September 2024- And summer came back for a bit
But what about that frost?
I sent out the August newsletter right before heading to Field Exchange in Brookfield farm. I had a lovely day out, met some friends I’ve known forever (doesn’t seem right to term them ‘old’ friends), and made some new friends! Below - me, Cathy, Margaret, Martin and Brian.
The night of September 12th was pretty devastating for some growers with frost taking out lots of dahlias and squash crops - once the frost hits, no more harvests from these tender plants. Here in Mullingar, surprisingly, we didn’t get frost, but the mornings around that time were brisk. That was followed up by a week or so of actual summer weather, which was perfectly delightful. No complaints about that!
The flowers are all responding to the longer nights and cooler temperatures now, and the growing season is coming to a close. No more subscriptions now until next March or April!
A recommendation for Westmeath people - St Vincent de Paul have opened a fabulous furniture shop on Harbour st in Mullingar. If you’re into up cycling or in need of some quirky furniture or accessories, take a look. Last time I visited I came home with a keenly priced clay baker (Römertopf lookalike) that will be great for slow cooking or bread baking. Couldn’t pass it up!
People tell me that they don’t see the workshops in my newsletter so click here to see whats on my website. Scroll to the end to see events not on my website.
Seasonal Activities
So it’s still harvest time, I’m enjoying lots of tomatoes, a little squash, and tomatillos. The raspberries have produced so much that I am leaving them for the birds - I have way too much fruit in my freezer. My little grape vine has one bunch of grapes, which are almost ripe. A few aubergines, but I can’t detect any taste difference, so they are more trouble than they are worth, I think.
I’m saving seeds like crazy - sweet peas, orlaya, foxglove, calendula and roach - to name but a few. Many of these do much better when planted as fresh seeds, so the best way to guarantee this is by saving seed yourself.
I have lots of work to get ready for next year - a major job is to change my tunnel - I need to remove raised beds that have rotted and pull up the ground cover beneath them to make contact with the soil. Regular replacement of the sides of the raised beds has become a pain, so this is now a necessity. On the positive side, I’ll have a few extra inches for my tomatoes and sweet peas next year
Coole Meadow
The mowing continues, we are nearly done. Some rough parts that were not mowed last year were really tough to mow (thanks Brian), but they’re looking really clean now. We have lots of compost stacks placed around the field - hopefully in places where the compost will be useful next year.
Of course some parts that we started early - the trees and the apples - have seen lots of growth, so they will need to be mowed again.
We filled a second Johnson-Su bioreactor. Once again we used chaff from Bell Lane - this time layered with dry hay. It got up to temp nicely, and has stayed moist. I’m very excited about these composting experiments!
Workshops
Mergon invited me to visit on their Sustainability day - I was happy to meet some of their employees and give away some soaps and seeds.
We had a fun night at the ‘Gardening for Biodiversity’ event in the Refill Mill- we propagated some plants, ate cake and discussed things to do to improve biodiversity in the back years. The participants set up a WhatsApp group so that they could meet like-minded people for foraging expeditions - delighted to see community building happening!
Similarly in Athlone, I talked with a fantastic group about biodiversity, and was happy to see some of them return for the seed saving workshop. Athlone have set up a seed library, so we added some seed packets to that. It’s a fabulous initiative, if you’re passing and you’re a member of Westmeath libraries, you can stock up on all kinds of seeds.
Food waste was a hot topic in Castlepollard, with lots of the participants energised to do more on foot of the discussion. We had soup, bread, ricotta spread and chocolate cake for inspiration. The same menu - more or less for another Food waste event in Ballinamore, co Leitrim.
The Jams and Chutney workshop in Cuige was well attended, Nadia guided us in the making of Strawberry jam and a spicy autumn chutney. and we tasted lots of other samples with some freshly baked sourdough. Everyone went home with a small jar of jam and chutney and hopefully the confidence to make preserves at home.
To finish the (busy) month, I was delighted to work with Women’s community project, participants made flower crowns with dried flowers.
Flower Farming
Not a lot going on - though there should be! I have fallen behind on my seed planting and planting out. This happens every September, I really shouldn’t be surprised.
Looking forward to some flower farmer education in Cork in mid October, with Rachel from Green and Gorgeous. Great to meet up with the other flower farmers!
Learning
I was delighted to visit Rathcam Farm as part of the Farming for Nature Farm visit program. Great to see the work that Diana and her daughters have done there, it’s a real oasis of biodiversity and innovation. As you’d expect form a farming family we had a great feed of locally grown produce afterwards!
We were treated to a fantastic Japanese macrobiotic dinner created by Shino at the Refill mill - everyone who was there or who heard about it is hoping for a repeat. And some great tips for recreating some of the dishes.
Once again I made it to Earth rising - inspirational as always and great to be there with some very smart and beautiful women! Particularly taken with what Dr Louise Fitzgerald had to say about communities in Leitrim struggling with the externally imposed climate mitigation actions which were not actually helping, and the effective actions that those communities were undertaking.
Upcoming events
A couple of workshops at Cuige - no-knead sourdough baking on October 17th, (filling up fast!) and a wreath workshop in December.
I’m also running a Composting workshop in Laois on October 5th, in Portlaoise library.
I have some exciting plans with Castlepollard library , more details to follow. I’ll send out a mini newsletter when that all firms up.
And I’ll leave you with an oldie - I hope that you have time to listen to it - enjoy!