A bit like Autumn

EASILY DISTRACTED
Autumn is moving in quickly. The temperature has dropped and fallen leaves are starting to build up in the corners of the garden. I was in Swan Park today and noticed that the elderberries are ripe and the sycamore helicopter seed pods are ready to drop. There’s still plenty of growth left though, so it’s not time to pack the mower away into the shed just yet. Grass, contrary to popular belief, never really stops growing, it just slows down a bit to allow you to conduct a few indoor jobs like tidying the garage.

So I am rummaging around our garage looking for something as the rain is stubborn and won’t go away. I can’t quite remember what it is I’m looking for as I’m very easily distracted. I have just unearthed an old Daily Diary from my college days back in 1991.


DAILY DIARY
The particular course I did at college was Amenity Horticulture, which meant that 80% of the time was spent being practical out of doors with a spade, notepad and piece of twine, leaving just 20% of the time for me to fall asleep in the classrooms. I was never that good at sitting so it was an ideal ratio. Throughout the course we were asked to log our work and observations throughout the year and compile a diary. At the time is seemed like a bit of a chore, but it’s the same as photographs, they become more historically valuable as the years pass.

PUT THE KETTLE ON
This needs a bit more attention so I tuck the diary under my arm and put the kettle on. Sitting comfortably in my armchair, I flick the diary open to the index page. I was very organised back then and everything is laid out in alphabetical order. It’s amazing what topics we covered. From alpine display beds through potting geraniums as well as day trips to nurseries to see how F1 seeds were produced, we packed everything in. Bizarrely, one of the most interesting and memorable trips for me was a visit to the local Tesco car park to assess the effectiveness of their low maintenance planting schemes around the car parking spaces…. How sad is that?

The diary also has my day-to-day interactions with the rest of the students throughout the year. The age group of the class members ranges from sixteen to sixty so there was always plenty of banter going on. I just started writing about everything that we did and thinking about it I have never stopped, it’s just that my location and circumstances have changed and I now write for the local newspaper instead of a college course…

REFERENCE
The idea of the diary was to use as a reference for when we were in the big wide world of work. It makes for a more animated read than a stuffy textbook and you have a giggle at the same time.

I’m on my second cuppa now and delve deeper. I remember we were also asked to do a monthly observation to witness the changing season. I found this invaluable at the time, as before the course I worked in a sand quarry and stared at large mountains of silica sand every day. It could have been any time of year as it looked like the Sahara Desert no matter what season it was (We sold sand to the Arab countries as a matter of interest, it was mixed in with nylon fibres to use on racecourses). I had never noticed the trees changing colour or seed heads appearing. The only time the quarry looked different was when it was covered in snow.

I started the observations with a visit to Westonbirt Arboretum (in Gloucestershire) to see the fabulous autumn leaves of their trees; acers, euonymus, oaks and cherry to name but a few. I then took to noting all of the plants around my own area that were radiant at different times of the year. I would recommend anyone who has an interest in gardening to do this as it really makes you realise just how quickly things change.

Another thing that the course taught me is that the more you learn about gardening, the more you realise just how much you don’t know…..

TRAINING COURSES
That’s why training courses can be a vital part of the journey to horticultural enlightenment. I was looking at the Greenmount courses up near Antrim. They have loads of courses on offer including amenity, organic and greenkeeping. If you are interested in a career in horticulture (and after all it is a growing industry ha ha) check out the courses on the website www.cafre.ac.uk

If you garden just for fun than a day or weekend course may be more feasible. The Organic Centre in Rossinver have loads of interesting courses running all year round. It’s getting to the mushroom season, so why not sign up for their Foraging For Free course or the Mushroom Hunting day? You can also choose a “Polytunnel” Course, A “Natural Remedies For Winter” weekend, “Alternative Energy”, “Growing Trees from Seed,” “Planning a Garden”, “Make Reedbeds” or “Organic Gardening Made Easy”. That’s just a small selection of what’s on offer, check out their website
www. theorganiccentre.ie for more information. If you get enough of your friends and family interested, you could hire a bus and have a fantastic, educational day out…

I had a tutor who told me that if I could remember three Latin names of plants and occasionally bring them out in conversation, then people would think you know what you are talking about and be impressed. It’s worked well for me for years…..or so I like to believe.