In any rural community the major event of the summer has to be the agricultural or local garden show, although here this maybe disputed by the islands’ highland gatherings (games). Whether it is a grand county event or the local village fete being asked to be a judge can either be viewed as a privilege […]
Croft Gardener
Ladybird, Ladybird
In these distant isles ladybirds are rare gems. Every year I search the garden and polytunnel for these beneficial beetles, whose larvae gobble aphids at a prodigious rate, and I’m lucky if I find one or two.Whether it is for reasons of geography, climate or an unpredictable food supply we only find the 11-spot ladybird […]
Gardening Dilemmas 3
Do I rest on my laurels? With a little help from an errant jet stream the cottage garden now looks like a cottage garden and not a bare batch of ground with some scrubby grass/weeds imitating a lawn. At last “nice, wall, terrific view shame about the garden” has been replaced by “what an interesting […]
Small and perfectly formed
The Seaweed Hunt
When I’m not gardening or trying to encourage others to garden I’m usually involved in cajoling members of the local natural history society (Curracag), friends, islanders, tourists or anyone who’ll listen to get out and about and discover the natural wonders of our beautiful islands. Once enchanted and ensnared they lured into the delights of […]