Blight warning in effect this week!!

from another great blog; the clay garden

Not much you can do about this. There will be few chances to spray according to met eireann. But do watch out for it and at the first signs of browning on the underside and edges of leaves cut off the foliage and burn it. Don't add it to your compost heap as it can be passed on into next years beds through the compost. If the blight is prevented from travelling down the stalk and into the spuds they should be perfect when you dig them out.

Visit to Knockpatrick gardens

Tim and Helen O' Brien

One of the reasons I have been so shoddy at blogging this week is because I have been running around like a blue arsed fly on garden trips and visits.

One of this weeks trips was to visit Helen and Tim in their lovely garden in Knockpatrick, which by the way is open this Monday (Tomorrow) from 2-6 to raise money for the new Cystic Fibrosis unit being built at the Regional Hospital in Limerick. Fingers crossed the weather clears up for them and they get a good turnout. If you can go to support this cause please do!!

Tim and Helen's garden is on three acres set on the side of Knockpatrick hill out the Foynes road, not far from Askeaton and Shanagolden. It was started by Tim's father over 80 years ago at a time when leisure gardening was the reserve of the wealthy and privileged. Tim's father was a farmer but he had a great love of plants, writing away to places as exotic as Dublin and London to obtain unusual and interesting trees, flowers and shrubs. Tim and Helen have built on his years of work to turn the garden into the beautiful place it is today.

beautiful walkway to knockpatrick hill

On this side of Limerick county the soil is neutral to acid meaning that the plants grown here in Knockpatrick are different to those you will find in many other parts of the county where the soil is clay and leaning towards alkalinity. They also have the advantage of being quite close to the Shannon estuary giving them a milder softer climate with less frost and cold. With this soil and in this warmer micro climate many plants thrive that would be miserable elsewhere. Tim and Helen's Garden has a huge collection of plants from warmer climates around the world including azalea's and rhododendrons, magnolias, candelabra primulas, poppies, bananas, tree ferns, and lots of rare specimens not found elsewhere in Ireland.

Maudie poses with a huge tree fern

What was most surprising to me was the difference in the garden from the last time I visited almost exactly a year ago. Tim commented himself on how certain plants had not flowered as well or in cases not at all this year speculating on cold being necessary in getting certain things to bloom.

Helen told us the story of Knockpatrick hill. Apparently the Clare people were mad to meet St. Patrick and invited him to visit but he was up the walls and met with some Oracle who told him not to worry, the Clare people would get their own saint soon. In the meantime he promised to bless the whole county if he could find a hill from which to see it. When he climbed to the top of Knockpatrick he blessed 5 counties that he could see. The ungrateful Kerry people weren't fussed, they had their own saint, "typical Kerry" said Helen, "they had to have one before everybody else"!!!

Etoile De Hollande

Rounding the huge Persian Ironwood tree (that is 80 years old!) perfume wafted down from a beautiful healthy rose that was throwing out it's first flush of blooms. Helen thought it was Etoile De Holland, the kind of rose you could drunk on and die happy! Roses in Knockpatrick are well fed, Tim has lots of manure from the home farm but he uses liquid feeds too. He buys liquid tomato feed in bulk every few years and advised us all to do the same-he reckons it saves them a fortune.

The sun came out as we broke for a cup of tea and some home-made cake with Tim and Helen kindly sitting us out on the deck next to a beautiful Wisteria and looking out over the Shannon. The only blight on the landscape was Aughinish factory spewing smoke and piling up waste from the processing operation.No mater where you live theres always some asshole living close by who makes things ugly. Yes I know they give people jobs-they give us pollution and uglyness too!

lovely feature

After tea we toured the lower gardens, including the lovely tree arboretum. Around each corner was something to like and appreciate. This year Tim and Helen have made and added some lovely oval wooden signs with lovely phrases at key points in the garden. It sounds like a small thing but its so effective.

This is a beautiful garden to wander around in. From the lovely lane way that leads up to the house, framed by mature trees, to the sloped terraced flower filled gardens around the house, the pretty woodland walk to knockpatrick hill, the tree arboretum, sunken urn garden,it keeps getting better and better. Here are a few pics for you to check out. If you get a chance to go you will see what I mean!

tunnel

 

 

damsel in the border

terraced front gardens

sunken garden

in the arboretum

The Vegetable Seed Company

As many as possible are Organic but they are imported

Klaus is selling seeds. In the GIY tent at Bloom they had packets of them for a very reasonable €2 a pack or 6 for €10. I bought six to give them a go. All of them are reportedly good for our climate and conditions so I'm curious to try them out and see what the results are like. If you want to give them a go yourself you can buy them through the quick crop website who are in partnership with him- here is a link directly to that page the vegetable seed company Just to let you know though they are not grown here, they are imported from all over Europe. So it might not suit people who strictly want to support home grown seeds.

Broad bean update

A fine evening in the back garden

Before the rain arrived I took a walk to see how everything is doing. Two weeks of heat has really brought on all the veg, flowers and fruit in the garden and the forecast of a week of rain ahead will really help to swell all crops that are now looking for moisture. On the downside heavy rain will ball some roses and give slugs lovely conditions to be on the move both day and night. If you have anything tasty just transplanted get ready to protect it!

 

 

Oldambaster Broad Beans

My early crop of broad beans are a new variety(well, new to me) called Oldambaster. I posted about transplanting them out a while back. Since then they have been growing really well.They are tall and strong, and are currently covered in pure white flowers that are pollinating well and beginning to go to bean.I haven't staked them and they are not falling over, despite nasty wind some weeks ago. With the volume of flowers I'm hoping for a generous crop.Cropping will start from the bottom up, and the tastiest are the young beans not yet at full size. 

 

If you leave them too long the scar on the bean goes brown, this means they get tougher and less sweet. Probably boiling them and mashing them for a "mushy peas" style dinner accompaniment is the best use of them at that stage. People do all sorts of things with them but if you eat them young and sweet a quick cook followed by serving with some butter and salt is all you need. I have main crop broad beans ready to transplant out this week. They are a mixture of "Crimson flowered" "Express" and "Witkiem".

 

You can still sow main crop Broad beans if you didn't get around to it yet. Thompson and Morgan claim that the"Express" variety of broad bean is the fastest maturing one you can grow. They also advise you to pinch out the tops of the plants when the plant is flowering to produce larger and faster crops. I saw Monty Don advising the same thing so it might be worth a try.

Sow maincrop carrots, beetroot and Parsnips

Mary hard at work sowing parsnips

Hi lads according to Klaus Laitenberger on Garrai Glas we should all be sowing our main crop carrots and parsnips this week or next. As today is a root day I'm doing it this evening.If you want to stick with the moon it's a root day tomorrow and Friday. You could do beetroot and other root crops while you are at it. Read more about Klaus here on  Klaus's website.

Before I sow though I will be watering the ground really well and if it stays dry over the coming days I will have to keep it moist to help seedlings germinate-don't forget about this part or all your diligent sowing may just be in vain!

Foxgloves in bloom

Check out the fat pink one in the distance. Only one white plant though!

 One thing about time away is the army of weeds waiting for you when you return. The nice thing though was the sight of an army of foxgloves all blooming together. They become huge plants though and spread seeds everywhere. If you want to grow them wait a month and set seeds outdoors on your own soil. Last years plants set seeds on top of the soil here and grew where they fell, so don't cover them. I have clay soil that's a bit alkaline but they seeded fine, but I noticed that a load of seedlings germinated in an open bag of ericacious compost lying nearby so they seem to like that a lot). Seedlings that pop up will have reached a nice size to overwinter and flower for you next year.

Honey bees swarming

Walked down the garden this morning to find it awash with honey bees! They are really keen on one big bed bursting with poached egg flowers. Where the hell did they come from? I rang Jack to find out where his nearest hives are, he told me the P.P.s house a few miles away. Anyway he said it was much more likely a swarm as the bees are swarming like mad at the moment. Woo hoo! well good for us, not the beekeepers. Keep yer eyes and ears peeled for friendly local swarms to pollinate your crops for you.I thought a video said it best (the hum from the garden is quite amazing-reminds me of being at Jacks) so here is a very small short one. If it doesn't work here's a utube link; bees

Just to let you know I will never win an award at Cannes for my camera work!!