VegTastic Display

Leek dressed to impress!

The temperature may be dropping but there's still lots of harvesting to be done... 

apples are ripening, 
leeks are fat and ready, 
lettuces are still hearting, 
fennel is going to seed, 
onions are being dried, 
and there's still beetroot, kale and lots of other goodies to bring to the table. 

Over the weekend I visited the City of Belfast Autumn Flower (and Veg) Show.  It was quite a small show but lots of effort had noticeably gone into it. Of course it was pouring rain the day I attended, but I still really enjoyed viewing all the fantastic displays. 

Here are some of my favourite photos, from the Northern Ireland Vegetable Association (NIVA) display - and what a lovely display it was!

Lots of herbs, veg, and fruit displayed very carefully by the NIVA team!

One of the NIVA members made a 'market cart' to display their prize fruit and veg, costing £50 in wood (excluding the wheels) and excluding labour provided in-kind. It looked lovely! 

Eye catching preserves, edible flowers and herbs decorated the top of the display cart. 

Congrats to the Northern Ireland Vegetable Association (NIVA) on a great display and what looks to be a great harvest year.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Pottering in the Garden

When I 'work' in the garden, I don't consider it a chore... I consider it a bit of play time. It's a time to get my hands dirty, do something messy, get creative, and try something new. Pottering about has become one of my favourite past times. 

Earlier in the month, walking around our local Garden Show, I was struck by all the great ideas others have come up with, and it was great to see young people and children getting involved in the show. 

Here are some playful and creative ideas from our local Garden Show...

The winning 'Team Garden Challenge'  was created by young Level 2 Horticultural students. I've seen this design idea used a number of times, and it's always eye catching and effective. I particularly like the old boots planted with alpines. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Above: Local schools get involved in creating 'edible gardens' - this one has a cute little chick made from an egg shell with what looks like watercress growing from it, along with sage, chives, and other herbs. 

Above: Growing lettuces and herbs from recycled plastic milk or water bottles is a great way to start a mini garden in a small space.

Above and below: School children use recycling boxes to plant up mini edible gardens. If you look closely they're really clever and packed with lots of great plants.

Above: Recently, I was pricing clay herb pots and they were quite expensive. The use of plastic bottles to grow strawberries, herbs and lettuces are a great idea, and children would enjoy this as their own little garden patch to look after.

May is the month for garden shows... this weekend I'm visiting 'Bloom in the Park' in Dublin (the 'Chelsea of Ireland'). It's the first time I've managed to make it down to the garden festival, now in its 9th year, and I'm really excited (camera ready!). Hoping for lots of inspiration (and good weather! (raincoat ready)). 

For more information on the Dublin show click here.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Labelling plants

Above: permanent pen has almost faded from last year.

Recently I've been making an effort to label plants, particularly when sowing seed or purchasing a new plant. Despite my efforts, I've discovered that pencil and 'permanent' ink seem to disappear from both wood or plastic plant labels within less than a year (sometimes much sooner). 

I've been looking at alternatives... I'm toying with the idea of purchasing a wood-burning pen kit to see if that would be a good solution.

Above: Permanent ink on a plastic label, (written a few months ago) is starting to fade a bit. Pencil works better on plastic but it too seems to disappear within about a year.

Above: A newly written label in pen on wood. How long will it last?

My gardening group has also had the problem of plant labels 'gone blank' over approx 6 months' time. Unfortunately, this has caused some confusion over what plants are where. We're also looking at low cost, more permanent plant labelling options.

If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Herbs for cooking and teas

Last year I added more herbs to the garden and tried to incorporate more herbs into cooking. I'd score myself as halfway there and room for improvement, but that's part of the fun of growing, experimenting, and learning as I go along.

Lately as the weather improves, I've noticed the herbs are growing and many are ready for use such as the Thyme (left). This plant was probably about 1/4 of the size last year when planted. They seem to grow quite fast.

Above: Two types of Thyme and in the middle what I think is Oregano - fabulous smell when you run your fingers over them.

Above: A variegated Thyme that has more than trebled in size in a year - is looking a little baldy! Not sure what to do about this to be honest!

Above: Everything in the garden can't always look 'pretty'. This mint plant is starting to put on new growth, and needs a good chop back. I think mint is one of those plants that is almost impossible to kill! Mint tea all summer for me!

Above: Perennial Fennel is showing some new growth. I've saved fennel seeds from the Autumn and am enjoying Fennel tea over the Winter months.

The Rosemary has stayed green and lush all Winter. It keeps growing and growing!
I have cooked quite a bit with Rosemary - snipping two-inch sized pieces off and adding to meat whilst cooking, then removing before serving. In one case, I was entertaining and used rosemary sprigs to flavour potato wedges;  one of the children commented, "It's nice but could the twigs be left off next time."

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Bees and butterflies

Echinecea are flowering and looking fab this month, and the bees are loving them! Saturday was a bright sunny day and I took to the garden to take a few photos. I spent ages photographing bees.

It was a great day to be outside (today the rain is pouring down) and I did a bit of weeding and harvested salad leaves and two beetroot, which I grated, added a bit of red wine vinegar and served with caesar salad. It was very tasty!

Above: Majoram flowers are attracting lots of bees.

Above: White butterfly pictured on lavender. They seem to be everywhere! 

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Edibles in the Garden

It would be great to have lots of edibles at all times in the garden, however, at this time of year I'm quite limited. I've only a few things I can eat but this will change soon as I've many seeds growing strongly and it won't be long until I'll have a daily supply of organic salad amongst other things.

Here's what's edible in the garden right now...

Left: Calabrese (purple broccoli) - I've had limited success with this in past and present years however I'll keep trying. I've been using what I have in stir fries and soups.

The plant behind the Calabrese is white stemmed chard. It was grown from seed last spring, over Wintered well and is giving me lots of Spring leaves to eat. 

Above: Chard growing strongly. I enjoy it in soups and find it cooks well in the slow cooker. It is good stir fried too. I imagine it will begin to bolt soon so I need to get eating!

Above: Perpetual spinach, grown from seed last Spring and coming up after lying dormant over Winter. Something is eating on it (not sure what).

Of course I've herbs that can be used daily as required. Many of my herbs are in the new herb box above. More on this can be found by clicking here. Below: Mint is thriving and begging to be used! Maybe some minted potatoes or mojitos soon!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Organic Treatment for Powdery Mildew

Following on from a previous post about an oregano herb plant with powdery mildew, just wanted to update everyone on the organic treatment I used - which has been a success! Photo (left) of the plant with mildew. I had cut all the foliage off the plant thinking this may help, however, the new growth had powdery mildew on it, so I needed to find a solution (or throw it out)... I read an article that recommended using 20-30% milk mixed with water as a treatment for powdery mildew. I did this and it seems to have worked - photo of healthy leaves below.

The plant is growing well and there is no sign of powdery mildew since I treated it. The article said to spray the plant. However, I mixed the milk-water solution and then used my fingers to put it on every leaf of the plant. It didn't take long and seems to have worked. Its great to find treatments that don't involve purchasing chemicals!

If you have any good non-chemical treatments for common plant problems, do share!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Making an Herb Box

I've been wanting to increase my use of herbs and have decided to locate a range of herbs near the kitchen using a newly constructed herb box. Suppose this will be a bit of an experiment as I've not too much experience of growing herbs. I will have to see if there is enough sun and if the plants like the location. The box currently contains a topiary style French lavender, 6 chive plants, 2 types of thyme, marjoram, and 3 types of oregano. 

The herb box includes a well established thyme (far left),  'Country' Oregano which came from a local garden centre, and at the back - chives that are coming into flower (these have been divided from plants in another area of the garden and added to the herb box).

Bought from the local garden centre at a cost of 4 plants for £5 (about $8 US dollars):
Marjoram - I'm not sure how to use this, but will have to learn.
'Hot' oregano smells great with a strong spicy smell. 

The French Lavender topiary was the most expensive plant at £12.99 (about $21 US dollars). I've used purple slate stone as a mulch as I had some spare sitting around.

The herb box is approx 15 inches (width) by 45 inches (length). The wood is decking wood which cost approx £20 to purchase (about $33 Us dollars) and as the labour was free it works out pretty good value for money. Just hope I can manage to keep the plants alive!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Herb Challenge

My perception of herbs is that they're fussy plants... not sure if that's true. This year I'm determined to expand my range of herbs in the garden.

A couple of weeks ago I bought 3 plants for £5 (a bargain!). Pictured left: two types of thyme and the bright green one is oregano. The thyme are outside waiting to be planted - a new herb box is a work in progress. And the oregano sits inside on the kitchen windowsill. The problem is - what was a lush oregano plant has been taken over by mildew!

So, I decided to cut back the plant. As you can see new growth is coming very quickly, but the powdery mildew is also coming back. Click to enlarge photo to see.

Who would ever think Oregano would have powdery mildew problems? (I assume this is what it is).

I think tomorrow I will try spraying the plant with milk. I've read using diluted milk approx 10-20% milk  mixed with water should help the situation. Fingers crossed!
Otherwise, I may have to throw it out!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Herbs - to grow from seed or to purchase?

Two types of thyme (including lemon) and oregano.

Herbs... plants I've more recently become interested in. Fresh herbs make a real difference to food so I've decided to expand on herb growing this year, and add a few new plants to my small collection. I used to think all herbs were much the same but there are many different lovely smells and flavours. I'm hoping to study up on herb uses this year... which herbs go best with chicken, beef (basically how to use them). This week I saw some bushy herb plants for sale 3 for £5 so decided to purchase these to add to my collection.

I'm wondering is it worthwhile growing herbs from seed?  The centre plant is thyme grown from seed last Spring. It is still quite small coming into its 2nd year, compared to the two thmye plants I purchased.

Lavender grown from seed a couple of years ago, looks a bit shabby but hopefully will fill out come Summer. 

Mint sleeps over Winter but will happily grow with warmer weather.

My star plant, Rosemary, purchased last Spring, and has stayed green all Winter. 

I was speaking to a well known chef today and he recommends the following herbs for cooking: tarragon, dill, thyme and fennel.  I will need to check these out. 

(The only one I have is fennel but I rarely cook with it.)

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Herbs in December

This year I've started a little herb garden with rosemary, lavender, mint and thyme. Pictured left you can see two lavender plants and a rosemary bush (centre). I grew the lavender from seed about 2 or 3 years ago and the rosemary I bought in early Summer. Slugs and snails don't seem to bother much with herbs (thankfully). I hope to grow more herbs from seed and add them to this area each year. The wood log was washed up along the local shoreline and I thought it would add some interest along with some slate rock. A work in progress really.

Above: Some of my seed packs - I really enjoy growing things from seed.

Above and Below: Thyme grown from seed this year. It started off so very tiny (above) however,  it has ended up a decent size by the end of Summer (below).

Above: Mint has had its ups and downs over the Summer. It had some sun scorch on the leaves - I suppose from watering at the wrong time of day. I have this plant sunken into the ground in a plastic pot in the hopes that it won't be a thug and take over the bed.

The rosemary thrives even now in December. I used some of it for Thanksgiving Day cooking! I suppose it has been the star herb this year!

Happy Late Thanksgiving wishes to American bloggers!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.