thegreenerdream

Unicorn frills.

August 8, 2018mariamayfleming

July was certainly a busy month on the land. We worked quite hard for the first half of the month, weeding, pruning and generally preparing our garden for the open garden weekend on the 14^th and 15^th. The weather was very warm and dry, right up to the open days, when the rain and wind created a somewhat dampened but very pleasant event. We made some new friends and caught up with old ones.

For the second half of the month the weather has been changeable and we have not spent a lot of time in the garden, apart from when harvesting vegetables. Our cabbages have grown exceptionally well this year, along with our courgettes and raspberries.

A green perspective.

July 29, 2018mariamayfleming

If you are a regular visitor to our blog you will know that we have a lot of colours everywhere in our home and garden. Flowers, mosaics, vegetables, fabrics, flowering trees and shrubs fill almost every available space creating an ever changing palette throughout the seasons.

Yesterday we visited a garden that was very different to ours but breathtakingly beautiful and creative. We were lucky enough that it was raining for as we were to find out, the diffused light created a magical illumination that intensified all the different shades of green, making them shine as if they were lit from within.

Gratitude.

July 13, 2018mariamayfleming

It is the eve of our open garden weekend and there are still lots of things to tend to. There are floors to sweep, furniture to move, the café area to organize further and many other last minute preparations.

Despite this we decided to walk around the garden for a while and take a few photos for sharing with you all here. We are so fortunate to have a place of our own; a garden full of food plants and beautiful flowers to delight us and all the wildlife that we share it with. It makes us feel tremendous gratitude.

Many millions of people around the world are not so fortunate. They have had to flee their homes and sometimes even their countries and it is because of this we decided to open our garden and home again this year in Support of Amnesty International Ireland and their #Iwelcome Refugees campaign.

We think it is important to support this campaign and we were owerwhelmed by the generosity of our visitors last year.

If you live locally we would be delighted to see you! You can read more about the event here.

The vegetable patch in June.

July 8, 2018mariamayfleming

We are just over a week into July and it is time to sum up the past month on the land. So much has happened in the garden. At the start of June plants were still catching up after the very late cold start to the season, but at the end of the month, they were starting to show signs of drought after weeks with next to no rain.

Roses.

June 29, 2018mariamayfleming

We have always had a weakness for roses. The fascination is partly with the scent, wafting through the warm air on a summer evening, partly with the sunlight shining through the petals and illuminating them as from within and partly with the numerous shapes and colours of the flowers.

A bed for the Fairy Queen.

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018mariamayfleming

It has been unusually warm here in the West of Ireland and one day last week we found ourselves close to the shores of Lough Key. We remembered a magical day a few years back when all six of us rented two rowing boats for a couple of hours and went for a picnic on a very special island, so we decided to recapture some of the magic of that day.

The month of May.

June 3, 2018mariamayfleming

It has been a very busy month here at the Greener dream. We managed to finally get the window into the shed wall and now we are blessed with light in a space that has been completely dark since we moved in five years ago. All we have to do now is go through all the boxes of stuff that have accumulated in there and then we will have a nice work and storage space. We are planning to put in a new door as well with glass panels and one more window, so that even more light can flood into the space.

thegreenerdream

Days to treasure.

Ballaghaderreen Community Garden.

Our conservatory one year on.

When all the pieces come together – Mosaic.

The sky is the limit.

About the author.

Building our sustainable home.

Gardening in harmony.