Dear Fellow Gardeners,
January is often a cold and miserable month in Ireland and it’s far too early to get out into the garden. I do, however, love the cold frosty and clear mornings following a freezing night. There are just a few jobs that can be done now but overall – it’s time to relax and reflect.
Some of the gardening jobs I do in January include pruning apples and pears, red and white currants and gooseberries as well as the autumn fruiting raspberries. It’s also a good time to plant bareroot trees and shrubs provided the soil is not frozen or waterlogged. If you haven’t done so you could clean your gardening tools and rub boiled linseed oil onto the wooden handles. This prolongs their lifespan by many years.
If you have a tunnel or greenhouse you can get started very early – you can plant first early potatoes and sow a lot of seeds on a heating bench indoors for planting into the tunnel about 4-6 weeks later but if you don’t have that facility there is little else to do.
Today we made a willow wigwam and a small willow fedge in Bundoran – this is another lovely winter gardening job. A fedge is a hybrid word for fence/hedge. We did this for the online gardening course. I’m certainly not an expert but it turned out very sturdy.
January is also a good time to split your rhubarb crowns and take comfrey root cuttings. We actually filmed a session about these gardening tasks, including how to make a Huegelbed.
If anyone is interested in watching it – here is the link:
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/663486155/2c28502070
Online Gardening Course – Spring in the Garden – now available for booking
Just to let you know that the spring course is now available for booking. You can simply book it on our website this year. It will run from mid February to May, more or less on a weekly basis so you can follow what Assumpta and myself are doing in the garden.
It costs €70 for 10 sessions and each session is about 45 minutes long. You can watch the sessions whenever it suits you.
For more information click on the link below:
Online Gardening Course with Klaus Laitenberger – Spring Session – Green Vegetable Seeds
Aisling Newsletter:
This is a newsletter I am always looking forward to reading. It is written by Dara Molloy and Tess Harper-Molloy. It is such a beautiful newsletters which celebrates nature, spirituality and ancient wisdom:
Contact Aisling Publications :: Aisling Publications
Dara’s new book – “Re-Imagining the Divine” will soon be out for sale.
MSc in Organic and Biological Agriculture
After several years of planning, a new Masters course at Waterford IT has been ratified. The MSc in Organic and Biological Agriculture will offer flexible learning with individual modules available from February 2022, and the full-time postgrad will begin in September 2022. There are still details to be finalised, but NOTS will be providing approximately 30% funding.
For more information contact Sean at NOTS – info@nots.ie
Gardening Courses and Talks at various venues by Klaus Laitenberger
Course: Grow your own organic food
Date: Saturday 19th February 2022 (10.00am – 4.30pm)
Venue: Coolamber House, Co. Westmeath
Contact: Ann-Marie Durkin
Website: Grow your own Organic Food | Coolamber Garden Workshops
Talk: Grow your own healthy food
Date: Tuesday 22nd February 2022 (evening)
Venue: Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh
Contact: Charlotte at charlottegordon@hotmail.co.uk
Talk: Grow your own healthy vegetables
Date: Tuesday 1st March 2022
Venue: Foxrock Garden Society – ONLINE TALK
Contact: Angela at angelammore@gmail.com
Course: Grow your own food
Date: Saturday 5th March 2022
Venue: Corbalton Hall, Skryne, Co. Meath
Contact: Andrina at andrina@corbaltonhall.ie
Course: Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening
Date: Saturday 19th March 2022
Venue: Hydro Allotments, Blarney, Co. Cork
Contact: Zwena
Talk: Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening
Date: Monday 28th March 2022 (evening)
Venue: Kilternan, Dublin
Contact: Ingrid on kilternangardeningclub@gmail.com
Course: Growing in Polytunnels
Date: Sunday 1st May 2022
Venue: Organic Centre, Co. Leitrim
Contact: 071 9854338
Course: Beginner’s Guide to growing your own food
Date: Saturday 7th May 2022
Venue: Corbalton Hall, Skryne, Co. Meath
Contact: Andrina at andrina@corbaltonhall.ie
Happy Gardening,
Klaus