Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 30

Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 30

The weather over the last three days has been glorious.  It really is what we in Ireland refer to as and “Indian Summer.” It’s that time of year when we begin to put the raised beds to sleep in readiness for next year’s spring planting.

Raised Bed Preparation

Raised bed with harvest of carrots

I love having raised beds.  I must have them now around ten years and the pressure treated wood is still going strong despite all the rain. They were forecast to last at most five years. This autumn/fall I will be building more raised beds, but I will be using a combination of corrugated iron and decking that is made of material that is rot resistant.

Raised beds are so easy.  They are good for people like Bee and I who are getting older (or is it bolder). Next week I will clear some of the beds and add a bag of well-rotted manure from the garden center.  I buy well-rotted manure because much of the horse and cow manure available free has hormones in it which are given to keep the animals healthy. I am now intent on adding a bag of perlite to each raised bed which ensures that the soil doesn’t get compacted.

This will mean I get to grow some sizable beetroot, turnip and parsnip.  The sizable carrots were grown in the above raised bed which each year I add another bag of perlite, and the carrots seem to get bigger each year.

Having added the manure and perlite I cover the bed in newspapers (The Guardian) or black plastic and weigh these down with old wire bread baskets.  This stops the rain leaching all the nutrients from the soil.  Then around March we peel back the covering to reveal what is “black gold” and plant either seed, seed tapes or transplants.

The Yeat’s Garden

It seems that whenever we leave the house, we return to find gifts left by the front door.  Our neighbors Bridget and Chris left us a twisted hazel tree (for the second time) together with a large fuchsia bush. These were a wedding anniversary gift.

Twisted hazel tree for planting in the Yeat’s Garden

I have decided I will plant the twisted hazel trees at the exit of the Yeat’s Garden.  This will represent the magic of the hazel wood from his poem The Song of Wandering Aengus (The mythic Irish God of Love). The Song of Wandering Aengus is my favorite poem which I wrote in detail about in Song of Wandering Aengus Analysis. It is the poem I have selected to use in a talk to be given by myself about one’s favorite poem at the Enniskillen Library later this month (Sept).

Here is a favorite rendition of this Yeat’s poem sung by a favorite guitarist Richie Havens (Open D tuning on guitar).  I think this is the best rendition of this poem that has been done by the likes of such artists as David Gray, Donovan, Christie Moore and others. His voice has such soul.

I think I will have an arch placed between these two twisted hazel trees although in time they will probably form a natural arch. 

Stewart’s Grove

Buddha bird bath that I placed at the far end of Stewart’s Grove.

We bought more Tibetan prayer flags so that these now encircle the grove.  These colorful prayer flags make it look like we are having a festival here in the garden at Cordressagagh.  It is now the beginning of  bare rose planting season so I will buy some more roses called “Compassion” which will climb the arches that give entrance to the various parts of this grove.  I will also acquire another “Peace” rose which I have tried to grow in the past without success.  Since it was my mother’s favorite, I will give it another go.

When the Roses Speak, I Pay Attention

As long as we are able to

be extravagant we will be

hugely and damply

extravagant. Then we will drop

foil by foil to the ground. This

is our unalterable task, and we do it

joyfully.”

And they went on, “Listen,

the heart-shackles are not, as you think,

death, illness, pain,

unrequited hope, not loneliness, but

lassitude, rue, vainglory, fear, anxiety,

selfishness.”

Their fragrance all the while rising

from their blind bodies, making me

spin with joy.

© 2006 by Mary Oliver, found on p. 9 of Thirst

Published by Beacon Press 2006

This grove has really turned into a very mindful and sacred space.  I love going there each day and am joined on the bench by our little cat Sparkle. When we meet in the garden, she dances her very special dance that no other cat we have ever had does or did. Tail is up, shaking, and with her two back legs dances the cha-cha-cha.

I love that I get to sit around the fire in this quiet place and have deep conversations with family and friends and sometime get to be silly with children who are instructed not to kiss the frogs who will then turn into handsome Princes. Had a lovely evening (Saturday) sitting by the fire with our lovely niece Hannah who was down helping write the various poems, blessings and prayers on the fabric that forms part of the St. Bridget’s cloak project which was, I believe, an original idea that came from her.

The Writer’s Garden

Charlotte Bronte and Compassion Roses in Cordressagagh

The Charlotte Bronte David Austin roses are still blooming. I have the idea of resurrecting the Orangery that collapsed in the high winds that blew through Cordressagagh in early February.

I kept all the panels that made up its construction. I have ordered wood to build frames to house these panels and will erect these and see if they say up.  If not, I will design them in such a way that they can become the tops for myriad cold frames or otherwise part of the extension of the shed.

The Rumi Garden

Idea for major insect hotel

In the Rumi Garden Bee laid down the remnants of last year’s sunflower stalks that I think will allow various insects to over winter. This is my equivalent of the bug and insect hotels that are popular in garden centers.  Given that there is a large decline in insects of all varieties I am mindful of creating habitats that support various insect life forms.

I was a tiny bug. Now a mountain. I was left behind. Now honored at the head. You healed my wounded hunger and anger, and made me a poet who sings about joy.

— Rumi

There are fewer white moths on the wing (W. B. Yeats) now than there were when I first returned to Ireland.  As a child growing up in Northern Ireland, I used to love to watch the ladybirds that now I never see.

The Saint Bridget’s Garden

Winter Jasmine in flower

I see in the Bridget’s Garden that the winter jasmine is beginning to flower which is great to see as other plantings were not successful.  This one is in a glazed blue pot next to one of the arches that I hope it extends over.

Behind the living fence of honeysuckle and Paddy’s Pride ivy I found some Persicaria growing.  I thought it had succumbed to weeds, but it will I hop get established and provide a riot of color of red and yellow on the slope that faces South in from of the cottage.  The yellow is provided by the tansy that is well established.

Disappointed not to see the hollyhocks not showing their magnificence.  Maybe they don’t work in the amount of space that is half a cinder block or cavity block.  They might still flourish given that in Cordressagagh we are a month behind most every other garden given the micro climate that we have.

Conclusion

Looking North from Stewart’s Grove

As we venture further into autumn/fall I hope to keep posting this newsletter on a weekly basis, but the focus will likely be on plans for the spring and sharing the construction projects that include the Orangery revamp and the re skinning of the polytunnel. There is likely to be sharing some ideas about window boxes and container planting.

I will also include more mindful practices and probably more about what I am doing by way of writing and recording which tends to be how I remain creative during the winter.  I hope to learn more about creating some YouTube videos that I can share later in the year or in 2025.

So, from this Mindful Gardener here in Cordressagagh may you have a creative, intentional and fulfilling week.