The story goes, George de Mestral took his dog for a walk and then invented Velcro. The Swiss inventor took his canine for a stroll one day sometime in the 1940s and upon arriving home he noticed that his dog has in this fur the spiky seed heads of Actium minus otherwise known as Burdock.Continue reading “I fought the root and the root won…. cooking burdock roots”
Tag Archives: garden
Well done to the rare un-staked! – Herbaceous Perennials that stand up for themselves…
I love gardening but there are some jobs that are laborious and feel like a waste of one’s good time if they have to be done too often, cutting the grass is one such task, staking herbaceous perennials is another. The former job is reduced by having less grass areas and more plants, and inContinue reading “Well done to the rare un-staked! – Herbaceous Perennials that stand up for themselves…”
Changing Perspectives – Show Garden Bloom 2012
Grafitti covered walls, dumped and battered old washing machine and litter strewn ground greet the visitor, not the typical welcome for a visior to a Bloom garden. Between the concrete blocks there are glimpses of a brighter place, a more colourful and welcoming place. This was a show garden that took the visitor on aContinue reading “Changing Perspectives – Show Garden Bloom 2012”
Jane Mc Corkell’s My Garden is a garden for everyone -BLOOM 2012
Maybe it’s the economic climate, maybe people are more nostalgic when times are hard and we reminisce with our rose tinted glasses as we look back on the days that were better. Some of my favourite show gardens at Bloom have a touch of the past about them, where the simplistic design relies on aContinue reading “Jane Mc Corkell’s My Garden is a garden for everyone -BLOOM 2012”
Stuffed Red Mustard Leaves – Recipe
Last year we sowed red mustard leaves, Brassica juncea ‘Osaka Purple’, in neat rows in our salad bed in the vegetable garden. This year it is coming up all over the vegetable gardens and beyond. The large floppy red leaves are mottled green and the flowers are yellow and typical of the cabbage family. ItContinue reading “Stuffed Red Mustard Leaves – Recipe”
Spruce Shoot Jam – Recipe
Spruce trees are a common site in the west of Ireland, not just as part of the alien forestry that covers much of the land, but also you see groups of old trees close to houses, derelict old cottages and lived in houses like ours. That is exactly what we have close to our house,Continue reading “Spruce Shoot Jam – Recipe”
The Magician and the Glasnevin Potato Vine – Botanic Gardens Dublin May 2012
It should be warm, warmer than today. I am not under any illusion, I do not expect the sun to shine every day, this is Ireland, but this is May, it should not be freezing! I met a group of my students this morning in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin Dublin, one of ourContinue reading “The Magician and the Glasnevin Potato Vine – Botanic Gardens Dublin May 2012”
Ciaran The Gardener 