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From Bush to Bun – Growing & Baking Blueberries

January 25, 2015

Blueberries are full of nutrients and are easy plants to grow in containers, making them ideal if you’re new to growing food or thinking of getting back into it again. But why would you bother? This article looks at the health benefits of these tiny fruit, explains how to grow your own blueberries in containers and finishes with a healthy recipe for fat-free, sugar-free muffin style blueberry buns that contain just 52 calories each. Read on if you’re tempted to try growing your own this year.

Healthy Blueberry Living

From Bush to Bun - How to Grow and Bake Blueberries

Blueberry, Strawberry & Blackberry Salad with Amoretto Cream from The Step House, Borris

A handful of blueberries carry about a quarter of our daily Vitamin C, are low in fat, packed full of antioxidants (good for protecting against cancer, memory loss and poor circulation) and they contain lots of fibre. They can be eaten raw, cooked or juiced and there’s nothing better than picking your own from mid summer to mid autumn from a fruit bush you’ve grown and tended. They can also be a bit pricey in the shops so what better reason to have some to hand.

Although US biased in terms of production, here’s an infograph from the US Blueberry Council that shares more information about the benefits to your body when you pop a blueberry into your mouth:

Photo courtesy: http://www.blueberrycouncil.org/

How to Grow Your Own Blueberries in Containers

The pink flowers before they turn into the blue berries

Blueberries can grow large in a garden environment – up to 2m in height and spread and need acidic growing conditions in soil of 4.5 – 5.5 pH. However, growing blueberries in containers will keep them in check and as you’ll be supplying them with the correct compost, will cut the need for trying to change the pH of your garden soil.

Kit List for growing blueberries:

*Two or more plant containers, at least 30 cm or 12″ in diameter each
Bag of Ericaceous compost (lime hating compost readily available in garden centres)
Broken pieces of crockery ‘crocks’ or washed gravel
Rainwater
*Two or more blueberry plants of different cultivars (varieties)

* Plant two or more different blueberry plants for this project. Blueberries are unusual in that they like to grow alongside other blueberry plants that are slightly different. They tend to crop more heavily when they have companions from different cultivars, so check the labels when you’re buying your plants and avoid buying two the same.

Method:

1. Make sure the containers are clean and dry and that there are holes in the bottom for drainage. Place a few crocks in the bottom of the container over the drainage holes. This stops the soil blocking the holes at a later stage.

2. Put some ericaceous compost in the bottom of the container, remove the blueberry plant from its garden centre container and place on top of the new compost.

3. Fill in the rest of the container with the compost to the same level on the plant as it was in its original container, until the compost is about 5cm from the top of the pot. Any higher and it will overflow when you water.

4. Pack the compost down firmly around the plant, but not too firmly that there’s no air in it. Using rainwater, water the blueberry plant in, aiming the nozzle of the watering cane around the neck of the plant and not sprinkling it all over, until the water runs through and out of the base of the container.

5. Place the containers in a spot that will see the sun for as long as possible which will help to sweeten the fruit and prevent disease.

If you’d like more guidance on growing food in containers, take a look at the article here here for more information.

Watering Blueberries

Blueberries like to be moist but not swimming in water so you’ll have to water them regularly, preferably with rain water, and make sure they can drain adequately. If you are thinking of installing simple rain butts off your roof guttering, now would be a great time. Alternatively, keep a container nearby that you can collect rainwater in. Tap water can contain lots of lime, something that blueberries dislike.

Pruning and Maintenance of Blueberries

Blueberries need very little looking after. If you like to feed your plants, do so monthly from springtime by adding an ericaceous liquid fertiliser (available from garden centres) and they don’t need a lot of pruning.

Let the blueberry bushes to do their own thing for the first couple of years then from the third year onwards, between late February to the beginning of March, remove some of the old wood with a sharp pair of secateurs (you’ll notice the colour change on the branches of the plants from old to new wood).

As the blueberries grow and look like they’re getting too big for their containers, you will need to change their pots for larger ones, at least 45-50cm (18-20in) in size.

Note that it’s unlikely you will see fruit on your blueberry bushes for the first couple of years, longer if they’re in an exposed or shaded area.

Blueberry Pests and Diseases

Birds are the biggest problem as they’ll steal all your berries before you get a look in. If you notice this is a problem, birds could well be the culprit. To prevent them stealing your fruit, drape some netting all around the fruit bushes to prevent birds stealing them but do make sure there are no gaps that they can get caught up in.

Blueberries aren’t prone to disease though might succumb to powdery mildew if it’s particularly dry and the plants have become stressed as a result. If you spot a powdery looking substance on your plant, remove the affected leaves and make sure the plants don’t dry out.

Aphids can be a problem too. Read here for more information about these little greenfly.

Cooking with Blueberries

Blueberries are in season in Ireland from July to September and imported the rest of the year. They’re tasty eaten raw and often added to desserts or smoothies. If you’d like to make a quick breakfast smoothie, add 100g (a cup) of blueberries and 125g (half a cup) of organic yogurt to a blender before whizzing together and emptying into a glass for a healthy start to the day.

No Fat, No Sugar Blueberry & Banana Muffin Style Bun Recipe

I mentioned in an earlier post that Mr G and I have reduced our calories but I’ve found myself missing being able to bake. A fat and sugar-free recipe from the Hairy Dieters cook book caught my attention recently for Banana and Sultana Muffins which I’ve adapted to include blueberries, a fruit that Irish growers Keelings, are currently enticing us with in Irish shops.

Ingredients:

Makes 24 cupcake sized buns or 12 large muffins

250g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 very ripe bananas (200g peeled)
250ml semi-skinned milk
3 free range egg whites
100g blueberries
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 210ºC (Gas 6½) and line muffin or cake tins with paper cases.

Sift the flour and bicarb together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mash the bananas until smooth then add and mix the milk to the mixture and the vanilla extract. Empty the banana mixture into the flour bowl and mix until fully combined.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks and lightly fold these into the flour and banana mixture. Add the blueberries and quickly but carefully mix them until evenly distributed.

Pour the muffin/cake mix into the paper cases and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.

When they’re firm, browned nicely and cooked through, remove the buns from the oven and place onto a wire tray to cool. Store them in an airtight container and eat within 2 days.

The Verdict

Our children didn’t notice the fat and sugar were missing, only that the cake stuck to the paper cases, a problem that might be solved by wiping a small amount of oil around the inside of silicon bun cases. They loved the blueberry flavour best of all.

The little buns certainly left me feeling that I’d eaten cake and my thoughts are that a couple of these with low-fat custard would make a tasty dessert.

Nutrition Facts (per muffin cake): Calories 52, Fat 0.4g, Carbs 10.3g, Protein 2g

What do you think? Will you take up the challenge and grow blueberries this year or are you already growing and harvesting your own?

Vegetable Garden

9 Winter Gardening Jobs We Can Do Inside

January 18, 2015

Is there anybody out there digging right now? Brrrrr, just the thought makes me want to pull the duvet snugly back around my legs as I look out of the window at the frost covered grass.

To be honest there’s not a huge amount we can do outside in our gardens or vegetable plots at this time of year, bar winter fruit tree pruning. Soil should never be worked or trodden on when it’s wet or frozen as it can become compacted and it’s still too cold to plant anything outside.

Winter is the time for plotting and planning, cleaning and sorting and in this article there are nine tips to help you with your gardening jobs that can be done from the warmth and comfort of your home, preferably with a steaming cup of tea by your side and perhaps a biscuit or two low-calorie of course 😉

The following suggestions come in no particular order. Just pick which ones take your fancy. If you do manage to spend a bit of time preparing for your spring garden now, you’ll find that all the gardening jobs will be much easier when you do begin work in earnest.

No. 1 – Sort Out Your Seed Box (or Make One)

I’ve yet to work with a group that kept their seeds in a tin until I met them. Most produced plastic or paper bags full of packets and it’s something I used to do until I found that it might be the reason my seeds weren’t germinating.

If you want to get the best from your seeds, they need to be kept in an airtight container in a cool environment – not stuffed in a kitchen draw, which is where I used to keep mine.

To make a seed box, all you need is an airtight container, preferably rectangular or square (empty biscuit or chocolate tins are ideal) some cardboard dividers with the months written on them to help you organise your planning dates and some brown envelopes for collecting stray seeds or broken packets. Here’s a post explaining why it’s important to keep seeds in a container. While you’re sorting out your seeds, you might notice that some are out of date. Don’t throw them away, they might still be viable. Click this link for details on how long some of the more popular flower and vegetable seeds last as well as how to do a simple germination test to check their viability.

No. 2 – Order/Buy New Seeds

Choosing the vegetable plants you want to grow at the beginning of the year can be fun. It can also be a bewildering headache if you’re not sure what will grow best in your garden.

Fortunately seed shopping has become much easier now we can buy online, allowing us to choose seeds from the comfort of our homes. I’ve used Pinterest to help me with this in the past and I’ve also written a post that explains some of the factors you need to take into consideration when chosing and buying seeds, such as how much time you have to garden, how much space, soil and aspect conditions as well as pests and diseases. Check out the links above for more information.

No. 3 – Sort out the Gardening Tool Bag

January is a great month for sorting out the tool bag and if you don’t have one, I’d recommend you put one together. There are so many sales on in January that if you’re missing anything, now could be the time to buy or replace it, before you need it.

Here’s a post I wrote a couple of years ago showing the contents of my tardis like bag. Tool bags make gardening life so much easier and I get a great buzz of excitement every time I rediscover mine in the springtime.

No. 4 – Wash Your Plastic Pots and Containers

This job was always rock bottom on my gardening ‘to do’ list but it’s such an important one if you want to avoid spreading pests and diseases around your own or your friends’ gardens.

Fortunately I was given a great tip that can almost make washing your pots a fun task – just throw them all into a bath tub. Here’s a short article explaining how to wash and sterilise your pots and the reasons why we should do it.

No. 5 – Plan Your Crop Rotation

If you’re growing organically or without chemicals, crop rotation is vital but it’s still a practice that confuses many.

There are four main reasons why we rotate crops. These include preventing pests and diseases building up in the soil, crops benefit one another that are grown together, crop rotation prevents nutrients being drained from the soil and it makes it easier to look after plants grown in the same families if they’re rotated together.

This article explains the most popular 4 year crop rotation practice where vegetables are grown in the order of Potatoes, Legumes, Brassica and Roots/Others. A handy acronym to help you remember the rotation is People Like Bunches of Roses

No. 6 – Source Manure

If you’re starting from scratch or didn’t add organic matter to your vegetable garden in the autumn, you’ll need to do so within the next couple of months.

If we’re taking something out of the soil, we need to replace it. Adding well-rotted organic matter to soil such as animal manures, leaf mould, comfrey and nettle fertilisers, homemade compost or green manures not only helps to add nourishment to soil and increase plant health, it also helps with soil structure and texture which will improve soil erosion and drainage, helping to prevent vital nutrients washing away.

Now is a great time to look in the local small ads or find a local stables or farmer who can supply you with manure. You might also begin to source some green manure seeds for spring planting or to begin composting, if you’re not already doing so.

No. 7 – Find Your Gardening Diary or Begin a New One

Keeping a gardening diary is one of the cornerstones to learning your gardening craft.

It’s very easy to forget where we planted something, what variety we grew or how well it grew for us. I’ve learnt so much from my mistakes and my diary has helped me to keep track of everything over the years. You can read more about the importance of keeping a diary here.

No. 8 – Grow Microgreens

Microgreens have been the buzz word in the food and gardening industry for a couple of years and they’re very easy to grow indoors.

There’s nothing fancy about Microgreens. They are simply seeds that are grown in compost or a soilless medium (anyone remember growing cress in cotton wool?) then harvested as seedlings when they have just four tiny leaves.

The seedlings are usually a combination of salads, herbs or Brassica and if you can’t find them in your local garden centre, you’ll find packets of mixed seeds online.

No. 9 – Make Paper Seed Pots

Definitely a job for a warm kitchen table, making newspaper seed pots is a great way of upcycling and a money-saving exercise too.

You can either use a special paper potter, as I’ve done in this YouTube clip, or use a small plastic bottle as a mould.

Once the paper pots have been made, they can be stored in a dry place until you’re ready to fill them with compost and pop seeds into them.

Get Outside

All of that said, January shouldn’t just be about sitting inside and planning. Getting outside at any time of the year helps us to reconnect with nature and is particularly good for the wintertime soul once we’re wrapped up, warm and dry. If it’s not too windy or icy and you can get out for a walk, I’d recommend you do so. You never know what you might be missing and I’m not just talking about the exercise.

Have you any more tips for winter gardening jobs we can do in the warmth or are you a hardened gardener who’s outside at every opportunity?

9 Winter Gardening Jobs We Can Do Indoors

Blackberries in the Winter Garden

Vegetable Garden

3 Essentials To Help You Grow Your Own Vegetables

November 4, 2014

Have you been planning to grow your own vegetables but haven’t started yet? Perhaps you’ve begun growing your own but aren’t sure if you’re doing the right thing? With all the good intentions in the world, sometimes it’s difficult to take the first steps or spend the time to learn more. Perhaps you’ve just been too busy to start a new project, or you simply don’t know where to begin. If that sounds familiar, here are the three most useful things I learnt when we began working in the vegetable garden that may help you to grow your own successfully.

1. Start Small.

3 essentials to help you grow your own leeks

“lost” leek patch – small but healthy

Even if you’d like to grow lots of veggies, don’t attempt to be fully self-sufficient in the first year. Plan big but start small, only clearing enough space or building enough beds to get you started.

We began with two beds, increasing ever year until we now have 17, but even as an enthusiast I unearthed leeks this week I’d forgotten about, buried deeply under weeds. They were healthy enough but would have been much bigger if they hadn’t been competing for space.

If you clear too much land at once you may find it daunting to keep up as the weeds begin to grow. One of the busiest times of the year isn’t springtime as you might expect with all the sowing and planting, but later during the summer and autumn as you start to harvest and then have to find time to pick, preserve, pickle or freeze your produce. Starting small will allow you to see how much time you have to grow your own food and whether it’s something you’d like to do more.

2. It’s all about the soil.

What we add to the soil now will repay us in produce later. As you can see in the short video clip above, fertile soil is vital to our existence. Did you know it takes 2,000 years to create just 10cm of topsoil? We ignore it at our peril. Adding well-rotted organic matter to the soil in the form of garden compost or old farmyard manure will help to feed it with vital nutrients as well as help with soil texture and drainage.

3 essentials you need to know to help you grow your own

Photo credit: organiccentre.ie

Autumn/Fall is a good time to prepare for the following year as it will allow the microbes, organisms and worms to do their job over winter, incorporating all the goodness you’ve added, back into the soil.

Don’t worry too much if you miss the opportunity to get some winter preparation done, it’s not too late to do it in the springtime. Just leave three or four weeks between preparing the soil and sowing time, which will allow weed seedlings to grow and you to remove them. However, don’t work the soil when it’s too wet or frozen or you can do more damage than good.

A general guide for adding organic matter in the autumn is to add about one, big bucketful of well-rotted organic matter per square metre to the top of the soil. Once added, cover with cardboard, weed membrane or black plastic and leave it be until the springtime. A couple of weeks before you plan to sow your seeds remove the cover and lightly fork any remaining organic matter in, before raking the surface of the soil flat.

One essential soil tip before we move onto the third point, and especially vital to remember if you’re visiting a garden or you could attract a fierce look of displeasure from the gardener: avoid walking on garden soil at all costs as over time it will compact. Soil and plants need air for healthy growth. If you have to walk on your soil, place a wooden board down first which will help to distribute your weight more evenly. You can find more soil tips here.

3. Vegetables live in families.

Garlic – a member of the Allium family

Vegetables don’t particularly like to be split up and scattered around the beds. Where possible, plant them in their families. You may have heard of Alliums (onions, garlic, leeks) and Brassica (cabbage, kale, broccoli) but there are several other families too. Here’s a list of the most popular. If you plant vegetables in their families, they will be easier to feed, care for and protect from pests and disease. Planting vegetables in families will also help you to plan and remember where they have grown before as you move them around from year to year in what’s known as crop rotation.

There’s lots more you can learn that will help you to grow your own vegetables successfully such as figuring out what are the easiest or best vegetables to grow, the importance of keeping seeds dry, as well as pests and diseases to look out for. I’ve written several blog posts to help you in your quest to grow your own vegetables, just take a look under the Vegetable Garden Tab here.

Have you started to grow your own yet or is it something you plan to do next year?

Vegetable Garden

Growing vegetables ~ 8 tips to stop you giving up!

September 8, 2012

Growing food is more than just saving money, eating healthier or learning a new skill, it goes deeper. Sowing a seed, watching it burst through its shell, push its way through the compost, grow leaves, a stem, then flower and seed – you’re not only watching the cycle of life, but watching life that you’ve taken part in creating.

“I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

However (there’s always one of those isn’t there), growing your own vegetables doesn’t come without its challenges. It can at times be time-consuming, physically difficult, disappointing and frustrating. But please don’t let that put you off – if we didn’t experience a bit of pain we wouldn’t appreciate the many pleasures! So what can you do to minimise the effort so that you too can enjoy this beguiling pastime that many of us are so passionate about?

1. Don’t take on too much

Really, this is THE NUMBER ONE RULE. If I’ve learnt anything at all it’s how stressful a large vegetable plot can be if you’re short of time. Due to Mr Gs work commitments I’ve pretty much had to tend to the garden entirely on my own this year. Looking after ten vegetable beds, three fruit beds and a polytunnel is no joke if you’re working and/or raising a family, and then you have to harvest, wash, prepare and cook or freeze all the produce! So start small and see how you get on.

2. Install raised beds

This is slightly contentious as it’s not the cheapest way of starting out and why bother if you have good soil, but…. raised beds are low maintenance and much easier to manage. No grassy weeds finding their way into your beds.

3. Install high raised beds

If you suffer with any sort of mobility problems – back, shoulders, knees – consider installing or building waist-high raised beds. I’ve just harvested a bed of (forgotten) potatoes and even with the help from smallies picking the spuds out of the soil, my back is screaming at me, so much so I’m seriously contemplating not planting them next year. High raised beds are a pleasure to work at – you wouldn’t even know you’ve been gardening!

4. Choose ‘easy’ vegetables

Onions, garlic or shallots, peas or beans, Swiss chard, kale, courgettes, herbs and strawberries are great for starters. Once you’ve got the hang of those, experiment with different varieties.

5. Books

Buy a couple of really good gardening books that will help answer questions or identify pests and diseases as soon as you spy them. Here’s some of my favourites.

6. Tidy Up

Green Manure ~ Rye

When you’ve harvested your veg, clear away and compost any debris and either plant a green manure or cover with organic matter and some cardboard or weed membrane. This will feed the soil and prevent weeds, saving you time and effort in the springtime. If you haven’t already done so, read Charles Dowding‘s book on No Dig gardening, this is a method I’m working towards achieving in my own patch.

7. Learn about your subject

Take a gardening course (we tailor ours to suit) join a gardening club or a community garden! There’s nothing like hands on practical advice, seed swapping or even a bit of help, camaraderie and laughter to make the disappointment of a failed crop disappear.

8. Grow flowers too

Flowers are not only beneficial in vegetables gardens in that they encourage pollinating insects, they’re pretty to look at too. On a dull, dreary day when you know you have to do some work in your vegetable garden whether you feel like it or not, it might just be the sight and smell of the flowers that draw you in there (works for me).

Have you any tips that make life easier in your veg garden? I’d love to hear them so that I can pass them on.

P.S. Have just thought of a very important No. 9 that I’m currently faced with and hope it helps you if you’re in a similar position… if you do feel a tad overwhelmed by the amount of work you need to do to get your garden back into shape, don’t look at it as a whole, but aim to tackle small areas at a time. You’ll have it straight in no time – it’s often the thinking about the doing that is worse than the actual doing! Best of luck 🙂

Lifestyle

Interview with Sile Nic Chonaonaigh, presenter of Garraí Glas

April 24, 2012

I’ve been watching the wonderful gardening series Garrai Glas on TG4 since series one. Recorded in the Irish language, it’s subtitled for those of us who don’t speak this old language fluently and the cinematography is beautiful.

What makes Garraí Glas particularly special however is that it’s all about growing your own food.

Síle Nic Chonaonaigh travels around Ireland in her little green Datsun talking to all manner of people about how they grow their food and eat it using traditional and organic methods. I’ve been twitter friends with Síle for some time now and was delighted when she agreed to chat to me about her experiences.

How did you become involved in Garrai Glas, were you a keen gardener beforehand?

“Well it was a series of happy coincidences really. I work for Abú Media, the company that makes Garraí Glas, and my colleague Ali had the idea to make a programme that would show people how to grow their own food. I loved chatting to him about the idea and the people they hoped to visit, and was fascinated by the subject – but I knew nothing about it and had no gardening experience bar planting a few nasturtiums in summer! It was supposed to be a show about a gardener going to visit people and teach them how to grow, but they hadn’t found the right presenter. The producer, Bríd Seoighe, chatted to me about screen testing for the job. My background was acting, I’d worked in theatre and on TV for a few years, but I really had no desire to be on camera again. However I find it very hard to resist a challenge (i.e. I’m terrible at saying no!) and a snowy March morning found me out in a garden shaking with nerves at the idea of being on tv again.”

The sun always seems to be shining during filming, is that just a fluke?

“A total fluke! The shoot dates are all booked far in advance as there’s a crew of five people on the road for 40 days, so every detail has to be organised. We were incredibly lucky in years one and two – last year was more difficult as it seemed to be cloudy all the time.”

We’ve met some fascinating people on your travels; do any stand out for you in particular?

“Wow, that’s a hard question, there are so many! In year one we went to Inis Oirr and one of the guests there was Pádraic Póil. In the final segment of that programme he brought out his mother’s old butter churn and gallons of cream and we stood outside in the sunshine making butter, looking out over the Atlantic. It was magic. Marcus Thornton in Galway was an inspiration; he is an incredibly passionate man who makes the gardening journey seem easy. This year there’s a lady called Nancy Murray in Cúil Aodha. She’s just lovely and though in her eighties is out working every day. Her attitude was an absolute tonic.”

What was the most unusual method of growing food you’ve come across?

“To be honest most methods of growing that I’ve seen have been the old fashioned kind; good soil and seaweed or manure! John Dolan’s garden in this series is amazing because he more or less carved it out of a wetland. He dug the wet areas deeper and used any soil he took out to raise the surrounding space. He uses a permaculture model and has made his corner of the world very beautiful indeed. Trevor Sargent was an inspiration too; he has such a small space in his Balbriggan back garden but manages to nurture it and use every inch productively.”

What was the tastiest recipe you’ve tried?

“Well I’m so lucky to have visited experts like Gaby Wieland over the years – I’ve been introduced to incredible foods! A few stand out – the Gorse Flower Wine we made with Gaby last summer was absolutely divine and I’ve bought a bell jar to make my own batch at home. It was like drinking nectar. The apple and onion chutney we made with Enda Ó Conghaile on Inis Oirr was fabulous. The thing I loved about this, apart from the fabulous taste, was that I got to use up apples from the tree that would normally go to waste, and my own onions went into it as well.”

The latest series has included you creating your own vegetable garden in the garden of your new home. Was this a bit nerve wracking?

“It was! I have a full time job and anyone who gardens knows how long it takes to get it into a condition you’re proud of. I started from scratch with no topsoil, no shelter from the wind and a cameraman recording it all! It’s a true Connamara garden, lots of rocks and not a lot of soil. We began filming two weeks after I moved into the house, which was crazy really. It became embarrassing as the summer went on because, of course, I was away so often filming the show that I didn’t spend as much time as I’d have liked in the garden. All’s well that ends well though. I won’t win any prizes but it provides me with enough food to be able to share with others. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in three years of Garraí Glas its patience; the garden will grow and develop over the years and I’m happy with that. “

What have you learnt from your travels?

“Well, I suppose the wrong way, if there is one, is to ignore the soil. The thing I’ve taken from every single gardener is to feed the soil, not the plant. What have I learned? I’ve learned how to sow a seed, how to use seaweed and manure to increase fertility, how to rotate crops, how to create shelter to protect plants, how to avoid pests and diseases, how to use the produce I grow. That all sounds very simple but those are skills I didn’t have at all three years ago. I can now feed myself from a patch of ground – and that is an incredible thing.”

What have you enjoyed the most about being involved with a gardening series about growing your own food?

“I’ve really enjoyed finding a bit of myself I’d lost. I loved the garden when I was a child but had moved to a city for university and hadn’t touched soil since. Now I find it hard to resist being outside and resent all the things that keep me from it! It’s also been really lovely to meet so many people and be inspired by them. Without exception people have welcomed us into their homes and made us feel like our crew of five people wasn’t intruding at all. And let’s be honest – what a gig! I’ve spent three summers in other peoples’ back gardens, asking them questions about anything that interests me – and that’s called work. I feel very lucky.”

A massive thanks to Síle for sharing her delightful story about being involved with Garraí Glas and for providing the lovely photos for this post. The third series is currently being aired on TG4 on Tuesdays at 8pm. If you’ve missed any (or want to watch some over again), all the programmes from the current series are available on the TG4 player. You can follow Sile on Twitter @Garrai_Sile, Facebook at www.facebook.com/garraiglas or You Tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/garraiglas.

Green

Bee Cause – How we can help the bees

April 15, 2012

Image courtesy of Friends of the Earth

Last week Friends of the Earth (UK) launched a campaign “Bee Cause”, calling on the British government to commit to a “bee action plan to save bees and save the country billions of pounds in the future.”

If you’ve been listening to the news over the past couple of years you’ll have no doubt heard that the decline in bee populations isn’t just a UK problem, it’s worldwide. A combination of issues from colony collapse disorder, parasites and shortages in habitats are being blamed but whatever the cause, it’s serious.

Bees aren’t just about honey – they help to pollinate strawberries, nuts, herbs, coffee and cotton to name just a fraction of items we use daily.

According to research released this *week it would cost the UK £1.8 billion every year to hand-pollinate crops without bees – 20% more than previously thought. That’s just one country, imagine that on a global basis. Finances apart, can you image a world without bees? I don’t even want to…

In recent years Britain has lost over half the honey bees kept in managed hives and wild honey bees are nearly extinct. Solitary bees are declining in more than half the areas they’ve been studied and some species of bumblebee have been lost altogether. These figures are replicated around the world.

One reason for the bee decline is a shortage of natural habitats, so Friends of the Earth have outlined simple steps people can take in their gardens to help provide it:

Sow bee-friendly seeds and plant bee-friendly flowers in your garden such as mixed wildflowers packets, single-flowering roses, open and flat-headed flowers like verbena and yarrow and tubular-shaped flowers such as foxgloves.
Image courtesy of Gardeners World
Create a place to nest for solitary bees by piling together hollow stems and creating a ‘bee hotel’.
Try to provide a small amount of rainwater in a shallow bird bath or tray which honeybees need to keep their hive at the right temperature.

So please “bee aware” and encourage these very special insects into your gardens – they really do need all the help we can give them.

Have you come across bees in trouble? Last year we spotted a large bumblebee covered in parasites and clearly in trouble. It was distressing to observe but by providing flowers with pollen that haven’t been sprayed with chemicals, perhaps it will help to keep the bees strong and more able for pests and diseases. It might be a small step, but it’s something.

* conducted by The University of Reading on behalf of Friends of the Earth (Reference: Breeze et al, 2012 – Chapter 4.)

Vegetable Garden

How to Plan Crop Rotation in a Vegetable Garden

March 10, 2011

Vegetables crops are grouped into families. Crop rotation simply means that related annual vegetables are grown together in their families and their positions moved around the plot once a year (or more).

Why use Crop Rotation?

There are a number of reasons for rotating crops:

It helps to prevent pests and diseases that live in the soil. For example, two major worries in vegetable growing are clubroot disease in Brassica crops (cabbage type plants) and the nematode known as eelworm in potatoes. If the crops are grown in the same place each year, the chances of these problems occurring are much greater. By moving them around annually and only growing them in the same ground every four years of so, the pest and disease life cycles should be broken.
It stops the soil becoming drained of nutrients that the same plants would use every year.
Crops can follow each other that will benefit each other. E.g., bean and pea roots hold lots of nitrogen. If their disease free roots are left in the ground once the crops have been harvested, the Brassica that will follow in the next rotation will reap the rewards by producing lots of leafy greens. Also Brassica like soil that’s consolidated so by leaving the legume roots behind and thus causing little disturbance to the soil, the Brassica that follow will root better.
If vegetable families are grown together, it’s likely that the soil for each will need to be treated in the same way and that they will be prone to the same pests and diseases so can be treated together easily.

Important Families: (That are likely to be grown outdoors in a cooler climate)

Potato: Potato, tomato
Legumes: Peas, beans
Brassica: Cabbage, broccoli, swede, turnip & radish
Allium: Onion, garlic, shallot, leek
Others: Carrot, parsnip, parsley, and celery

Anything else can be fitted in such as sweetcorn, squashes, salads etc.

Basic Guidelines for Crop Rotation

The main guideline is to keep families together; if a section is to hold more than one family, try to keep those with similar growing requirements together e.g., potatoes and pumpkins like lots of organic matter.

Using a bed system can make planning a rotation easier.
Take lots of photos and make notes as it’s easy to forget where you grew something a year or to ago.

How to Plan A Four-Year Crop Rotation

The following is a guideline. You may not want (or need) to follow this rotation at first. However, after a couple of seasons you may start to wonder what can be planted in the gaps. This should help with your planning. It’s a popular plan that many people use and has worked well for us.

how to plan crop rotation in a vegetable garden

People Like Bunches of Roses is an acronym I heard recently that may help you to remember the rotation.

Year 1: Potato crops

Year 2: Legumes (peas, beans)

Year 3: Brassicas (cabbage type crops)

Year 4: Root crops/others.

In this four-year rotation the potatoes and squashes are planted first (Bed 1) as the potatoes break up the soil nicely.

In year 2 the legumes (peas & beans) will be planted in Bed 1 as they will fix nitrogen into the soil for the Brassica (cabbages) that will follow. Therefore in year 3 the leafy crops (Brassica) will be planted in bed 1 and lastly in year 4 the roots and others can be planted in bed 1 as they are the least demanding of the crops.

You may also find it useful to use a five-year rotation, rotating the Allium (onion) family separately. Whichever you decide, avoid leaving the soil empty. Either cover it when not in use with carpet or similar or plant a green manure or a crop into it.

Bed 1: (Early, main crop potatoes, pumpkins, courgettes, and tomatoes)

These are the biggest feeders. In the autumn months (once the root crops have been cleared), apply well-rotted manure or compost or grow a green manure such as grazing rye. In spring, dig in the green manure (grazing rye) and if you didn’t have the opportunity to manure, or have sandy soil, apply manure or compost now, leaving a few weeks between manuring and sowing if you can. After harvesting the potatoes, plant anything from the legume family.

Bed 2: Legume Family (beans, peas, french beans and runner beans)

The Legumes. These fix nitrogen themselves so do not require extra manure. They will benefit from leaf mould mulch once they’ve been planted out however (to improve soil structure). Once harvested, sow a nitrogen-fixing green manure such as winter tares, check the soil pH and add lime in the autumn if necessary.

Bed 3: Brassica (cabbage, swede, turnips, broccoli, and radish)

Leafy veg (Brassica & salads) like to follow peas & beans. Dig in the green manures (winter tares) or add compost (or well-rotted manure) in the spring prior to planting. Mulch with leaf mould in the autumn

Bed 4: Others (carrots, beetroot, parsnips, celery and sweetcorn

Mostly comprises of root crops but miscellaneous crops fit in well here too. They don’t need much feeding, as they’ll use up everything that’s leftover from previous crops. Apply compost in the spring where Allium, celery, leafbeet and sweetcorn will grow.

Sow a green manure (such as grazing rye) over winter, ready for the potatoes in the spring.

Only One Vegetable Bed?

If you only have one or two small beds, don’t worry. Just divide them into four with bamboo or hazel sticks and plant your vegetable families in the different squares or rectangles. You may also find that you plant more Allium (onions) than Brassica. It doesn’t matter. As long as you aim to keep the vegetable families apart for as long as possible, you’ll have done your best.

For a very easy to follow and simple visual explanation check out this great video from Monty Don on Gardeners World.

Do you practice this version of crop rotation or a different one? Do you find it works?

Vegetable Garden

How to Grow Your Own Overwintering Onions

October 13, 2010

Following on from 10 reasons why you should grow your own onions, here’s how to grow overwintering varieties (planted in the Autumn).

50 Senshyu Yellow Onion Sets

Something to remember if you’re aiming for a year round supply of Allium:

Overwintering onions will not be ready to harvest until early to mid-summer and don’t tend to store as well as onions that are sown in the spring (although they can be diced and frozen).

They will however, fill the gap (spring planted sets are usually ready late summer to autumn and will store until mid-spring the following year if stored well). Some people grow shallots to fill any gaps as they store particularly well.

1. Find a supply.

Luckily with the trend in grow your own building, finding a supplier is getting easier. I bought two varieties (Radar and Senshyu Yellow) in a local garden centre ( Morgans in Carlow) who were selling a few varieties. Priced at just €1.75 for 50, sets are generally considered easier to grow and less prone to disease (although they often bolt or run to seed). Sets are also available on-line (see http://www.greensideup.ie/ for links).

2. Prepare the ground.

Avoid planting onions in soil that’s been freshly manured or they will be too lush. I’ve planted mine in the patch that I’d manured for potatoes at the beginning of the year. Onions also prefer soil that has a fairly neutral pH of 6 to 7 so test it with a pH kit (easy to do, just follow instructions on the packet) and add lime if it’s very acidic. Avoid planting them where onions have grown in the last three to four years to prevent pests and diseases.

Use a marker to measure distance.

3. Position the Onions.

I find it easier to place all the onions in position and then plant them. I usually follow the recommended planting depths and distances on the packet but if I don’t have a packet usually plant them about 7-8in apart each way. The two packs I planted today recommended 5in apart.

I then use a marker snapped to the correct length and a rake handle (or bamboo cane) laid across the bed as a marker.

(spot the health & safety hazard!)

From experience I’ve found it easier to place all the bulbs before planting so that I can see where they all are! It also gives me a second chance at checking that they’re the right way up. The bottom of the bulb is usually flatter and the tip pointed.

4. Plant the sets.

Onions are sown quite high in the soil, about an inch deep, as opposed to garlic which is planted deeper.

If your soil is quite firm avoid pushing the bulb into it as you may damage it. Use a dibber or a stick to loosen the soil first.

5. Label.

Once you’ve planted all your sets, label them with the variety and date and watch them grow.

6. Looking after the crop.

Keep an eye on the sets and re-plant them if birds dislodge them.

Ensure the soil is kept watered if there’s a dry spell.

Keep the soil weeded (which is much easier at this time of year as they’re not growing as quickly, if at all).

In the spring you can add a seaweed-based feed (example here from The Secret Garden)which is full of nutrients and minerals to give your plants a boost.

7. Pests and Diseases

If you’re prone to onion fly (where small maggots attack the seedlings), you can grow them under fine netting. Unfortunately you wont know you’re prone until you’ve experienced them!

There are no organic remedies for mildews and rots of onions (which will be worse in damp weather) that I’m aware of.

All that’s left of our summer crop, oh no!

8. Harvesting

You can lift and use the onions as you need them once they’re a reasonable size. If you’re hoping to store them, wait until the foliage dies down and the tops bend naturally (see blog in September).

Good Luck!

pests and disease

Healthy Blueberry Living

How to Grow Your Own Blueberries in Containers

Watering Blueberries

Pruning and Maintenance of Blueberries

Blueberry Pests and Diseases

Cooking with Blueberries

No Fat, No Sugar Blueberry & Banana Muffin Style Bun Recipe

No. 1 – Sort Out Your Seed Box (or Make One)

No. 2 – Order/Buy New Seeds

No. 3 – Sort out the Gardening Tool Bag

No. 4 – Wash Your Plastic Pots and Containers

No. 5 – Plan Your Crop Rotation

No. 6 – Source Manure

No. 7 – Find Your Gardening Diary or Begin a New One

No. 8 – Grow Microgreens

No. 9 – Make Paper Seed Pots

Get Outside

1. Don’t take on too much

2. Install raised beds

3. Install high raised beds

4. Choose ‘easy’ vegetables

5. Books

6. Tidy Up

7. Learn about your subject

8. Grow flowers too

Why use Crop Rotation?

Basic Guidelines for Crop Rotation

How to Plan A Four-Year Crop Rotation

What people are saying about Greenside Up

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