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Author Topic: The Irish potato famine  (Read 7671 times)

mark smyth

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The Irish potato famine
« on: January 27, 2007, 08:42:25 PM »
I know this isnt related to alpines or bulbs but it is quite interesting

The potato famine started in 1845 and lasted for six years killing over a million men, women and children in Ireland and caused another million to flee the country. The farmers used 'lazy beds'. They marked long parallel lines in the soil about four feet apart. In between the lines, they piled a mixture of manure and crushed seashells then turned over the surrounding sod onto this. Seed potatoes were inserted in-between the overturned grass and the layer of fertilizer then buried with dirt dug-up along the marked lines. The potato bed was thus raised about a foot off the surrounding ground, with good drainage provided via the newly dug parallel trenches

I was high in the Mourne mountains today doing a bat survey. Someone with me spotted lazy beds on the sides of the mountains. Note how the plots still have their dry stone walls around them

« Last Edit: January 27, 2007, 11:32:23 PM by mark smyth »
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annew

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2007, 09:05:46 PM »
An interesting bit of archaeology, Mark. Did you find a battery?
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Maggi Young

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2007, 09:37:39 PM »
Never mind a battery, Anne, look at the size of that tortoise in the corner of the field!
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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Lesley Cox

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2007, 10:34:36 PM »
Very interesting Mark so thanks for that. And certainly a great tortoise.

It is my own (totally uninformed) opinion that if the Irish farmers of the time had had access to and used, the modern product called (in NZ) Trichopel, there would never have been a potato famine. The registered trade name Trichopel (also Trichodowl for inserting into holes in tree trunks and Trichoflow to water on) is a pelleted form of Trichoderma fungus (note fungus, not fungicide) of which there are some 200 described species in NZ alone. It is used to control many other fungus conditions including botrytis, clematis wilt, sclero... (the one that kills lettuces) and even phytophera species. It grows aggressively and so occupies the space that others would if they could, and so they can't become established. It can also smother the others and in many cases parasitizes.  I used to buy about 5 clematis annually as I love the big-flowered hybrids and was always lucky to get a couple going successfully. Since I started to use the Trichopel, I've never lost one. A few pellets in a pot of llium or fritillaria bulbs totally prevents botrytis which plagued me for a while. The Trichoderma needs quite a high humus content though to work best.

Having said all that, I hasten to add that I have absolutely NO commercial interest here, but am just converted to what is, after all, an organic and very successful way to prevent many common garden problems.
Lesley Cox - near Dunedin, lower east coast, South Island of New Zealand - Zone 9

mark smyth

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2007, 11:31:36 PM »
Anne I dont get the reference to the battery
Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
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When the swifts arrive empty the green house

All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230

Maggi Young

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2007, 11:56:12 PM »
Battery, Mark, where bats live ::)
And what about that huge tortoise, it's  a bosker, did you spot it too?
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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mark smyth

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2007, 10:23:10 AM »
it wasnt until I edited the photos that I saw the tortoise.
Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
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When the swifts arrive empty the green house

All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230

Maggi Young

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2007, 10:27:58 AM »
I knew about the ancient species of deer that used to roam Ireland, can't remember what it was called,
huge thing eight feet high at the shoulder, or even bigger, somewhere between a red deer and an elk, only BIGGER!! But this  discovery of giant tortoises is surely world class news? Who is goingto tell the Galapagos tortoises that they've been knocked off their record breaking pedestal? Not a job I'd fancy.



Just found this reference page:http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/artio/irishelk.html
Megaloceros giganteus or Megaceros =Giant Deer
« Last Edit: January 28, 2007, 10:32:23 AM by Maggi Young »
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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mark smyth

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2007, 10:30:35 AM »
Elk!
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/artio/irishelk.html

How could I giant live for so long in a tiny field
Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
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When the swifts arrive empty the green house

All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230

Maggi Young

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2007, 10:35:23 AM »
He's sitting down in the photo: when he stands up to walk, his legs will be longer than the wee field dykes and he'll just trundle over them, no barrier to him I reckon.
I see I found the same reference as you, Mark and we have been doing synchronised postings!
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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Anthony Darby

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2007, 02:08:45 PM »
Oh deer ::)
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Anthony Darby

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2007, 08:44:31 PM »
What was the diet before potatoes?
Anthony Darby, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Maggi Young

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2007, 08:58:59 PM »
Venison?
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

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Anthony Darby

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2007, 02:27:26 PM »
Walked into that one ;D
Anthony Darby, Auckland, New Zealand.
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SueG

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Re: The Irish potato famine
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2007, 05:08:28 PM »
I've been rummaging around and there is some very limited evidence for humans hunting elk. It's more likely they scavenged dead animals particularly after the rut as it's thought giant elk (which are deer) behaved like red deer where the males are often starved by the end of the rut.
They were using stone tools, spears and throwing sticks against a huge animal, if they were hunting live animals they wouldn't have killed it outright, much more likely to wound it and then follow it until loss of blood meant they were able to get close enough to kill it. Bones from southern england show evidence of being smashed to retrieve the bone marrow and it is likely this was done by man, it could have been hyena or other scavengers, it's often very hard to tell from the bones themselves as the marks left by man are almost indistinguishable from other creatues.
Whether it was the impact of hunting which wiped out giant elk and other mega fauna is one of those questions which causes quite heated debate in archaeological circles.

Boils down to the fact if they ate them it was probably pretty rancid, stringy meat, not the nice venison we enjoy!!

Sue
« Last Edit: February 01, 2007, 05:29:16 PM by Maggi Young »
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