Winter scene

Silent snow

shape shifting in the sunlight.
Diamond’s woven into a cloak of navy blue

the scene is set for all things new.

Virgin snow casts its magic spell

nature knows us so very well,

Sprinkles of stardust

White moon, icy beams

Crispy crunchy crackle of winter.

This is a picture taken by my niece Linda (3 Dec) which I think sums up the weather at the moment.

Mick's cauliflower

Cauliflower fried rice is fantastic. grate the cauliflower in a food processer. Then nuke it for 10 minutes with a T of water. Check it after 7 minutes, you don't want it to turn to mush. Then stir fry whatever you have in the fridge green onions, peppers, bean sprouts, anything really. I don't bother with adding the eggs or meat. I add sesame oil, ginger, soysauce. Then I drain the cauliflower and add it to the fried veg. My friend makes it and adds so much veg and meat that her husband hasn't figured out its not rice!!

Philosophy for beginners

If a man is alone in the garden and speaks,and there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?

Chickens: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.


March isn't the only thing that's in like a lion and out like a lamb.- Probably May West

If, instead of talking to your plants, you yelled at them, would they still grow, only to be troubled and insecure?

The happiest gardeners have simply learned how to relax.

Pearse College Allotments Wildflowers

The orchard is looking great at the moment with all the wildflowers in bloom . We started collecting seeds from them to sow next year .

Willo's Sunflower

Ah, Sunflower, weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the Sun,

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the traveller's journey is done.

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow,

Arise from the their graves,

and aspire

Where my Sunflower wishes to go.

Pumpkin recipe

RONAN'S PUMPKIN

Recipe

Tomato paste and parmesan cheese are the secret ingredients of this luscious pumpkin soup. They add an extra element of sweet and savory that tastes delicious with velvety pumpkin.
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter 1 medium onion, finely chopped2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes 3 cups chicken stock 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper
Directions:
1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring. 2. Add pumpkin and cook 3 minutes, until lightly softened. 3. Add stock and paste and stir to mix. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a simmer, and cover. Cook 20 minutes, until pumpkin is very tender.4. Transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth. Add cheese, salt, and pepper; mix and serve warm.

Pearse College Allotments , the future

A sea of heather

A sea of heather is what I saw on a rocky mountain at the break of dawn .
A landscape , naked ,save for a cloak of purple beauty and morning sunrise blazing .
Grey granite coming alive

glistening gently

sun seeping on silica .
Bog cotton , like will o the wisps merrily dancing down the day
A distant crow

caw cawed me awake ,

for one fleeting moment I was a child again .
Why is grass green ? Why is the sky blue ?

O Practical Potato

O practical potato,
vegetable most like earth,
among elegant asparagus, intellectual zucchini,
you are unpretentiously spud.
Tasting only like stone,you have nothing to hide,
are merely functional,a most puritanical root.
O wave your green flags,democratic potato
you are the equal of any other
potato.

Ode to an onion

Onion,luminous flask,your beauty formed petal by petal,crystal scales expanded you and in the secrecy of the dark earth your belly grew round with dew.Under the earth the miracle happened and when your clumsy green stem appeared,and your leaves were born like swords in the garden,the earth heaped up her power showing your naked transparency,and as the remote sea in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite duplicating the magnolia,so did the earth make you,onion clear as a planet and destined to shine,constant constellation,round rose of water,upon the table of the poor.You make us cry without hurting us.I have praised everything that exists,but to me, onion, you are more beautiful than a bird of dazzling feathers,heavenly globe, platinum goblet,unmoving dance of the snowy anemone and the fragrance of the earth lives in your crystalline nature.

The spuds are delicious ..

Sowing and planting
The amount of plants for sowing this month is starting to drop off, here are some of the more popular vegetables. Broad Beans, Dwarf Beans, Mung Beans, Beetroot, Spring Cabbage, Carrots (for continuation), Next years Cauliflowers, Chicory, Coriander (Cilantro), Endive, Kohl Rabi, Lettuce for continuation and winter lettuce, Pak Choi, Peas, Radicchio, Radish, Turnips
Sowing Seeds Continue successional sowings and use quick maturing varieties for autumn use - Swiss chard, lettuce, rocket, salad onions, radish, turnips, peas, French Beans (dwarf), carrots (Amsterdam forcing is a good variety for late summer sowing). Sow for winter use (yes you read that correctly - it's time to start thinking about growing things that will crop in winter) - spring cabbage, Hungry Gap kale, parsley, perpetual spinach, chicory and coriander.
Leeks – Musselborough, Blue Solaise & Giant Winter sown in April will be planted where the 1st early potatoes are now Parsnips – Student sown late April and early May in crates Cauliflower – Purple Sicily and All Year Round sown throughout summer to hopefully crop in winterGarlic – early Purple Wight, Albgensian, Ibarian & Provence Wight – Will plant in November to pick next June Broad Beans – Aquadulce will sow in pots in November. And will try and sow some direct. Plus another variety to compare, yet to be decided Purple Sprouting Broccoli – Early Purple from Real Seeds sown in April / May to crop in March(will be planted where the garlic has been growing)Brussel Sprouts – Long Island Improved and Falstaff sown in April and planted out in May
Lettuce Winter density and Lambs Lettuce – will sow August onwards for picking in autumn and winter Lettuce Sylvesta – a butterhead lettuce for sowing in late winter or early spring Endive – Pancalieri and Frenzy– will sow in August and September for a winter crop Lettuce Lobjoits Green, Pinares and Radiccho – will sow in September and October for a winter cropThe varieties of lettuce will be added to shortly courtesy of Baker Creek seeds!! They have some lovely French heirloom varieties that sound good for winter. Time will tell
Pak Choi – various, Choy Sum – Puprle Flowering, Mizuna – various and Indian Mustard – Amsoi, will sow again in August for picking in autumn to early winter Carrots – Autumn King – will be sown in July in crates Radish – Black Spanish round – sow July onwards, in cratesKale – Black Tuscany – will sow more in July Florence Fennel (bulbing) – will sow more in July for cropping until November Cabbages –Red Drumhead – will sow again in July / August Durham early – will sow in July / August (for Spring) Chinese Cabbage Wong Bok – will sow in July / August for picking through winter Wintergreen – will sow in July / August for winter / Spring Savoy (Tarvoy), sown in May for winter eating Swiss Chard Verde A Costa Bianca and Leaf Beet – sow in July and August for picking through Winter and Spring depending on severity of winter Perpetual spinach – Leaf Beet will sow in July and August for Autumn and Winter Spinach F1 Bella – will sow in July and August for Autumn and Winter

some of the things you can do from now on

George

This all seems so long ago , bare ground with just a dozen cabbage plants in it .........

Summer in Dublin , one of the few sunny days last year .

A room with a view and a wet deck

Sandstone patio and raised Madoc walls

Town courtyard with wildflower garden at rear , requiring very little maintenance , a haven for wildlife.

Herbaceous borders , while time consuming can look stunning in high Summer

Dappled shade in the garden

This is supposed to be a before and after job LOL

This is a 20 ft. container that was very ugly . So I built this calp limestone wall with false windows etc. Arches can give the illusion of space and a sense of mystery . The old railings painted bright red look great even in darkest Winter . Everything in the pictures was salvaged and free , including the urns which I managed to get 14 of them

In a small back garden in Dublin 3 different seating areas to follow the sun

Low maintenance front garden

and Courtyard garden

Light and shade

Cabbage , Calabrese , Onion sets and Shallots , Lettuce , French Beans , Carrots , Parsnips , Radish , Peas , Spinach , Pak Choi , Strawberries , Manguetout , Beetroot ,

On Saturday 22 May

Sandymount Strand 2008

Virginia creeper looking good on a house in Kimmage

A Cottage garden in Kimmage , there are a pair of blackbirds nesting in the Wisteria over the window .

The spuds are doing great !!!!!!!!!!!!!

A good area for a barbecue