Harvesting continues from the Potager beds.
It’s worth noting that theses productive little beds, built near the back of the cottage, straight onto gravel, have no soil in them whatsoever!
Soil is precious here in North Roscommon and the land is rushy and wet, so I filled the beds with home-made cold compost and shredding…I continue to build up the structure with shredding, made in my little electric shredder!
The beds carry a lot of food in them still, due to the close planting system I use…as food and flowers are harvested, other plants spread themselves out and the gaps are quickly filled with seasonal planting.
Garlic will be planted out over the weekend in this bed.
Loads of material is then transported over to the growing compost heap…and so the cycle of life continues in a wonderful loop of plenty!
The huge Sunflower head will yield a generous amount of seeds…I use these in Oat Smoothies, an important part of a healthy diet.
Rudbeckia, Marigolds and Evening Primrose continue to bring colour and delight to the Potager Beds as they’re cleared, providing food for many visiting insects.
There is a good amount of herbs around the edges of this bed.
They like the micro-climate afforded them by the stones, as well as the good drainage.
Apples continue to plump out, surviving the storm of last weekend by virtue of the fact they are all very sheltered.
This is an important aspect to growing apples in the west of Ireland, as many storms blow in from the western seaboard at a terrifying speed, decimating fruit production that’s in any way exposed!
Today is a fine day with clear skies and strong sunlight…this will help the tomatoes in one of the baskets to ripen, the salad tomatoes! it’s such a pleasure to be outdoors on days like today…one of the last flings of Summer as she goes on her wilful way!
The hips of the Rosa Rugosa hang heavy over the path.
“The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,” continues…
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Beautiful Garden, Beautiufl Harvest… I live in the city ( USA) and we have a small lot, but enough to grow a fair amount of food. Those hips look amazing. Which rose do you recommend for great hips. I would love to squeeze one in maybe next year–I just have to find a spot:-)
The Rosa Canina would be the best for a small space as it rambles and climbs over other things from a small ground space. The Rosa Rugosa featured on today’s blog takes up a fair amount of ground space, much more than the Canina, as well as spreading via suckers.
Hi Collette, I finally got one of those Aldi shredders. I have loads of willow whips which shred down nicely, but what else do you put into yours. I’m afraid of putting anything green or dampish in it for fear of clogging it up. Thx, jools
Today I’ve been cutting back Bamboo and shredding lots, also any thin branches and shrub trimmings. All soft material I put on the compost heap.
Colette, How do you get the sunflower seeds out? Is it done individually or is there a way of processing them in bulk? They are lovely but fiddly
Soak overnight in plenty of salted water. remove and dry them naturally. Put them into a bowl and drizzle oil over and stir till coated, then roast them in the oven, at 350 or so for about 15 mins. I eat them hulled or with covers, depending on the recipe.