Monthly Archives: July 2011

Walking in Wildflowers

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Poppies

When did you last walk through a field of wildflowers? 



I’m searching through my memory bank and can only think of a handful of occasions that I personally have (and I’m a country gal), yet they’ve been around since neolithic times, so Sandro Cafollo of Design by Nature (www.wildflowers.ie) was explaining to us today. 


Cornflowers



From their origin to ground preparation, weeds, growing conditions, identification and the lack of support to growers, Sandro passionately  shared some of his vast knowledge on growing crops of herbs and wildflowers to an interested group of us near Urlingford in Tipperary. 


Sadly many native Irish wildflowers are now extinct or on the endangered list mostly as a result of weedkillers, farm machinery or heavy cropping. From corncockle to corn chamomile, wild cornflower and scarlet pimpernell – many of us will never see these flowers growing wild again.


Self Heal, Oxe Eye Daisy  & Mallow

So why did Sandro give up his time for free today, give away seeds (and even fork out for a port-a-loo in a field)?  It was in the hope that we would help to spread the word…

Wildflowers are great!

They can be grown commerically in Ireland as an alternative to four legged ‘crops’ and are incredibly important for biodiversity, encouraging a vast range of insects and butterflies. They can be used around fields, on verges or banks, as alternatives to mown lawns or just as cash crops – and more of us could be growing them. 

Corn Marigolds


To grow wildflowers successfully however, involves more than just buying a packet of seeds and scattering them a few weeks later, but that’s not for here or now (if you’re looking for more information go check out Sandro’s website). His passion for growing native Irish wildflowers was infectious, carrying us inquisitively and happily throughout the day. 


Mallow & Oxeye Daisy



The following quote from their website explains why they feel it’s so important to grow Irish seeds:-

Our thoughts on imported ‘so called’ wildflowers: 

Retailers and online sellers are selling American, Chinese, or European flora claiming that they are wildflowers. 
These imports are not native Irish wildflowers and they are not suitable for nature conservation, they may not survive beyond the first year.  Often these products are not even wildflowers from other countries instead they are cultivated flowers. You will end up paying for expensive packaging and cheap substitutes. If in doubt, ask the horticulture division of Bord Bia, or the Department of Agriculture, for a list of growers of wildflowers in Ireland (and not just sellers). Watch out for false claims with seed mixtures containing cultivated flowers posing as wildflowers. When you buy native sourced Irish species they flower at the same time as the wildlife that visits the plants, native flowers can survive your local climatic conditions. Your purchases supports jobs in Ireland.


Stacia bought the wine …

So after a day outside in good company, catching up for ‘real’ with social media friends Margaret from Old Farm , Stasia from Our Smallholding  and Lilly from Silverwood, I’ll shortly be sitting relaxing with a mug of tea, planning where we can sow a few colourful Irish wildflowers of our own… and I’ll be wholeheartedly encouraging anyone I know to consider growing or stocking them too.

Trying something different…

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It’s good to grow something different. 


You can observe how plants grow and experience new flavours. 




Whether it’s an unusual vegetable or just another variety we always try to add to the list of tried and tested here in the Greenside Up garden. This year we’re trying a few new ones, starting with a yet unnamed variety of squash.


Squash

We saved the seeds from a squash that was bought from a local farm gate last autumn. Searching through the seed catalogues has us thinking that they might be of the ‘Blue Ballet’ variety but until the plants mature we’ll  just have to wait and see (and if they were F1 seeds they’re unlikely to develop true to type anyway). The two plants sown are romping away in the tunnel, so much so that I cleared away the Phacelia this morning that I’d sown in front of them to attract the pollinating bees in.


Florence Fennel

Next up is Florence Fennel. This is the bulb plant rather than the wispy herb. It was touch and go whether any would survive as the tiny seedlings resembled the weeds growing close by and many were inadvertently pulled up. A few have survived however, and we’re looking forward to cooking the aniseed flavoured veg when it matures.


Fennel growing next to oregano (not new additions)

We’ve grown a couple of different varieties of kale over the years, and always try and sow the hardy curly kale for some winter veg. This year we’ve added red kale to add some variety to our dinner plates…


Red Kale
and some Black Russian just because it’s a different shape.

Black Russian Kale

I’ve been looking forward to sowing some wacky looking Kohl Rabi so this spring added them to the beds too. They’re still pretty small and we lost some due to the rampaging cattle that visited recently but I love them for their individuality and colour…


Kohl Rabi

Last year we grew a tall variety of French beans in the polytunnel. They grew so rapidly we could have climbed up them to meet the giants. They were also full of strange looking spiders and it was therefore left to our 10 year old daughter and a friend (invited around for tea lots that month) to pick them.


Tall French Beans (Three Sister Planting)
This year I’ve chosen a dwarf variety so that I can pick them myself. 
Dwarf French Beans

Lastly we’ve added to the companion plants with the introduction of Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes) sown directly into the bed in front of the broad beans, which have always suffered with the little pest black bean aphid. This pretty little annual attracts hoverflies whose larvae eat aphids so fingers crossed they’ll arrive in time!

Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes)

Are you growing anything different this year? 

Phacelia – not just a green manure

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I adore Phacelia. It’s pretty, delicate flower attracts hoverflies as well as many types of bees into our garden.  It’s easy to grow, hardy and it self seeds.

Phacelia is a green manure that can be sown into vegetable gardens when they would otherwise be left empty.

It improves the soil if the plants are dug in or cut before they flower and left on the top of the soil to break down.

I’ve never managed to do this. The promise of a garden full of the colourful spikey flowers is too great.

When the flowers come to an end the seeds start to form, uncurling in a way that resembles barley.


 This year I got carried away and sowed Phacelia in our flower beds too. Along with the borage, (another self seeding, bee attracting plant) it’s taken over so this afternoon’s job is to head out with my scissors and cut stems to fill vases all around the house, filling our rooms with it’s scent before clearing the rest of the plants away to the compost heap.

 Has anybody else tried growing green manures and do you have a favourite?

Gadzooks! Giant onions!

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Just posting a quick update on the onions that I planted back in October. They were the first overwintering varieties grown in the Greenside Up garden (we usually plant sets out in the early springtime) and they have, without doubt, been a major success.

The only care they’ve needed was for the bed to be weeded regularly and that’s it. They survived the snow, ice, wind and rain and just kept growing and growing.

To give you an idea of their size my index finger is just over 7cm long (just over 3 1/2″). Only three bolted (went to seed and tried to flower) and their stems were removed as soon as they were spotted.

I lifted them today as their tops were brown and falling over. The next step is to move them inside to dry out fully before stringing them up as it’s not dry enough to leave them out. We used to do this process in the shed but last year the polytunnel proved even more useful and they dried out very quickly draped over a wire rack. The trick is to keep them as far apart as possible so the bulbs aren’t touching.

We’ve eaten a few fresh ones already and they taste good. 

So will I be recommending anyone plants overwintering onions, and will we be doing it this year? Absolutely!

Rain

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We complain when there’s too much and when there’s not enough. It’s not until there’s no rain at all that we appreciate just how much we need it, how much the earth needs it.

Here in the Perigord region of France there’s been an official drought for over a month now. The lakes are drying up and the rivers are flowing slowly.

In Ireland we’re not used to the word ‘drought’. We find it unsettling when we haven’t had any rain for a couple of weeks, but even then our temperatures aren’t hot enough to bake the soil so dry it’s dust when you walk through it.

Today it rained in Champagne-et-Fontaine and the birds are singing. The steam rises from the grass and you can almost imagine the roots reaching for what little thirst quenching nourishment they can find. For the past month here the temperatures have been in their 30s, even 40s on some ocassions. As pale skinned tourists we’ve loved the heat, basked in it with nothing else to do but smother ourselves in suntan lotion, read, relax and swim in the fresh water rivers with the dragonflies and tiny fish.

However, as a gardener I feel for the people here, the plants and the wildlife. What can you do when all the waterbutts are empty, there’s a hosepipe ban and water becomes such a precious commodity that the allotmenteers have to pee in their watering cans?

Nothing – there’s nothing you can do. You just have to be patient and try not to despair as you watch your vegetables wither. You have to wait for some rain to fall soon and maybe if you’re that way inclined, pray.

Hopefully it will rain some more here and hopefully it will be during the night time because, lets face it, we’re only human and don’t really want to spend our days in the rain. But whenever the grey clouds do cover the blue sky and the raindrops fall we will rejoice that for now everyone and everything is smiling.