..and peace builds her nest in the House of the Glen

02Oct

..and peace builds her nest in the House of the Glen

Bit late this with September’s blog and rather early with October so this one is an inbetweeney one!

The first ever crop of grapes were harvested from the poly-tunnel, picking a sunwarm grape from my own vine was really quite a thrill, the grapes wouldn’t win any prizes but the fact that they grew and were productive was enough. I spent a few free hours picking wild blackberries they still grow well in the same spots that I picked them from as a child which is probably miraculous in a world where progress is measured in concrete. An unseasonal gale blew down a load of apples so an afternoon or two were spent turning the lot into glowing apple and sweet geranium jelly and apple and blackberry jelly both turned out pretty well and are delicious with freshly baked scones!

 I figured that it might be interesting to make a non-wheat beer and so I started researching recipes for nettle beer which took me off on strange journeys back to the pre-industrial age and before that too. Field workers used to make nettle and other beers to quench their thirst,herbal beers were cheap and easy to make from foraged ingredients, so after much reading I made what I hoped was going to be a good blend for the beer. After some time and much anticipation bottling day arrived and the brew found its final home so now It is resting until an auspicious day arrives to enjoy it. Picking nettles is not for the faint hearted or non-glove wearing people as I soon discovered so on went the gloves, but one pair was not enough to keep out their stings it turns out that two pairs of gloves are the minimum requirement for picking nettles! Nettles are such a useful plant they when mixed with water and left to rot down they produce a super liquid tonic for plants (be warned it smells vile and you need to water it down to the colour of weak tea before use). Nettle soup is a brilliant source of iron and indeed pigs were fed on nettles for a few days before slaughter to melt away excess fat from the carcass.

At some point during the mad rush of August I thought it might be time to order spring bulbs so like a child in a sweet shop many were purchased on the basis that they will give a display for years to come!! Borage, Sweet Peas, Marigolds and Cosmos had become shadows of their former selves so I had to rip them out, of course that sad thing about ripping out spent plants is that there is nothing really to replace them for months. When the beds were cleaned and dug over the long anticipated box of spring bulbs arrived in all their glorious promise, Dazzlers, Dreamy Ballades, Chrysantha, Angelique, Parrot, Pheasant Eye,  Elka and Tete a’ Tete  all waiting for their new homes. The last two days were perfect planting days, sunshine and a good breeze so most of the front garden is now planted up and looking smart. The Geraniums in the window boxes are still going but the Cyclamen and Cineraria are waiting in the wings for their chance to shine. I think the joy of gardening is really the planning and the anticipation of the next season and how it will bloom.

One of the lovely things that happened this summer was the launch of John K. Cotter’s book of  poems collected and edited by An Dr. Éamon Lankford  called ‘Ó Charraig Aonair go Droichead Dóinneach’. JK. Cotter lived two houses up from us and many of his poems recall fond memories of happy times there.  This is an extract from one of his poems called

 ‘The House of the Glen’

Around it the wild birds are singing the sweetest,

The swallows come early, the cuckoo and the wren,

The seagulls are flying from over the mountain,

And peace builds her nest in the House of the Glen.

The sun there is brighter and the storm blows lighter,

The light of the Fastnet through windows shines in,

‘tis the friend of the fisher in the dark nights of winter,

 and will guide  him home, to the House of The Glen.

 

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