I guess it is – or rather – the gardener is awakening! Because a good crop of herbs and vegetables was growing all winter long in our little garden. But today I started getting organized because there is lots to do, and I cannot wait to get going!
Vegetables in abundance – overwintering colourful Chard, Rosemary, Kale and Celery.
Young Foxglove plant
The Lavender is in good condition after the winter, and the Rosemary bush is getting larger by the day.
Thistle and Mullein
An almost ready crop of Kale
Andive
Much of my space is still taken up by winter vegetables but some of the beds are ready, one for potatoes, and another one for flowers, this season the emphasis is going to be on food for the insects, that is so important today.
Helleborus
Primroses among the grass
Oxallis
This book I took out of the library, lots of information on what to grow to help butterflies survive, great for ideas.
Oca is another crop I’ve tried over the last few years, not very successfully.
Wild growing three cornered leeks
Green leaved celery grows very well here during the winter
Wild growing Cleavers in my garden
So yes there is lots going on even as early in spring as right now. We have enough food coming from the garden, and that helped me make the decision to grow a lot more flowers seeing that insect population is under such threat. But personally I am also very happy with this decision because I am very fond of flowers.
Grass needs cutting
A few of the raised beds surrounds are in need of repair!
I planted a Forsythia bush today!
Dear friends, followers, and readers of my blog, I would like to thank you for all your encouragement. I’m coming up to 800 followers now and I treasure everyone of you.
A longwinded journey brought us from Gozo back to Ireland, via visits to family in Henham, Hertford, and Cambridge which was, of course, much enjoyed as was the mild spring weather and all the beauty of the English countryside this time of the year, but more about that in another blog.
So we arrived home here in West Cork greeted by my daughter and lovely grandchildren, that was a beautiful moment. Next day and after unpacking all our suitcases I went for a leisurely walk around our garden. Neglected as it was, it has not become totally overgrown yet and I was able to find many treasured wild plants and even vegetables among the grasses and on the beds. So I enjoyed myself with these discoveries, taking note of what I will be cooking in the next few days, and which wild plants I’ll be using, and also taking photos.
I found a little plant that is new to my garden, it grows wild around here in West Cork on walls, but here it came to grow in an old flowerpot, maybe birds dropped its seeds. It is the little Ivy-leaved Toadflax.
Cymbalaria muralis – ivy-leaved toadflax
Myosotis arvensis – Forget-me-not
And a left over from last year, the lovely blue Forget-me-not I found blooming.
Melissa – Lemon Balm
Salvia officinalis – Sage
Origanum vulgare – Oregano varigated
Lavandula – Lavender
Rosmarinus officinalis – Rosemary
As far as herbs go, West Cork, because of its mild climate is good for growing these. I found the Melissa doing just fine, the Oregano coming up, the Rosemary and Lavender doing really well. So maybe it is time to add a few more herbs during this summer.
Littel Borage plants coming up all over the place
Some good nettle plants for the soup
Chives looking great and ready to use
I was pleasantly surprised by the numerous Borage plants coming up all over the garden, even in the cracks of the concrete path. The bees will be very happy about this. The Chives are ready for cutting, and Nettles ready for the soup! And I nearly forgot all the three corned wild Garlic which are just everywhere, so delicious in salads and mixed in an omelet.
Three cornered wild Garlic
And lovely Muscari – grape Hyacinth
This Verbascum – Mullein plant makes me very happy.
A young silver Birch tree came to grow in the garden
Everything is sprouting and budding
Winter storm damage
Seedpods of Evening Primsore flowers
Delighted to have found a Mullein plant, this is also a medicinal plant of which I sowed a few last year. And of all things I found a young silver Birch, well I know it was there as I put it in a pot to share with someone after it came growing in the garden, a baby of our large Birch. The only damage during the winter was to our small greenhouses, wear and tear you could say. I also found that the massive seedpods of my Evening Primrose plants had survived all the storms, these plants should be coming up soon by themselves I think.
A type of salad
Plenty evidence of lots of rain
Our Bayleaf tree doing well
The broadbeans in flower
Berries full of buds
Salad leaves are ready to eat. Bay leaf tree is growing well and full of very green leaves which will be uses in soups nice and fresh. I also found several broad bean plants in flower and all, Ian will be very happy about that, his favourite vegetable. Leek plants which I planted out toward the end of last summer and just before we left are growing. And finally, but not really finally as there is no saying what else I might find, the bed with the berries is absolutely full of flower buds, it promises to be a good summer for soft fruits. The water barrel shows that here has been no shortage of rain!
I am totally happy with what I found, it is lovely to come back to my garden, and looking at the evidence, the garden has benefited from being left to itself for a while, there might be something in Permaculture after all. It feels like nature is now growing what it likes to grow, and the soil in my garden is showing me what will thrive best.
