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Hi -

I've been away from this blog for ages - and my 3 gardens are suffering from similar neglect! My college course is almost over, and I'm looking forward to getting blogging again - and to getting my hands really dirty over the next few weeks getting the garden in order.


Apologies if you posted comments and I didn't publish or reply - it was a hectic time (though very enjoyable) and I hope that any courses I run will ebenfit form all that I learned about being a teacher.

Speaking of dirty hands (and teaching) , I'm also planning a soapmaking course for next weekend - if there's enough interest.

As always, it will take place in Mullingar Educate Together NS, next Saturday May 28th.

Time - 10:00am to 3:00pm. Cost €60.

Participants will learn how to make soap from scratch, in a safe and playful environment - and will go home with recipes, and soap that they made, coloured, and scented themselves. Essential oils, colourants and organic additives - like calundula petals, poppy seeds, cosmetic clays will be provided.

If you're interested, please let me know asap. If you'd like to learn to make soap, and this time doesn't suit, let me know that you're interested and if you'd prefer an evening course or a Sunday - or a different Saturday.

Contact me - at annambrowne@gmail.com, 0872222562

If you have any friends you think might be interested, please let them know too!

Phew!

Busy weekend - but beautiful weather. Got loads done. Lots of credit to the undergardener.

Flower Seeds planted.
Some veg seeds planted.
Allotment course taught.
Loads planted at the allotment - it's coming together...
Soapmaking course taught.
Signs made for school garden. (with help from the undergardener)
Cars washed.
Path laid in the mucky area using recycled bricks(thanks to undergardener)
And lots more basic household humdrum stuff.

And now onto preparation for next weekend - Getting ready for the Belvedere Self Sufficiency Show - more to follow on that...

Guest post and arrival of seeds

I'm delighted that Peggy from Organic Growing Pains has agreed to do a guest post here in the upcoming weeks. As an experienced allotment grower, I'm looking forward to hearing some tips from her to help me in my first season on the allotment.

Peggy is in the finals of the Irish Blog awards - I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for her on Saturday night.


And speaking of community, the photo above is the embarrassment of riches recieved from Patrick at Bifurcated Carrots as part of the Blogger Seed Network.

One of the best things about networking with other gardeners is knowledge and bounty that you share - without having to spend much, and without spending too much time in Garden Centers.

Planting Broad beans

 

It's a bit later than last year, but inspired by the sunshine, and the fact that I start teaching soon, and with the help of my trusty undergardeners, who are on a half day from school, we have the broad beans planted. We have ignored the planting dates on the pachets, and planted Aquadulce Claudia, and the Sutton - both varieties did well from a Jan 1st sowing last year.

I soaked the broad bean seeds overnight - this will accelerate the germination. And it's so promising to see them plump up. And tried to organise my seeds (see my tiny plot for a good method), and found lots of other broad bean varieties. So I think I'll be planting a lot more of these over the coming weeks. They are a great early cropper, and you can eat the tips, the tiny seed pods before they fill out, and the seeds - so the more the better. And popping them open to see them nestled in their downy pods in a great job for all the family.

Twittering

OK, I have succumbed to twittering. You can follow me at GreenAnnaBrowne.

I've been asked to develop a course for people starting their own business, in building an online presence. So I need to get my head around the twitter end of things, though it always felt a bit twitchy for me. I have to say I'm enjoying it....

Making Natural Costmetics in Carlow.

Just back from a great weekend in Carlow. Headed down straight after school on Friday, so arrived before it was dark - that will be a luxury for the next few months. Staying with our friends Cathy and Martin (and Holly the dog - she doesn't have a blog, but she is the most popular with my kids), so lots to talk about in the Art and ecology area.


On Saturday, a friend of mine - Nicola Browne, who blogs at Clasheen, had organised for me to teach my Natural Cosmetics course at her studio.

Lots of interesting people attended - I should have taken some photos, but it was all a bit of a rush to get to Martin's opening at the Norman Gallery. Course participants went home happy with 4 or 5 bath bombs, various ointments and balms, a bath bag, and a handmade origami box to hold their goodies. That was the surprise hit - everyone that sees them falls in love with them - especially children, and they are a cinch to make. All were delighted that they had lots of ideas and techniques for making lovely hand made Christmas presents for all their friends.

Looking forward to teaching the same course here in Mullingar in Belvedere on Nov 24th (10:30am- 1:00pm) , and METNS Dec 5th (7:30pm-10:00pm)

Mullingar Advertiser

Got a good write up in the Mullingar advertiser this week - welcome if you're here because of that. Hope you enjoy the rest of the blog.

The list of courses is here- get booking :-)

Off to Carlow

Spending the weekend in Carlow, teaching a make your own natural cosmetics course...

Breadmaking course

 

 

Bake Your Own Bread!

3-day course at Mullingar Educate Together National School
22nd, 23rd & 24th May 2009

Friday 22nd 7.30 pm - 10.00 pm
Saturday 23rd 10.00 am - 4.00 pm
Sunday 24th 11.00 am - 1.00 pm

You will learn how to bake:
* Sourdough (Natural Yeast) bread.
* ‘No-knead’ bread (Amazing results for minimal effort!).
* ‘Artisan’-style bread in a bread-machine.
* Pizza.
Cost: €90 (All materials & Lunch on Saturday included)

Numbers limited - book your place now!

Contact Anna at (087) 2222562
or email annambrowne@gmail.com

January starts

On January 25th, I sowed quite a few seeds - Broccoli, Lettuce, Leeks, onions, Cabbage, spinach. I mixed cabbages, lettuces and onions in my reliable vegetable boxes - I didn't want a full box of anything. And I thought by mixing, I woudln't get varieties mixed up. And Iput them in a warm place that is not terribly well lit.

However, now the broccoli and Cabbage are germinating (already - 3 days!), so either I need to move them to a better lit place, and reduce the germinating chances of the other plants, or leave them where they are, and have leggy cabbage seedlings. I'm going to pick the latter option, mainly because I don't really care about the cabbages, and it would be good to show my class some leggy seedlings.

Teaching

Last night was my first Tuesday evening gardening class. I was nervous about it, but excited too to meet all these people who were so keen to learn to garden. Unusually for me I had heartburn for a day beforehand, which I can only attribute to nerves.

So I worked in Dublin all day before the course, and drove back to Mullingar directly to the school. I was listening to very mellow music to recharge my batteries on the drive. Amazingly, I got several calls on the way home for people interested in the course, but sadly it had been full since the previous Thursday.

Got to the school early- the Mullingar Harriers were using the car park, so the gate was open. Got the school open and set up, and had a few moments to calm myself before the students arrived.

The first few minutes were a bit messy - getting students registered, waiting for the latecomers, and no one really talking among themselves. But then we got going, and a good interaction started. Things got a bit more relaxed once they started cutting and pasting covers for their diaries, and the questions were fast and furious.

My favourite part was when someone asked me if I bought Lidl's compost activator, and I said that I preferred to use 'wee'. There was a pause while this was digested, and someone said - do you mean 'urine'. And then lots of joking about quality of such after a few drinks. We also had a lot of discussion on types and quality of manure too. So they are starting to think about things differently, I think.

Overall, a pretty successful class, I am encouraged that I can do it. I was pretty buzzed when I got home, so am exhausted today, though I'm sure that will get easier. Quite looking forward to next weeks class, and to the Saturday class on the 24th.

Saturday Class

I'm going ahead with a Saturday class, there seems to be enough interest to fill that class also.

I'll be starting Jan 24th, at Mullingar Educate Together, at 10:00am

Here's the schedules for both of the classes:

Tuesday Class
Introduction 13/01/2009
Tools & composting 20/01/2009
Garden planning 27/01/2009
Seeds 03/02/2009
Pests and diseases 10/02/2009
Vegetables 24/02/2009
Fruit 03/03/2009
Herbs 10/03/2009

Saturday class
Introduction 24/01/2009
Tools & composting 31/01/2009
Garden planning 14/02/2009
Seeds 28/02/2009
Pests and diseases 07/03/2009
Vegetables 14/03/2009
Fruit 21/03/2009
Herbs 28/03/2009



I may cancel the 14/03 class if some of the students are away for St. Patricks weekend. Then we would run into April.

Gardening class

The Tuesday evening gardening class is full! So I will also be running a Saturday morning class, which is already half full. This will run between 10am and 12 on a Saturday, probably starting Jan 24th. If you have already given me your details, I'll be in touch, if you are interested in the Saturday class or in any further classes, leave me a comment with your email address - I won't publish it.

If you have come here not knowing much about the gardening course - it's designed to help you begin to grow your own food. Here's what we'll cover:

Keeping a gardening diary
Tools , Compost, Soil prep
Garden planning
Seeds – choosing, ordering, planting, reading a packet
Pests and diseases
Vegetables
Fruit
Herbs
Organic methods
Permaculture

Gardening Course

I'll be teaching an 8 week Vegetable gardening course in Mullingar, starting in January. Flyers went out to the parents and teachers at METNS toady - no one beating down the door yet, but I'm hopeful that I will have some interest. I'm really looking forward to talking about gardening for 2 hours once a week, especiall in Jan and Feb, when there's not much else you can do ....