A New Puppy.

Meet Freddie, our new doggie. He arrived on Tuesday. Gerry, the local farrier(someone who shoes horses and sees to their feet) asked us if we would like a little Jack Russell X  puppy.

Gerry had rescued Freddie’s Mother Minnie from an abusive situation and some time later she gave birth to one puppy.

As Gerry already has several dogs he was looking for a home for this little fellar. He also did’nt want Mother and Son to breed together. As you can see he made himself at home straight away.

It’s so tiring being this cute!

Welcome to Arigna Freddie!

Wild Plants that grow on our Lane.

The Wild Rose is spread throughout the hedgerows. I love how the flowers change colour as they get older. Later on there will be vitaminC filled hips which will be used to make jelly and syrup.

Bramble is flowering too. The early Autumn harvest of Blackberries coincides nicely with the first cooking Apples, they marry together beautifully in tarts. I also make Blackberry and Apple Jam which is always a good seller. They can also be used in chutney and cordial.

Ragworth, a poisonous plant for animals, especially if it ends up in hay. They tend not to eat it fresh. It causes irreversible liver damage. We always pull any that grow in the fields as each plant has about 50,000 seeds. However, here on the lane away from grazing animals we leave them as they are the only food source for the Cinnabar Moth larvae.

So many beautiful grasses that would look beautiful in any garden setting.

The verge beside our driveway is left uncut, filled with Orchids, Plantains, Vetches and grasses to name but a few. If only more people would leave a section of their barren green lawns uncut they would be rewarded with gorgeous native plants and a multitude of insect visitors.

In the kitchen another lot of Elderflower Cordial is infusing. This one has Mint and Lemon Verbena added.

Monday Meanderings from Prospect Cottage.

 

Despite the weather it looks like being a good year for fruit. This plum tree, it’s a Victoria, is already laden down. If a drop does’nt occur I shall have to thin out the fruits. Home grown plums are nothing like the horrible shop ones, these never ripen fully and have no great flavour. They are probably irradiated and full of chemicals too. A home grown plum, ripened by the Sun, is a different experience. They have a scent, beautiful flavour and are full of juice. Yum yum, anticipation building!

In the polytunnel Peaches have put on a lot of growth. They look inviting already even though they won’t be ripe for some time yet.

Lettuce just coming into flower, I really want to save seeds from this one. Don’t know the variety but it’s grown from seeds I got in Bulgaria. It is similar to Little Gem but a lot bigger. It can be hard to save Lettuce seeds in Ireland’s damp climate. The seeds are tiny and mould has been a problem in the past.

The Escallonia has just come into bloom. The flowers are small but there’s loads of them. This is a really hardy evergreen shrub which is easily grown from cuttings taken in Summer. The flowers last until early Autumn.

Saturday Ponderings from the Arigna Valley.

Catmint and Lady’s Mantle looking good together,   Foxgloves looking on. It is said that blue and green should not be seen together. This gives the lie to that.

The Tomatoes are doing well in the small polytunnel. I do find lettuce  is going to seed very quickly this year, probably due to the unsummery weather. The only outside crops doing well are Onions and Potatoes, the rest are just sitting there looking miserable. Thank goodness for polytunnels!

In the back field the Sycamore stands strong and proud, oblivious to all weathers. Sycamore is not native to Ireland but it has naturalised and self seeds itself profusely.

Facing West just outside the back door is Ganesh, a present from our friends Paul and Debra who visited last weekend from Co. Clare. Is’nt he fab? Ganesh is said to be the remover of obstacles. I think he has his work cut out for him here. The biggest obstacle, as regular visitors will know, facing us here in the north west is the threat of the destruction of the land in search of gas. The process called fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is the only one that can be used to extract the gas from the shale rock we have here. If this happens it will leave a trail of destruction. Water sources destroyed, land and air polluted, an industrialised landscape instead of the amazing untamed wildness we now have. I am still stunned that our government would even contemplate letting this happen. But it seems they have. Maybe Ganesh will be successful!!

A Sunny Summer Morning in Arigna.

The Forest Garden area is coming on nicely, plants are filling out and more are being planted all the time. Everything here is perennial, a mixture of herbs, fruit bushes and flowers. Comfrey is interplanted throughout, chopped and dropped around the base of the plants to provide fertility. Rushes strimmed from the fields provide the mulching material, eventually rotting down to build up the topsoil. Permaculture techniques at work. 

This little pond at the bottom of the polytunnel provides a paddling pool for the many frogs that have made their home in this microclimate. They in turn pay for their keep by gobbling up any slugs and other pests that invade their area. Nature working without any human interference.

I recently bought some plants for this pond as it tended to have a lot of algae. Now that they are becoming established the algae problem has disappeared. The little water Forget -me-not has just started flowering, pretty little thing. There’s also Water Lettuce(bottom left), Water Violet(bottom right) and a Flowering Rush beside the Forget-me-not.

Outside the back door Buddha keeps watch over this little pot of Sedum and Sempervivum slips. These plants grow easily from even the smallest piece.

In the field the animals relish the abundant Summer pasture.

And a curious Donkey comes to check out the camera or maybe see if I have any tasty morsel for her.

Rainbows and other musings from Prospect Cottage.

Are’nt rainbows beautiful? This was one of several which adorned the valley yesterday evening. One benefit of the changeability of the current weather, rain and sunshine alternating produce these beautiful arches of prismatic colours in the sky.

A vase of Ferns and Snapdragons adorn the window in the fading evening light. The stained glass Trinity Knot has the same colours as the rainbow. The morning sun catches it here in the east facing window and throws it’s own rainbow on the kitchen table.

In the new flower bed this Aquilega has come into flower. Isn’t it pretty? I wonder if seeds from this will breed true. I will save some anyway and see what I get.

In the veg garden the Peas are flowering and the first pods have formed. These are Meteor a low growing variety. They are supported by a circle of sheep wire held in position with a couple of bits of bamboo.

Lots of edible flowers have self-seeded in the polytunnel. Marigold, Borage and Nasturtiums all add colour to our salad bowls,Kale and Carrots are growing in this patch too. This system of companion planting keeps everything healthy and disease free.

At the opposite end of the polytunnel Cosmos and Borage are also attracting lots of beneficial insects.

The Herb Garden.

The Herb Garden is a new venture opening tomorrow in the Bush Craft Yard in Carrick-on-Shannon. Owner John Gaffey already has a small gift shop called The Crafty Cave in this lovely little courtyard. He is now extending beyond the paved area to open this new enterprise.

The main emphasis will be on herbs but John also does hanging baskets, window boxes, trees, flowers and vegetable transplants. Many of the plants are grown in his greenhouse in Mohill. In these days of trying to reduce air miles this has to be an added bonus for this venture.

John’s ingenuity is aptly demonstrated by this mini polytunnel which he made from some discarded piping and plastic plus some wood for the base. Is’nt it fab!

Love this arrangement of Oats growing around a Birch tree.

Less talking lads, work to be done!

So there it is, local person, local business, locally grown plants, very reasonable prices too. Go along and check it out if you are in Carrick-on-Shannon. Beside the Bush Hotel, which was the first hotel in Ireland to be awarded the EU Flower Eco-Label in recognition of its commitment to sustainable tourism and protection of the local environment.

Flowering in June @ Prospect Cottage.

In the hedgerow at the moment this little plant is in flower. I don’t have a clue what it is! Anyone know? It is a really bright yellow , my eye is always drawn to it.

In the small polytunnel the Antirrhinum or Snapdragon as it is commonly known has self seeded profusely. As a child I used to love pressing on the “jaws” of the flower to make them open and close their “mouths”. Was’nt I easily pleased! Antirrhinums are really perennials even though most garden books refer to them as half hardy annuals. They even withstood the -17c temperature we had here this past Winter! They come in a multitude of colours and like a sunny position.

This Honeysuckle was grown from a cutting and grown on in a pot for several years. It is the common hedgerow variety. Last year I planted it in the cavity of a decaying tree stump which it seems to love. It put on a huge amount of growth, maybe it is getting extra nourishment from the decaying wood. The scent is heavenly.

The Carnations have started flowering in the last week despite the lack of sun. These were a birthday present from my Mother some years ago. They propogate easily from cuttings taken in July and I now have several plantings of them about the garden. The have a sweet subtle scent.

This little Dianthus was grown from seed in Spring 2010, it did’nt flower until now. The wait was worth it.

And to finish yet another of the Dianthus family. A brilliant red, it is called Flashing Light. I can see why!

Birr Castle Gardens. Part 2.

Birr Castle has in it’s grounds The Great Telescope which was constructed here in the 1840s by the third Earl of Rosse. For over 70 years this was the world’s largest telescope. It was through this instrument that the Earl discovered the Whirlpool Nebula in the 1840s.

This arched Hornbeam walkway is within the walled garden.

This stone head gazes out from the grotto built over the Cuileann Tobar, the well of the Holly.

Formal box hedging surround 300 year old urns from Bavaria.

Herbaceous border in the walled garden.

This path lined with formal box hedging and topiary leads to the now sadly underused glasshouse. To left and right by the glasshouse are herbaceous borders. These glasshouses would once have been hives of activity propogating plants and seeds brought back from the plant expeditions abroad.

To finish, another beautiful Paeony Rose.

Birr Castle Gardens.

Yesterday was my Mother’s 75th birthday and rather than visiting her at home where she would be cooking and catering for us, we all met up and went to Birr Castle Gardens. It was a two hour drive for us and one hour for her. On arrival we had lunch and then spent a few hours in the garden.

The castle itself is still lived in by the Parsons family who have lived here since 1620. It is not open to the public except for occasional events throughout the year.

There is a fabulous Paeony collection, every shade of pink, plus white and of course the familiar cottage garden favourite, dark red. These ones had a lovely light scent.

These box hedges are over 300 years old and according to the Guinness Book of Records they are the tallest in the world.

My favourite part of the garden is the Victorian Fernery, especially the waterfall.Heading to the walled garden. Lovely golden weeping Beech on the left, never saw one of those before.

Water Lilies just breaking into flower in the stream beneath the bridge.

Part 2 tomorrow.