Growing up in West Clare in the 1970s my grandparents had a fairly big back garden. However they didn't grow much variety of vegetables. I remember them growing potatoes, carrots and rhubarb. They might have grown a couple of other vegetables, but I don't have clear memories of them. As a teenager we used to pick fruit from orchards nearby and my mother used to make all sorts … [Read more...] about Growing my own Vegetables & Fruit is Wonderful
rant
A New Low: I’m Now Excited by Dining Room Tables
It's been a long 15 months. I have now reached the stage of my existence where I am genuinely excited by a dining room table. A table. What have I become? Admittedly it is a very nice table, but it's still a table! When I bought this house it was fully furnished. Of course the quality and style of the furniture wasn't exactly wonderful, but the dining room table was … [Read more...] about A New Low: I’m Now Excited by Dining Room Tables
Chillis Planted. Fingers and Toes Crossed!
This year is all about experiments. I'm trying to grow a variety of vegetables and other food and it's all very new to me. Sure, I've grown things in the past, but never such a wide variety or at this scale! One of the things I really wanted to do was to get some varieties of chilli peppers. I couldn't find much choice locally so I ended up getting baby plants and seeds … [Read more...] about Chillis Planted. Fingers and Toes Crossed!
Greenhouse Ordered!
I wrote recently about my decision to get a glasshouse. My main challenge was deciding which model greenhouse to get. That was partially decided for me when I spoke to the main Irish agent for one of the more popular brands of greenhouse. You can "want" model X all you like, but if it's not going to be available for 6+ months then you're going to have to choose a different … [Read more...] about Greenhouse Ordered!
Gardening Weather?
Back in January the weather was miserable. It was cold. It was dark. You'd go to bed in darkness and if you have a normal day job you'd end up getting up in darkness too. Horrid. It's like that here every year. But this year we were on a "Level 5 lockdown" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So we're all restricted to our homes and most things are closed. So you've got the … [Read more...] about Gardening Weather?