BOGWOOD AND TURF IN INISHOWEN

BUILDING WORK IN MOVILLE

WINTER TREES

If you feel the urge to buy a Monkey Puzzle tree(Arucaria Arucana), make sure it is far away from the house... They get very big!!

STAKING
If you’re buying trees at this time of year and they are larger than a couple of feet tall, then you will probably have to stake them. I was at our local school garden this week, which is surrounded by a ten-foot wall for wind protection and noticed one of the trees had been blown over in the recent winds. The tree is a Hawthorne (Crataegus) and is supposed to be a hardy variety called “Paul’s Scarlet”. The stake had rotted at ground level and the tree, which is at least ten feet tall, was lying on its side. To keep this tree secure over the winter there will probably have to be two or even three stakes secured around it to hold it securely in place to keep the trunk stable so the roots can develop. Because it is the dormant season we may be able to save the tree.

WINTER PROTECTION
Most trees are hardy to our wet and windy weather, but some new trees, especially evergreen conifers need a bit of protection in winter. Conifers tend to suffer from scorching of the leaves, so in really cold weather they could be wrapped up in bubble plastic or an old sack. If you have small conifers in containers it would be an idea to move them to a sheltered spot until late spring

PRUNING
I’ve noticed some tree surgeons with chainsaws around the peninsula pruning the large trees that are overhanging onto the roads. For some trees such as the Oak, Willow and Mountain Ash, now is an ideal time to trim back the dead or old branches. There are some trees that will suffer because of fungal disease though if they are pruned now. Poplars and all the ornamental trees such as plum, peach, pear and cherry should be pruned in late summer so wait until next year before tackling those.

HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS

We made good progress with our front garden this week. The willow fence is bedding in well and we have created a border around the edge to start our planting. I dug the curved beds out of the grass and turned the turf upside down to keep the nutrients in the soil. Then, I covered the dug area with newspapers to suppress any grass that might try to grow and topped it with lashings of rotted cow manure and some more topsoil. I have put in sweet peas and sunflowers as well as some veggies – beans and courgettes. The sweetcorn will go against the wall when the seedlings are more established and of course perennial cottage garden plants for a splash of informal summer colour.


HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS

Last week I was in Iris Doherty’s garden and plant nursery admiring her wide range of herbaceous perennials that are out in force at this early stage of the growing season. I have chosen three here that I think would be an asset in any garden as they are easy to grow and like me, very undemanding!

Geum borisii; Photographs never do justice to the vivid colour of this easy to grow perennial. Single bright orange-scarlet flowers grow in profusion throughout the summer and autumn which are good for cutting. They prefer moist soil and can be split every three years to encourage lots of flowers.

Lily of the valley: Here is a very easy to grow plant, ideal for ground cover. It has attractive white flowers and is used widely as a herbal medicine. Lily-of-the-Valley is fairly easy to cultivate and likes well-drained, rich, sandy loam, and wet ground.


Iris sibirica: This iris likes full sun or partial shade and the roots need to be kept damp. The purple flowers are glorious and the whole plant is resistant to deer should they be a problem in your garden! They are easily propagated by dividing clumps or offsets.

INCH ISLAND

Inch Island fom Lisfannon beach

ME AND MY MOTOR-DAREN LALOR

Daren Lalor from Umricam has been a Sinn Fein councillor since 2004. I met up with him in the new offices up above the An Tuath Nua bar, West End on Upper Main street in Buncrana to talk about his 1999 Ford Galaxy 1.9 diesel. “The offices are a great resource for the party and there is also a room that community groups and resident committees can use free of charge. At present we also have Irish Language classes running. Irish is a growing language and this is highlighted by the new secondary school, Cineal Eoghain that has recently opened in Tullyarvan mill.

Daren also feels that it is important for people to set up residents committees on housing estates in the town “Forming a committee gives areas a stronger voice when lobbying for improvements. Community groups can also help with the integration of people who are new to the area. Like all countries, we have a very rich culture and it is important that we share customs. It is important that we do not make the same mistakes as other countries when it comes to integration” Daren can be contacted at his office 93 42160


How long have you had the car?
I have had the car for nearly four years. It was the newest car I have ever owned.

Any plans to change?
Not at the moment. It is a familiar part of the family and as we have four children it is ideal to have the seven seats. (One seat for the carrier bag to hold all of the rubbish that accumulates in the back!)

Is it reliable?
It has served me very well. It did let me down once when I was driving to Birmingham. The clutch cable snapped. I carried on regardless as I had the children with me and didn’t want to be stuck on the hard shoulder.

Best thing about the car?
The space inside is fantastic for the kids.

How often do you wash it?
I usually wash it when the children complain that they can’t see out of the windows!


What would you do to help motorists given the chance?
Abolish VRT and then refund members of the public that have been conned into parting with their money.

What would you really like to be driving around in?
A newer version of the car I have would be fine for now.

STRAW BALE PROTECTION

The straw bales at Lisfannon were tested after a recent storm

GRANTS BUTCHERS SHOP IN BUNCRANA

The old butchers shop is now a pizza place. The rail at the top of the door was for sliding the meat hooks out onto the street.

PERMACULTURE BY MARCUS MCCABE

Sheep at Dunree

Permaculture is more than just not digging the soil

Here is a short peics by Marcus McCabe from http://www.sustainable.ie/resources/

Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems with the stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is a design system which connects various components so that the waste of one process becomes the raw material for the next. The elements of design not only include buildings and gardens but also orchards, pasture, coppice woodlands, legal and financial structures as well as appropriate technologies and the connections. The most misunderstood aspect of permaculture design is the importance of a clear plan and an installation process which will work ecologically and financially. For the same cost an infrastructure can be set up to either generate and maintain life systems or destroy them. It is all about designing cyclic systems. Unfortunately most of the investment in land-use in the past has assisted in actually damaging the primary resources bases namely healthy soil, clean water and air.The need to actually come up with sustainable systems is both urgent and real. Farming is in crisis. The system of lakes and rivers are in crisis. There is also a crisis in good affordable housing especially with space. Furthermore the actual food supply is in crisis regarding quality. These are all signs of a system in collapse. In my profession I talk to agriculturalists and engineers who will privately acknowledge that this is the case. We have reached a full stop with the current system of land-use. Squeezing another increment in yield out of any enterprise is just not an option... So.... where do we go from here?

THERE IS A QUESTION OF SCALE.

The aspiring permaculturalist can put a diverse system in place but will need to concentrate on a number of medium scaled systems to generate cash. Taking the hen as an example; 500 hens will generate about £300 per week if well fenced and with supplementary feed in the winter. However 50 hens are almost a nuisance. Place the hen keeper adjacent to a good market gardener, cheese maker or coppicer and suddenly the whole thing becomes more viable. These enterprises while independent will be supporting each other if in proximity. None of the above enterprises would be possible however in a landless situation or for that matter would be too small and intensive (in the work sense) for most farmers to consider. What is needed is a repopulation of the land in low impact primary resource generating activity. Eco-village developments, which use Permaculture design principles as the process pattern, offer this possibility.I see it going something like this. We create revolving land funds. These funds create the land access and install Permaculture systems, wild places, waterways, forests and coppices, and access for house and workshop clusters. Eco-villages which use the principles of permaculture design are likely to be the most affordable and sane alternative for the traffic weary in the future. We have a lot to learn and reinvent but when even the conventional farmers are saying their systems do not work where else do we turn? revilalize,abundant,planet,Permaculture is primarily about connections and solutions. Not only is a beneficial assembly of plants, animal and structures needed but a beneficial assembly of people working bio-regionally to create ecosystems in which the human element is actively integrated in generating primary wealth. This is our direction in moving towards a revitalized and abundant society and planet.