Pears DO Grow In Ireland!!

It's been a while....since I last updated the tintillating saga of my attempts to bring some kind of 'veganic' order to this 1/3 acre I've been endowed with.

The Battle of the Lardy Balls continued between rainstorms and I'm quite happy with the progress. From this -

To this -

I found a pile of rocks under all that and have decided that is going to be a strawberry hill. If I can tame that I can do anything. I'm looking for some old tarps now to cover the area I want to plant with fruiting bushes along that edge.

The pear tree was so shocked at having so much space around it suddenly it rewarded me with an actual pear. HA ya boo to my old tutor who told me pears do not grow in Ireland. I should send him a pic but no, 'pride comes before a fall' and all that.
1st PEAR!!

There is a LOT of piles of stuff I've cut down and I do need to tidy this mess up and will be making some more heugels out of it all, maybe a giant one.

One small one (or two) already started -

Meanwhile the jungle is now overtaking everywhere else too and this time I can dust off my LONG scythe blade as this is only months of growth. I do happen to know there is another load of Lardy Balls behind this lot tho but they'll have to wait.

Scythes awaaaayyyy

In my eagerness to chop back the jungle I completely forgot about my attraction for anything that bites. Even tho I was wearing thick leggings and wellies I still managed to get bitten to buggery. I tend to overreact to ANY bites and so had two sleepless nights slathered in vinegar.

If I could only get to the Elder I could make some of that magical concoction Judith Hoad taught me to make. I know that works, for today tho I settled for geranium oil which also seems to deter the buggers. Do I ever learn? No, it seems.

My outdoor veggies are not being as co-operative as my indoor ones tho. Can I get ANY beans to grow? Bloody disasters. Not a one makes it past the two leaf point. Poor things -

Gonna have to have a rethink on the bean front for next year and have a better strategy.

On the plus side I have had bowls of free strawberries for two weeks now -

I also ate the cucumber number one and have to say it was the best cucumber I've ever tasted!!

The French Beans keep coming......and going in my belly

I have to say with this taming of the wild Irish landscape it does get on top of me some days. I get a little despondent just looking at how much has yet to be done. The only cure for that is to kick myself up the bum and go out and do something. I always get another kick out of seeing the results of a few hours labour.