Inishowen Independent Gardening Competition

WIN 2 GREAT GARDENING BOOKS.

As a celebration of the fabulous summer we are having I would like to give everyone a chance to win 2 fabulous gardening books.  The first book by Klaus Laitenberger titled ‘Vegetables for the Polytunnel and Greenhouse’ tells you everything you need to know about growing your own vegetables, care, planting, weed control and more.  The second book written by myself is an 80 page manual all about making your own raised beds with lots of pictures.  Titled ‘Raised Beds for the Organic Garden’ is available as an e-book, so you will need a computer, Kindle or similar.

How to Enter

All you have to do is be creative and write a poem with a garden related theme. The poem can be about your favourite plant, season, environment, composting, digging, tools, vegetables, weeding, fruit, slugs and snails, in fact anything gardening related. 

Here is a poem to get you in the mood, written by landscape architect Jane Garrison. Her own experiences of gardening seem to be a bit on the challenging side to say the least!  Sing it to the ‘Clementine’ tune.

Oh My Garden

Oh my garden. My poor garden

I can see the moles and slugs.

But here's the full meal deal.

It must have disease and bugs.

Black and sticky. Oh how icky

on all my evergreens.

Sooty mould needs a washing

to avoid this nasty scene.

Lightly stippled. Not a good thing.

It's the teeny spider mite.

Nice to have the pretty lacewing

who loves the mite to bite.

Stunted new growth puckers leaves.

Scale, aphids and white flies.

Spray with water, just plain water,

and only good bugs will survive.

Pale foliage, tan and grey

with deformed buds and tips.

Looks like seersucker pucker.

And I've got a bunch of thrips.

Brown splotches on my dogwoods.

show up late in the spring.

A big dose of anthracnose

will make me do some pruning.

Brown and black spots, even scabs

and shot holes on my trees.

It is a Dalmatian sensation.

And it winters in rotting debris.

Tiny bites from sides of leaves.

There are many, many notches.

Root weevils got my rhodies.

Must now do night watches.

They say a blast of plain water

will wash away the goo.

Oh my goodness. What is that stuff?

Rusty pustules give me pains.

Rust is fungus that lives among us,

because here it always rains.

Plants are floppy, really droopy.

What are they trying to prove

Is it too dry, wet or shady.

I guess they will have to move.

Rotten buds and stunted growth now.

I think I am near the end.

The plants have root rot.

My song is over.

I will need to make amends.

Judging

The poems will be read and judged by Gareth Austin from Newtowncunningham who is the resident expert gardener on the Mark Patterson show on radio Foyle.

When you have penned your poem please send it to me at info@gardening.ie  or drop a copy into the Inishowen Independent office.

There will also be a few of my e-books offered to the runners up.  The closing date is Friday 15^th of June so you have 2 weeks to send in your poem..

Innovation, Moss Graffiti and Miniature Baskets

 

Innovation in the garden is the topic for this week, inspired by Noel Joyce and his recent visit on the Dragons’ Den.  Noel came up with the idea to fix frames onto wooden fences and sheds for hanging plant pots in and has called the invention the ‘Breezy Garden Plant Holder’.  For me it was a case of “Why didn’t I think of that” Sean O’Sullivan, one of the Dragons thought it was such a good idea he invested in it, so they will be on the DIY shelves very soon. I have put my creativity to good use and come up with a few suggestions of my own for innovation in the garden.  I’m not sure if anyone will invest in me though!

Trampoline
Here’s a great idea for making good use of all of those neglected trampolines scattered about the back gardens on the peninsula.  The base makes a perfect framework for a chicken enclosure.  Get a roll of chicken wire and unroll it around the legs of the trampoline; if the top bouncy bit is ripped this can be covered with wire netting too. The chicken house could be attached to the enclosure somehow ( I haven’t thought this through too well, the Dragons would eat me alive) The only reservation I would have with this would be if the kids got onto the trampoline and stated bouncing. I think you would have a few more eggs laid that day.

Making Moss Graffiti
I went through a phase of making seed bombs a few years ago and hopefully the effects of these are still being felt in the hedgerows. I only used naturalised seeds and merely re distributed them.  Now the next stage of the eco warrior world is upon us and it’s called Moss Graffiti.  I’m not sure if I have the nerve to do this in public places so I will probably just play with it in my back garden and not even consider getting outside investments from the Dragons. I have a few walls that could do with brightening up and could benefit from a dab of buttermilk.  Here’s how you create the solution should you decide to make your mark on a wall, or any other stationary object for that matter, this idea will work well on Belfast sinks and other small alpine garden planters.

                                          Photo: Just one idea for moss painting graffiti.

How to do it
Bearing in mind this is not an exact science you could add more or less depending on what you were going to do with the solution. This mix will make a decent statement.

•    Collect 3-4 hands full of moss and put in a blender with 700ml of luke warm water.
•    Add 3-4 tablespoons of water retaining gel (you can get small packs from most garden outlets)
•    Add 120 ml of buttermilk
•    Pulse the blender until the gel forms, which doesn’t take long.
•    Pour the mix into a bucket.
•    Paint onto rough concrete or wooden surfaces.
•    Here’s the tricky bit.  You will need and keep an eye on the weather, if it’s dry, mist weekly to make sure the moss re-grows.  The water retaining gel will be of benefit here. 
•    After about three weeks you should see your artwork growing in front of you.

Please send in photos of your creativity, I would love to see it. One tip: If you are going to do this as a graffiti venture, don’t write your own name! I speak from experience.

Miniature Baskets
I came across some miniature woven baskets last week that caught my attention.  I particularly enjoy small art at the moment and spend my quieter moments making ACEO cards. ACEO cards are 2.2x3.5 inches in size and can be of anything you like but I have found the most popular ones are pictures of cats for some reason and sell for about 1 euro each so no investment here either unless I can sell a few million of them.  The tiny woven baskets are made from pine needles and woven together in much the same way you would weave with willow or hazel.  The finished baskets could only fit a cherry tomato or a couple of hair grips into it, but that’s not the point, they are lovely in their own right. These won’t sell for that much either so again I can’t see any big investment coming my way. I’ll keep pottering in the shed, one of the world’s most creative of places.

 

Photos: Miniature basket weaving from Wilderness Survival School

Green Workshops highlighting Biodiversity Day
Here’s something that’s definitely worth investing in, time wise anyway.  The environmental organisation Global Action Plan Ireland (GAP) focuses on informing and educating individuals about sustainable living and environmental issues.  To highlight biodiversity day 2012, GAP will host a day of green workshops, ranging from-rainwater harvesting, compost "how to", attracting wildlife, planting advice and tips and even a fairtrade cup of tea. The venue is in Ballymun Dublin 11 on Tuesday May 22nd. It’s a bit of a distance from us here in Inishowen but I am sure our readers around the Dublin area would find it a very informative and fun day. For more information check out the Global Action Plan Facebook page.

Biodiversity Day in Ballymun

Global Action Plan Ireland (GAP) is an environmental organisation that focuses on informing and educating individuals about sustainable living and environmental issues. To highlight biodiversity day 2012, GAP will host a day of green workshops, ranging from-rainwater harvesting, compost "how to", attracting wildlife, planting advice and tips and even a fairtrade cup of tea. All are welcome to attend on Tuesday May 22nd. Venue: Muck and Magic Community Garden Ballymun Dublin 11

Sowing and Recycling

 

 

I’ve been doing a bit of reusing and recycling this week in preparation for seed sowing.  It sounds simple to put a few seeds into containers but I have a lot of preparation work to do first.  Firstly I have to get into the garage and find some plant pots and propagation trays; this means having to do a job I have put off since moving house last October...tidy.  It isn’t just a tidy up though, on a scale of 1-10 this is a big 10.  All winter the family have been rooting around the boxes and containers looking for things and as the boxes are emptied they are seldom packed up again, things just get thrown everywhere.  Add to this the dogs making beds out of our winter coats and the guinea pig throwing straw about and it’s a pretty bleak scene. 

Emerging

Three days later and I have emerged from the garage.  I have four piles of things. Keep and reuse, recycle, charity shop and burn in the fire.  The ‘keep and reuse’ pile ranges from tools to old bits of carpet, which is quite straight forward.  The recycle and charity shop boundary is a bit vague though.  Some of the recycling things like old metal will be going to the recycling centre but things like clothes are a different matter.  I have the choice of dumping my three bin liner bags full into the clothes bank at the recycling centre, sending them to the charity shop or taking them to a place on the Springtown Industrial estate in Derry where I can get 60p per kilo for clothes and shoes, and 20 per kilo for old bedding.  I don’t need to tell you where they are going. The charity shop will be getting my old video tapes and a few ornaments. 

Old cooker

The old gas cooker in the corner of the garage needs to go.  All of the connectors would decay quickly if not used so I need to find a new home for it.  Scrap values for anything metal are very high at the moment so I could take it to the scrapyard along with a couple of old car batteries I have, but the cooker is only about 6 years old so I want to find a home for it.  I did try advertising it for sale on Donedeal a month or two ago but got no response.  I remembered a set up called Freecycle, this is a worldwide group where you can give away or ask for things you need in your local community. We have  two groups locally in Donegal and Derry and there is also an offshoot of the scheme called Freegle which formed after the UK Freecycle split from their American founders.  I joined the Derry group and put the cooker on it.  Within an hour a very nice lad had collected the cooker and said he would make good use of it, now I am not sure if he meant because he was going to use it or take it to the scrapyard and get a few euro for it. I didn’t like to ask.

Cleared

The garage is clear and I resume my search for the pots and propagators only to realise that I have left them all behind in the old house, which has been totally cleared.  Oh well, it’s not like I am potting on an industrial scale so the old dog chewed pots we have blowing around the garden will have to do.

As I was organising the garage, Julie was buying some vegetable seeds and also managed to get pea, beans and courgette seeds from her dad who always has some left over after planting.  We don’t really have a workspace for potting up the seeds so I made good use of the top of an old chest of drawers that I haven’t chopped up yet for burning.  With the use of an old fence panel and a branch I lopped off the sycamore tree I quickly make a very sturdy work table in the garden that is ideal for potting up and housing the seedlings. Hopefully the dogs will keep of it for long enough to let them germinate. 

I realise now though that we haven’t really got a place ready for the vegetables.  We have a small section cleared of weeds and old roots but the soil is quite poor.  I did remember to bring large bags of compost from the old house so we can dig those in soon; we also have fresh compost in the bins that we can put in trenches for the peas and beans to grow on.  It’s all “Just in Time Management “in the garden at the moment which is expected as it’s our first year in the new place.  Exciting stuff!