The Biking Gardener

Welcome to my blog.

It is amazing to think that this blog is now more than eleven years old! So I have updated this page (14 Feb 2024)

The blog started with an UK-centric view of Ireland after I started work in Courtown, Co. Wexford in 2013. But since we upped-sticks from Peterborough (UK) and moved to near Enniscorthy in 2017, and moved into the house in 2019 the blog has taken a slightly different direction.

We bought a part-built house with an acre of field, spent two years completing the house and moved in in late 2019. Real work in the garden started then.

Raised beds in the seaside garden during construction in 2021

The summer house was added autumn 2021

I grow a wide range of plants including fruit and veg

I have two bikes

A KTM690

and a Suzuki GSXR1000

And we are owned by Mia the cat who rather dominates our lives. She is a pedigree Savannah (F6) and is the subject of several posts.

Mia loves to look down on us and to help in the garden, such as removing bulbs from their planting holes!

You can find out more about my work on the next page or click this link.

What to expect

So what is this blog for and about?

Because I had spent a lot of time writing about gardening and was the Editor of Garden Answers immediately before moving to Ireland, I missed this aspect when I returned to hands-on gardening.

The aim of the blog is manyfold. I want to inspire and also clarify aspects of gardening that bother me and to debunk a lot of oft-repeated nonsense. There is so much bad information on the web, and even in the mainstream media. This blog is something of a passion. I desperately try not to be influenced by other topics and try not to rant – but I am not always successful. I am afraid that world events have affected me too much to be able to post in the past three months. I have never left such a long gap between posts before but then we are in horrible times.

Many years ago when Social Media was in its infancy, we had a meeting at work (the company was EMAP, which was a UK publishing powerhouse despite the rumour that it was an acronym for ‘every meeting a party’). We were told, much to my concern since I was employed as a writer, that writers would no longer be needed in the future because everyone will be able to publish what they wanted. I immediately asked what checks there would be on this and on accountability. It turns out that my worries were justified and we are unashamedly bombarded with false information.

This blog is not commercial, so far. It costs me money and time and I do not write anonymously. If I am not sure of facts I will state this – after all a lot of plants I grow are unusual and I want to push the boundaries of what I can grow.

Having said that, I never expected the most popular post of all I have written would be about cucumbers!

On this blog I will be describing lots of aspects of gardening, including what I am doing in the garden here, new plants, gardening tips, gardens I have visited, events and experiences as well as the odd rant. You will find more gardens in the earlier life of the blog.

I welcome your comments and always answer them. And Thank You to all my followers. I am pleased that some posts are still popular, many years after they were first posted.

Living in Ireland

We live in the ‘Sunny southeast’ which is, relatively speaking, the most ‘continental’ part of Ireland as far as climate is concerned with the coldest winters and hottest (well less cold) and driest summers, but this is all relative. Wexford is not the average tourist’s first choice – most arrive in Dublin and head west rather than south. But Wexford has a lot going for it, as does most of Ireland. We have some amazing beaches, the Kennedy Homestead and one of my favourite places is the Hook Peninsula.

The country is full of lovely places and lovely people. We have not had as many visitors as we planned, because of that annoying virus but everyone who has visited has loved Ireland.

Another of my favourite places is Inistioge (pronounced innish-teeg).

In 2022 when mum made her first, and probably last, visit, we took her here and I told her that the most memorable time I visited I saw a beautiful white horse in the river. And, low-and-behold, there it was again, years later. It was motionless and she was convinced it was fake, until the flies finally annoyed it enough to swish its tail. I can think of nothing that sums up a beautiful Irish day more than this: a crystal clear river, every shade of green and a happy horse.

Last year we sold flowers at the gate for charity. It was a great way to meet people and we managed to raise 1000 euro for charity. I am hoping to do even better this year and will start again in March.

Feel free to type into the search bar or select dates and categories on the right and enjoy!