WATERING

I am waiting to pick my lad up from school and the blizzard snow is hitting the car hard, which is causing slight drifts to settle on the windscreen. Out of the steamy side window I see Cyril and George, the two Buncrana town gardeners filling in a hole with what looks like asphalt.

I pluck up courage and wind down the window, letting the icy breeze into the cabin and shout over unhelpfully “I didn’t know you were now on the tarmac gang.” “We’re filling up a hole where a tree used to be.” George shouts over. “Someone ran into it with their car last week and snapped it.” He indicates with his two hands the circumference of the trunk that got demolished.” “It’s not tarmac, it’s soil.” He says. I feel a bit guilty. I park on this stretch of road every school day and hadn’t even noticed the tree was there, let alone that it had been taken out. Mind you, I do find myself sleeping in the car at this time of day, so observation isn’t on the top of my list. There’s just something very relaxing about that ten minutes before the school breaks up for the day and I tend to drift off in a daydream giving little thought to the outside world.

WET TIME
I wind up the window to keep the cold out and watch George and Cyril out toiling away in the wintry weather. When I worked for the parks gardens in Nottingham we would have never ventured out in this type of weather. We opted for something called ‘wet time.’ We were ever vigilant of the clouds and if ever a drop of rain, or snow, hit the ground we made straight for the main building on the park. In here we had a room with a pool table, television, kettle and most importantly a big oil heater that we could sit on to warm our bones.

VIRTUAL GARDENING
We had a lot of ‘wet time.’ The downside of this was that we jeopardised our chances of getting a works bonus, which was something that most of us got used to having and would be loathed to go without. So it was time for a bit of creative form filling in of our time sheets to ensure that we always got top bonuses, regardless of the moralistic implications of taking money under false pretences from an already financially stretched Council. Even though wet time wasn’t on the bonus list, we always managed to fit in a bit of virtual sweeping, pruning and weeding to put on the form, sweeping was best put on the list on a windy day in autumn as the foreman couldn’t tell if you had done it or not.

BIRDS
One of my favourite jobs in the rain was to go and feed the 45 budgies and golden pheasant in the aviary on the park, I used to get half an hour a day for doing that although the numbers dwindled somewhat because the rats kept eating them. I ended up being paid half an hours wages a day for looking after two surviving budgies and when those died I still managed to get paid for looking after virtual budgies until the foreman noticed the cage was empty six months down the line.

DOWN THE BOOKIES
Norman, the gravedigger was a master at filling in the finer details to get us top bonuses every week and he used to go through our forms for us in his office, which happened to be the local bookmakers. He had his own chair and cup and we would give him the sheets on a Friday so he could cast his professional eye over them to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. There was a price to pay though and we had to dig the odd grave or two for him when there was a big race on. It was worth it though….


I suppose I should say here that we made up for the hibernating in wet weather by working hard at any other time… Well, I can’t. In summer, my favourite job was watering the bowling greens. I loved this as the sprinkler fitting rested on the hosepipe and the force of the water sent it up and down the green, giving me plenty of time to sunbathe and talk to friends. I fell asleep one day, (it was rather hot and I had previously had a late night) leaving the sprinkler flowing in one place for three hours as it got stuck on a kink in the pipe. The bowling green was under three inches of water which wouldn’t have been a bother if it wasn’t for the fact that there was a county match on. I was given a rude awakening by the captain of the local team who wasn’t too pleased…. I beat a hasty retreat splashing my way through the lake that used to be their perfect playing surface, dragging the pipe behind me. I did do an honest days work occasionally, for example….actually I can’t think of any at the moment. It’s funny how you forget things…

MOSS

A STICKY SITUATION

Duct tape is great. For those of you not familiar with this life changing product, it’s a bit like Sellotape but silver and has cotton strands running though it for strength. Known also as Duck tape, it was developed in the second World War for fixing military equipment such as ammunition cases, jeeps, firearms, tanks and aircraft where it earned another nick-name “100 miles an hour tape”. NASA have even used it on the moon. I have been familiar with it for years as a variation of it called Gaffer tape, this was the slightly less tacky stuff that live bands used to stick the miles of electrical cables safely to the floor at concerts. It was put in place so us teenagers wouldn’t trip over ourselves and spill the watered down lager we had just bought in the plastic pint glass.

I have stuck with it over the years though and Duct tape now holds most things together in the house.

My computer has lengths of it holding the USB cables in place and the wires are neatly stuck to the floor and walls near the plug sockets. (I walk over them occasionally to relive my memories of going to Genesis concerts) The shredder that I recently bought and lovingly cared for is now covered in the thick, strong tape as the machine fell over when I was moving it in the garden, smashing the protective plastic casing. There really should have been a protective bar to protect the protective case but as there wasn’t, the front of the machine ended up in thousands of fragments on the driveway. The big gaping hole where the shredders innards were spilling out have been sealed up and made safe … with a few feet of Duct tape.

The handle came off the bird feeder today and when my lad came to me so I could fix it, I thought of only one thing that was up to the job (spilt lager at a concert proved that) … Trusty duct tape. “It’s waterproof too.” I tell him.

There is one thing in the garden that the tape hasn’t held together though. A seat. The seat was originally a two in one chair with a small table in the middle for your drinks. They are a bit like those courting chairs of old, but you are both facing the same direction and can kiss easier. Anyway, one of them fell apart some time ago at a rather over zealous children’s party, leaving the remaining chair and the table, which also looked as though they were destined for the fire. So out came the Duct tape. It worked quite well too, and had that industrial look to it with the silver reflecting in the winter sunshine. Until that is, I sat on it today… My lad was taking a photo of me, supposedly relaxing and extolling the virtues of the tape when the inevitable happened. The photo says it all…………There are things that even duct tape won’t fix……


MOSS

Help I have loads of moss on my lawn and the wet weather hasn’t helped…What am I to do ? Thanks DM Malin


Guide to moss control
The most effective moss control is best achieved by having a healthy grass. Increasingly mild and damp weather is adding to this troublesome moss problem in lawns. There are three types of moss - upright moss, trailing moss and cushion moss and they all thrive when conditions are detrimental to healthy grass growth.

There are four main factors:
Waterlogged soil because of poor drainage.

Low fertility. The soil might be dry but a lack of nutrition prevents the grass from being healthy thus allowing moss to flourish.

Moss thrives when grass is under stress. Large trees and high hedges create moss conditions. Deep shade, with excessive moisture dripping off the leaves is contributory factor. In addition the root system of the trees and shrubs extract nutrient from the soil depriving the grasses of the plant food they need to thrive.

Soils, which have become over acid, again favour moss as grass loses its vigour and ability to out compete the invader.

Moss is a direct result of low plant vigour, low fertility, poor soil conditions or lack of available nutrient. All conspire to favour the growth of moss rather than of grass.

Organic treatment of moss

Lawn Sand. This effectively burns off the moss while providing a boost to grass growth. Sometimes more than one application will be required.

Feeding. A good long-term strategy for moss control is through regular feeding to keep up the vigour of the grass.

Careful mowing. Removing excessive amounts of green foliage, more than 20% at any time, places the grass under great stress. Leaving the grass excessively long will create a damp microclimate on the surface and will weaken the finer grasses.

Chopping back. If possible open up the area by cutting back shrubs, trees and hedges to let the light in. Mechanical treatments. Scarifying will remove large quantities of moss and if carried out in the spring and early autumn will be very effective. This coupled with surface aeration designed to improve the surface drainage will go a long way to combat the problem.Top dressing. The use of good quality top dressing helps to create a drier, freer draining surface.

Reducing acidity. The application of lime should be undertaken very cautiously as it may result in other problems. The use of a product such as calcified seaweed would be a safer form of moss control.

Good drainage. If all else fails then you might have to put in some serious drainage…. or, like the rest of us, learn to live with it…...Best of luck.

ALLOTMENTS

The vegetable growing season is nearly with us and those of us who grow our own are thinking about what seeds to buy, where to plant them and where we are going to get our next barrow load of horse muck from. This time of year also makes me think about allotments.

ALLOTMENTS…ARE WE READY?
I have a bit of a thing about these pieces of communal land turned over for the purpose of growing your own vegetables and always sing their praises. I grew up in an area in England where allotments were an integral part of everyday life. There was one coal-mining village called Newstead, (http://www.newsteadvillage.org/) very close to where I lived that was actually designed around the community allotments and were the focal point of the estate as they were in front of you as you walked out of the front door. The collieries around that area, like most industry in Inishowen, have long gone and took away a particular way of life. That might be changing though.

I tend to get my rose tinted glasses on when I talk about the virtues of allotments and although I think they are a great idea, I ask myself, would I use one if they were in Buncrana? The truthful answer is probably no. Why is this?. I think mainly it’s because I am not limited for space in my own garden and don’t need to go out and find a separate plot to grow veggies. Although most houses in Inishowen do have a small patch of green, there are more and more apartments and flats with only a small balcony-if they are lucky.

GLOBAL INTEREST
I am aware of a lot of initiatives around the country that are being set up to start allotments. Irishallotments.net have set up to bring allotment folk together and Gardenplansireland, another web-based forum are also starting up a new site purely for the interest of allotment growing. Their sites have full lists of allotment schemes around the country… although there is no mention of any scheme in the North West so far.

There is an interest, globally, in growing food closer to home especially in cities and places where space is a premium. This interest may be driven by factors such as disillusionment with mass produced food, the growing interest in organic gardening, and the need for localisation and lower food miles. It may be about the related quests for quality, flavour and freshness in food. The need for green space and a quiet environment in ever more populated and bustling towns and cities and the factor of higher density housing with little or no gardens may also play a part.

I TRIED
I did try myself a while ago to set up a community garden in Buncrana. This was to be an area on an estate set aside for allotments and also include a community space for relaxation I consulted the Council and after a bit of negotiating it was recommended that I didn’t pursue the idea. The reasons I was given were many. Insurance. The possibility that someone might build something on the land, then claim it for themselves. Drunken youth. The temptation for thieves in the night to dig up your carrots….. One of the main reasons for the negativity I think was that at the time, most land was being seen as potential development land and the thought of some wheel barrow pushing gardeners didn’t exactly get the tills ringing, especially as this land in question is right next to where the inner ring road will eventually pass.

NEW IDEAS
With the economy changing and the slow down in development, councils and landowners will hopefully see more community potential in land now other than it being used for building potential.

What is needed when planning allotments is a long-term contract, again something that Councils and private landowners might not like initially but hopefully they will see, that inward investment for local communities is where the new positive thinkers are going. The old organic allotments in Carndonagh are now under the new by-pass, so there is no use investing time and money into projects that are not long term. Dublin Council have drawn up allotment areas into their 2006-2010 development plan and other councils are doing the same.

Let's have a look at some of the positives:

The Benefits of Allotments

· Allotments meet the social needs of local people, both young and old. Gardeners enjoy talking about their shared interest almost as much as growing produce. This is an important contribution to strengthening communities. They also swap seedlings and produce which is a good bartering system.

· The home-grown vegetables taste delicious.

· You develop a more self-sufficient attitude and become less dependent on global market prices.

· There is a reduction on imports and pollution from transportation and fertiliser use.

· Fresh air and exercise are seen as increasingly important to maintaining health.

· Allotments are an educational place for children and others to learn about vegetable growing.

· Biodiversity: Because of the wide range of plants grown and habitats created for wildlife, allotments are shown as green oases in a “concrete jungle”.

· Excess vegetables can be distributed locally either by setting up a stall in the local farmers markets.

And the negatives?…. There are none…….

LONG TERM INVESTMENT - IN PEOPLE
Allotments would need to be a long-term investment for the future for everyone in Inishowen. A scheme like this wouldn’t cost much money. Having a long term lease on land and some investment of time and trust for the community. The benefits would not only be tastier food, but positive effects on the health and well-being of whole communities. All that is needed is enough interested people in local areas to get together, lobby local councillors and stress the need for permanent allotment sites that can grow and develop…. organically of course…

STARTING AN ORGANIC VEGETABLE PATCH

Well, maybe we won't start it today.......

This week I have made the decision to go out and start on building the vegetable patch. The idea, I must confess is daunting, partly down to the fact that because of moving house, it’s the third veggie patch we have built in as many years, and secondly because there are so many factors to take into consideration.

There are certain lessons in the garden that I tend to learn again and again like clear away dog mess before you play on the lawn and wear gloves when pruning roses. This week’s lesson is about breaking the vegetable design jobs down into sections so that they are more manageable. We’ve been busy with the shredder for the last week or so and this was initially something that I wasn’t even going to start, it was too daunting. There are mountains of cuttings to shred and the thought of all of these being manually pushed through a hole no bigger an a golf ball is the stuff of science fiction and black holes. But you know what? After a few hours you can actually see where we have been as the pile gets slowly smaller and smaller. Having a big garden has shown me that you don’t have to start and finish a job in the same day. Julie’s dad, as a matter of interest, actively lets jobs run into another day as he thinks it’s incentive to get out of bed in the mornings as you have something to look forward to.

LESSON FOR THE DAY
This then is my lesson for the day. I don’t have to go out and build the raised vegetable beds, fill them up and plant the seeds in one day in a rush to get it finished so I can start something else. Getting the right site for a new vegetable patch is an important issue and there are a lot of factors to take into consideration before even the spade is lifted. I will be using this as an excuse not to start building for at least a couple of weeks. I think it could be called procrastinating, but I would rather take my time and get the details clear in my head before I steamroll in with the spade and realise I have chosen the wrong spot.

KEY FACTORS
Our new and mature garden has a lot of sunny spots, a key factor when locating a new veggie patch. A bit of a compromise is needed if you have a new garden though as you wouldn’t be very popular with the family if your raised beds went where the patio should go. Putting the beds where they have the potential to get the sun for about six hours a day is ideal (ah, the thought…) Good light from the sun on the vegetables will help them grow and the roots will benefit from the suns warming effect on the soil, which is why raised beds are such a good idea, the sun can get to more of the soil warming it faster in spring to start off the growing process.

TREES AND SHRUBS
We have a lot of trees in our garden and as beautiful as they are they do pose a few problems. Light is one and roots are another. Because the garden is so mature we have decided to split the growing areas up into small sections. We have an area near to the house that gets good light and because the trees are not too close the soil is quite loose. There are a few cotoneaster and privet shrubs near though and although they don’t block out the light, there roots could cause a problem so we will be building up the soil a bit. I am a bit reluctant to start bringing in soil as I feel that there are solutions closer to hand. We can bulk up the beds with the woody shreddings we have been collecting and then there’s always a trip to the beach to get some seaweed. We are lucky enough to have local horses and cows, which will also help when it comes to bulking agents.

I am a bit ahead of myself here though as I am not going to be doing the soil preparation yet as there are still more factors to take into account before the wheelbarrow comes out….

THERE’S MORE
Shelter is important. We are high up and will need to keep the South Westerly’s off the crops whilst keeping good circulation. If the spot is too sheltered then fungal problems can occur. The main thing is to avoid gusting winds that will batter elevated crops like runner beans. Wind can also dry vegetables out rapidly, requiring more watering. The area we have is just right, it will get the breezes, sunshine and it is well drained.

It’s no use having a plot that is under water all winter as this means you will not be able to work on it and get it ready in time for spring planting. Again, raised beds come to the rescue here if you have a wet site. Just four planks of wood nailed together and filled could save a fortune in irrigation pipes.

BE INDEPENDENT IN INISHOWEN
It’s more important that ever to grow your own vegetables and even world spiritual leaders are now telling us to grow our own as it’s the single most important thing we can do to be less dependent on fossil fuel and take important step of being more self sufficient. There are added benefits of being more in control of our diets and of course keeping active, fit and saving money…. If you are feeling enthused and committed to finding out how to go about growing, you may like to contact the Inishowen Organic Group.


INISHOWEN ORGANIC GROUP NEEDS YOU….

I had e-mail this week from Noel, who runs the Inishowen Organic group. They will be holding their next AGM on the 29th of January and will be appointing a new Chairman, Secretary, PRO & librarian. Noel and the existing members have all benefited by pooling their combined knowledge and some members have put up poly tunnels whilst others have started to raise chickens as well as gain invaluable knowledge of organic growing. The group will need active members and motivated leaders to take the Organic Group into a very crucial time in history where we need to be looking at our lifestyles and learning to be more self-sufficient. There are courses down at the Organic Centre in Rossinver the group could go to and of course connecting with other people who have an interest in growing vegetables and becoming more sustainable as a community helps build local knowledge.

If you are interested in going to the meeting it’s on the 29th January at McClure's Bar, Carndonagh and will start at 8pm.