The year has really been the most difficult I’ve ever known as a grower, if you are new to growing and kept at it this year then you really are destined to spend the rest of your life looking at seed catalogues and debating the merits of different green manures; for those who have given up- next year has to be easier, have another go.
In order to keep the GROW HQ garden entertaining for visitors I have decided that I need to find out what sort of things non-gardeners find interesting and exciting and did some research.
Last week, back when the memory of rain-sodden fields and water-rich clay soil was still fresh, the 16-week programme in therapeutic horticulture at Loughan House Open Prison in Cavan came to a close.
Generally speaking, we don’t need to water much if at all outside in the veg patch in a typical Irish summer. But in these heatwave conditions, watering is indeed necessary and conserving water becomes a significant challenge.
I sometimes think that aubergines are easy to grow, but hard to grow well if you know what I mean. I find the plants easy to raise, but it’s a harder job to get good fruit.
The white umbels of the cow parsley provide a wonderful natural flower show at this time of year, ribbons of lacy white flowers along the hedgerows, until you get to the strip of sprayed verge. How anyone can think a strip of dead, brown vegetation is more attractive than head high white flowers is beyond me.
