Muintir na Tire School Garden Competition

Potatoes Why Grow It? Where would the GIYer be without the humble spud? Spuds can be grown pretty much anywhere and will actually improve poor soil.  They produce a high yield from a relatively small space and store well.  No wonder they have been a staple diet for Irish families for centuries.  Digging for your first new potatoes will be like Christmas morning – promise!   Sowing Effectively there are two types of potatoes – earlies and maincrop.  Earlies grow quickly, have no skin worth speaking of, and are usually out of the soil before blight arrives.  Maincrop develop later, produce a higher yield, develop a thick skin and can therefore be stored – they are, unfortunately, more vulnerable to blight as they are in the ground during the summer months when blight conditions prevail. Potatoes are grown from “seed potatoes” which are potatoes saved from the previous year’s crop.  It was traditional for Irish GIYers to save their own seed potatoes but this is generally o

Designing a Garden theme of blue can be both ideal for both your Family and Also helping the bees A Blue themed garden bed can create a cool soothing effect in your garden.  Adding a splash of silver or white though this bed or container can the   blue in the flower pop right out. Also did you know that Bees have favourite Colours and Blue is one of the best. Bees can see and therefore attracted to blue and Violet Flowers Here are a few of Our Favourite blue flowering Plants that will come back year after year Geranium Johnson Blue  One of the most popular blue-flowered geraniums, 'Johnson's Blue' forms dense, spreading mounds of neatly cut leaves, topped with abundant clusters of large, saucer shaped sky Blue Flowers. Geraniums are versatile perennials that flower for several months through early summer and are at their best in July. One outstanding cultivar is Johnson Blue easy to grow with gives masses of mauve flowers which emerge through th

The Secret to Success: Ensure the soil is warm. Warm up your soil by covering it with black plastic a few weeks prior to planting. Those extra degrees will translate into earlier tomatoes. If you are planting in a pot or growbag, put a sheet of aeroboard/polystyrene underneath. This is a much warmer environment for the root system by creating a barrier between cold soil and roots (and also a great way to re-use aeroboard). An exception to the rule, tomatoes can be buried deeper than they come in the pot – all the way up to the first few leaves. Tomatoes are able to develop roots all along their stems. If you can't dig a deeper hole, simply dig a shallow tunnel and lay the plant sideways. It will straighten up and grow towards the light! Pinch and side shoot tomatoes regularly. Remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches (picture) Mulch your tomatoes after the soil has had a chance to warm up.  As tomatoes love heat. Mulching conserves m

Onions Why Grow It? We love onions at GIY because they are one of those vegetables that it’s possible to become self-sufficient in, even if you don’t have a huge amount of space.  A decent sized raised bed for example could produce a couple of hundred onions which would be enough for most families for up to a year.  They are relatively low maintenance, easy to grow and store relatively well (but finding a suitably dry place to store them can be a challenge is wet Irish winters).  Above all, there’s nothing better than having onions hanging in your shed and knowing you don’t have to buy those dry, tasteless, imported supermarket onions this year! Sowing Generally most GIYers grow from “sets” (basically baby onions) but you can also grow from seed.  Sets will mature quickly and are pretty much fool-proof - they are however more expensive than seed.  Order sets early – the best varieties sell out quickly.  Dig in some well rotted manure or compost the previous winter and