Monthly Archives: March 2020

Six on Saturday

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Today finds us in our first day of full lock-down here in Ireland. We were in partial lock-down before this but now it is just out for shopping and exercise (and no more than 2km from your house for the later).Thankfully we are lucky to have a big garden for the children to play. And we have had sunshine! That means the crocuses are open!

1 Crocus display

2. The crocus have attracted a couple of early garden bumblebees – I am so happy to see the bees back. A sure sign of spring.

3. Tulips are open – only a couple so far.

4. I have one small patch of wild wood anemone under one of the hedgerows. I love this flower, so delicate.

5. On the heather another bee – this time a buff-tailed bumble. If you look closely you can see little mites on her. These don’t do her any harm, they are found in her hibernating nest and keep the place clean!

6. And finally, buds on the cherry tree.

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

Six on Saturday

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Getting a little bit done in the garden as the weather improves, but the rain has returned for today. Hope everyone is keeping well and sane in these strange times. It is a time to be really grateful for our gardens.

1 – Some cheery crocus to start this week. Photos taken yesterday in the sunshine. These are some of my bargain buys from earlier in the year.

  • Crocus
  • Crocus

2 – Anemone blanda I think – don’t seem to be as many as last year.

3 – Dandelions – where there is dandelions pollinators should not be far behind. I saw one queen bumblebee in flight yesterday and one hoverfly, but it is still pretty cool here. And looking like it will only get above 10 degrees on one day of next week.

  • Dandelions

4 – Leaves are appearing on the crab apple tree. Always one of the first to come out.

5 – Some of the tadpoles have hatched. Their hatching was followed by a morning of frost which had a layer of ice on the pond so I hope most of them survived the freezing. There is no shortage!

6 – And finally Junior. This handsome fellow has been with us for a good few years, but we found him dead in the chicken coop yesterday. He had shown no sign of being ill, was a good weight, so we think he may have had a heart attack. He will be missed as he was always a friendly cockerel. We have a couple of his sons and one will get to take over his reign. This photo was taken a few weeks ago on a cold and frosty morning.

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six On Saturday

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

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The 17th March is Saint Patrick’s Day in Ireland. Usually we would be celebrating our day with Saint Patrick’s day parades – instead everything has been cancelled in the chaos that is Corvid-19. It feels very surreal but all too real. Schools are closed and all activities and events are off. Like many families we are in self-imposed isolation, only going out to stock up on food.

Still it is Saint Patrick’s day and I feel the need to celebrate Ireland. So I have chosen the chaos of our Atlantic coast to share with you. Stay safe and well everyone.

My first few choices is the very appropriate Down Patrick Head, on the north west coast of Ireland. A wild and beautiful place.

  • Down Patrick Head
  • Down Patrick Head
  • Down Patrick Head
  • Down Patrick Head
  • West Coast of Mayo

And to end a sunshine one. Stay positive and hopeful, the sun will shine again.

  • Achill Island

Six on Saturday

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So as we face into the world crises, and the surrealness of CORVID-19, I want try and keep this as normal as possible. So here is my Six on Saturday.

1. First of all, bad news for my garden. We discovered seven New Zealand flatworms yesterday. These flatworms are an invasive species and eat our native earthworms so not good to have them in the garden. This is the first time I have seen these in my garden and it is worrying. I have no idea where they came from, as they are in the bottom half of the garden where I only grow vegetables and keep our chickens. It is likely they are in other places and time will tell as I start doing more gardening. These ones were found under some black weed membrane that had been where I grew the pumpkins and squash last year. Thankfully the chickens, while initially a bit cautious, did eat them up. Mostly these guys get into gardens from potted plants bought elsewhere. I did buy a few things last year but nothing that got planted in this part of the garden. It is a worry but we will remain vigilant and feed whatever we find the chucks.

  • New Zealand Flatworm

2. Something a bit more cheerful – daffodils.

  • Daffodils

3. And more daffodils – I don’t know variety but it is a pale yellow.

  • Daffodils II

4. And some radishes germinating in the greenhouse.

  • Radish plants

5. Broad beans (with a little bit of slug damage!). I start these in the greenhouse too and will plant out when it dries up a bit and these are a bit bigger.

6. And finally crocus – these are some of my bargain buy a few weeks ago. At least one purple crocus:)

  • Crocus

Thanks to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday