Reduce Air miles and our environmental footprint by Growing your own

“When you grow your own food, you savor it more because of the effort and love  it took to get to your family table. There is nothing as  rewarding as picking your own fruit and vegetables.   Also growing your own food has many health benefits

• It helps you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
• You decide what kinds of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food.
• It lets you control when to harvest your food. Vegetables that ripen in the garden have more nutrients than some store-bought vegetables that must be picked early.

The Blueberry is the Super berry



Blueberries


So simple to grow and so good to eat. These berries are absolutely delicious whether eaten fresh or cooked. They grow to approximately 1 metre high, or a little lower if grown in containers. The best soil to use grow the plants in is a lime free compost, with some slow release tablets added. Here's a useful tip: it is best to grow two varieties of blueberry to get good pollination!

Always plant your blueberry in Ericaceous compost. This is really the only requirement. It is such a hardy plant that it will survive what ever our weather throws at it


I suggest that you plant the blueberry plants near your house so you can easily pop out for a few blueberries for your breakfast.


Go on! Rediscover the good life – growing fruit is easier than you'd think!

Anyone for Strawberries?

Homegrown strawberries taste amazing and are so easy to grow – but, not in the ground! I have found it much easier, and an abundance of fruit had grown, when I grew my strawberries in growbags, in hanging baskets and in raised beds.

When strawberries are grown up high they won't get attacked by slugs and are less likely to get disease (by being away from the damp Cork soil).

Why not grow a few strawberries in a high plastic container, recycle an old drum and cut holes in it and plant strawberries through the holes on top of the container as well.

You will have a wonderful crop of great tasting strawberries in no time!


A really tasty variety is Elan. This is a professional variety for the demanding amateur grower. It has been given the title of gourmet strawberry.  Previously this variety was exclusively available to the professional grower, so it's a real delight to finally be able to offer this on the domestic market!

Apple trees made easy

Apples are probably the easiest tree fruit to grow and the most popular with gardeners. You may be lucky enough to have one in your garden already, but if not, they are easy to establish. There are thousands of different types of apples, but they broadly fall into two categories: dessert apples for eating, and cookers, as the name suggest, for cooking. If you don’t have an apple tree in your garden, planting one is a good investment, for there is nothing like eating the fresh fruit straight from the tree in autumn.The ideal position for an apple tree is a sunny, sheltered site. Avoid poorly-drained or shallow soils.
The Key to growing your own Apples is Successful Pollination
In order to have successful pollination, it is necessary to have two different varieties of apple trees that flower at the same time.  For Pollination reasons and a great fruitier, I would include a James Grieve tree.

'James Grieve' is an Award winning  apple that has been popular for centuries. It does well in all areas and is a good addition to any garden because the fruits suit dual purpose use. Early on in August and early September this variety cooks to perfection, but later it becomes more tender and is ideal for eating fresh.

Beauty of Bath is a sweet and juicy apple with a sharp acid tang. It is one of the earliest ripening varieties and can be picked straight from the tree. The apples have a beautiful pink stained flesh and a pleasant fruity aroma. They make fairly vigorous trees with good disease resistance and produce regular heavy crops.


Bramley’s Seedling’ AGM:A very popular cooking apple, needing a lot of space. The apple breaks down to a creamy purée after cooking.

When Choosing your apple tree, Ensure that you get professional Advice from your garden centre to ensure that you chose the right trees for your garden.