I Wonder If The Victorian Gardeners Planted Ground Elder In Their Gardens? 🤔

 

Ground Elder or Aegopodium podagraria it's posh Scientific Name.

It's supposed to be introduced to Britain and Ireland by the Romans.  It's also called Goutweed, Pigweed and Bishop weed.

To a lot of gardeners It's considered a pernicious weed and it's underground rhizome like roots.  Some people spray it with an herbicide but I just pull it out with a fork because I don't believe in weedkillers.  It's not really a pernicious weed It's a garden escapee.

Apparently a lot of Victorian gardeners use to deliberately plant Ground Elder and used it to treat Gout and eat it in salads and soups and stews.  It's also an antinflammary.  It's often sold in market stall in Krakow and the Ukraine.  I have been to Krakow but I never saw any Ground Elder for sale.

Wouldn't it be ironic to think that the pernicious weed you have in your Victorian garden was deliberately planted in amongst the herbaceous perennials and shrubs?

Gardeners Detritus.

 

Ok ya.  Welcome to the West Cork Tate Gallery outdoor entry for artist of the year 2023.

I have entitled my work Gardeners Detritus.  Hopefully we will now become very rich and we can buy our dream villa in the Algarve?

One can see the main material used is plastic which is derived from fossil fuels and they are oil based products.  So there is obviously a  big carbon footprint?

Seriously I have been clearing behind the back of the polytunnel which had become my plant pot dump and had become covered in overgrown brambles.

I think I have enough plant pots to last me the rest of my days.  At least I saved them from going to the landfill.  

It must of been wonderful living in a world of clay flower pots?

Making A Recycled Patio.

 

Remember how we constructed a second hand Conservatory?  Well we decided to finish off by paving the patio.

I didn't want to spend any money being a tight wad smallholder.

So I decided to use the concrete slabs paths on the veg plot and in the garden.  We laid them in less than a day and it cost absolutely nothing.

Yesterday I dug topsoil and barrowed it and raked it out and I filled my garden roller (car boot purchase) with water and spread grass seed and my recently purchased seaweed and poultry manure pellets and slightly covered it with soil using the rake and rolled it in where the slabs once lived.

We found the small bag of grass seed in a drawer in a bureau We were clearing out to sell on a carboot sale.  I hope it germinates.

Not bad a new patio and a lawn repair for absolutely nothing. I didn't even lay them with sand an cement, just sand what I already had.  We also put the fence up. 

Anyone else been making patios for Nowt.

Master Brain.

 Yorkshire Pudding jogged my comedy mental jukebox with his post about the Sheffield Mastermind winner today.

I remembered the great comedian Russ Abbott and his  Master Brain Sketch.    Hope it makes you laugh:

It could have been me.  🤔😊

Barleys Piglets Progress.

No not the name of a English Prog Rock band.  I thought would give you good people a progress report on Barley the Gloucester Old Spots piglets:

Aren't they beautiful?

We weaned them and put them in a different part of their animal housing a few weeks ago.

Barley did not bother one bit.  I think seven Bonhams biting her teats was more than enough and now she stands up on her two legs on top of the gate grunting for food.

She's quite a character and so are her piglets.

 

Another Walk Along A Repurposed Railway Line.

 We went back to the  Limerick/Kerry Greenway again the other day.  I had read online the Abbeyfeale to Listowel section is now open.  This is 16 Kilometres long or about 9 miles in old gas meters.

People (walkers, cyclists, runners,dogs) were all very pleasant and greeted us with smiles and "Hi" and stopped and stroked our Golden Retriever and it's a splendid way to repurpose abandoned railways.

I still think there entrepreneur opportunities for hot dog 🌭 vans and selling "nice" cups of coffee and tea and ice creams and cold drinks and providers dog pubs for our Canine friends.

This section cost 20 million and that includes the compulsory purchasing of land.    The Irish government is pledging half a billion Euros for the repurposing of old railway lines.  Any chance of them doing the same in West Cork?

We thought it would be a good to have one of the novelty road train vehicles that carry passengers for a minimal fee around seaside  promenades in the Algarve.  Especially beneficial for people who can't walk long distances yet still want to enjoy the Greenway.

Here's some photos:

How The castle looks today all covered in Ivy.

It's good to see the old railway  lines being repurposed and money being spent instead of cut backs on public spending for a change.

The walking is relatively easy and you don't have big hills to climb.  It would be a great way to go on a cycling or walking holiday.  

Lets hope they invest in  more public transport connections to these Greenways and in campsites and bunk houses accommodation and refreshments facilities.

Spring Time In Killarney.

We went for a ride over to Killarney on Monday and had a walk around the grounds of Muckross House yet again.

It was left to the people of Ireland and even the car parking is free.   Killarney is the most popular visited place in Ireland and I can see why.

A magnificent Pieris Forest Flame 

A view of the lake.

A white Rhododendron.

A Azalea from the Orient.

 Tulips flowering in the old productive vegetables garden area perhaps? Now formal hedging and bedding displays.

Finally a Myrtle Tree.  I have a lovely one of those growing in my Northsider garden.  They originate in Spain and love the Gulf Stream.  They only grow fifteen feet high and their bark peels and they have a pretty white blossom.  

It was a nice saunter especially after such a wet Winter.  Spring is a great time to visit estates and their gardens.