When we arrived in Ireland we started a small herb garden with a large oil tank in it.\u00a0 We had the tank removed and invested in a greenhouse.\u00a0 In it we grew tomatoes and cucumbers and sometimes peppers.\u00a0 One day (in a fit of madness) I suggested making a box to grow other salad stuff and a few peas and beans.\u00a0 After a couple of years our next door neighbour\u2019s daughter jokingly said \u201cyou should get an allotment\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Over the next few weeks my wife researched and found several locally and on a Saturday afternoon we went to have a look.\u00a0 After we applied for the allotment, we drove home and for the rest of the night tried to convince each other why we should not have an allotment.\u00a0 We took it the next day.<\/p>\n
By this time we were in the dreaded \u201cR Scenario\u201d.\u00a0 My wife had taken two pay cuts and my own work was more hit and miss than ever before.\u00a0 We started work and soon made friends with several people around us.\u00a0 We had both grown our own gardens as children and were both dragging up from the depths of our memory the methods needed for keeping a garden. \u00a0 In our house we had changed the front garden and it had been entered in the Tidy Towns competition. \u00a0We won an award for it which I suppose had inspired us to keep it up and tidy. A couple of years later we won the Best Front Garden Competition in our estate outside of the Tidy Towns Competition.\u00a0 We still keep the front garden up despite not be able to enter the estate competition until 2013.<\/p>\n
In 2009 we started being allotmenteers and grew our own vegetables.\u00a0 This is going to sound like a clich\u00e9 but it is very, very true: When you grow your own produce it REALLY does taste completely different.\u00a0 What do we grow?\u00a0 Up until last year we grew potatoes, cabbages, beans, peas, lettuce, radish, scallions (spring onions), garlic, carrots, parsnip, broccoli and brussel sprouts.\u00a0 We still grow tomatoes and cucumbers in greenhouse and our herbs outside the back door.\u00a0 Anything that we can freeze we do. \u00a0We get fresh vegetables virtually all year round.\u00a0 Some of the vegetables we grow are sold by my wife in work and the money made goes into a kitty to buy seeds and other things for the next year.\u00a0 After three years of having one allotment a friend gave up and we tried again to convince each other not to take on a second one.\u00a0 \u00a0That did not work so we now have two allotments.\u00a0 Why you ask? \u00a0We could be mad as we are both in our mid-fifties but we look at it from the fresh and home grown food standpoint, the friendships, the exercise and fresh air.<\/p>\n
Are you wondering what do we grow now?\u00a0 \u00a0On the second allotment we have built a Fruit Cage which measures 27 feet by 13 feet and in that we have Raspberries (Summer and Autumn Fruiting) Gooseberries (green and red variety), Blackcurrants and Blackberries (cultivated variety). \u00a0We also have a bed for Strawberries which holds approx thirty five strawberry plants.\u00a0 .\u00a0 We have a herb bed with Marjoram, Thyme, Sage, Parsley and Horseradish along with the Chives.\u00a0 Outside the fruit cage we have planted Sweet Pea to attract the insects to pollinate the fruit.\u00a0 We also inherited several Rhubarb plants (which are really great cut fresh \u2013 not so good for arthritis suffers though).\u00a0 The fruit is to be made into jams and preserves and sold to help make the allotments pay for themselves.\u00a0 Yes I suppose it is almost a semi commercial enterprise, we do give some of it away as raffle prizes for the local parish pantomime and as presents to family.<\/p>\n
I have planted 200 onion sets this year and I can report all are growing well. \u00a0I have fifty garlic cloves in and doing well.\u00a0 \u00a0Everything else is growing slowly due to the upside down nature of the weather.\u00a0 This year we are growing some marrows and these will be sold as my wife does not like them. The proceeds from the marrows will add to the allotment funds.\u00a0 Over the last four years the most difficult part of gardening has been digging the soil. \u00a0From now on it is going to be much easier as I have invested in petrol driven Cultivator\/Rotavator and it is brilliant.\u00a0 It really does turn the soil into a fine tilth.\u00a0 It also turns in the organic compost we produce from the brassica leaves and other compostable items brought up from the house.\u00a0 Having the Cultivator has halved the time it takes to prepare the ground and makes going over it again so easy.<\/p>\n
We have founds that our own potatoes taste so different and are easy to store.\u00a0\u00a0 We do have problems with blight but if you spray early and keep spraying the affect is minimised. In most years the potatoes will last us from harvest (August to October) right through to February to March \u2013 depending on yield.\u00a0 Hopefully the yield will be good this year.<\/p>\n
Why do my wife and I spend time so much tending our garden?\u00a0 \u00a0The answer is very simple: we both enjoy it!\u00a0 We both like to look at our lovely garden. \u00a0It is a very good form of relaxation after long and sometimes stressful days. \u00a0It gives us pleasure to see the results of our work.\u00a0\u00a0 We love growing our own food and would grow more if we had the time it definitely tastes completely different.\u00a0 What a pleasure it is to have salad for dinner! \u00a0You walk out your back door and pick the tomatoes, scallions (spring onions), radish and lettuce and you wash it and put it straight on to the plate.\u00a0 There is a great satisfaction in the knowledge that you grew it and you can now sit down and really enjoy its taste and the freshness of it.<\/p>\n
To conclude: I garden and have allotments because it is an enjoyable hobby pastime; I am getting exercise and eating really fresh food. \u00a0\u00a0I also know that it has not been treated with any chemicals.<\/p>\n
Adrian Rush MISTC<\/p>\n
Managing Partner<\/p>\n
AMR Enterprises<\/p>\n
Mobile – +353 (0)87 677 3631<\/p>\n
Landline\/Fax – +353 (0)1 624 2494<\/p>\n
E- mail \u2013\u00a0This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.<\/span>” mce_’ + path + ‘\\” + prefix + ‘:’ + addy4870 + ‘\\’>’+addy_text4870+'<\\\/a>’; \/\/–><\/p>\n Web Site \u2013\u00a0www.amrenterprises.net<\/a><\/p>\n