Photo: Cashel na Cor learning disability centre gardens.
This years sunflower competition winner, Andrew Ferguson and myself paid a visit to the Cashel na Cor riverside walk garden last week. We were there to have our picture taken by the Inish Times. I don’t know about Andrew but I know I’m not that keen on having my picture taken. After the ordeal I will never say that these super models earn too much money. Just keeping a smile on my face whilst the picture was taken was a real challenge. Anyway I should worry; I don’t think there’s much call in the fashion world for a bald, forty year old gardener!
The riverside walk at Cashel na Cor is looking brilliant at the moment. Retaining walls have been built up from the river and a small pond has been constructed as well as an area diverted from the main flow to form a place to do a spot of fishing should the urge take you. The garden is only a year old, but it is beginning to look well established already. The gardening team there are being very ingenious with the use of space in the garden; they have put in paths and soon will be putting seating areas into place. There are already some interesting features such as a wattle hazel fence and a wooden arch. The volunteer plant machinery companies that have been working there over the past couple of weeks have really moved things along, levelling a large area ready for phase two of the garden. With all the hard work that’s going on at Cashel na Cor, they are worthy recipients of their National lottery grant. It’s well worth a visit.
Halloween
Bats
Bats tend to get a lot of bad press, especially at Halloween. These cute, furry creatures can be a big asset in the garden because they will come out in the night and eat huge amounts of night flying moths which if left unchecked, leave grubs on the leaves of vegetable and herbaceous plants, causing a lot of damage when they eat them… This takes me back to when I was growing up. I remember my elder brother used to keep bats in our cellar; they used to give me hours of pleasure watching them sleeping. My brother also used to keep a selection of large snakes and also baby alligators. There was a monkey called Uoh (rhymes with boo) and a tank full of piranha fish (until one nipped the end of one of his fingers off in a rush to get it’s dinner). I particularly remember the giant bird-eating spider; this fine specimen was particularly effective at getting me up for school in a morning when my brother put it on my pillow. I’d be woken up with it crawling over my face! Anyway I digress; if you would like to attract bats into your own garden you can put up a small box, high up in a tree or on the side of the house wall. In summer the bats will prefer a box facing southeast, but at this time of year they will go for boxes that are facing north, they prefer this for their winter hibernation. I can promise you they will not suck your bloooood!
Here are a few more Halloween stories to keep you in the mood:
The apple has a strong connection with Halloween, (now, usually bobbing for them in a bucket of freezing cold water). Originally the apples were given to children to hide under their pillows at night. When girls did this they would dream of their sweethearts. If a girl peeled the apple in one single strip then threw it over their left shoulder with their right hand the initial of their future husband would be formed. Cabbages were also well used for both boys and girls. They would invade a cabbage patch and pick the first cabbage they came across. The look of the cabbage was supposed to resemble the look of their future spouse. If it had a tall stalk then the future spouse would be tall, if the stalks were short then so will the spouse. If there was a bit of clay stuck to the cabbage then the spouse would be rich.
I’ll finish off this week with the superstition about blackberries: Many people say that blackberries shouldn’t be eaten after October the 31st. This is because on Halloween night the witches come out and wee all over them… Happy Halloween.
Horticultural.
The riverside walk at Cashel na Cor is looking brilliant at the moment. Retaining walls have been built up from the river and a small pond has been constructed as well as an area diverted from the main flow to form a place to do a spot of fishing should the urge take you. The garden is only a year old, but it is beginning to look well established already. The gardening team there are being very ingenious with the use of space in the garden; they have put in paths and soon will be putting seating areas into place. There are already some interesting features such as a wattle hazel fence and a wooden arch. The volunteer plant machinery companies that have been working there over the past couple of weeks have really moved things along, levelling a large area ready for phase two of the garden. With all the hard work that’s going on at Cashel na Cor, they are worthy recipients of their National lottery grant. It’s well worth a visit.
Halloween
Bats
Bats tend to get a lot of bad press, especially at Halloween. These cute, furry creatures can be a big asset in the garden because they will come out in the night and eat huge amounts of night flying moths which if left unchecked, leave grubs on the leaves of vegetable and herbaceous plants, causing a lot of damage when they eat them… This takes me back to when I was growing up. I remember my elder brother used to keep bats in our cellar; they used to give me hours of pleasure watching them sleeping. My brother also used to keep a selection of large snakes and also baby alligators. There was a monkey called Uoh (rhymes with boo) and a tank full of piranha fish (until one nipped the end of one of his fingers off in a rush to get it’s dinner). I particularly remember the giant bird-eating spider; this fine specimen was particularly effective at getting me up for school in a morning when my brother put it on my pillow. I’d be woken up with it crawling over my face! Anyway I digress; if you would like to attract bats into your own garden you can put up a small box, high up in a tree or on the side of the house wall. In summer the bats will prefer a box facing southeast, but at this time of year they will go for boxes that are facing north, they prefer this for their winter hibernation. I can promise you they will not suck your bloooood!
Here are a few more Halloween stories to keep you in the mood:
The apple has a strong connection with Halloween, (now, usually bobbing for them in a bucket of freezing cold water). Originally the apples were given to children to hide under their pillows at night. When girls did this they would dream of their sweethearts. If a girl peeled the apple in one single strip then threw it over their left shoulder with their right hand the initial of their future husband would be formed. Cabbages were also well used for both boys and girls. They would invade a cabbage patch and pick the first cabbage they came across. The look of the cabbage was supposed to resemble the look of their future spouse. If it had a tall stalk then the future spouse would be tall, if the stalks were short then so will the spouse. If there was a bit of clay stuck to the cabbage then the spouse would be rich.
I’ll finish off this week with the superstition about blackberries: Many people say that blackberries shouldn’t be eaten after October the 31st. This is because on Halloween night the witches come out and wee all over them… Happy Halloween.
Horticultural.
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