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practical help on how to change your garden on a budget by turning some of the old and unwanted into the new and fashionable
Recent Posts Tagged With 'fruit'
Wild Bird Food
Well winter has almost arrived and many peoples thoughts turn towards the poor birds that still have not died out after millions of years of people feeding them with expensive bird foods. Enough said there, although I do sympathise with birds, yet ...
After the Storm
After the unusual storms of early november, the gardens were a mess with almost every tree stripped of leaves (excluding the conifers) and some damaged. The main garden is not hit too bad as it's sheltered on all four sides by hedges, trees, walls...
Thanksgiving Appetizers
Shopping in a local food store in the non-food department I came across the bargain of the year.Hidden amongst many items on clearance was a Pear Tree, that still had a few green leaves on display, the price, almost free, this offer was too good to ...
The First Olives
By October 2009, the olive tree has produced it's first harvest of olives.Sadly they only grey to around 1cm in length but I'm hopping next year would see an increase in the size of the olives and perhaps the first harvest.The last of the blueberrie...
Recycling Bins
By September the sun was still shining and the Blackberries were swelling in the long days.After collecting a shopping bag full of the berries I made Jam as mentioned in a previous article.But moving on from that topic, other fruit were ripening, th...
Eating my Oranges
Having planted the Lemon and Orange Trees in the south garden, I had noticed some bits of the leaves disappearing.It was totally amazing to find out that the culprit was the common Wasps that inhabit every location of the country and annoy us so muc...
Natural Harvest
The end of July was the time to begin the harvesting of fruit from around the garden.First on the list was the succulent Raspberries that had spread by root and were invading the garden behind my house.The canes of the Raspberry grow in fruit in the...
The reward of the year
Having forgotten to cover the Cherry Tree (again), it was time to harvest the fruit.Again this year I found only one surviving Cherry, hidden below a leaf that the birds had missed.It was so sweet and tasty.I have put a note in my calendar for next y...
Pain and Pleasure
Recently I posted an article about the Blackberries and today I thought I would show you their protection system.One of the fastest growing vines, they can grow over 500mm (1.5ft) in a good day, complete with needle sharp thorns.Such a yummy fruit ne...
A walk around the gardens
Just a little walk around the garden today taking some photos, enjoy.The first picture is of a weed that grows to the front of my property.The other pictures are within the gardens, in order; Honeysuckle, Peach, Orange and California Poppy. ...
Make your own Compost
Well I thought you might be wondering how I manage to keep all the plants in the gardens supplied with cheap soil.Basically I compost all materials that I can get hold of. This includes kitchen waste, cooking disasters, lawn cuttings and bark that's...
Blooming Spring
April also saw the annual arrival of the Apple blossom, with its beautiful white and pink flowers highlighted against the black and worn bark of the tree.I think this is one of my best photos in a long time and makes an amazing desktop wallpaper. Th...
Stink Bugs
Over the past few years, a new bug has arrived in Ireland that has it's origins towards Japan.Commonly known as the Stink Bug (Acanthosoma labiduroides), this bug has an offensive ability to 'dose' potential predators with a vile liquid.The strange t...
Blackberry Jam Recipe
Well after a bit of cooking we finally made five jars of Blackberry jam.I really should wait to it hardens a bit but I could not resist opening the smallest jar to ensure the flavour was correct. It was, it is beautiful.So the other four jars have b...
Free Blackberry Wine
Just a quick post. I've just walked along the lane and picked around 2Kg (about 5lb) of Blackberries (Rubus).They are so ripe, they taste like honey and fruit. This is much better than buying blackberries at your local supermarket. Also they are q...
Crocus
The previous two years were terrible and not too many new plants arrived in the gardens, however this year would see some additions.Six new varieties of bulbs have been planted around the gardens (purchased from a local DIY depot) they were quite che...
Moss
The winter of 2008/2009 was very wet and cold in Ireland and had done a lot of damage to the plants in the garden.A lot of the grass had lost the battle with the moss, but for now at least it's still green :(If the spring and summer are good, the gr...
free bluebells
i think this is one of my best photos of the bluebells, taken in the rockery between the two main gardens.sometimes your too early or too late, but i think this photo was taken at the optimal time to sow the true beauty of the flower.you may no think...
free apples
one of the amazing things about autumn is the availability of free apples.one of my neighbours along side the south garden has an apple orchard and hates cleaning up the massive amount of apples. so hes quite pleased when we pick them.so around this...
lavender
lavender (lavandula angustifolia) for the most of the year is quite a boring looking plant.but from may to july it has a most beautiful smelling purple flower that can be dried and retains the smell for some time.there are many types of lavender howe...
organic cherries
well i'm sure you remember me discussing the cherries a few days ago, and by mid june they were starting to look yummy.and as mention i'll get none but one hidden one. i really must remember next year to put a net over the top of the tree so i can g...
pineapples and prawns
a little bit of a change today with some food preparation for a healthy meal :Dtaking an average pineapple, sliced in half and carved out.insert fired prawns with some peppers, rice, some of the removed pineapple, some soy sauce and some egg. there ...
too much passion
the golden passion fruit climber has gone mad and there are passion fruit growing everywhere.the problem is the vine is getting too thick and the flowers are highly susceptible to fungus in the greenhouse. the suspended wire across the top of the gr...
white flowers
in the previous years april article i showed you the bluebells and mentioned there were also white and pink varieties growing in the garden.so today we are taking a trip to the south front garden where many white flowering plants are in bloom.whitebe...
golden passionfruit
i mentioned in the last article, that the golden passion fruit (passiflora edulis) had escaped the greenhouse.i found it amazing that a fruit from such hot tropical climates would grow in ireland.this one was purchased from a local hardware depot for...
virginia creeper
this is a great time of the year with blue skies and long days.it is also the time for picking the blackberries that surround the property, growing through the hedges and trees.this has been a good year as they love the warm or hot weather, however i...
citrus fruit and veg
i only had time for a short blog yesterday, so today i'll catch up a bit.september 2006 turned out to be a really good growing season and everything was growing fast in the garden (and far too much in the greenhouse).the first picture is a new lemon,...
purple clematis
between the fake caster oil plants, the clematis is in full bloom.i knew i could hide that drain pipe and that looks like some leaves mixed in from one of the passion fruits that have been planted in that area.this has been a really hard part of the ...
californian wildflowers
more of the californian wildflowers are starting to flower.pictured here in a hanging basket is tidy-tips (layia platyglossa), a sort of reverse daisy with yellow on the inside and white on the outside.sadly this wildflower does not seem to be able t...
poppy's
today we can escape the main gardens to the front of the house.the poppy's had been in the gardens for many years, however they were in an awkward spot and i kept whacking them down with the lawn mower.but after moving them into a protected area, the...
