Musings from a Smallholding…Spring is here!

As Spring proceeds the animals sense the change in season, they are full of the joys of it. They are playful with each other and us. Bella loves to head-butt but does’nt realise her own strength so one has to be careful.

Once one goat starts friskin about they all join in. Enid, the hornless one, is usually pretty quiet but even she got caught up in the joy of it all.

The dogs get excited when they see the goats jumping about. They bark and chase after them which adds to the general chaos. Enid has her ears back in this pic. She does this when she’s not sure about something. Lettie just stands there barking away until I shout at her. She just loves barking. Right, that’s enough of that!

Time to do some chores. Vegetables to be harvested for the evening meal. The carrots and parsnips, together with onions, garlic and butternut squash will make a tasty, nourishing soup. The Beetroot will be juiced. There’s still quite a bit of beetroot in the polytunnel. It will have to be pulled soon before it starts to grow again. The parsnips are almost finished. They were all doubles this year, don’t know why. Still a good number of carrots growing in the polytunnel. They too need to be harvested soon. We always grow carrots in the polytunnel as they don’t get the carrot root fly in there.

 Walking past the flowerbeds on the way to the house with the produce I notice the little Sedum (sorry, Saxifrage, thanks Alberto,) is ready to burst into flower soon. This has spread to create quite a big patch  so it will make a good impact. Spring is here! Hurrah!!

Back in the house the stove is ticking over. Freddie fells the cold more than the other dogs, probably because he’s so small and has a short coat. He likes to sit as close as possible to the heat. Aw! poor little poochie!

Companion planting @ Prospect Cottage.

Comfrey amongst fruit bushes.

Marigolds and Carrots.

Companion planting is the planting of mutually benificial plants in close proximity to each other with the result of deterring pests or attracting predators for any pests that may occcur. As well as being pleasing to the eye, as opposed to boring pest-inducing monoculture, it brings a more balanced eco-system into your garden. In essence, letting Nature take over.

Carrot fly seems to be a big problem in Ireland. The usual remedy is to put a 3-4 ft high barrier around the carrots, the reason being that the carrot fly does’nt fly higher than 3 ft. A more asthetically pleasing solution is to plant French Marigolds amongst your Carrots. Marigolds also exude a substance that kills nematodes and deters whitefly. Don’t plant them near Beans as the Beans won’t  do well.

Nasturtiums planted around fruit trees deter wooly aphids. They are said to improve the flavour and vigour of their neighbouring plants. They act as a deterrent for aphids and but also attract hoverflies who love to dine on greenfly. The also have the added bonuses of being attractive and edible. The leaves give a spiciness to salads and the flowers look amazing when strewn on top. Once you have them you’ll never have to plant again as they self-seed profusely. The seeds can also be pickled as a substitute for capers. I can’t vouch for this as I have’nt tried it myself.

Rhubarb is a good companion plant for all brassicas. A spray can be made from it’s leaves, they contain oxalic acid, to control blackspot on roses and as an aphid deterrent.