Two of my favorite subjects, the garden and beer. Alcohol can be of real use in pest control.
If you have a problem with killing bugs with booze, remember, at least they die happy.
Well, first and foremost - beer traps for slugs. I have dealt with this in a past posting but a new simpler design is what I call the dolmen.
Simply sink an old jar or can into the bed until the rim is just clear of the soil.
Then place some stones around it to give some clearance and cover with a small slab of slate or stone.
Alcohol sprays are good as organic garden pest control, especially against aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs. If you are using meths alcohol spray, use the 70%. Mix one litre of water with 300ml of alcohol.
Never spray your plants with undiluted alcohol.
Do a test, spray a few leaves first and check for damage.
Any injury to your plant should be apparent within a few days.
Then Fruit Flies - they have been known to like a tipple - real rot gut. Fill up a saucer of some cheap white wine and add a little detergent to it. Leave it around for the flies to sip and die Finally, although debatable I find this method effective at times. Do you have a problem with cats and dogs? Plan this for when you expect them. Get a skinfull - I find cheap whisky best - then after it takes effect run around half naked, ranting, screaming abuse and chucking random items at the offending animals, works for a short period anyway and at least it gives the neighbours something to talk about- may attract men with white coats.
While reading this post, why not check out one of the best bands ever to come out of Canada, kinda a theme song for me at times.
Well, the biggest pest I have found in the garden is not slugs, snails or worms - it's 3 kittens and two puppies.
The kittens are sort of mine, their mother used to hang around and turned up one day with these three.
A cousin of mine called his dog Dev, so in retaliation I named these three (left to right) Vladamira (after Lenin) Joesephina (after Stalin) and Leon (after Trotsky)
Vlademira is the quietest and shyest, Joesephina is exactly like her namesake, going into places where she is not welcome - but even though she is the smallest, she is a ruthless and successful little hunter.
Leon is just a scrounger, rarely leaving the front door - but of the three he is the most tame.
They are fairly feral, certainly not house cats, but their mum, Southpaw, died - and as she was a cool cat I kinda ended up adopting these three.
They have two pals from next door - two pups called Jack and Brownie who visit on occasion, so as I wander around the veg garden I am usually stalked by two enthusiastic pups and three howling cats - none of whom I regard properly as my own!
They do add character to the place, but the amount of work I have had to do to keep them out of the veg beds is nuts, I wish they did not regard them as the biggest toilets they ever saw.
It is true what they say, that dogs have owners, cats have staff - these three little hooligans seem to think my sole purpose in life is to feed them, and that's about the only time I get to handle them - but they do make me laugh, especially when they get stuck in trees, and their undignified descents
On the note of a kitchen garden and pets I came accross another blog, not unlike mine -- food flora and felines -- well worth a read
In the space between slow growing leeks.
I have a pack of mixed lettuce - Iceberg, Cos and Butterhead types, so to start a system where I wont be overwhelmed by lettuce, I simply used an old plant tray and plant a few random seeds each week.
I think I will get a Raddicio lettuce type to add for variety.
They take between 10 and 14 weeks to come to harvest size according to the seed packet.
I spoke about the tomato Costoluto Fiorentino. I read up on tomato and they are similar enough to potato in terms of soil requirements and more importantly desiese control (I can always put in a raised trench of compost or growbag fill later)
The seed sprouted well, and will be put into individual trays to keep growing.
I read online that they should be planted out when they reach a height of 10 -15 cm, at the moment they are about 3 cm high, so its just a question of waiting.
Spuds, 3 varieties.
In the foreground, the smallest plants, are an English heritage variety called Mr Littles Yentholm Gypsy.
I sourced these as eating potatoes from Carrols heritage potatos, and had them sent on via a friend in the UK - many thanks JJ - your a gent.
I am excited about these, they are rare, can have skin colour of 3 different shades, and may well be the only examples in Ireland. hey are, however, said to be susceptable to blight.
Mr Littles Yetholm Gypsy
I picked up certified seed in Dangan House Garden centre in Newcastle, Galway.
For larger orders wherever you are, or if things are tricky to source see Local organic spud agents fruithillfarm.com Joe Hynes in Galway does Mayo as well - sound bloke.
In the centre of the bed there are Setanta, a new variety in Ireland.
These were chosen as they have been bred to the Irish palet - i.e. flowery with a lot of dry matter, and are meant to be highly blight resistant.
Setanta
The largest plants in the raised bed are Orla, the early variety. Being an early crop, in theory, means they miss the main blight risk period.
Orla
To look at and research other Irish varieties I would suggest a visit to the Irish Potato Marketing website.
Here you can find out more about modern and mainstream Irish varieties. They are among the best in the world at what they do.
Other types that were suggested to me were two new very blight resistant crops from Hungary, Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona, but I wanted to stck to Irish types for food miles as much as anything else.
EXTRA RIDGES
Old fashioned ridge, note rock and how thin soil is
Here we have Kerr Pink. These were uncertified, a friend, Dermot Leavy who owns a local shop in Ardmore was throwing away a few old spuds and I took them off his hands.
The venerable Kerr Pink
The Kerr Pinks were the only type I chitted - and as you can see here in the foreground a few Orlas, mid ground are Setanta, and then Kerr Pinks whaich are doing very well for a main crop, so chitting does work.
They are by far the largest plants even though the further ridge is in shade and North facing.
I put in the ridges in the traditional way using well rotted manure and seaweed.
They went into two ridges as there was simply no space in the bed for them, and Kerr Pinks are a local favorite.
Intercropped on the side of the ridge are excess Stutgarter onion sets that are doing well.
I was worried that I had a touch of blight in early May, and sprayed with coppersulphate, soot and soda, this traditional remedy was given to me by Tommy Paraic Tom Phait Canavan, so many thanks for that.
I found on the internet this remedy is regarded as the most organic way to control blight, and is known as burgandy mix.
It may have been frost damage as opposed to bight, but after spraying a blight warning was issued by met eireann, so prevention is better than cure.
I was a little concerned that the wilt here could be blight, and after getting into a tizzy, it was pointed out to me on the excellent website gardenplansireland.com that it was most likley frost damage, which is a relief.
A few beetroot for which there was no space have been rammed in at the end of the bed, but at the top end I think I will build a frame and plant out Costoluto Fiorentino tomato as an experiment, it is a harsh climate here but they were thrown in the post for free when I placed an order in the UK.
Tey have sprouted, but the package advises not putting them outside until the plants are 10-15 cm tall, so looks like I will have to wait.
I've not known anyone to plant tomato outdoors in Connemara, but the long range forecast is good, and according to gardenplansireland.com they require a growing temp of about 15 deg C, so may as well give it a shot - and if they dont ripen, then its chutney.
Well, here is bed 2 with mostly onions, garlic and leek.
The onion varieties were Ailsa Craig and Bedforeshire champions from seed, and sets of Stuttgarters, a gift from Mannions shop in Rosuc.
Leeks at the bottom are Musselburgh, and garlic was simply what ever the chinese stuff in the kitchen was last January.
The Garlic came all the way from China!!! Why do we buy garlc from China, isn't France in the EU??
Its like the time I saw onions for sale in Holland that came from New Zealand - but at least you can explain that by seasonal variation.
I was worried they would not tae, they sometimes treat these things so they wont seed right I had heard, but these came up OK. It was worth the a try I guess, if only to save on food miles, and seed garlic from UK is expensive.
The leek, Ailsa Craig and Bedfordshire champions were grown from seed in January
The beetroots are in the middle, a mix of Bolthardy and Burpees golden
Then there are seed for silverskin pickling onions, just sown straight into the ground.
Also in this bed are a few drills of main crop Long Lise de Meaux carrot, one row of parsnip and at the top a seed tape of gherkin and dill.
I grew the Onion and carrot together, as I remember vaguely that the parasitic flies of each prey on each other, and hope that is the case.
At the end of the bed there is a little space that will probably fit some bean or pea seed.
My job has taken me to some fairly far flung places, so when I ordered the seeds I went for stuff that in general would be harder to source in Ireland.
Well, here is bed 1, mostly brassicas. In the bed there are 3 types of cabbage, Greyhound Savoy, a Dutch heritage savoy variety - Bloemendaalse Gele, and a red Rodeo F1
The Bloemendaalse Gele is a nice, mild Dutch variety regarded as a gourmet cabbage that can be used to make Zuurkool, the Dutch version of Sauerkraut, but it is milder than the German type, with Carroway seeds and other flavouings.
Blomenaalse Gele
Greyhound is a solid Irish variety, it is the only brassica I did not grow from seed, I picked up some sets in Dangan House nursary centre in Galway. They were planted by Mr Lance Spring on a visit here to the west.
The Rodeo red cabbage is a hybrid - but it had good reports. I planted it with barszcz (Polish Borscht) in mind but I would like at some stage to get a traditional heritage Polish or Ukranian red cabbage, maybe next year.
Also in the bed are a mix of Cauliflower and Broccoli seedlings that have just been planted out and a stripe of Matador Spinach I picked up in Lidl.
The Cauliflower is the All the Year Round variety, and the Broccoli is an Autumn Ironman F1 hybrid.
The trellis at the end will support runner beans and Acocha/Fat Baby from South America.
Achocha is a gherkin like plant, that when fried tastes like green pepper.
Acocha
The box in the foreground is a raised section of manure and compost.
In it now are a mix of assorted gourds and Patisson Sunburst squash hybrid, from Lidl.
This box will also be used to grow 'White Volunteer' Cousa Courgette from the The Real Seed Catalogue.
Other crops being sprouted in the window sill as I write are Achocha, exploding Cucumber and a few extra beans and peas.
At the bottom of the bed I also made some space for extra parsnips, just one row of them.
After the Spinach is harvested, that space will be used for Celeriac (Monarch) which I have trayed inside, but grows really, really, really slowly
Soil regulator lime available from most garden centres was added to this bed as Brassicas perfer a more alkeli soil than is normally found in Connemara which is acidic.
The first step in the process was breaking into a field by the house and clearing gorse, briars, fuscia and a variety of other bush including the hated Japanese knotweed. This was done during the cold snap using saws, slashhook and sickle.
Crannog on lake with ice
Lake Scannive during the big freeze of January 2010
Once the grond was cleared each bed was constructed simply by digging in 9x1 boards and 3x3 (measurements in inches) corner pieces.
Each bed is approx 4 feet wide and approx 15 foot long, but due to rocks it does vary.
I bought the wood from Thomas O Malleys shop in Rosmuc, (091) 574101 from where it was delivered in next day to my door with a smile.
Great little community shop tucked away on the Rosmuc road, they are a local family and a pleasure to do business with.
Ollie (right) and I digging in for the winter
When I told them of my plan they even threw in a bag of onion set as a small gift.
Having the free delivery made avoided any problems with transport.
After the boards went in I dug out the bed, down on average to about 2 feet to bed rock.
The main effort was getting the rocks out, sledge hammer and pick axe were the order of the day, just to try and lower the boulders in places.
The base of each box was then lined with seawed and manure, and backfilled after the February thaw.
The pathways are wide enough for me to get the wheelbarrow between them.
The outside the bed, I dug the path ways, putting the soil into the bed, and using the broken rocks to create a base of a path over the ground rock.
Over this, to fill in the spaces, firm it up and to put off snails, as well as clear an area behind the house, old ashes from a household fire that took coal, wood but mostly turf was used as infill.
Over the top of this, to create a dry clean walking and further discourage snails, I collected bags of pine needles from under trees and used these to give the surface to the pathways.
The theory at least is that the pine needles and ashes would create a boundry and discurage snails and slugs.
Because the land here is so poor, and so thin, I figured that the extra soild from the pathways could also help to give indreased depth to the garden.
There were nettles in the area which is a good indication of fertillity I am told, so we will wait and see.
CROP ROTATION PLANNING
The beds were laid out and planned as a long term feature by the house. Most people in Connemara move their veg patch around the farm, giving spots years to recover between plantings.
As I intend to use the area long term, that way of thinking needed to change
Rotation is very important, it stops the soil being exhausted and stops the build up of parasites and viruses that may affect the future health of your crops.
I have prepared four beds, I plan to add a fifth bed next year to allow for the full rotation and a sixth for rhuarb and soft fruits at some stage.
But the four beds I have are laid out roughly in the "People Love Bunches Of Roses" format.
This breaks down your patch into 5 basic groups.
P = Potatoes, they like slightly acidic soil and are one anchor of your crop rotation plan. Tomatoes are also in this group.
L = Legumes, these are basically your peas and beans. These fix nitrogen into the soil and help next years potato crop.
B = Brassicas, cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, suede, brussel sprouts. All green cabbagy things. They like limed soil, which potatos dont like, so these are the other anchor of the plan.
O = Onions, or more correctly Allium types. This is leeks, chives, onions, garlic, shallots and scallions.They like good quantities of well-rotted manure and a bit of lime to increase the alkalinity of the soil, which is why they are followed by brassicas so you are best to give their patch a least one full rotation before potatoes are sown.
R = Roots, things like carrots, radish, parsnips and beetroot. These plants - especially carrots - prefer soil which is not freshly manured, which in the case of carrots can make them split.
This is the long term plan so the first year is a bit mix and match, and I did not add much lime to bed #4 because of this
As this is the first year I dont think it is totally vital to do the full spec garden, and space is an issue, but the long term aim is to have 5 beds for a full rotation of the crops.
As for salad stuff like lettuce, they will fit in where there is space, which is between leeks at this time.
Also, bed #1 had a big rock, so I sectioned of a part and filled it to a better height with manure and compost for things like squash and cucumber like plants, but that is just an experiment really
Well - I have found that after germinating seeds in garden, things like leeks, cabbage etc. that by far the easiest way at this stage to weed them up is simply lift the seedlings, rake out the weeds and replant.
Obviously you dont want to do this too often, especially as they get bigger, but at this stage it makes a far easier job for me.
In addition, using mostly UK catalogs I have also ordered and planted gherkins, squash and mostly heritage variety carrot, parsnip, beans and peas.
I much prefer supporting small, independent and ethical companies than the big corporations.
Will upload some pics later of the garden - thanks for reading
Work to date
04-08 Jan. Washed up seaweed collected from pier and spread on ground where I hope to grow a small veg garden
28th Jan Onion Seed - Bedfordshire champ trayed.
29 - 30 Jan Brussel Sprout F1, Kohl Rabi -Olivia F1 Leek Muselburg & Lyon trayed
Feb 5 light frost
Feb 6 Brussel Sprouts germinate well
Feb 7 SCORE - got some old Kerr Pink from local grocery store, not certified seed, but if half come up have saved a tenner. Hope it came from a clean crop - ie no desiese
Also, plastic bread tray for handling pots. Mate who works in store told me it took 5 minutes to find and 1 minute to steal. Saves on buying stuff from garden centre, which is a long drive.
Make paper mache pots for seedling transplant Bean seeds to pots in sill.
Garlic cloves from shop as well into pots. Came all the way from China!!! Why do we buy garlc from China, isn't France in the EU??
Its like the time I saw onions for sale in Holland that came from New Zealand - but at least you can explain that by seasonal variation.
Probably wont take, they treat these things so they wont seed right I've heard. Worth a try I guess, if only to save on food miles, and seed garlic from UK is expensive.
Paper mache pots for seedlings, feckin disaster
Feb 9 Some onion and leek seedlings start coming through
Feb 10 Found a site about cheap seedling pots
Really handy. Used a bunch of old magazines up Used old style wallpaper paste (out of date barley flour & water) instead of masking tape.
Brussel sprout & kohl rabi seedlings hitting clingfilm so needed to move them.
Loads of them, and the kohl rabi - so even if the paste dont work at least the pot wont break as they are fairly jam packed in the bread tray. Way too many seeds for own needs so any spare will go to neighbours and local primary school as they have a small garden project for the kids
Feb 11 Heavy frost overnight, checked with seed company - seeds dispatched, look forward to getting them.
Seed companies:
Ireland
http://www.irishseedsavers.ie/
http://www.brownenvelopeseeds.com/
Local organic spud agents
http://www.fruithillfarm.com/t-agents.aspx
(Joe Hynes in Galway does Mayo - sound bloke, son surfing in Oz)
Britain - great range and fast service.
http://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/
Feb 17 Onion seed coming up well. Think I may have killed off a bunch of leeks while transplanting.
Put down cabbage seed in paper pots. Got more meat containers from a local shop. Makes it easier to sort etc.
Early beans to pots. Trimmed trees and hedge around outside plot to increase sunlight.
Chainsaw rental in Ireland a nightmare.
Feb 20 Trayed up Ailsa Craig onions, heritage variety from Scotland. Looking at how long it takes for onion seed, and the availability of onion set its not realy worth the hassle except for the heritage varieties.
Picked up horseradish root from garden centre.
Feb 27 Rodeo cabbage seedlings coming up OK - but no sign of the Blomensdaale, a heritge Dutch variety, which I really wanted to grow well. Getting seedtapes ready for parsnip, carrot, turnip
Feb 28 Some garlic cloves coming up
Mar 04 First outdoor planting - carrots and parsnips on home made kitchen paper seed tape.
Indoor beanseeds coming up. Trayed up celeriac in small module tray - old ice cube makers
Still no sign of dutch cabbage!!
Mar 05 Well, there would have to be a hard local frost first night after planting.
Mar 11 - Frost still most mornings. Some dutch cabbage finally sprouting, but will start a new batch
Mar 12 - First spuds down, Setanta, Orla and Kerr pink
Mar 17 - Bit stormy last night but first carrot has sprouted
Mar 22 - Well, going to be a mad dash, looks like I've got to go back to work so everything goes into the ground today to look after themselves for 2 months.
Mar 31 - Well, snow - looks Like I will have to replant all the turnips, carrots and parsnips as I dont think they will germinate at this stage. All onions grown in trays from seed transplanted outside
Apr 21- weeds, weeds, weeds - replanted a lot of seed in the root beds.
Spuds beginning to come up - weather seems suitable to start salad greens now
Apr 27 weeds, weeds, weeds
===
* Trayed - in shallow container with compost to germinate.
Container covered with clingfilm and placed in sunny window sill.
Also re-used some old glass from a removed window
The reason I used the clingfilm to cover the trays is to stop them drying out, rather than mist spray every day let the sun and gravity do the job.
Idea came from botonist Joseph Banks on Cooks Endeavour in 1771 had small cabinets made, with glass, like mini glass houses for samples.
That kept the moisture in the soil, and kept them warmer
