16 Dec 2011

Organic Garden Centre – Rossinver, Co. Leitrim

Merry Christmas from

We want to thank all our customers and Friends for visiting, shopping, participating in courses and training and generally supporting our work. We wish you a great growing season in 2012!

Our theme for 2012 is “Skills for Life and The Organic Centre team has come up with 7 ideas for the new gardening year matched to a new course, which can make a huge difference: (more…)

22 Nov 2011

Organic Garden, Rossinver, Co. Leitrim

SPINACH

BONBINI F1

An outstanding spinach variety. It is high yielding, excellent taste, slow to bolt, very attractive leaves and mildew resistant. Isn’t that wonderful?

Sowing: Sow small amounts every 3-4 weeks from late March until July. Sow 3 seed per cell in modular trays and plant out 4 to 5 weeks after sowing without splitting up the module. (more…)

09 Sep 2011

Horkans Hedging Weekend

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06 Sep 2011

September in the garden

The other week we went to the National Vegetable Society championships in Llangollen. The exhibition standard of the vegetables was one of the highest, which is quite amazing considering it’s hardly been an ideal growing year so far. I don’t grow for show myself but for those interested, my friend John Trim has written some articles on show growing for the web site. He’s a horticultural lecturer and a top show grower and judge, so he knows what he’s talking about. Show Growing. (more…)

09 Aug 2011

The Organic Centre, Leitrim

News August 2011

Flower and Plant Sale

at The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co. Leitrim Sunday 11^th September 2011 from 11am-4pm

Free admission.

Visitors to The Organic Centre gardens often ask about the colourful borders brimming with flowers and herbaceous plants looked after by Jill Scott, Fermanagh’s award-winning gardener. (more…)

05 Aug 2011

20 New Jobs for Irish Organic Weedkiller with New Factory Opening

Irish Organic Weedkiller, the start-up company which brought Ireland’s first 100 per cent natural weedkiller to market last year, has announced it is to create 20 new jobs with the opening of its factory in Claregalway Corporate Park, Co. Galway. (more…)

08 Jul 2011

Fuchsia Bloom – Horkan’s Lifestyle & Garden Centre

July is the time for Fuchsia Colour in the garden, Fuchsia planted in hanging baskets and patio planters early in the spring are beginning to flower and add welcome colour to the garden. Fuchsia starts flowering in early July and will remain in flower right up until the hard frosts in early October. Because they flower on new growth regular feeding with one liquid fertiliser will enhance the blooms and help to encourage lots of flowers all summer long.

Many of the Wild Fuchsia’s including Fuchsia Magellanica were hammered back during the cold winter weather but in many cases new growth is appearing from the base and where this new growth is present you should cut back the dead and damaged stems to the strong new growth. (more…)

07 Jul 2011

The Annual Organic Centre Garden Party 2011

Where: Rossinver, Co. Leitrim

When: 17th July 11am – 5pm

Special features:

“Peat free compost” with head gardener Julia Lehmann and information by The Irish Peatland Council.

Launch of “Organic gardening is simple” by award winning gardener Jill Scott from Fermanagh (more…)

05 Jul 2011

Gardening with John

What to do now on the plot

There’s quite a lot you can start at this time of year. Beetroot, spring cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrots, kohlrabi, lettuce, rocket, peas (use an early variety so they’ll mature before the season ends) French beans, spring onions and radish.As your early potatoes come up, give the soil a quick fork over and then rake roughly level, Bet you find some spuds you’ve missed! You can sow French beans for a late crop or you could use a green manure like mustard – there’s more in my book Vegetable Growing Month by Month.and on the site here: Monthly Guides

Keep a close eye on your main potato crop. There have been a few scattered reports of blight, which really depends on the weather. So far, touch wood, not in our area but you never know. There’s an article on potato blight here: Potato Blight (more…)

23 Jun 2011

The Organic Garden Centre Newsletter

Summer Newsletter June 2011

In this newsletter:
1. The Organic Centre Garden Party
2. To water or not to water?… that is the question
3. “Think like a Flower. Organic Gardening is Simple” a new book by Jill Scott
4. Organic Centre Summer Courses coming up:
5. New from September overwintering crops (more…)

20 Jun 2011

Horkys Advice in Dealing with Potato Blight

2009 Irish summer conditions have encouraged ideal potato blight conditions – Humid moist weather helps to spread potato blight on early and maincrop varieties.

Potato blight is one of the worst disease problems when growing Potatoes. It can wipe out the plants almost overnight and, worse still, it can infect the tubers causing them to rot in storage. In a sack or crate it will travel from potato to potato ruining the lot. (more…)

02 May 2011

Greenieland May Newsletter

Did you Know?

Did you know that:

Most plants have a female and male part in it’s flower. The female part is known as the ovary and the male part is the stigma.
Pollination isn’t always carried out by insects – it is also done by the wind, birds and even bats!
Some plants of the same species have different flowering cycles. For example, Bamboo. A few flower each year, but most wait much longer.
Hummingbirds hover in front of flowers while they collect nectar. They use so much energy to do this that it would be like you needing to eat 150kg of hamburgers every day!
The white flower of the Amazon water lily is the size of a football and turns purple after it has been pollinated.
Puya raimondii from the Andes in South America doesn’t grow a flower until it is 150 years old! (more…)