An Organic Lifestyle (Organic Growing Pains)

The polytunnel is in place but the ground needs to be dug out and enriched before bringing out our tomato plants.They will not be ready for another few weeks anyway as they are incubating on one of the bedroom windowsills. I had been on Done deal a while back looking for a polytunnel and after investigating various models re: prices etc I settled on one and when  I clicked into their website I found the company was based a few miles away from me!I phoned them up, got directions to their store and son Billy (who is growing with me again this year) did a road trip and picked up our tunnel for €129.00. We got it erected in about 2 hours on Sunday .The measurements are in metres but it is approx 9'x6' in good old Imperial! If anyone is interested the company is based just outside Carrigtohill, Co Cork and their website is www.inthemarket.ie .    The two raised beds are being replaced as the timbers are really rotted and while we would probably be able to use them this ye...

Jack came to the allotment with me on  Wed, it was sunny but cool. I told Jack there was pirates treasure buried in one of the raised beds and it kept him occupied for ages digging! One side of the overgrown plot had been dug over by a mini digger and sods were piled up roughly around the edges. I spent the time digging a trench around the edges and sinking some tiles I had found languishing in my shed at home, hopefully it will deter some of the skutch grass roots from finding their way onto the plot, fingers crossed anyway! We bought some plants to fill up a pot which we found buried under the grass, they are to attract and feed the bees who live..... here at the end of the line of plots! The Beekeeper paid for the plot just to keep one hive on it, I hope it will be a case of live and let live for the summer months. The bees seem to be dormant at the moment with just the odd one buzzing around. The weather has changed drastically today with strong winds and lashing...

 New season, new allotment! I have been a very lazy Blogger and then became a very absent Blogger. I cannot believe how long it is since I logged in.I have debated with myself whether to even bother continuing with the blog as it is easier to FB photos as I take them, and Blogger has not gotten any easier since the last time I used it. As regular readers will know I left the Hydro Farm allotments where we had a plot for 6 years and where I began plotting and blogging.D. Kathryn moved so S.Billy came in with me and we took a plot nearer to home, got it into shape and productive but had a few problems and again thought of giving the whole thing up but have now moved to another allotment in the same area more or less and will give plotting and blogging another 'go'.  It is a very secure site but some very overgrown plots on it, we picked one and then discovered there were two raised beds buried beneath the grass ( see header pic) We cleared one bed and covered it with envir...

The clocks have gone back to 'old time' to herald the beginning of winter, I'm not sure how many countries actually do this. I always liked the idea of long evenings by the fire , curtains closed and I could knit in front of the TV, the eyesight does not lend itself to much knitting anymore but I still enjoy the cosy glow of the fire.  The children look forward to Halloween, how many of you know that it is a very old pagan festival which had its origins in Ireland long,long ago?!You can read about it here  The unexpected delivery of a bag of crab apples led me to doing something I had never attempted before, making crab apple jelly ! I had read some recipes over the years but the mention of jelly bags, muslin and jam thermometers always put me off. I Googled and came with  simple recipes on the BBC Good Food website.  I used a white pillow case suspended from the ironing board (opened) .The fruit when cooled a little was put into the pillowcase, tied a...

I received this email recently asking for some exposure on the blog and I must say I am slightly, no ,very envious!I am not aware that we have any Community Gardens here in Cork ( please correct me if I'm wrong) let alone up to 35 which is the figure quoted  here for the greater Dublin area.  I wish them every success with what is looking to be a fantastic day out for families interested in growing their own or becoming part of a group which does.  Dublin Community Growers are hosting their annual Harvest Festival in Wolfe Tone Park, Jervis Street, Dublin 1 on Saturday 14 th September from 12 – 5 pm to demonstrate the benefits of organic food. There is free entry into the event which will provide a variety of entertainment including live music from R3Winder and the Prairie Dogs, a pop up garden and children’s activities such as face-painting, flower pot painting and story-telling. The festival is supported by Dublin City Council, who have stated: “For the se...

I cannot believe I have not blogged since 31st July?! Where do the days and weeks go? Being very busy on all fronts takes up a bit of time but I have been on the plot and I have to say after such a late start we are very happy with our veg from the 'new' allotment. There is no point in back tracking so this is Mondays harvest, courgette,sweetcorn,globe artichokes and tomatoes and a few raspberries also. The 3 courgette plants had romped away producing to such an extent we were giving them away and had done all we could with them.The plants had grown to ginormous size at this point and then stopped producing. I cut back all of the huge old leaves, leaving only the newer ones at the top of the plant, fed them with the Comfrey tea and lo and behold they are now producing again at a much slower pace I might add, each plant now has two fruits and some new flowers. The courgette bed after being stripped, you can see how much they grow in length from the base! The leeks a...

Between the showers was the title of yesterday's post, not so today its just one unending downpour! I decided I would use the stash of Courgettes while still fresh. I checked the sidebar of the blog, there under labels, courgettes, there are 34 posts?!  I first made Angela's Courgette cake back in 2009, delicious, moist and moreish, but not feeling 'cake like' I decided I would try muffins using the same recipe and they turned out gorgeous! Angela, by the way was our next door neighbour on the Hydro Farm allotments The recipe for Angela's Courgette cake can be found here The muffins will not be iced as the cake so they can then be heated for breakfast. Angela's Courgette Soup was next on the list,it does use 900grms of courgette after all! I have made it to the blending stage without adding the cheese as I am going to freeze it in portions.When defrosted then I can add the cheese, Blue, Stilton or Brie plus the cream for serving.  I also di...