My Garden - October 2024

1st of October came with a surprise, a shiny, bright disc appeared up on the sky, turning today into a very pleasant and warm place. I even had to use a pretty sycamore tree leaf to protect my eyes....the bright disc was just blinding me. With my trusted shadow Her Majesty Queen Dubh took a little ramble in my garden finding autumnal treasures, nuts from my hazelnut tree, more pretty leaves, blooming strawberries that I think are the 2 timers I planted, York cabbage ready to be harvested and beans. 

Even looking out the window I can see the maple tree leaves changing colours. It's amazing how autumn can turn the leaves into this amazing show, festival of colours, symphony of hues and shades of the most wonderful autumnal opera. 

Some folk call it fall or season of harvest, it also marks the transition from summer to winter. The shorter, colder days are sign to trees to begin to prepare for winter. Chlorophyll is the chemical which makes leaves green, and also these are responsible for the vibrant ambers, reds, and yellows of autumn. 

On the Gaelic calendar, autumn or Fómhar (pronounced FOUR) which loosely translates into harvest, starts in August. Called lunasa in Irish Gaelic, August 1st marks the festival of Lughnasadh (pronounced LUNASA), celebrating the start of the harvest. 

Also autumn is the time when we start feeding our feathery beasties, others migrate to warmer countries to find food, insects and other animals gather food and start their hibernation. 

Other animals, birds gorge themselves on the autumnal bounty to put on enough fat to survive winter.

11th of October

Today I saw a few goldfinches on my feeders, I'm glad to see the bufe is officially open. Daytime is quite pleasant, mild, look warm, temps between 17-11 C, nighttime is rather cold 5-3 C, with occasional ground frost. However my garden seems not to care as it still in the productive side. 

Outside raised beds are keep giving me beans, and York cabbages which are amazingly sweet, crunchy and delicious when cooked and served with gammon and mash. Flowers in the flowerbed are keep blooming refusing to yield to the season and go dormant...but eventually they'll too submit to the season and bow their heads to Winter. Cucumbers in the greenhouse are stubbornly producing their crunchy, full of flavour and vitamins, delicious crop. Excellent in a salad for those whom can stomach it. I'm sure others will agree with me when I say products from ones own garden taste much better then those at the market and doesn't come fresher then these. One is blessed to have some space to grow delicious food. Fish with tank and all has been moved in the small greenhouse for the winter. They are quite happy in there, and as winter settles in I shall cover the sides of the tank with bubble wrap, and cover the top on frosty nights. Did the same last year and it worked perfectly. In the meanwhile Her Majesty Queen Dugh set herself in the top of the picnic table claiming it her spot for some vitamin D therapy.

Ive been watching the scary news about hurricane Helena and Milton that swiped across Florida with so much fury and destruction. Scary, terrible times, I felt sooooooo sad and sorry for the poor people living in the effected areas. I'm member of a few craft groups and I know a few people that live in the area, some managed to get out and others lived inland and they didn't get effected much. I was glad for small mercies. Thank goodness here in Ireland we don't have to deal with such extremes, may god help and protect those whom are effected by the fury of Mother nature. 

16th of October 

Today was a wet and drippy day, but unusually warm. The last couple of Octobers were this warm if not tad bit warmer. 

I think this will be the last harvest of cucumbers from my greenhouse. Lovely, jouci ones I thoroughly enjoyed eating them. 

With Storm Ashley brewing at the horizon, I walked around the garden to make sure everything will be all right. I discovered a few late cropping strawberries, a handful of Autumn Gold raspberries and an amazing colour pallette in form of tree peony leaf. 

20th of October

Wind is becoming wild outside, yet the sun is out and its warmish. This is just a taster of Storm Ashley coming our way. Fortunately we only got yellow weather warning compared to the costal areas South - Southwest of Ireland bringing strong wind whom got orange warning. Gale force, gusty winds are expected with high spring tides that might cause flooding....yaikssss, no beach walk for us today. As I look outside I can see the strong winds already twisting, bending the tree branches across the street, tearing on the autumnal canopy, almost savagely plucking on the stubborn leaves. My window boxes are getting battered too, hopefully they'll be OK. I hope everyone will be OK and not much damage done. 

My garden survived the storms, no damage, only a few branches broken, but nothing major. A few hearty dishes helped along: chicken honey stir fry and chicken veg soup with buttered baguettes. 

And just like that next month is here, but before this month closes with Halloween, I'd like to wish everyone a spookalicious night, be safe, stay safe :) 

All the best, 

Annamaria 

My Garden - September 2024

Dear Gentle Reader

September arrived with a bit of chill in the air, rainy weather. It has been said that the Summer we had was the coldest and wettest since 2015. I can agree with that. So I suppose from now on we shall be looking for mild daytimes, chilling mornings and nights, topical Indian summer days. 

However my garden doesn't care, plants flourish the best they can and giving me and my family small bounties.

Blackberries are ripening in bunches now and one has to be faster then some feathery beasties who are quite partial to some of these black bunches of goodness. But hey ho, plenty there for hooomans and beasties too. My blackberry plants are young and just started producing and every year it will be more and more, since I'm not making any jam anymore, we rather nibble while it's fresh and juicy. In the greenhouse my aubergines are showing their faces and I just hope I'll have 1 or 2 for my curry this year. We had a really cold spring and everything was delayed, most plants during the shitty summer played catch up. 

However gardening is not just about outdoor plants, veggies and herbs....one can have a garden in one's own home, inside the house. I have mostly succulents on my windowsill, cacti/cactuses. The indoor cyclamen came from my mom's own cyclamen 2-3 years ago and now that they started blooming, I have to give them their own pot. I shall repot them once they stopped flowering. Caring for them it's pretty easy and forward: don't move them much from the spot they got use to, and ALWAYS water them from under the pot by pouring water in the saucer. Once they stopped flowering, I'll stop watering them too. Remove dead leaves, spent flower stems and don't be tempted to water them just because the soil got bone dry. Here the waiting game starts.....wait until you see new signs of growing (leaves, flower buds). The tuber of the cyclamen soaked up enough waterand nutrients to provide food for the next stage. Once the growing started water well but never leave water in the saucer. Succulents and cacti are the easiest to grow...they need water only once a week. What I do is, fill a container with water, then put my pots in the water and let them soak up the water overnight. Next day put them back on the windowsill. There's another plant I grow on the windowsill of the kitchen, orchids...I have 2 mini ones and a big one. They get every week as much water as 3 icecubes melted, I never let them sit in the water because their air roots will rot. That's all the indoor plants I have.

7th & 8th of September 

I can't believe what I'm seeing, 24C-25C on the outside thermometer, the last hot flushes of the Summer according to the weather man, but he was gentle and kind enough to reassure us that after these few days of hotness the weather will change and it will slowly get cooler, with occasional sunny spells, but nothing dramatical. Oh well, it is what it is. God forbid, for Ireland to enjoy a few more days of heat, a real Indian Summer, that would be a "meteorological crime" 😜🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🥴

Anyway I enjoyed my garden in this heat, although I was sweating buckets, I managed to cut the grass, mulch the beds, tend my greenhouse. Even hubs enjoyed a 45-50 min snooze in the shade after a few hours of hard work helping me. Bless his soul 😘😍❤️

My Galia melons are ripening nicely, these will be the last delights of summer. I shall be looking forward to next year. Both Galia and Emir did well the way I was cultivating them and I shall use this method in the future too. I didn't break the record for Galia this year but I was close...ish😜. Personal record remains the same from last year. 

Next year will be better, says she hopefully 😜😁 My tomatoes keep giving until the last fruit is harvested, hopefully ripened, not green. But it's not a bad thing harvesting it green, they'll ripen inside, no bother on them. 

Again....close...ish. This cultivar is called Gigantomo (I kid you not) and it's known to produce huge tomatoes. Next year we'll do better 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️😁. I have another newbie, called White Beauty, it's a very light yellow, very juicy, sweet, fleshy tomato (you can see it next to the orange tomato and cucumber). Cucumbers got big enough to be picked and they ended up in a nice bowl of summer, homegrown, salad goodness (toms, cucs and spring onion). The contents of this heavenly, homegrown goodness was devoured with the dinner the same day. Another small handful of green beans, cleaned, washed and gone into the freezer and will be eaten with the dinner another day 😁. Huge melon got devoured and enjoyed after dinner 

Also I harvested my only apple, and as they say the proof is in the pudding,it tasted delicious, crispy and joucy sweet with a hint of sharpness. Hubby who is a fan of Granny Smiths apples (have the tree, didn't fruit this year, although had a few flowers on) said that this was an excellent apple to eat. I was beaming, this is the compliment that will make every gardener feel special and appreciated. Happy out. 

14th of September 

I was nicely surprised to find this morning warm and bit breezy. The weather person did say that there will be a few days warm and nice with occasional showers, but nothing serious. I can live with that. That being said yesterday I started to wrap my little greenhouse in the inside in bubble wrap for winter. This will trap inside during daytime whatever warmth there will be during winter allowing my green onions and winter lettuce to grow. They don't need much heat just enough to produce a few leaves and enough growth to be eaten. Also harvested some chamomile (I was harvesting and drying the flowers all summer) which I planted with the toms in the big greenhouse. There are many benefits of this amazing little daisy like medicinal herb, such as being antiseptic, helping relax and sleep well, rich in antioxidants. Although there are many types of chamomile, if you grow them make sure it's the medicinal one, and also consult your gp before using any type of home remedy or medicinal plant. 

September is the month when you still can sow some perennial flowers and some veggies. 

I brought in a big bunch of flat leaf parsley from the small greenhouse, and I want to try an idea I saw on FB. The lady on the video just washed it and split the huge bunch she had in 4 after that she packed the leaves in a freezer bag, squeezed the air out and rolled it up in a sausage. She would take one parsley sausage like that out the freezer and with a bread knife she'd cut the amount of parsley she needed for the dish. I'm gonna try this and let you know if it's yay or ney. 

After lunch the weather turned breeze and drizzly, but in the bubble wrapped, small greenhouse there was 22 C. I have seedlings of lavender, mixed yarrow, catnip and blue flax that needs replanting in a bigger pot. 

15th of September 

This 7th day of the week, the one that is between Saturday and Monday, the one that marks the end of the weekend and the one that we call Sunday started with patchy, drizzly rain and nice, warm sunny spells, temps 18-19 C. 

I just love that every raindrop that settles down on my garden has a different story and like tiny magnifying glasses will reveal a tiny world to whomever dares to have a glimpse through them. I'm sure if you look closer you'll notice some rosehips in the raindrops, or rows of tiny glistening pearls settling down on the green of the  Chives or just adding more glamour to the featheriness of the bronze Fennel just long enough to bring a smile to my face. This fairy display is shortlived because once the Sun steps out from behind the clouds, these magical droplets will become a thought of the past. On my way back in I stopped for a nibble, enjoying a few offerings of the Autumn yellow and red Raspberries and with 2 cucumbers in hand I stepped in the house thinking of a lush sammich with toms and cucs. Yummmm 😁😋🤪

Once September starts bird buffet opens and since I have these arches for the runner beans and pumpkins I shall put them to good use. Feeders full with sunflower hearts and fat balls for the feathery beasties. Lush, packed with Vit C (sour as F!!, excuse my French) seahawthorn berries. Ppl who have these dry the berries, juice them and use the during winter to boost their energy levels and immune system. I eat 5 berries per day, that's all I can handle 😜🥴. I spite of this weeks heat and high temps, leaves are turning, trees putting on their autumnal frocks displaying a symphony of fall colours, which will be plucked by gusts of cold wind leaving the trees like skeletons in the night. Yet good to see blue sky even if it's peppered by a few clouds, indian summer is not that bad after all. Enemy is lurking, must have smelled my sprouting broccolis. I'm not worried because caterpillars won't get a chance to munch on my plants wihh the frost and cold weather coming. But there is another enemy, its a feathery beastie called wood pigeon. Now that bird can strip your brassicas like no other, only leaving the main hard veins. But I have a surprise for them too 😈 it's called bird repelling string and ribbon. More of that at a later stage. My tiny Berberis bush started flowering again, which could be a good sign of longer autumn, offering beas and other hibernating insects extra nourishment before the 1st frost puts halt on everything. 

26th of September 

This day came with wind, rain and cold weather, September really showing its colours now.....literally speaking 😜 the leaves are turning and desperately hand onto twigs and branches but the wind is stronger and plucks them one by one, laying them down on wet footpaths, gardens and grass after a short dance in the cheeky wind. I'm not complaining, just saying that we could have done away with a few more days of warmth, but according the the weather person October will grace us with a few days of warmth too. Through the rhythmical tapping of the rain pen and paper comes out and I start planning for next year....carrots will go here, cabbage there, and beans in between with pumpkins on the arches and so on and on.... For a gardener life never stops, it's like a perpetum mobile, there's always something to do, even in mid December, except when everything is covered by snow..... 

Harvested a few rosehips from my dog rose bush, which I'll dry and use it for tea. Excellent for sore throat and its packed with vit C. Cucumbers are still giving in the greenhouse, so are the runner beans. Foggy mornings reveal another type of magic in the garden, making it look like almost frosty, frozen in time. Cobwebs being decorated with droplets of dew spelling in the early sun like strings of diamond. Autumn berries getting ripen, bit on a sharp side, but still nice to pick. In the greenhouse my Emir melon stubbornly produces messes of tiny melons hoping for another crop just beg fore everything goes dormant. After googling about Emir I've found out that this type of melon wilI produce well into October live in hope :) Read all about it here. 

The last day of this month ends on a wet note, it's raining and it's cold. Yet I've managed to bring in a humble harvest of cucumbers and tomatoes. 

I can say these are the last ripen ones from the vine, the rest are green and will ripen inside. The cucumber is still producing, chilies have a few fruit on them, eggplant 1 fruit, a tiny thing. 

However we can say we are privilaged weather wise compared to the devastation Hurricane Helena caused in Florida and other region. I mean we have gale storms that lift roofs and rain that floods parts of Ireland, but nothing the scale of hurricanes and tornadoes. Please Dear God keep this little emerald rock in the middle of the ocean, we call Ireland safe from all the atrocities of the weather. 

You all take care now, be safe, stay safe. 

All the best 

Annamaria 

Picot Bingo 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

Well I'm not a huge fan of Bingo, yet I decided to play Bingo....Picot Bingo of the Tatting World. 

So here it is where you can read all about it as I copy/paste from the email I was sent. Thank you ever so much Natalie Rogers :) 

**************

Welcome to the challenge Annamaria! You are well on your way to a PICOT bingo!

Annamaria's submissions:

Use A New Tool - a gorgeous Banyek Shuttle

Tat Fauna - Pattern by Hannah Crowle from the magazine Ring of Tatters.

Tat A Snowflake - pattern by Jennifer Williams.

Add Beads - Pattern from a Japanese tatting book.

Free Space - Because it has bare thread space. Heart pattern by Mark Myers.

Tat Flora - This is a flower Annamaria put together after 2 classes with Katia Vallee. 

Josephine Chain

Tat A Doily - Pattern: Sophie by Ewa Wasyliszyn.

Split Ring - "Pattern from magazine Ring of Tatters, by Faith Dunn (I think. Not sure, it was in issue 67)"

Tat A Necklace, pumpkin from LeCosedellaAnto blog. 

Free-Form Tatting - Image created with patterns from Jane Eborall and Barbara Foster.

Tat Earrings - Pattern by Debbie Arnold from the book Charming Little Angels.

Onion Rings - Bookmark pattern by Robin Perfetti.

Split chain--split chain fan by Katia Vallee 

Annamaria is a needle and shuttle tatter. Most of the work above was tatted with a needle before she learned to shuttle tat.

Annamaria, your work is beautiful! Thank you so much for joining in on our PICOT bingo challenge! Your rose shuttle is gorgeous, and I love all the beautiful things you have tatted and your color choices! Happy Tatting!

****************

I'm not expecting to win anything at the end of the year, but this was a fun journey. I've enjoyed every single minute of it. I shall be doing more Picot Bingo in the future :)

Kind regards, 

All the best, 

Annamaria 

My Garden - August 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

August started with an overcast day, with the promise of few scattered showers and temps between 10C-20C. I can live with that, so do my flowers and veg and fruit and herbs.

I also scattered grass clippings mulch around them to keep the weeds down and keep the moisture in. This method is used often around gardeners, so I might just have it a try too. 

Looooooook at those pics of my veg!! I spite of the cold spring, late planting, not so warm summer my garde didn't let me down. Outside and inside veg and fruit are coming on nicely and just a tiny bit of luck I just might be able to taste some beans and cabbage. Blackberries are started ripening and the blackbirds are already eyeballing them. Some serious evasive measures are needed! 

Production, harvesting continues in the greenhouse: tomatoes, grapes and melons are doing great. Everyone in my family are enjoying these humble offerings of the season. 

Since I'm growing beefsteak tomatoes I've decided to follow my progresses and record my best results. This year's, so far, best result comes from a cultivar called Gigantomo that never fails producing the biggest, juiciest, sweetest tomatoes. And voilá....result 😜. I did the same things I do every year before I plant out the seedlings, which are: worked generous amounts of farm manure, garden soil mix (that has sand) into the raised beds in my greenhouses. The plants were fed with home made comfrey liquid feed and the occasional handful of chicken manure pellets, which is the "redbull" of the  plant world. Apart from these, regular watering, weeding, and keeping the plants tidy by removing sideshoots and leaves after each thrus of flowers (only after the fruit starts forming). Also topping the tomato plant helps with the fruit production. These methods will ensure, that all the nourishment goes into the fruit and there's good aeration between the plants. I honestly didn't do anything else. I remember somebody telling me the key in growing successfully is using heritage and disease resistant varieties/cultivars mixed with herbs and flowers. Just like a postager garden. What's a postager garden?, you may ask...Well let me tell you.... "A potager is an ornamental kitchen garden, where vegetables, fruit, flowers and herbs are grown. Potager gardening originates from France and has evolved over many centuries – the name 'potager' actually means from the garden to the pot. Minimising pest and disease problems is yet another benefit of potager gardening. Growing a wide range of plants together in smaller numbers, rather than big quantities of just a few crops, reduces the risk of problems occurring, also encouraging beneficial insects which boosts the natural balance of pests and predators. Taking this further by companion planting – the deliberate partnering of certain plants to deter pests – is easy to achieve in a potager garden."(this passage was copied from a very well known gardening site). So you'll see among my tomatoes nasturtiums, marigolds, chamomile and basil. These plants protect my tomatoes and the Basil makes them sweeter. Among cabbages I plant Tagetes (French Marigold), this protects them from the cabbage White butterfly, and so on.... And just maybe all this TLC made my tomatoes, melons, grapes and other plants in my greenhouses and garden look healthy, scrumptious and wonderful. 

The Pointy Cabbages (York) are doing well, their inner/centre leaves are turning in so with a bit of luck I'll have some yummie cabbages next month or so. My yellow abd red onion sets have sprouted and ready to be used for the kitchen. I love Macro Photography and just to show you what I mean, I shall share this photo with you. I'm sure you can see a wee cuc in the
droplet. 

And here it is the end line of the postager garden...the cooking part. This was the tea I had with my father in law, scrambled eggs with cheese, green onions and tomatoes. Green onions and tomatoes from my own garden. YUMMMMM😋

Today (15th of August) started with rain and rained all morning, heavy downpour soaking everything. My 2 waterbuts are full to refusal. After I got home from work and wolfed down my dinner, went out to check my plants, my feet got soaked so I avoided wet grass and decided to potter in my greenhouses. Found 2 more Emir melons ripen, they will go into the fridge to chill. 

While I was checking out the other side where the Galia melons are I saw this picture with tiny resting on Mr Big. I suppose if tiny is still green by the time Mr Big will be harvested, it can take it's place on the podium and show off its own roundness. Every time when a melon ropes a wonderful waft of melon spreads around in the greenhouse making me smile and shamelessly lick my lips 😜😋🍈

The enemy is lurking, trying to sniff out my cabbages, but I hope the scent of the Tagetes will be enough to deter them. I have nasturtium plants coming on near by (selfseeded mind ya) which are a nice offering for caterpillars to munch on instead of my cabbages 😜 I'll keep my  👀 eyes on the enemy, because this year I've decided not to cover my cabbages. We shall see now 🤔😜👀😁🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

19th of August we write today and it's raining, yet inspite of gloom and doom we had a few warm days. 

My perennial flowers (Hellenium , Gaura, Verbena, Sage, Phlox, Astrantia, Scabiosa) for the re-invented flower border are doing fine. Once I get a chance and a bit of help I'll plant them and heavily mulch them to keep weeds at bay and moisture in. That's the plan anyway 😜

Roses are doing goodish this year. I fed them and mulched it with grass clippings. Bit of TLC goes long way, they say. However Her Majesty Queen Dugh (read:dove, and which is  English for Black) is not happy with the gardener hoooooman who left her in. Oh well, a few treats will sort that issue out. 😜😉

However the grape season in my greenhouse is shortly coming to an end. 

It was an amazing year for the grape vine as you can see in this collage. Looking forward to next year. 

Stone of my veggies still producing, some just start producing, some producing a surprise. Plate of tomatoes reminds me of sunset, green beans, cucumbers and cabbages just starting producing and goodness me all of a sudden there's an apple on my Honey Crisp tree. Yayyyyyy 😜😁. I'm looking forward to taste it next month when it's ripe enough. My Helleniums are thriving in the sun, bloom after bloom opening offering nectar and pollen for polinators and bees. 

Well that's all for now and I shall see you next month with more news from my garden. 

All the best 

Annamaria 

Summer break projects - Summer of 2024

Dear Gentle Reader,

Once classes came to an end one couldn't just stay idol and wait until the classes would start again in September, so one got onto social media and looked through many books to find projects that included what one has learnt during all those 11 lessons. And one had success in her research and loved every second of it :) 

I've talked about the 2 top projects before on another post, link here

The 2 middle ones and the 2 bottom ones, come from this link I used as inspiration, link here. While working these little cobweb wheels I've noticed that playing with picots can give your project a new dimension, creating a more airy, lacy look. Or just restricting the whole thing is turning it into a completely new thing, which will open a new adventure to the creative mind. I can see skirts for angels, bells, ghosts (as a friend suggested it), oh and I'm sure there are many more possibilities to come up with. I shall mention about this in another blog post a little bit later. So watch this space 😜

Travelling further through the wonderful world of tatting I'm discovering more treasures in books I have. This book I've found in a Hungarian trift store years ago. I must say I'm glad I didn't  leave it there. 

These patterns belong to Milena Tomkova and it can be found in her book Frivolitkova Krajka. Of course these are patterns that one can play with, make them in 2 colours or like patchwork put them together. 

In her book I've found a few ice crystals using bare thread method too. They are soooo pretty, I couldn't resist not making them. They will be really tiny ones when tatted with threads size 80 or 100. 😜

Nothing is nicer and refreshing on a hot summer's day then a cup of icecream, a nice drive around the county/counties and your favourite craft 😜 I'm working on another summer project called Daisy Doily by Janette Baker from the book Learn To Tat. 

I know it's a mish-mash of colours, but that's not important for this, the important part is that I'm practicing some techniques with my shuttles, techniques I've learnt on needle tatting classes. I can't wait to start my shuttle tatting classes in September. Link here, peek in, register so you can watch these classes with amazing teachers LIVE, or link here to watch these classes on re-play. These classes are both for needle and shuttle tatting, and if you are a beginner like me or just looking for a refresher class THESE classes are your go to. 

Apologies for the blurry photo, this is one way of protecting the designer's property from theft, the watermark is mine, it showes I took the picture after I made the project.

My Garden - July 2024

Dear Gentle Reader, 

"July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It's length is 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before then it was called Quintilis, being the fifth month of the calendar that started with March." - got this bit off Wikipedia.

July brings new joy into my garden, in spite of still cold ish weather we're getting. Roses are at their best, Mock Orange perfumes the garden with its heady scent, the pink and white Astrantias and I've discovered a newly developed bunch of grape blooms on my grape vine. Sign of a long summer? Could be, and hopefully warmer. This summer was a rubbish one, with occasional sunny spells and yet cold. 

Life in the greenhouse doesn't care about the rubbish summer we are having, it's like a sauna in there, which is wonderful for plants like tomatoes and melons. Raspberries outside are ripening, these kind of berries are sweet, but never too sweet, but this year they are a bit more tangy then previous years, hence the cold weather. However it's nice with cereal, brekkie doesn't come healthier then that. 

Yesterday with the rain we had hailstones for a short while, not very big ones peppercorn size. They didn't do much damage, just fringed a few leaves in the roses. Today (Sunday, 6th of July) was a showery day, but I've managed to gather a bowl of red and yellow raspberries, change the water in my fishtank and for my delight I've seen one of my cleaners, one of my 3 hillstream loaches hiding among my dwarf lily pads, trying to camouflage, which was almost successful until it moved. I wanted to take a pic but it was too darn quick to dissappear among my oxigenator plants. Anyway it's always a pleasure to see them, I have 3 of them. 

Little treasures in the gravel among the calendula, in form of  alpine strawberries. My pink and red tall carnations look nice and smell amazing. I hope this year I'll be able to gather some seeds. I've also managed to water my toms, melons and other plants thst needed a drink using the rainwater from my waterbut, making room for more. No lack of rain here in Ireland 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️😁. 

A few days ago I've noticed a single Regal Lilly in my flower bad, bit raggedy because of the lilly beatles, but still lovely looking and smelling gorgeous. To be honest not a huge fan of lillies inside the house but I don't mind them outside. Also to my joy I've got the first 2 toms in. Juicy , sweet, went down like a treat. More to come. 😜🍅🍅🍅The plants by the trellises, are my green runner beans, because of the cold weather they got in the ground a bit later then I hoped and now they are looking a bit sad. I lightly covered the freshly dug up raised bed with grass mulch, to keep the weeds down and the moisture in. I've noticed many gardeners doing the same thing on social media, so I said I'll give it a try. Trowel and error gardening is all about and how right that is 😜😁

As the month throttles towards the middle, we are getting a few warm, rain free days, with the promise of more warm, rain free days. I live in hope. Taking advantage of these warm, rain free days garden gear on, wellies on and out I am like a shot to do something in the garden. Like a shadow I'm followed by Her Majesty Queen Dubh, she's also my quality control manager, checking my every move and voicing her approval or disagreement. She's not shy about it either. We also take well deserved breaks under the warm sun and gentle breeze. And just like that cruising through the fruit trees of my garden something redish catches my eye and Lord behold, A CHERRY. A solitary blushing cherry on my cherry tree. Yayyyyy, says I, hoping that it won't be discovered by blackbirds. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get the chance if tasting it. Life in my fish pond continues without any bother and today as I was changing the filter fleece I caught a glimps of 2 hillstream loaches (I have 3), but by the time I reached for my phone, only one of them stayed out. 😜 Those lil buggers are very fast, but excellent cleaners. They also love hiding among my miniature lily pond leaves, which offers them an excellent camouflage. They are spotted like the loaches. 😜 Took me a while to spot one among the leaves the other day. 

I was right, the other day I went out to put an organza bag on my cherry to protect it from my pesky resident blackbird and it was GONE. 😭 oh well next year hopefully I will get more 🙏🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

This year gardening and veggie growing is kind of a rush job, I'm still sowing (veggies that can still be sown in July) and getting plants into the ground. I put up some arches for the runner beans and blackberries. They are looking good. Also harvested my 1st tomatoes. My jasmine and Hardy geraniums are looking good, also have tall Chabaud carnations growing. And the water loving forget me not bloomed this year. Not much difference between your usual forget me not and this one except one loves water and the other not so much. 

Finally my cucumbers, chilies and eggplants got planted in enriched with farm manure soil of the big greenhouse among French marigold and chamomile. They are growing well and fast I can see already a little chili developing on one of my plants. Grapes are looking well aslo. I put fake wasps nest until my mesh arrives to detere the pesky wasps and maybe hoping my resident blackbird family won't discover these either. As I was trimming the grape wine I discovered a new bunch of grapes just blooming then developing into grapes. Bit too late at this stage, maybe its a sign of long summer. Can't wait to harvest them. Tomatoes are ripening too, every second or third day I'm bringing in some for the tea. They growing nicely and gradulay ripening with the aid of a few banana skins. Also planted some nasturtium a few years back, these growing around the tomatoes are from the seeds that the 1st plant dropped, just like the calendula. Both beneficial plants attracting polinators and beneficial insects. The melons in the small greenhouse are doing amazingly well. Plenty of fruit on my galia ones too. Looking forward to eat them.

While I was digging in the high raised bed, I discovered a few spuds, leftover from last year or previous year, can't remember now. However it will be eaten. Also planted some over chitted spuds that I bought a few months ago and I was chitting them on the top of the press in the utility room. At this stage I'm hoping for some spuds in September or October and maybe for Xmas. They are nicely tucked in the ground under a thin layer of grass clippings mulch. The thin layer of grass clipping mulch will provide heat for the spuds on coldish nights (Still chilling  nights some days), also will keep moisture in and weeds at bay. Dug into the soil will enrich it as it breaks down. 

I went to a garden centre in the next county from where I live, to see if I can get a few veggie seedlings. Got spring cabbage and immediately once home I planted them. Also got some sage, green fennel and a small bayleaf tree. I hope on my next visit I'll get some lettuce plants or other fast growing veggies. After finishing cropping I moved the peach tree outside and now it's enjoying its summer al-fresco until the autumn and will be moved back when it will drop its leaves. 

Melons looking good in the greenhouse, Galia is playing catch op with Emir. The competition is fierce in the greenhouse 🤣😜 the spuds are coming up nicely outside, so are the spring onions, every 2nd or 3rd day now I'm bringing in a few toms for the tea. This year I'm growing something new in the greenhouse...turmeric. It's a root/rhizome are used in many ways for many things. Great medicine for : 

•  Relieves joint pain and aids mobility
•  Helps to fight chronic illnesses, such as arthritis, fibromyalgia and tendonitis
•  Enhances immune health
•  Improves the body’s inflammatory response
•  Lowers the risk of brain and heart disease
•  Increases the body’s antioxidant capacity

Make sure before you use any of the alternative medicine you ALWAYS check with your gp first. 

But also it has a beautiful pink flower, it's part of ginger family, therefore tastes like ginger and pepper with a touch of sweetness. Also if used as a dye it will colour the fabric yellow. 

There's nothing better then home grown stuff. Harvested my 1st Emir Melon and 1st of the grapes. Must tell you they make an awesome late night snack. Nothing better then those chilled on a hot summer day. We are getting temps up to 24 C and some showers, but the temps staying around 18-20 C, which is still good. Chillies and the eggplants are catching up at this stage, which makes me even happier, because I didn't think they'll get this far. On the other side of the small greenhouse Galia is getting roundy and swelling up nicely. Fruit on my hazelnut tree looking good too, sign that autumn is slowly approaching. Let's hope they aren't going to be discovered by some cheeky squirrels or other nut loving critters. 

Sincerely yours

Anna, the Gardener