We’ve had a beautiful stretch of weather here in Dublin the past 12 days. It’s been warm, dry and sunny, and it feels like summer is finally here. I’ve even been able to get out in my shorts and terrify the world with my so-white-they’re-reflective legs. I’ve been trying to visit the plot in the evenings to water it, the clay soil seems to totally dry out in the sun and becomes cracked very quickly.
The good weather has caused a wonderful growth spurt on the plot and everytime I visit, something new is growing of something has doubled in size. Everything is beginning to bloom. My main crop potatoes are coming up very quickly and I planted peas last Monday and they had germinated by Thursday!
I had to thin out my beetroot, chard and perpetual spinach the other day. I felt like a murderer but it had to be done. I’m just pleased they’re growing, they were looking like they’d never come up. I also planted out my courgette and pumpkin plants, they were just too big to keep on the windowsill anymore, thankfully they seem to be adjusting well to being outdoors.
My strawberry plants have come back to life, having been battered by the wind a few weeks ago, and they are thriving. They have lots of beautiful white flowers and I can see some of the flowers starting to develop into fruit. I covered the bed they are in with weed control fabric, this is so the fruit won’t be sitting on wet soil when it grows as this causes the fruit to rot. Straw is also good for this purpose, just spread it under each plant for the strawberries to rest on. I also made a cage of sorts to protect them from birds, I simply used bamboo and wire to make it and draped netting over it to protect my strawberries .
When I first got the allotment, I knew I wanted to grow Borage. I had read about this wonderful plant in a few different books and loved how it looked. Borage is an annual herb, with beautiful blue star shaped flowers and a mild cucumber flavour. I planted two borage plants in early spring and in the past week they have literally tripled in size and burst open with gorgeous blue flowers, I’ve already seen a few bees buzzing around them.
Another one I planted to attract bees is lavender. It was very (very) slow to start and I didn’t think I’d see any life on it this year but lo and behold, the sunshine has done it wonders and there’s lovely stalks of lavender beginning to form
My rhubarb has come back to life too, it’s amazing what a few days of heat and sunshine can do for the garden. It’s great to be able to sit out on the plot on a sunny day and just enjoy my surroundings. This weekend, there is an open day at the allotment site, there’s to be a barbeque, music, entertainment etc, I’m really looking forward to it.
This weekend also sees the return of the Bloom in the Park festival in phoenix park, an annual gardening and food festival held in Dublin. If you have the time, it’s worth a visit, especially if this weather keeps up.
I have big plans for the plot in the coming weeks, I’m going to finally rebuild our gate, install a patio area, compst bin, water butt and I’m working on a little project to attract some unusual wildlife in, watch this space.
You have been busy! And look at your allotment now – very impressive. Hope the good weather continues …
looking good kiddo…
Thanks xx
We didn’t know that about the wet soil under the strawberries. Thanks for the heads up!
your garden really looks beautiful! I’m so glad it coming together…
I thought perhaps you caged the strawberries because they were WILD strawberries! Ha! Everything looks lovely.
Everything looks great! Isn’t it amazing how all of a sudden everything just takes off as soon as the weather warms up?
The strawberries pics are tres artistic
The plot looks great, Fiona! My veg are growing at a rate too… it’s all very exciting!
Wow, I can really see how big the plot is from the bottom photo! You have a lot of space. I assume those tee pees are for the peas you planted. Never heard of borage, but it looks lovely. Think I’ll try it, if I can find it! I’ve never seen it at my garden store. Great post!
My dear girl, you are nothing less than a huge inspiration for me… I nearly gave up this season, but at the eleventh hour, started planting a few things… I have v harsh unforgiving Texas sun that literally fries tiny veg, and I have many different kinds of ants, that all seem to do their damage, so I am relegated to containers and boxes, but thanks again for the beautiful pictures of your hard work! Your potatoes are especially amazing to me, and the borage is indeed beautiful! Keep blogging and letting us see the results of your labours, can’t wait to see the fruits!!!!
Wonderful looking garden. I didn’t know why the straw on strawberries, but my aunt would tell me duh. I was wondering if you could send some of your warm weather our way. We had to cover the garden last night because of frost and we were told not to uncover as tonight will be just as bad. Now I wish we would have had a winter this year. That is life in the Dakotas for you.
I love this. And I think it is wonderful when you look back in December and know: “This is what I learned this year.” And no one can ever take that from you again. Congratulations! Love your blog. 😀
Seeing your Borage blooming makes me excited for ours to grow. We planted some for our honeybees and they’re just starting to come up. I planted Borage next to a tomato plant last year and that tomato plant got much bigger than any of the others. I have heard that it also enhances the flavor of tomatoes. That would interesting to try! 🙂
After waiting for 6 years to get an allotment in London, they finally called me and within 3 minutes, they’d established I’d moved out of their zone and took it away by hanging up on me as I was shouting: “i’ll move back I’ll move back!”. It broke my heart. Now living in the tropics but strangely not enticed by growing tropical plants.
Your allotment is beautiful and I am a wee bit envious.
garden looks great! I especially love the potatoes! 🙂