There are a whole wealth of topics within this new life we are leading - restriction, death, loss, fear. So many emotions and so much hardship for people around the world. I've had bad days and struggled initially with the change of routine, and with the anxiety I felt all around me. It was a bit of a trigger for the ptsd I had previously gone through due to multiple stressful events. So I had a few panicky moments until I adjusted and worked out a new routine. And this blog post is coming from a very positive place because, as the title suggests, I have rediscovered my love of gardening and have truly appreciated having the time to immerse myself in the whole experience again.


I had neglected my garden for a few years, there was too much going on with my own health and with various family illnesses too and I just didn't have the physical or mental strength to do much at all. And as any gardener knows, it not something you can really pick up and drop again - it does need regular care. So I let it slide and completely forgot how much joy it gives me.
Even working from home, I basically have an extra 3 hours per working day because my commute is gone. And I imagine that must be the same for lots of people - I think a slowing of pace and a renewed quality of life has been the silver lining of this awful virus and I sincerely hope that these little changes will continue long after this is gone.
So this year I have sown seedlings for the first time in ages, both indoor and out. I sowed lettuce, rocket and courgette and calendula and snapdragon from the flower family.



I made a determined effort to get some vegetables growing - I now have beets, onions, potatoes and carrots on the go, as well as strawberries and salad leaves. And thanks to a local friend, I managed to get tomato and pepper plants! There was also a brilliant ChangeX campaign set up by GIY called #growitforward with the intention of encouraging people to grow their own food. I used this to set up a Kilcullen group and a Facebook group out of that and it's brilliant to connect with other growers and to have a space where we can swap seeds or plants, as well as get advice and encouragement.




My garden is very small and, of course, because of restrictions it was difficult to get some things I needed. Luckily I had ordered a good quantity of peat free compost before I started and I had the crates (pictured above) anyway, as well as various pots and grow bags. I have been going out each morning for daily inspection :) Taking out any little weed seedlings (I used some of my own compost from the compost bin but the disadvantage of this is the weeds, unfortunately) and making sure there isn't anything eating the delicate seedlings. And watering also - the weather has been amazing but so dry and even  my water butt became completely empty.
I love it though, it's so amazing to watch things growing - especially, I think, when you have started them from seed. I also stopped mowing the grass in my back garden last year so it has a bit of a wild feel at the moment, with lots of dandelions and cuckoo flowers and the sounds of the insects and the birds is heavenly.




I will leave you with a pic to show just how small my garden is - and also pics of my other little garden companion :)




You might like to check out my other recent post about how to live with Slugs & Snails in the garden - link here.
And here is a post about how to make your own Green Cleaners.
Have you been gardening? Let me know in comments what you have been up to!

In these strange times, I find myself longing to get away and go on a trip. I think this world crisis has led to many different emotional responses and anxieties, as well as a great deal of positive reflection on where we are as a society, and how we can move forward.  I've lots of thoughts on this but I'm going to save them for another day and instead share with you a virtual trip - my recent journey back from Donegal, pre Covid 19.
I've been to Donegal many times and we have been as a family, but this time was just a trip for me and lovely it was! One of the benefits of travelling alone is that I have my camera, of course, but no barrier to stopping whenever and wherever I like. I have to confess my trip back from Mouncharles to Kilcullen took almost 6 hours due to my meandering :)

I had recently bought my Canon EF-S 10-18mm wide angle lens and it is perfect for landscapes and also for architecture. This had always been a frustration for me, that I couldn't get the landscape shots I really wanted, so this lens, which was priced reasonably, has given me a lot more scope and it was a joy to use on my journey.

Firstly I stopped to try and capture Ben Bulben.  There were lots of perfect views of it but a shortage of places to pull in off the road, so this was the first I got with the gorgeous cloud mass behind it.


I headed out through Sligo and towards Boyle in Roscommon and this is where my next stop was. Up on a hill, with an elegant and imposing facade, is this church. It has caught my eye so many times and actually this time I passed it, then decided to turn around and investigate.



According to buildingsofireland.ie, there has been a church here since 500 A.D. - this Church of Ireland building however, dates from 1750 and was repaired in 1859 after a fire the previous year.  I was fascinated to learn (post-visit) that there is actually an Evie Hone window here, one of the first major commissions of her career in 1935.  There is also a stone walled graveyard attached to the church with the earliest grave being from 1866, and also a famine memorial by sculptor Jackie McKenna, which was unveiled in 1997.


I moved on after this towards Carrick-on-Shannon, where the weather started to become cloudy. It was still pretty nice out though and I stopped to take a quick couple of pictures of the Shannon.


Although I'm still pretty new to using the wide angle lens, I find it great where there are sweeps or curves or lines. I suppose like any lens, it needs some focal point and vistas that are too far away can just be a bit dull but where you have something in the foreground and a nice background, it works perfectly.

My next stop is in Meath, between Kinnegad and Edenderry. Both this and my next stop are places I have been curious about for a very long time - because you can see them from the road and we go to Donegal practically every year, I have been meaning for years to check them out more closely.
This beautiful spot is Ballyboggan Abbey - my source of info for this one is Ireland in Ruins which, by the way, is a great blog with loads of fascinating information about places around Ireland.  According to this blog, the real name of the Abbey is the Abbey of De Laude Dei - it is an Augustinian Abbey and was built in the 12th Century. If you want to stop, there is no real parking but there is a little area you can pull in to across the road.  The Abbey was destroyed in 1446 by a fire and then rebuilt. The Abbey and lands were granted to Sir William Bermingham in the time of King Henry VIII's suppression of religious orders.




As you can see, the buildings are very much in ruins but there is a substantial amount left and it's well worth a visit.

Next and last, but definitely not least, is this little gem. It is actually pretty close to Ballyboggan Abbey - not as majestic or large by any means but still a striking structure and this definitely has the most interesting story!





It took me a while to find information on this because I didn't actually know what it was called and only through doing image and location searches, did I figure out that it was Carrick or Carrickoris Castle. It is on a hill north of Edenderry and if coming from the Kinnegad direction it is not too far at all from Ballyboggan. Again, there is no parking but if you are coming from the Edenderry direction, there is a little area just before it, where you can pull in from the road and park.  Just be careful stopping at either spot, though, because it's a busy road and cars fly past. My source of info this time is Megalithic Ireland although there is also a section in Ireland in Ruins about this.
This building which is still standing dates from the 16th century but it is built on the site of an earlier castle.  This earlier castle was where the treacherous Baron, Sir Pearce Bermingham, murdered 32 leaders of the O'Conor Faly.  They were invited to a feast, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, and when they stood up, they were massacred en masse 'Red Wedding' style. All 32 men were said to have been decapitated and a young boy was thrown over the battlements of the castle  No justice was ever obtained.
Adjacent is the small graveyard of the Carrick parochial church.

That brings me to the end of this journey, I hope you have found some inspiration for places to visit and if you would like some more ideas, here are some other blog posts:

Scohaboy Bog County Tipperary
Shankill Castle Paulstown
Derryounce Lakes

Living with slugs and snails? I guess for any gardener it might seem like a strange concept :) I have for years been trying to figure out how to deal with these 'pests'. Although I never considered using traditional slug killer I did at various stages feel the need to reduce the population because of the havoc they wreaked in my garden. My garden is now 17 years old and it has seen many seasons. Whilst my garden was growing, I completed the RHS General Certificate (as it was then) in Horticulture and I also volunteered and spent quite a bit of time in our local Camphill Community garden. I worked with wonderful mentors and learnt so much, both through my 'hands on' work and also through their advice and expertise.  I suppose as an evolving person and an evolving gardener, the condundrum of finding balance in the garden has always been in my mind and now, it no longer seems reasonable or right to want to kill slug populations. This, of course, is with the luxury of just having my own small garden and no financial pressure to protect crops for sale but I will outline some of how I deal with the slug and snail problem.

Large snail in my garden

First of all, I came to the conclusion some years ago that I had to apply the 'survival of the fittest' principal when it came to decorative plants. Each year is different of course, and slugs love damp weather, so in dry years, the problem has been minimal. However in some years, there was a literal army of slugs in my flower bed. They adorned every stem and petal and inch of ground, all shapes and sizes and seemed to be having a veritable party in my space. I had tried growing lupins and marigolds at different stages in the flower bed and both were literally decimated in a matter of days. Now I just don't even consider them for my garden, unless it is as sacrificial plants to distract the slugs from other things I want to protect. So I feel now, that if something is so easily destroyed by slugs, then it should just be left out. But on that topic, there are more resilient plants that slugs seem to enjoy but which can withstand a certain amount of chomping.  And these I am happy to have - I often take the half eaten leaves and put them on the ground around the plant in order to keep the slugs happy at ground level.  This isn't a particularly scientific method, just something that I felt worked to some degree.  The resilience is key, I think. It may not look picture perfect to have raggedy, half eaten leaves but there are plants in my garden (hollyhocks for example) which don't seem to be daunted by a bit of slug activity and so they are perfect in my book.
The next approach I have, is to do with crops I grow in containers - for example lettuce leaves which I try to have each year. Again, this is doable because my garden is small and I would only have a few pots with edibles but I go out and do regular checks at night with a torch. This is weather dependent too and damp weather brings out the snails and slugs in force so you might have to be extra vigilant. It is important to note as well, that small seedlings are particularly vulnerable and will benefit from being covered or protected in some way. Once they are bigger, they have a bit more resilience and can survive a bit of eating.
*A method that works in flower beds is one which I discovered recently. I read about it and decide to give it a go - basically you just save your grapefruit halves and put them open side up near the plants you would like to protect.  According to what I read, they would just fill with slugs/snails and they would be there in the morning ready to transport elsewhere. I gave it a go and came out the first morning to empty grapfruit halves! So although I left them in place, I wasn't that impressed with this method. However I went out last night to do a check on my vulnerable sunflowers which I put in the bed recently, and lo and behold, one grapefruit was teeming with little creatures.


I left them there but in retrospect, I should have probably moved them last night as they were mostly gone this morning. Interestingly enough, I have 4 sunflowers in the bed, one in a sunny spot which has had some damage (Photo 1), next 2 are quite close together near the wall but in an area packed with plants (Photo 2) and the last is in possibly the shadiest spot but a little bit further away from the wall than the others (and with no overhanging plants)(Photo 3).  The third has next to no damage which surprised me, as it is in quite a shady area. The worst affected have been the two which are near the wall and close to other plants as it is both dark and there are lots of little damp areas where slugs and snails can hide under leaves and debris. So we will see if my sunflowers survive but this is certainly a method worth trying.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

My final methods involve barriers which slugs don't seem to like. I have found copper tape to be very effective around the pots containing my salad leaves and my hostas. This is well worth getting - it can be a bit awkward to get on smoothly around certain pots but it seems to stay on nicely and does offer a good deal of protection from what I observed last year.
I have tried coffee grounds and eggshells to mixed results. Neither seemed particularly great at keeping slugs at bay but perhaps there might have been some small level of protection.  Another type of barrier that I discovered last year was wool pellets. These do seem to work pretty well also and can be very good if you are trying to grow susceptible veg in pots - they won't really work for lettuce containers as they are too large but they are good for bigger plants that are spaced out a bit.

I don't use beer traps for the simple reason that they are basically killing slugs and I feel that they are important for biodiversity and as a food for birds, no matter how annoying they might seem!

Yellow and Brown Snail on leaf

'Snails and slugs might be particularly important as a food source for generalist predators in late autumn and early winter, when more favourable prey sources such as earthworms and insect larvae are unavailable [18]. In fact, snails appear to be such an important food source for some birds that, where snails are absent from areas due to high levels of heavy metal pollution, birds lay deformed eggs that have a terrible chance of survival, which is due to the breeding females obtaining insufficient levels of calcium owing to the absence of snail shells[19]. So, at the very least, snails and slugs add some level of robustness to complex food webs and, by extension, overall ecosystem functioning.'
Source:
http://bioweb.ie/defending-small-slimy/

And for more of an indepth look at the balance of predators and pests, check out this video from Bruce of the Red Gardens on YouTube - his videos are fantastic anyway and well worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1kkxCc3q7I


*Added 3rd May 2020 to reflect new method I learnt about since original post.

You might like to also read my Gardening in the Pandemic post.

Honestly, I hadn't intended writing another climate post so soon after the last one but I suppose being immersed in climate action both in work and in my personal life, it's hard for my brain to escape it and my sense of urgency is growing stronger all the time.  When you look at the beauty of the world and all the creatures that live on it, it is hard to imagine that human activity has endangered not just ourselves, but all life on earth.

Protect Life on Earth

One thing I have been thinking about a lot, though, is specifically how do we communicate the urgency and actually mobilise people to create the huge change we need?  My mind has been going down several different tracks on this and I suppose also, having experienced positive forms of communication recently at workshops and having done a facilitation workshop myself, I have a new and deeper understanding of the value of listening and giving everyone a voice.  Also, in other random background, my degree is in language and literature so the nuance and exactitude of language has been a fascination of mine for a very long time.
With all those things in mind, I'm going to try and pull together some thoughts in a coherent fashion.
One thing that I keep coming back to is that we need to change the narrative and the language around how we do things. The cult of individualisation that has come from 'progress' and economic boom times has left us unable to cooperate and has fostered a sense of competetiveness that sets us apart from others. And I mean this in a general societal sense - of course there are people and groups who have always worked together well and individuals who do their utmost for others.  But there has certainly been a subtle messaging going on that it is ok to step on people to gain success, that aquisition of ostentatious wealth and power is the ultimate aim and that those who fail at this are somehow 'losers' in society.  The problem with this is that 'winning' in this sense often involves doing a disservice to other human beings.  And ultimately a disservice to ourselves because the drive to consume, work longer hours, achieve some measure of illusory success has led to a huge societal disconnection and a destruction of the planet.
So, if we are not invested in the world and people around us, it is difficult to make that leap into a real understanding of the existential crisis humanity is now facing.  It is more comfortable and easier to ignore or deny and because for many of us, the consequence will not be immediately felt, it therefore can be filed away as 'not our problem'.
So for me, the first essential step is to rebuild relationships, to rebuild community and to begin to actively communicate in a conscious way.  This isn't as easy as you might think, it can be hard to let go of ego and the alliances that divide us.  For example, politics, sports, geographical location - all can both bring us together, but divide us at the same time. And for tackling the climate emergency we need to cross over the divides and work in a determined way to find common ground and galvanise government action.  Another problem in relation to this is the lumbering political and bureaucratic structures we have in place and this goes from local to government to european level.  Having checks and balances is of course hugely important but when they are placing huge time delays on action, they are no longer fit for purpose.  Which is why I believe that building resilient communities from the ground up is something that needs to be done without delay. When we have exreme weather events (a certainty) leading to food shortages (very likely), we will be very thankful to have local sources of food and a support network so that we can take care of everyone, including the most vulnerable people.

People and Nature

And this brings me to another communication problem - hard choices have to be made at government level but they are likely to be unpopular.  Unfortunately agriculture is a huge issue when it comes to green house gas emissions and it is absolutely essential that we have frank and real discussion around this and come up with solutions which are not detrimental to the livelihoods of farmers. Ignoring and denying reality is not the answer.

The world wide denial campaign has been a long and concerted one and often funded by giant lobby groups - 'every year, the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies spend approximately $200 million on lobbying designed to control, delay or block binding climate-motivated policy.' Source.  Reasons for denial are many - the human desire to just stick our heads in the sand, economic concerns, belief that claims are exaggerated. Some reasons are outlined here - https://www.sciencealert.com/the-five-corrupt-pillars-of-climate-change-denial#.

I personally believe at this point that there is very little point in arguing with the climate deniers - it takes up too much time and energy that I feel can be better spent. However, I do admire those who take it on and question and challenge the fake news and incorrect information.  At the moment I am trying a gentle approach and just commenting or passing on information or sharing knowledge through my Small Sustainable Steps group on Facebook.

So, what can we do to communicate the urgent need to take action? I was at an SEAI energy conference recently and had the pleasure of hearing Mary Robinson's key note address. She is a long time heroine of mine so this was a big thing for me :)

Her points to take away were as follows:

•        Make it personal – do what you can to change something in your own life.
•             Get angry and take action. Use your voice and your vote. 
•              Imagine and work towards a better world. 

I think the last is key - in the face of worry and a very serious issue of eco anxiety amongst our young people and activists, we need to focus on the hope and possibility of change.  We are literally at a crux in human existence where we can turn things around but time is running out.

You might also like:

Climate Action Kildare
Eco Village Cloughjordan

So, maybe you are like many of us, and feeling anxious about Climate Change and what might happen to our world. Climate anxiety is a very real thing and with so many negative events being highlighted in the media, it can be overwhelming at times. For me, action is always an antidote to feeling bad, so this post is all about offering some options for how you might get involved in Climate Action in Kildare.

I know a lot of people are going to try Veganuary this year. It's a great idea and I wanted to put together a few tips for going vegan in Ireland as I know from being online that many groups etc. are based in the States or the UK so the product selection isn't the same.  Also, as a fairly new convert to plant based eating, I've spent a bit of time trying to find nice products and recipes so I'm happy to share them here to save you a bit of time!

Vegan Cookies - my Christmas present from Izzy :)

First of all, you need to do a bit of preparation in advance so that you have everything you need. Do up your shopping list - essentials for me were plant based butter, plant based milk, mayo, 'cheese' spread, snacks etc.
My favourite plant based butter is the Flora one, although M&S have one which is also fine. After a lot of experimentation, I found that Oat milk suited me best - the Oatly (available in Tesco) has the nicest flavour I think and you can buy a few cartons at a time as they are long life. If you are looking for a fresh Oat milk, Dunne's Stores stock the Innocent fresh oat milk which is also gorgeous.
The Hellman's vegan mayo is great and if you have a small veg chopper, you can do a super quick fresh coleslaw by blitzing carrot and red or white cabbage and then mixing with the mayo and salt and pepper. This is so good with lunch or as a side at dinner.
There are many reasons to switch to a plant based diet - the distinction between plant based and vegan is that being vegan is an ethical choice based on animal welfare whereas plant based can be a health choice or an environmental choice. For me it was mostly environmental but also based on animal welfare. As it wasn't primarily a health choice I wanted to make sure I had lots of snacks and I tend to be a grazer anyway so I didn't want to feel deprived. There are lots of vegan products out there now as well as accidentally vegan products such as chilli heatwave doritos and oreos. I also love Fry's chocolate cream and I craved hummus a lot in the first week - I usually just had this with breadsticks and it was a great quick snack if I was feeling peckish.
Now to some recipes - I'm sharing here two pics of recipes I made loads before becoming vegan and both are so tasty. This first one is lemony pasta, literally takes less than 15 min to make, is delicious and if you are cooking for a family, we usually have this with a big salad and I add lots of toasted pumpkin seeds for protein with the greens.
(apologies for the quality of pic - this is a very old book I've been using for years!)

Lemony Pasta Pilaff

This second recipe takes a bit longer to cook but the beauty of it is that it's great for freezing and the recipe makes quite a big quantity so I usually throw a portion in the freezer. It's absolutely delicious and full of nutrition.

Lentil Bolognese Sauce

(Both recipes above are from Sue Kreitzman's Low Fat Vegetarian Cookbook, published in 1994).

Next up is a huge family favourite - black bean chilli. My whole family loves this and pre going plant based I would have put cheese and sour cream on top but now I just put some violife 'cheddar' on as a garnish.  This is another recipe that freezes well and I find I get pretty much 3 portions out of this (based on 3 of us eating it). Link to recipe HERE

When out and about it is relatively easy to manage - most coffee shops now have plant based milks and Insomnia offer both vegan savoury and sweet options - they aren't particularly gourmet but it's handy to know where you can pick up something. I tend to always have some snacks in my bag just in case - as we have a nut and sesame allergy in the family I can't have these in the house but I have packets of cashews or sesame sticks in work and also dark chocolate rice cake packs are handy.

If you are working and just can't be bothered cooking, nearly all the supermarkets have quick and easy meals or things like vegan sausages/burgers. Dunne's Stores has some meal options and also all the Violife cheeses which are my favourite ones. I'm slightly addicted to the vegan sausage rolls which I can get in my local Eurospar :)
If you want an even nicer quick option,you have to try the M&S Plant Kitchen range - there are some really great dishes - the dirty fries are amazing and there are curries and other options and the larger M&S stores have an even greater range.
Another thing I like is the Lidl Vegan bruschetta pizza - it's really good!
As I have mentioned, there are quite a few things which are accidentally vegan - I think possibly ginger nut biscuits might be included in that but it's also easy enough to do simple things yourself like flapjacks, just substituting with plant based butter. Also this cookie recipe is really nice -I made these a few times over the Christmas period and really liked them. They have an almost buttery taste which I think might be due to the vanilla. Recipe here - Vegan Sugar Cookies

Hopefully some of this has been of help if you are thinking of making the transition and if you have any favourite brands, do comment and let me know!

This year, unlike 2018 which was a nightmare (read about it HERE), has been pretty good overall and I have enjoyed musing back on what it has meant for me.  It's funny but reading back over my 2018 post, I'm actually shocked at how awful the year was. Forgetfulness is a wonderful healing tool in many ways and I'm so thankful that this year has been calmer - of course we have had the normal stresses every family deals with but having the peaceful times has enabled me to deal with them without feeling traumatised.


The highlights of this year have been many and the focus for me has been the drive to do something about Climate Change. This has been the biggest world issue that struck a chord with me from the beginning of the year. We've always been pretty tree hugging as a family - from the time Síomha was born 24 years ago, I felt an impetus and an instinct that the planet we inhabit needs to be taken care of. This led to choosing organic food, not spraying chemicals and sending our kids to a Steiner school where outdoor play and nature is a big focus.  However, these were just background things and part of our normal life. I think the difference, for me (and for many) this year is that the urgency of the crisis has really been driven home and I feel an increasing sense of panic that the future world for my children and grandaughter will be a difficult place to inhabit.  I don't want to go into too much detail here but all the information and scientific consensus is that the planet is in serious trouble.  We have a very short amount of time to try and constrain the huge damage carbon emissions have caused and continue to cause. Human beings have also created the 6th Mass Extinction, described as a 'biological annihilation' in this article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Realistically, our capacity as individuals to solve this is limited but we need to lobby and make clear to elected representatives that this IS a voting issue and that urgent action needs to be taken. We also need to try and live in a way that damages the Earth as little as possible.  For me that has meant trying to reduce plastic and waste as much as possible, putting energy into reading reports and making submissions on government policies and lately, switching to a plant based diet (industrial farming is one of the biggest causes of carbon emission damage).  I have also set up a Facebook group called Small Sustainable Steps where I share article and tips and try to connect with other people who are feeling the same way I do. For it is so important that we work together as communities - I mentioned 'reconnection' in my post title because this year has been a year of me trying to reconnect with people in a real way and to move away from the despair that comes from reading social media and news.
To this end, I did a course organised by Kildare Leader Partnership called Kildare Communities 4 Change. This was a wonderful experience, full of information and best of all, making that bond with others of a similar mindset. One of my big highlights of the year was the group trip to the Cloughjordan Eco Village - you can read all about it here.


Aside from all my Climate Action endeavors, there have been lots of other happenings. Síomha had her degree show and it was amazing. So much incredible talent in NCAD and to see Síomha get everything done despite all her illness was just so amazing.




She also had her Graduation and was awarded her B.A. in Visual Communication. I felt seriously emotional seeing her in her gown! - it has seemed like a long journey and I was so happy to see her achieve something she has aimed for from an early age.



We also got to spend some time with our darling granddaughter and see her develop her wonderful personality. She is hilarious and clever and both sets of grandparents are just mad about her :)


We had great holidays and day trips and I've taken many pictures and have found being out in nature with my camera is probably the most relaxing thing I can do.  Learning all the time how to improve my photography and trying to match that illusive idea in my head with what the camera produces is an ever fascinating hobby for me. Not to mention that when I have my camera, I tend to hone in on the beautiful details of nature and this renews my drive to do something about our planet's crisis.



Christmas this year was all about family and we had a lovely time - we were invited to the other grandparents' house for mince pies and mulled wine and met everyone for lunch the next day in Kilkenny. There was a really nice festive atmosphere and it just felt so relaxed.



I did pretty well with my aim of reducing waste this Christmas, food waste was minimal and thankfully people were on board with not buying loads of stuff and wrapping and all the trappings that just end up being thrown out. So it was all about the quality time and relaxing (in so far as it was possible!)
And here I am at the start of a New Year and I have learnt from previous years to keep my expectations to a minimum and just try to enjoy the good as it happens.
I hope all my readers have a wonderful 2020 and that you will continue to find something of interest here in my little blog.
Cliona