Armagh Visit

We’ve just returned from a very enjoyable visit to the historical town of Armagh. The town is enjoying a boost to the tourism trade this year by proudly hosting the ‘Earth from the Air’ photographic exhibition. This amazing display of aerial photography has travelled the world before arriving in Ireland, and Armagh was the city chosen to host this photographic portrait of the planet, which highlights issues about sustainable development.

Earth from the Air

‘Earth from the Air’, created by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is a spectacular presentation of large scale photographs. The astonishing natural landscapes really make you look at the earth in a different light. The organisers’ wecommunic8 are showing a world with a growing population, shrinking biodiversity, polluted lands and oceans, a changing climate and a shortage of water. It’s a positive display though and strives to show us a world of beauty and of wonder.

Navan Fort

The observatory in the City gave us another view of a wider world beyond the universe and to top it all off we went back in time to the Navan Centre and Fort. This is claimed to be one of Ireland’s most importance archaeological sites. The legendary Emain Macha (Navan Fort) is steeped in legend and folklore as this is the ancient seat of the Kings and Queens of Ulster. One feature they have is the reproduction of a willow and thatch house and an “in character” Celtic community who bring history to life in the Iron Age/Early Christian period dwelling with demonstrations of cooking, weaving, farming and advice about how to marry your children off at the age of 12. We lived for less time then (thirty five summers if you were lucky, they tell me) so it made sense to make the most of things. Wealth was measured in how much livestock you owned and wealth was displayed by eating bread (you would have needed slaves to till the ground) and by turning your fur lined garments at the edges so neighbours could see it or having a gold brooch instead of a bronze one. You could divorce your partner for belittling you in public and men and women, although having different roles had equal status. Everyone had a vegetable patch though, although the crops grown were different. These included plants that we usually see in the hedgerows; like sorrel and wild herbs. This brings me nicely back home to our own veggie patch.

Lesson learned

It’s only been a few days since we went away but a lot seems to have changed in the garden. One lesson I have learned about the garden is to only try to keep it tidy in the dormant months. There seems no point working against nature and attempting to keep things orderly. The hedges have shot up and the grass has grown a foot but I don’t care as I can tidy these up later when the growth slows down. The vegetable beds are doing really well too, yes there are weeds that are easily hoed down, but the courgettes, runner beans and lettuce plants are so large now that no weeds can keep up with the. Tthe bed preparation at the start of the season really pays off now in the most productive time in the garden.

Fixing the bed

We still have one bed that doesn’t seem to be doing much. We planted courgettes and peas but they have grown really badly. We know the problem. The bed is too close to an escallonia hedge, too shaded by a willow tree and too dry because of the two afore mentioned problems. On closer inspection the soil is bone dry and this is after three days of heavy (ish ) downpours. We have decided that it’s not too late to improve and re-plant the bed, so I have added some well rotted compost from the compost bin and teased it into the parched soil, this will help retain the moisture and give it a feed too. I decide to plant some mangetout and spinach and give them a good watering. It is a bit late really for the mange tout but if they don’t grow well enough to crop they are still nitrogen fixers and they can rot down into the soil over the winter. I should get a crop of baby leaves for the spinach too. I also plant some more salad crops, lettuce, spring onions, radishes and rocket. I replant some of the alpine strawberries. They are doing really well. I planted them from seeds last summer and they are re-seeding well this year. It’s not the best time to move them, but they are hardy little plants and will soon adapt to their new home.

Over the next couple of weeks there are a few plants that can be sown to increase the productivity of the garden. Green manures are great for sowing now and then dug into the beds next spring before planting. Field beans, red clover, radish tares and rye are all excellent.

Other veg you can grow now includes; Spring cabbage, chicory, fennel, Kohl rabi, land cress, Japanese onions, Pak choi, peas, swiss chard, turnip and winter puslane. With a bit of planning there should be no reason why we can’t be adding our own fresh herbs and veg to soups all year round, just like the characters at the Navan Centre say they do.