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And so it starts in earnest: the weeding, the watering, the planting, the weeding, the watering – did I say weeding? And between times, the digging of new beds and even more planting.
On the good side, I was able to bring a spinach tart and salad to work – all from my own plot. On the bad side, caterpillars have striped a gooseberry bush of its leaves. I should have been more vigilant. I had a nasty job picking them off, millions of the little squirmy things. Now I drown the bushes in soapy water. My other near disaster was the drought. Onions will go to seed if they are too dry, so I was out every night with my watering can and I only lost three.
The plot is filling up
Then one of my sons decided to take a break from his study and drop a few loads of soil to save me all the walking to and fro. ‘Wow,’ I thought, my parenting skills have paid off – until I discovered it was ground up tree bark he had delivered. This is what happens when Dublin lads go to get you a barrow load of soil. What could I say but: ‘Thanks love.’ I should have learned my lesson years ago after being asked which end of the hen the eggs came from, front side or back. I should take nothing rural for granted after that.
The plot is filling up. I have rhubarb, gooseberry, blackcurrant, raspberries and strawberries. Next, I have onions – lots of onions – peas, radish, garlic, and salad, cabbage and cauliflower and the beetroot seeds are up too. The leeks are peeping up and just need minding. I’m ever surprised and delighted that it all just grows.
I’m grand with the sowing, weeding and watering, that’s the easy bit, but I do get panicked when I see critter attacks and I call in the advice of the ‘real’ gardeners in the plots. Watering is one of my favourite jobs as it’s a bit like feeding the family – there is a sense of satisfaction that everything is looked after and it’s my mission to keep it weed free. I do a small plastic bucket load of weeding every evening; like the laundry, a bucket load a day keeps it at bay.
It's the loveliest time to be there listening to the crows and the sound of children laughing in the distance and the sun low in the sky. It's soul food. My me-time
I have a few nettles in among the onions only because I keep forgetting my gardening gloves, however, I was commended for having them. Seems one of my neighbours has nettles and dandelions growing as their main crop. Shame on me, a home economics teacher and Irish to boot, never having made nettle soup.
As for the dandelions, I googled them just now and they are an amazing plant, with fresh dandelion leaves rich in vitamin A and C as well as helping to lower cholesterol and control weight due to their laxative properties. No need for Slimming World then. I’ll have to rethink my weeding, but I’d want all my nettles and dandelions lined up in neat rows. You live and learn.
Versatil
The spinach is doing great, it just keeps on growing and I keep on picking and it keeps on sending up new leaves. I’m afraid to plant anymore as I don’t know if it’s ever going to stop but I’ll miss it when it does. I know spinach is rich in iron, however, it also has oxalic acid, which inhibits iron absorption. You can get over this problem by including some other vitamin C-rich leaves in the salad if you are eating it raw or cooking it, as cooking releases some of the oxalic acid, making it easier for your body to absorb the iron.
We are having spinach for breakfast, lunch and dinner here. It’s perfect in omelettes and quiches, as a stuffing for a pork fillet or try mixing some wilted spinach with cream cheese and use it to stuff chicken breasts. Eat baby leaves raw in salads and the lads just juice it. It’s so versatile and all for free when you grow it yourself.
It’s been a fantastic week here weather wise and I should be out there longer, but with housework and supervising exams, my plot visits are kept to the evenings. It’s the loveliest time to be there listening to the crows and the sound of children laughing in the distance and the sun low in the sky. It’s soul food. My me-time.
The wildflowers are growing – I’ll have to give them a chance to identify themselves. So, for the moment, everything is allowed to grow in that area, weeds and all.
You can contact me on carmhayes21@gmail.com or you can follow me on facebook SpadeandSpatula, where I try to give a daily update of my visits.
Now, you just have to try this for a light, summery desert for these gorgeous evenings. Pudding and sauce all in one. Even if you are not a lemony person, this is so light you will love it. We used to get this every Wednesday in college in Sligo. I found the recipe some years later and I still make it.
Magic lemon pudding. Light, lemony, lovely and so easy to make.
1. Beat the butter, zest of two lemons and caster sugar until fluffy.
2. Add 4 egg yolks (keep the whites), 50g flour, and the juice of the lemons.
3. Then, stir in 350ml milk. It will look quite sloppy. That’s OK.
4. Whisk the egg whites untill they peak, and gently fold the milky mixture into the egg whites a little at a time.
5. Pour the mixture into a greased shallow pie dish (mine is an oval 22cm X 32cm). You could use two smaller pie dishes or ramekins and shorten the baking time and it would be best to bake ramekins bain marie (sit them in a roasting dish half filled with boiling water.)
6. Bake at gas mark three/160° C for 40 minutes. Don’t overcook it as it’s meant to be liquid underneath – the sauce is the magic bit.
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