The badger has finally been chased out of the walled garden, writes FIONNUALA FALLON
HE’S BEEN nibbling on the walled garden’s sweetcorn, uprooting its carrots, tearing great holes in the protective garden nettin, and thats not to mention the deep scratches that his powerful front paws have left on the old wrought-iron gates.
Then there was the small matter of the garden’s three separate wasps nests, all hidden underground and yet each of which he unearthed and then rather messily excavated for their juicy larvae, leaving the survivors to buzz overhead in dark clouds of fury.
Yes – despite its firmly-locked gates, a hungry badger has somehow been revisiting the OPW’s walled kitchen garden each night over the last few weeks, much to the irritation of its gardeners Brian Quinn and Meeda Downey. The difference this time, however, is that he has finally been caught red-handed.
“We couldn’t work out exactly how he was getting in,” admits Brian, shaking his head in bafflement. “We thought that perhaps it was through one of the smaller side gates, by squeezing between the bars. So we blocked it off with wire netting, but the next morning we found it ripped off.
“Then we reckoned that he might have been forcing his way under a gap in the back gate, so we blocked that off with more wire and weighed it all down with a heavy concrete block. But even after all that, we were still discovering obvious signs that he’d been in the garden.”
Meanwhile the OPW gardeners consoled themselves with the fact that, despite the damage, their unwelcome visitor had left the majority of crops untouched, including the walled garden’s six decorative and feathery lines of Florence fennel. And this despite the fact that the plant’s plump, white, succulent bulbs are now ready for harvest, having been grown indoors from seed back in late April and then planted out by Brian and Meeda in early June.
Perhaps this is because the badger isn’t a huge fan of the bulb’s distinctive aniseed or liquorice flavour, long celebrated by some gardeners and chefs, but deeply loathed by others. The late food writer Jane Grigson, for example, loved Florence fennel’s unique taste and used the tender blanched bulbs in salads or baked in the oven with butter and parmesan cheese, while it can also be eaten raw or used to make soups, soufflés and sauces.
America’s most famous gardener and founding father, Thomas Jefferson, was another Florence fennel enthusiast, obtaining seed directly from a friend in Italy (where the plant is known as Finocchio) in order to grow the juicy vegetable at his garden in Monticello.
“The fennel is beyond every other vegetable, delicious,” he wrote, concluding “there is no other vegetable equals it in flavour”.
As for the Florence fennel in the walled kitchen garden, a second, later sowing made by Meeda and Brian back in late June will soon replace the present crop of plants, extending its harvesting season right into mid-August. “With the first lot of plants, we were very careful to wait until early June before planting them out, as otherwise you run the risk of them bolting in cold weather,” explains Meeda.
“They’re really better when sown directly into modules in the glasshouse, so that there’s as little root disturbance as possible. Then, after about four/five weeks or once the young plants are 6in-high, we plant them out into a nice, rich fertile soil, about a trowel distance apart and in full sun. We also make sure to keep the young plants slug-free and well watered, particularly during any dry spells. Other than that, it’s a really easy crop to grow.”
Along with the Florence fennel, Meeda and Brian are also continuing to harvest many other of the walled Victorian garden’s fruit and vegetables, including fat heads of lettuce, the first of the “Colleen” potatoes, a few small but juicy cucumbers and bucketloads of ripe fruit including tayberries, loganberries blackberries and raspberries.
In fact, it was late last week while Meeda was mowing the grass just next to the raspberries that she finally discovered the gardens nocturnal visitor, very disgruntled to be awoken from his slumbers by the noise of the machine.
It turns out that the OPW gardeners’ makeshift barricades had been more effective than they could ever have anticipated, to the point of locking the badger in rather than out of the walled garden.
“At first I thought it was a dog,” laughs Meeda. “Then I took a second, closer look , and then I called for back-up.” After that came a period of utter mayhem, as Brian, Meeda and fellow OPW gardener Madeleine tried to herd the reluctant badger back out of the garden, assisted by a handful of park-rangers and watched by a large crowd of bewildered tourists.
“We spent40 minutes chasing him around the garden,” grins Brian. “I still can’t believe how fast he could move – those little legs can run very, very fast. It was exhausting. After a while, he started to get pretty annoyed and then he started charging back at us.”
Finally, just as the gardeners were running out of steam, they managed to herd the furious mammal out through a side gate. He charged off across the lawn, scattering groups of astonished picnickers, and followed by hordes of adoring children who just couldnt believe their eyes.
“He was making straight for the nearby woods,” explains Brian. “There are loads of badger setts there, so I reckon he got home safely.”
As for any possible return visits from the badger, the OPW gardeners are holding their breath and praying that their makeshift defences hold strong against him. Definitely just as well, then, that he did turn his furry nose up at the Florence fennel. Tradition has it that those who eat the plant enjoy strength, courage and longevity.
The OPW’s Victorian walled kitchen garden is in the grounds of the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, beside the Phoenix Park Café and Ashtown Castle. The gardens are open daily from 10am to 4pm
Fionnuala Fallon is a garden designer and writer
WHAT TO: sow, plant and do now
Sow outdoors in pots or modules, for later planting in the tunnel or greenhouse when space permits for late autumn/early winter protected crops: Kales such as Cavalo Nero, dwarf green curled and Ragged Jack, Florence fennel, kohl rabi, Swiss chards, early peas, dwarf broad beans, sugar loaf chicory, basil, coriander, dill, plain leaved and curly parsley and sorrel. Covering while outdoors with a fine mesh covered frame or cloche will give young seedlings protection from pests (like cabbage root fly and cabbage white butterflies), and also scorching sun, strong winds and heavy rain.
Outdoors, sow in modules, in a seedbed for transplanting, or in situ where they are to crop: Beetroot, brocoletto Cima di Rapa, carrots, cabbages (Greyhound and leafy non-hearting spring types**), overwintering spring-heading cauliflowers**, peas* (early dwarf vars. only now), Florence fennel, Witloof chicory (for winter forcing), sugar loaf chicory, radicchios, endives, salad onions, claytonia, landcress, lettuces, kohl rabi, Hungry Gap kale (for spring cropping), radishes, rocket, Swiss chards and leaf beets, summer spinach, summer white or yellow turnips, Chinese cabbage, Choy Sum, Pak choi, mizuna, mustard Red Frills and other oriental leaves, Chinese kale (Kailaan), lambs lettuce, salad mixes, herbs such as parsley, chervil, coriander, dill, fennel, buckler-leaved and French sorrel. Also sow some single, quick growing, annual flowers such as limnanthes (poached egg flower), calendula, Californian poppies, nasturtiums, phacelia, etc. to attract beneficial insects like hover flies to help with pest control, and bees to help with crop pollination. Sow fast growing green manures like buckwheat, red clover, mustard (a brassica, so watch rotations) and Phacelia, to improve the soil, lock-up carbon and feed worms (after digging in), on any empty patches of ground cleared of early crops that wont be used for 6 weeks or so, or which needs improving.
N.B. Sow in the evenings if possible as germination can sometimes be affected or even prevented by too high a temperature - this applies particularly to lettuce.
Do: Plant out any well-established, module-raised plants, earth up potatoes, continue to harvest earlies, spray maincrop against blight, keep seedlings and young plants well watered , keep glasshouse/polytunnel well-ventilated, put up protective netting (Bionet) against carrot fly, cabbage root fly, cabbage white butterfly (inspect for eggs caterpillars also), provide support for tall plants (beans, peas, tomatoes), hoe/handpick weeds, protect vulnerable crops against slug/snail damage, continue harvesting/ storing produce.
All sowing details courtesy of Nicky Kyle at nickykylegardening.com
