Fresh produce from our garden
Our farm gate sales are now up and running 2 months and business is going well. We harvest every Friday and Saturday to sell from our log cabin beside the garden and tunnel and regular passing trade is building up steadily. Our regular veg box customers are a great core to the business and we very much appreciate their weekly orders. As the summer progresses the range of produce is increasing - and we are adding new items weekly. The tunnel ensures that we have crops earlier than would be possible outside - and we now have a great range of salads, ...
A new season has begun…
Well, after a very hectic season in 2009 we took time over the winter to think through our plans for the smallholding. After much thought, debate and calculation during the cold and dark months we have decided to press ahead with developing the smallholding with the kind support of Clare Local Development Company - leader funding. So far we have added a new polytunnel which will replace quite a few of the outdoor beds which were difficult to make good use of with such poor summer weather. We are delighted with our new tunnel which gives us lots of room to ...
Any old wood?
John is always on the lookout for timber to top up his woodturning store - eg ash, yew, beech, oak. If you're cutting or clearing timber and have some to spare (branches that need cutting back for example) or trees that need topping/thinning he would be delighted to take some to dry and use for turning. It's a joy to see old offcut branches shaping up into candleholders, pens, salt cellars (really!) or even knife handles. Contact John through the contact form or phone 087 2273299 Related posts:Working with wood
Apple harvest
After a couple of years nursing new apple trees and losing most to birds we are delighted with our apples this year - on the trees planted in 2006 we have had a great crop of elstar apples that looked gorgeous and tasted really delicious. Quite a few were eaten straight from the trees - and they didn't last long, but they really did taste how an apple should! I recently heard that it has been a bad year for apples in Ireland (no doubt weather related) - so feel even luckier for that. No related posts.
Bees in the garden
The world bee population is in dire danger, and with it, so is plant life everywhere - anyone who has seen 'bee movie' knows what happened when the bees stopped working...no bees, no pollen carrying, no plant pollination, no plants. We planted flowers everywhere we could this year - because we like them mostly, but it is great to see the bees buzzing around the sunflowers on a (rare) sunny day - gives hope that we can make a difference! SO - GROW FLOWERS!!! Related posts:Sowing & growing… in or out? Sowing herbs
Pumpkin hunting
One of the jobs that the children love the most in the garden is looking for the pumpkins - it is a treasure hunt and there is great excitement to see who will find the most/biggest hiding under the huge leaves that spread over more than 4 feet for each plant. There are some great ones ripening (hopefully) on the beds now - with our wet weather the beds are soggy, even with the ground cover fabric, so we have put broken slates under each pumpkin stop them from rotting on the ground.... Related posts:As Autumn rolls in… Sowing & growing… in ...
As Autumn rolls in…
The change of the season is well underway and we have changed over most of our tunnel crops. The tomato plants are still cropping well - most of our other crops had to go to make room for new season planting. The new winter salads, orientals, spinach and herbs are all in place and getting established while the days are still fairly long and relatively (?) warm. Even though the weather has been so wet the growth in the tunnels has been very good for the last couple of weeks. The new season of root vegetables are coming in - Irish ...
Pea picking
Ryan and Fionn spent a good deal of time this summer standing in front of various pea beds stripping them clean of their fruit.... it was one of the only ways to get them to stand still if we had to get a (very quick) job done in the garden. They love picking, opening (with their teeth mostly) and gobbling the peas inside. They do get a bit confused between round pods that need to be opened and sugar peas that you eat whole (pod and all)... so have given up trying to stop them chewing the whole pod - ...
Latest News
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Winter closing
We will be closing for veg orders from Dec 24th until the start of February 2012. In...
Christmas order list 2011
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Visit gingergirl
Of the great range of produce on offer at UL Farmer’s Market, gingergirl Helen Keown brings a delicious range of chutneys, preserves and goodies (fantastic chocolate brownies). She’s also an expert in all things culinary, and advises many of the market’s customers on how to get the best out of the produce available. Visit her inspiring... [Read more of this review]
UL Farmers Market
UL Farmer’s Market got back to business on Tuesday 27th January. It was lovely to be back trading and to see the regular faces that have been buying from us week in, week out, since last September. Also great to see new students in the University who were interested in the market and the selection of food available. We will be at UL market every... [Read more of this review]
Growing supplies/courses in organic growing
We would like to give a big mention to our supplier – both of organic compost and of knowledge… Jim Cronin, Bridgetown, Co Clare teaches courses in organic growing and working with horses for The Organic Centre and for National Organic Training Skillnet. He is a leading expert in organic horticulture and is a mine of information and advice... [Read more of this review]
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