NEWS

THE NEW GROTH PROJECT- NEW COURSE - SUMER 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:41:07 +0100

We are now approaching week 8 of our first course of THE NEW GROWTH PROJECT.
We are really enjoying having Brenda, Ken, Lisa and Noel come to our garden for the course two days each week. Whether it is propagating plants in the tunnel, planting vegetables in the raised bed or doing some plant science everybody seems to be enjoying the course.

So, we have decided to do another course as soon as this course is over, we will be starting the course in early June and as with this course it will run for 12 weeks every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am till 2pm.

The course is available to anyone who is not in employment or studying full time. We have only four places so anyone interested in doing the course should send in application form and CV straight away!

More information and application forms.

On Saturday 21st of April I had the pleasure of spending the day walking around the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin with students from the RHS Level 2 course. I took some pictures with my phone and information about dsome of the interesting plants that we saw are on my blog Blooms ‘n’ Food

If you would like to join the RHS home study course or attend the Saturday visits to the National Botanic gardens each month there are places available. You can enroll at any time. MORE INFO

BLOOM 2012

We will be doing something exciting at BLOOM this year. Watch out for news of The Garden School in the KIDS ZONE at Bloom.

The New Growth Project Week 4 video

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:15:54 +0100

WEEK FOUR- TUESDAY 27TH AND WEDNESDAY 28TH MARCH- UNUSUALLY WARM SUNNY WEATHER AND WE WERE PLANTING LETTUCE OUT IN THE VEGETABLE PLOTS, PRICKING OUT SEEDLING IN THE TUNNEL AND PLANTING THE EARLY SEASON POTATOES...

Videos of The New Growth Project

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:40:53 +0100

Each week we video the activities of our students and present them in a short video, summarising what the people on the course have been learning and doing. Everyone else can learn too. These videos include tips on propagating plants and gardening in general. This week we have a video with Noel Gilmore. He is one of the people taking part on the course. He explains how he decided to give horticulture a try and tells us how his new found knowledge is helping him to impress his friends...

here are the links to the previous weeks’ videos and week four video is coming soon...

The New Growth Project Week 1
The New Growth Project Week 2
The New Growth Project Week 3

The New Growth Project Week 2

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:30:24 +0000

This week Lisa, Brendan, Ken and Noel were busy sowing parsnips and radishes, planning a crop rotation plan, propagating herbaceous perennials, learning about soil texture and more. Watch the video to see what they were learning and doing.

The New Growth Project - First Week

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:46:51 +0000

Studying seed anatomy, the germination process, sowing seeds, moving shrubs, pruning dogwood (Cornus aba) shrubs, cutting back ornamental grasses (Miscanthus sinensis) and more...

The first week of the New Growth Project has the first “New Growths” busy learning horticulture through practical classes. They also got homework to do!

Watch the video to see what they did...

In The Garden with Ciaran Burke on CRC 102.9 FM

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:10:09 +0000

Each week I do a garden feature on CRC 102.9 FM with Johnny Oosten on his morning programme. Amongst the topics we discussed were cutting back herbaceous perennials and the difference between herbaceous plants and woody plants. Weeds, how to control them and johnny even tasted hairy bittercress (pictured above), a plant which causes annoyance for many a gardener, and he liked it! We also did a competition for someone to win 3 T-Shirts. The T-Shirts are available from our website and all finds raised go to The New Growth Project.

T-Shirts

The New Growth Project

Listen to the show....

Find out more about hairy bittercress on my blog

The New Growth Project

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 18:52:25 +0000

We have launched The New growth project. This is our garden charity project, to provide free horticultural training courses to unemployed people. Today I was chatting about it on “In The Garden With Ciaran Burke” on the Johnny Oosten Show on CRC FM.

More information about The New Growth Project

Listen to the broadcast below

NEW SATURDAY COURSE IN GALWAY

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:14:14 +0100

STARTING IN FEBRUARY, WE WILL BE RUNNING A SATURDAY COURSE.

This course is based on the RHS Level 2 Certificate in the Principles of Horticulture.

It features fourteen classes in our centre in Claregalway, Co. Galway and ten Saturdays in the National Botanic Gardens.

The classes are held every second week with a break in August.

Ciaran Burke is the class tutor, who with his over ten years experience of teaching RHS courses and preparing candidates to successfully sit the RHS exams will be sharing his great knowledge of plants and gardening, and sharing his enthusiasm for horticuLture.

The RHS Level 2 syllabus covers ornamental horticulture including the seleCtion, establishment and care of a wide range of plants from annual flowers to tree and shrubs. Propagation, treating plant problems, garden planning and growing fruit and vegetables are all subjects included.

Classes are enrolling now. Further information including syllabus, prices, enrollment form and installment payment options is on the website which can be seen by clicking the link. MORE INFO

SILVER MEDAL

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:44:16 +0100

Our educational stand at BLOOM, held over the first weekend in Dublin’s Phoenix Park was awarded a silver medal by the judges.

It was a very busy five days, with nearly 90,000 people visiting the show, there are many more people in Ireland aware of differences between monocots and dicots! It was great to meet so many gardeners, ex-students and friends. In addition to manning the stand I was also taking photos for UR Dream Home magazine to accompany my articles. The summer issue is out now and features ten pages of BLOOM plants and gardens, available in newsagents nationwide. Buy online

I also kept a blog of the event on my Blooms ‘n’ Food site, you can see photos of my favourite plants and gardens of the show. BLOOMS ‘N’ FOOD

Pic Above:
“To The Water’s Edge” show garden by Oliver and Liat Schurmann at Bloom 2011- winner of a gold medal and Best in Category - Large Show Garden

BLOOM 2011 -MONOCOTS V DICOTS

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 21:47:21 +0100

BLOOM IS BACK, AND WE WILL BE BACK AT BLOOM. OUR STAND IS IN THE FLORAL PAVILION, NUMBER 40.

BLOOM is Ireland’s flag ship gardening event of the year, with lots of show gardens and loads of nurseries selling a great range of plants in the floral pavilion. There are lots of other things to do for kids, great food stalls. Something for everyone, and the weather is promised to be fabulous!

Our theme this year is Monocots v Dicots, a short botanical lesson illustrated with Hanna’s fabulous drawings and diagrams. We have got magnifying glasses so you can see up close plant parts and learn about different plants groups and their role in feeding the world.

Hanna and I will be there everyday to talk to you and tell you about our courses and help you learn a little bit of interesting botany.

So if you are heading to the Phoenix Park in Dublin to attend BLOOM between Thursday 2nd of June and Monday 6th of June we hope to see you, at the stand 40 in the floral pavilion.

I will also be doing a daily blog from BLOOM, showing some of the gardens and exciting plants at the show. This will be on my BLOOMs ‘N’ FOOD blog. there will also be photo updates on my blog on www.ciaranburke.ie
Enjoy the show...

Ciaran