Mindful Gardening Newsletter Week No 24

It was Monday that Bee and I needed to go to Carrick on Shannon in Co. Leitrim.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, and I took our little white dog Obe (O Be Joyful) for a walk along the riverside.  I was delighted to see all the flower combinations that have given me ideas for the garden next year.  I will be ordering a lot more poppies from Farmer Gracy when they become available later on in the Autumn. 

One of the things I love is sculpture. I would love to have more of that in the garden in Cordressagagh.  So, I was delighted to see the beautiful wooded sculpture of St. Eidin who is the patron saint who founded a convent close to the town. 

Poppies in the Riverside Park Carrick on Shannon

Astilbe, Ferns and Grasses in Riverside Walkway – Carrick on Shannon

Statue of St Eidin in Riverside Walk – Carrick on Shannon

St Bridget’s Garden

We may not have as spectacular a sculpture as the one above, but I love to add little pieces of art that enhance the garden space.  Here is a plague of St. Bridgit that hangs in one of the trees that shade the archway where it is fun to sit on a hot summer day.  There have been too few of these this year although today there was a flurry of hay making and the lanes that are usually empty were full of tractors and quad bikes.

St. Bridget’s Plague on Tree

Poem by Bee that fills one of the archways in St Brigit’s Garden

One of the Swan sculptures gifted as a wedding present in St. Bridget’s Garden

First Time having Lunch in Grove

We have Penny visiting from the UK this week and beyond and for the first time I have created the space where we can all sit around a fire in Stewart’s grove on the benches with the butterfly backs and have tea and cake.

On Tuesday we had a friend come around to sign the Bridget’s cloak that Morag and Bee are creating as part of a project that involves people from the locality in creating a cloak that will be hung in the local Arts Centre and feature lines celebrating St. Bridget written by those who contributed.

Fire pit made out of recycled car wheels

This week I have cleared much of the weeds from Stewart’s Grove and ordered two ton bags of bark to bark the area with.  This will make it safe and beautiful.  Next week we will invite Jenny and the four year old assistant gardener for a barbecue and will also light the fire and sit around and have some craic. (pronounced “crack”). There is something very special being able to sit around a fire in the open surrounded by friends and family.  I like to sit with them and simply play some soft fingerstyle guitar.

https://www.facebook.com/smithirishblessings/videos/829517842476726?notif_id=1720898989383190&notif_t=tagged_with_story&ref=notif

Me  Bee and Penny at Lough Allan staring at Lakes

The Vegetable Garden

Test carrot to see how they are progressing

We have planted up a lot of carrots this year.  There are two raised beds full of them sown successionally.  The above carrot is slim but beautifully formed. We will leave them to plump out before harvesting some.

The mixture of compost and vermiculite together with purchased farm manure and frequent watering with our own feed made from comfrey in a large barrel have proved to be a great way of ensuring decent sized carrots.

The Generous Gardener’s café – Soup from vegetables in the Garden

One of the joys of having people visit and stay in the cottage is that we all get to sit around the table and enjoy meals together, which is something that tends not to happen when it is just Bee and me.  The meals are great, and I have decided to call our little gathering at the table The Generous Gardener’s Café.

Dianthus which has suddenly appeared in the St. Bridgit’s Garden – a perennial

Sea Holly which has such a beautiful color blue

Late Summer Vegetable Planting

All of the raised beds are full of vegetables and strawberry plants, so I have used the soil in the 1 ton bags in which I have bark delivered. I added another bag of compost to add nutrients because the bag was used for our first potatoes which were harvested last week.

In the picture there are little plants of various kinds of lettuce and one type of spinach both of which are favorites of mine. In the middle of the bag, I have planted one of our old Christmas trees.  In time it will be large enough to have solar powered Christmas lights on it, which will be fabulous of the winter period.

Conclusion

This week has been taken up with visitors but that’s something I love.  I have also been engaged with writing an outline for a new weekly thirty minute podcast which I plan to put up on YouTube and Substack.

Guided Meditation for Inner Peace

It is recommended that one creates three trial episodes, but I am intent on creating five episodes and adding additional series of five episodes. This podcast is called Spiritual Pathways and is centered around guided meditations featuring mythic stories, mystical poetry, inspiration song lyrics and quotations.

So, I hope you have a great week and enjoy the sunshine. Happy Mindful Gardening.