One more month and the gardening season is starting up again at Birdland cottage. First jobs here – tidy nursery and build a bigger greenhouse to grow lots of new plants. Also top up wood chips and make room new plantings between perennials all over the gardens. Not to forget the early easter egg hunt […]
Making delicious cordial is easy and simple. Elderberries like many other berries make for a great cordial for the winter time when days are dark and everybody can do with an extra boost of vitamins. This recipe will also work with elderflowers. We have a recipe for elderflower wine as well, the link is at […]
We’re entering this years pallet up-cycling challenge at the Roscommon lamp festival. We have two entries – an insect hotel and a children’s playhouse. Wish us luck!
Feeding the birds during cold spells and snow helps them a lot to get through the winter. Please share to encourage others. A variety of birds showed up during the recent snow storm here in Ireland, some of which we hadn’t noticed in the garden before. Among others we have identified the Robin, Song Trush, […]
We’re only midway in the second growing season after mulching and what a transformation it has been. We’ve done almost no maintenance to keep the garden in good shape, productive and beautiful. The mulch is increasing fertility and biodiversity steadily and keeping the garden free of unwanted plants and grasses. Most of the plants are […]
We wish all you gardeners and homesteaders a happy and abundant new year for 2018! Upon reflecting on 2017 gone by, we realize how much has been done and how many major changes we have been through in our yet early phase of establishment at our newly acquired house and gardens. One thing is for […]
It’s always exciting to discover new forms of wildlife in our gardens and we’ve been looking forward to this day. Today the first hegdehog has found our garden. A milestone in our diverse eco system building project! We did build a hedgehog shelter a few months ago, now coming in handy for our new guest. […]
Once upon a time when we were looking for a place of our own, our friends said to us – no matter where we will end up we will turn it into a little paradise. It has been a roller coaster of a journey spanning several years with many peaks and valleys. We have been […]