Ireland has been on an absolute brilliant streak of beautiful weather over the two consecutive bank holiday weekends. The sun has been blasting from the skies like the greatest ever bill board for all things green and outdoors and of course not only does that make my life a bit more hectic but it also brings that rush to the local gardening and do it yourself supermarkets.
This weekend had me speaking gardens at the Oldbridge country Fair in Drogheda alongside a list of great great outdoor enthusiasts covering topics like bee keeping, community gardening [Dee Seewell], gardening on a window ledge [Tricia Sheehy Skeffington], elder flower champagne making to name but a few, to the very simplistic view of gardening just three metres squared, even though the gentleman in question Philip Murtagh owns a one acre garden. Philip had of course read, as have you my article called the cheaters guide to growing your own.
What I realised quite quickly was that whilst the interest in such a wide variety of topics from the visiting public was brilliant, those attending were not actually working in their own gardens, allotments or whatever spaces they had available. Myself included. In my own garden there are many things that I have done over the last fourteen days, but I still and it seems will always have a long running list of what I do not want to label chores.
My patio furniture needs some repair or replacing entirely. I’m hesitant to choose the latter, instead I think replacing the damaged wood will be the easier choice followed by a repaint. In the colour department the usual choice seems to be to go for the brown, black or green fencing advert type paints. But I think I’ll go for a big bright canary coloured yellow. This will do two things. First, the big obvious smile from guests who will pass it by and also unknowns to most it will take their eye away from the fact that there are two different woods now supporting their bones as they sit. The furniture, if I might call it that is about five years old at least you see.
I have already invested in a mulching lawn mower. The greatest time saving contraption I have ever purchased. No grass collecting. Less fuel is used as one doesn’t need to stop and restart every time the box fills with clippings. There is no waste heap with a pile of rotting green either and for those who have a pile of grass down the back of their garden will tell you, grass doesn’t really rot so well. Instead it turns into a sloppy clumpy mess. More than that, you pull the chord and push the mower until you have walked the area of your lawn and then you walk straight to the shed. All done I would suggest it has cut the time it normally took for me to cut my lawn by about 65%.
Tie this in with the previously mentioned cheaters guide to growing to growing your own and you might just be getting a gist of what and how I garden for myself. My point is not to be lazy or haphazzard about what I do. More it is to be savvy with the time that I have to spare in my great outdoors, understanding that I have a family, baby, three hens and two dogs…. you get were I’m coming from here. On Friday when I returned from work I did intend to water my plants. All of them and by watering can, from my butts. But I didn’t. I was passed a wee human that stands about twenty inches tall. Answers on a postcard to that one, but sometimes plants simply cannot come first.
Today as I write this piece sitting outside on brightly coloured red bench in my shorts, I know I’m going to the park with two ladies. I will buy the yellow paint and might get a first coat on it by this evening. I know it will have to ready for next weekend. The lawn unfortunately might just have to wait…. Til next weekend. Whatever and however you spend your time in your great outdoors, enjoy.
