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!

Odd Jobs

Bitting and Bobbing
I've had a “bitting bobbing” day today, if there is such a thing.  Like some of the busiest days around the house it started off without any real plans. I just let the day unfold.
My first job was stocking up the sheep’s wool I have on top of a pile of logs at the far end of the garden.  It's a bit of a long story but I decided to stuff some cushions last year and in my pursuit to find a cheap natural filling material I contacted wool insulation companies an asked them for free samples.  They duly obliged and I had enough natural, undyed sheep’s wool to fill four good sized cushions, can't argue at that price. I never got around to making them up though so the wool has just been floating around the garage all winter.  I put a bit of it near to the compost bin last week ( iI couldn’t get the lid off, a common problem) and it was soon snapped up by the nesting birds who fluffed up mouthfuls and took them back to their nests.  Since then it's nearly all gone. There will be some very comfortable chicks around our garden this year.
The path to the log pile was an obstacle course as the dogs in their bored moments (they have a lot of them) decided to rip their foam bed apart and scatter the remains. It wasn't a cheap bed either but I'm sure there will be no objections from them when they are sleeping on an old towel. I spend a good twenty minutes putting the foam bits into a bag before the wind picks up and blows them over to the neighbours.

Bird House
I was now in the mood to do a bit of tidying in the garage out of the wind.  After a few minutes of just standing and staring at the mess I spot a bird house that I forgot we had. It's a well made, brightly coloured piece that should fit onto a large tree or wall.  As I was chainsaw happy last autumn we are now left with absolutely no trees in the garden except for a couple of low down stumps, which would be a perfect height for the dogs to poke their noses in, so I set about fitting the bird house high up on the garage wall underneath the eves. I did a bit of sealing around the edge of the roof of the wooden house with some silicone; I wouldn't like the thought of their natural sheep’s wool nest getting wet in the rain.

Frogspawn
My next unplanned job is to take the dogs onto the park and check on the frogspawn. There were a few places on the park where frogs had laid the spawn but only one place is surviving due to the dry weather we have had.  All barring this one puddle have dried up completely.  This one would have done too if it hadn't been for he vigilance and dedication of a few locals.  Every evening in the dry weather the men would come down into the park with large containers of water and keep the small pond filled up.  So far the tadpoles have survived drought, a tractor grass cutter driving through them, litter and dogs taking a drink. When it's warm the water bubbles with the sheer amount of activity. As I am in the park there's time to stop and have a natter with some other dog owners. that took a good hour.

Grease
When I got home, there was nothing pressing so decided that now was a good time to walk around with a large tin of grease. It's amazing where you can put a good dollop.  All of the garage door hinges needed doing and I remembered I need to lubricate the strimmer head.  I have had one seize up on me before and they are expensive to replace.  Keeping the grease levels up stops friction, If you get the urge, use the grease that copes with high temperatures as the heads get very hot under normal working condition which turns normal grease into a liquid. I grease the hinges of the gate next and realise that that is well overdue a coat of paint.  It's an ornate steel gate that has already got 20 layers of paint on it. I have a tin of rust resistant silver paint that I spotted in my visual tidy of the garage earlier. I had no paint brushes though, so it was off to the shop to get one to suit..that was another hour gone.

Back home and raring to go with the silver paint.  Applying just one coat takes a good hour as it's very fiddly.  After drinking tea and waiting for the paint to dry I needed to build up the height of the gate to stop the dogs jumping over it in their endless bids for freedom.  This took a while but I made what I think is a fine looking addition out of bendy white water pipe and one of my favourite accessory ever...good old cable ties, second only to Duct tape.  It's been a busy day, the sun is setting and I am ready for a rest.  It's amazing how busy you can be when you have nothing to do.