they are nice, but they will probably be gone by the winter time. Note so self: Next year… check that out better. To lift up a crop of potatoes from the soil is like witnessing a miracle over and over again, I find it both fascinating and exciting and I love it.

I’m aware of the decline in biodiversity and as much as possible I attend and take part in local groups that are concerned about this and try to enlighten the public about all the various aspects of avoiding and helping to minimize this current worldwide problem. The environment and biodiversity is high priority on my agenda, and while I can only attend a certain amount of activity or meetings, I like to give priority to this important current problem. I take photos of pollinators and share them, we need them more than we know. Knowing which plants attract pollinators and cultivating those also is of importance.

All in all nature in general, in all its beauty and interest is enhancing and making my life fascinating. Every day I learn and discover more, it lights up my days and keeps my brain sharp with doing more and more research. What a blessing. There is today a huge amount of information online and in up to date books both about the beauty, the interest, and the problems currently present in the environment, with biodiversity, with the ecology, in farming practises, and in nature connectedness. It is a never ending nature study!

Fortunately many people are very well aware of all this and much is being done, but much more needs doing worldwide.

PEACEFUL SUNDAY MORNING

May 21, 2023May 21, 2023 | gaiainaction

Nature is at its very best right now. The month of May is usually the most beautiful in Ireland I think. Insects abound, flowers are lush and beautiful and still so full of energy, deep colour and vibrancy. And the trees are mighty in their greenery, strong and filling up with juice taken from infrequent spring showers. I feel it, their strenght, when I sit on the bench under our enormous hawthorn tree. I take time there, every single day. It’s one of the best restoring pills nature has to offer.

Peaceful moments.

ENTHUSIASTIC PLANS FOR OUR GARDEN

March 26, 2023March 26, 2023 | gaiainaction

It is nearing the end of March and though the weather is still quite wet, it is time to put some of the plans that I have made for the garden into action. The frost is gone and the temperature is now around 18 degrees. The soil temperature was 11 degrees Celsius today. However, the soil is still very wet. I’ve been working at the back of the garden taking roots out of the soil, roots from ivy, black currant, and nettles from a patch where I want to grow our potatoes this season. It’s hard but rewarding work and I just love working with the soil, feeling it and finding little creatures in it, even the colours of different soil is interesting. The plot that I’m currently working in has always been used to dispose of organic matter, and it has benefited this soil very much, its colour is more brown than the surrounding black. Originally our soil was mostly clay but over the years I’ve been changing it to loam by using lots of composted garden and kitchen refuse. So anyway, my plans for this year include introducing some of my favourite perennials and annuals, some of these I will be sowing and some I am buying. We do have two excellent garden centres here in the town, I can get anything I want. Talking about anything I want… one of my dearest wishes for many years is to get a small green house, think of what I could grow off season…

This is only the start of getting the plot ready, lots more work to be done.

During the winter I covered the patch that I planned to use for the potatoes with canvas, it did make a difference when I uncovered it yesterday, a lot of the grass had wilted. Two robins where looking for grubs in the newly disturbed soil, they are so lovely and not a bit afraid of us humans.

Some of the vegetables that are currently growing still and ready for eating.

And some of the flowers that are heralding spring, they seem to brave the wind and rain so easily!

And these above are some of my more wild plants which I treasure too, some for cooking, and some for the enjoyment of the flowers when they show later in the summer. They all grow so easy and start to grow very early in the year, such a joy, so green and healthy looking. In fact most of these plants overwinter here as the climate is mild, we did get some frost, even a little snow, but mostly temperatures are a few degrees above zero during the night and in the day they vary between 8 and 10 Celcius.

During the past three years I’ve added several shrubs to my collection, and this year I’m thinking of buying a Mahony shrub, I see them growing in tubs around the town and love them. Their honey scented yellow flowers are beautiful and also flowering early in the year. The leaves turn a lovely colour in autumn. Inside I’m starting a Ribes plant from a cutting, and I’ve got a Skimmia sapling still sitting on the kitchen window-sill ready to plant out soon, it is a male plant so I will be looking for a female to join it, it is the female plant that develops the deep red berries. I have sweet pea seedlings on my bedroom window-sill, a bit too soon those plant out. It’s time to sow a selection of summer flowering annuals inside, but the marigolds I’ll be sowing outside during the next week, they thrive very well in our garden. I’m also setting a myriad of gladiola bulbs.

Years ago I planted this Forsythia so that we would have some colour early in spring, this year is the first time that it blooms so lovely!

I am not your regular gardener, though I love the physical work that gardening involves, mostly I like to experiment and I like to see what comes growing into my garden without me planting it, I like the element of surprise and discovery. I like taking note of what my soil needs and so testing the soil, taking its temperature, making note of how much light a certain plot receives, how acid the soil is, and much more. I also like to propagate plants, grow from cuttings etc… It’s something I’ve done all my life. And I like to provide fresh vegetables for my family… well, my husband and myself that is, I love cooking with fresh produce that I’ve just plucked from the garden whether it’s wild or cultivated, a combination is great. Right now the wild plants that are plentiful are three cornered leeks, succulent tops of cleavers, young dandelion leaves and tender nettle leaves. The earth gives abundantly!

Gardening can be such a pleasure.

a garden AWAKENING

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 | gaiainaction

SPRING UPDATE FROM OUR GARDEN

It’s that time of year when work starts seriously in our gardens. But the first outdoor job for me is to walk among my plants, see what is growing, analyse and decide what to leave and what to move or remove. And that’s what I have been doing during the week. Lots of delightful discoveries came my way. Many self-seeding plants had already come up during last autumn and survived our mild winter, others are still only appearing, delicately but vigorously. Foxgloves for example have self-seeded last autumn and have shown strong leaves even after the frosty nights. The garden is full of them, I’ve moved some of the young plants to other areas as they packed out the vegetable beds, but many I left where they came growing because of the beautiful natural arrangement they made. The base leaves of the foxgloves are very nice, very symmetrical, so satisfying for the eye. At this time of the year the leaves look fresh and vibrant.

Three-cornered Leek is another wild plant that is flourishing right now, loads of it, and even while I use it in cooking, it has overgrown some of the vegetable beds so a decision has been made to eradicate a lot of it by pulling the little bulbs from the soil. Many Dandelions are now in flower and feeding the pollinators. Most of these bright yellow flowers will stay, some to be used in salads later. Young nettles are starting to make an appearance too, I picked some for tea, some I removed but others I will let grow as they are an amazing food filled with minerals both for humans and plants. Borage and Feverfew are growing nicely, and the comfrey (for compost) are all appearing healthy and robust, in fact the Borage is coming into flower already.

Most of my herbs are starting to look healthy but apart from Sage, Rosemary, Bay leaf and Mallow they are still to tender and young to use in the kitchen. My Lemon Verbena died during the winter, I should have grown this plant in a pot and taken it inside as it is not frost-proof, I now realise. It makes a wonderful tea so I will buy a new plant and pot it up.

All the flowering shrubs are starting to look more vibrant now, some, like the white Azalea, the Daphne, and the Californian Lilac are already in bud and the Viburnum is fully in flower and spreading its scent over the patio, wonderful! I was looking for signs of the Houttuynia but could not see any yet. The Hypericum on the other hand is showing strong signs of life and even the Spiraea is carefully starting to show some leaves. Our Forsythia is finally giving us some lovely flowers but our Camellia has not flowered for several years, it needs attention. Then there are the perennials some of which I bought, some I sowed last year. Here Erysimum is a wonderful plant, it has been flowering from early spring last year until well in the winter and already it has started to flower again. I think we used to call this plant a wallflower. The small blue flowers of the Lithodora have flowered most of the winter, this is a wonderful border perennial. Marigolds are self-seeded in our garden and are always around, I use the petals and I love their bright and cheerful colours. I also found quite a few young Herb Robin and Willow herb plants, some of those I leave as they are rather nice and very good for the pollinators. One of the plants in our garden that attracts most pollinators, bees, bumblebees, hoverflies and others is the white little flower of the oregano plant. Different spring bulbs are flowering too giving plenty of cheer in the awakening garden.

And among all these there are still last autumn’s Leeks, Kale, Broccoli and Spinach to be found, we are eating from those.

Now it is a case of finding space for our potatoes which are presently chitting inside. Other vegetables have been sown and are sprouting well. The abundance of plants, wild and cultured is welcome and amazing, and lording it over it all our Hawthorn, Birch, Chestnut and Oak trees are filled with the sound of finches, sparrows, black birds, a wren, a robin and a dunnock singing, chattering and mate calling… our wild garden… it is a wonderful place to work in or sit with a cup of tea taking a rest, admiring all this growth.

No matter how small, our gardens can be an oasis of rest and replenishment of our energy, and giving us solace for our souls.

I feel very grateful towards nature.

a GLIMPSE into our winter garden

January 10, 2022January 10, 2022 | gaiainaction

Early one morning about a week ago there had been a night frost. Everything in the garden looked sugar-coated until the first rays of the sun touched the plants. I took my chance to go out and enjoy all the beauty while shooting some pictures to share here, an enjoyable activity first thing in the day ! We have had a few small roses flowering since summer, this bush was a potted plant we received as a gift and I eventually transplanted it into the garden. It is doing very well. The young camellia bush does not seem to have large buds yet, but then it is only January. It only gave us one flower last year so I am hoping that in another few weeks we will get a nice display.

The morning sun is already peeking through the hedge

A good supply of fresh dandelion leaves has been growing all winter, they are getting ready for our salad bowl!

The hydrangea flowers never cease to give plenty of pleasure. They will soon be ready for pruning

Morning sun lighting up the background of these young foxgloves plants

As the sun melts the frost, the consistency of the ice changes

Early sunshine, like evening sun, has this special quality I always think and is more beautiful. And of course can look great in a photo.

Iced grass blades, and a look down the garden

Somewhere in the back of the garden I discovered this beautiful summer flower, still in full bloom and beautifully covered in crystals.

My thoughts at this time of the year turn to plans for next season’s growth, and this year I am going to revert back to what I did a few years ago – letting the wild plants do what they want to do – grow. I’ve made a list of over 38 herb and wild plants, some of which I use for food, that are growing now in our garden. And another list of a few that I need to buy at the market.

Plants already established are: Feverfew, Borage, Nettles, Mint (3 different types), Rosemary, Bay leaf, Lavender, Sage, Oregano, Thyme, Herb Robin, Dandelion, St. John’s wort, Lemon balm, Plantain, Sow-thistle, Tansy, Three-cornered-leeks, violet, comfrey, Lemon Verbena, Mallow, Rue, Cleavers, Wild Rose, Nasturtium, Willow herb, Calendula, Solidago, Shepherd’s Purse, Clover, Purple Loosestrife, Ivy, Dock, Mullein, Groundsel, and wild garlic. Quite a few of these self-seed every year, and some of course are perennials.

And those that I want to buy are: Yarrow, Fennel, Parsley and Evening primrose.

Most likely we will be seeing some of the larger purple Thistles which are good when they come into seed as they attract and feed Gold finches.

It is a time to get very excited about seeing all the wild plants and the herbs doing so well despite it being winter. I am looking forward very much to enjoying them all once spring starts, but for the moment I let them be dormant and let them enjoy their winter rest.

So how is your garden doing my dear readers? I will be most interested in reading your comments.

MEETING WITH THE OMBU TREE

February 11, 2021 | gaiainaction

I hope to re-blog some of my earlier posts, this one about a tree I got to know while we were staying on Gozo.

agoyvaerts

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…

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WE ARE OF THE EARTH AND HEALED BY NATURE

April 26, 2020 | gaiainaction

We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts – William Hazlitt

The poetry of the earth is never dead – John Keats

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature–the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter – Rachel Carson

Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth – Walt Whitman

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher – William Wordsworth

All good things are wild and free – Henry David Thoreau

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least – and it is commonly more than that – sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements – Henry David Thoreau

I hope that these nature photos and valuable quotes have been a solace to someone who is disturbed by earth’s current difficulties and dangers. I wish us all well.

BUSY TIMES DURING LOCKDOWN

April 12, 2020 | gaiainaction

These tulips have been flowering for well over a week and are still doing great, and very beautiful.

This year I decided to grow some more potatoes as last season it was such fun to harvest them with my grandchildren, and besides my inner child wants to dig them up too 🙂

We have had some lovely days and then it is our delight to have our lunch in the garden, very healthy too now that we need extra vitamin D for our immune system. We are both under strict total lockdown which means that we cannot leave the front door at all, so our garden is the only place where we can get fresh air and sunshine, and we are grateful to have such.

Two year old cut and come back celery, and a fine feverfew plant

SUNDAY MORNING THOUGHTS

March 22, 2020 | gaiainaction

I woke up early this morning. I found it very quiet, not a sound to be heard, not a car passing, nor a person, nor a dog… even the birds are not singing… Skibbereen seems to be asleep still. I am thinking… what will I do with my day. Suddenly I know what is different, there is not a blade of grass stirring, it is wind-still… quite unusual lately and nice.

I look around my room and I ponder, there are lots of things I could start doing, I have re-decorating ideas. Perhaps I could make a mood-board with colours, new shades for the room, and I plan to re-sew a curtain that covers the hotpress opening. There is an old chair, a delicate one that would look good in a pastel paint and there is the old secondhand desk that I am planning to paint too… I love my room, it is peaceful and looking at things from up here in my high bed this morning everthing looks fine.

The pale cream curtains that I found last year in our fantatic charity shops are just starting to become illuminated with bright rays of sunshine.

It is time to get up and get me a nice cup of coffee.

Sunday morning, I love it always.

I wish you all a beautiful day! Stay well ❤