Spend a Big Weekend with the Irish Seed Savers Association at their annual workshop extravaganza studying orchard planting, foraging and seed saving among the orchards and beehives of their lovely garden in Scarriff, Co Clare.
This hard-working charity is gathering some of Ireland's most fascinating heritage fruit and vegetable cultivars together in a bid to prevent them disappearing from our gardens altogether. In their 23 year history they've set up the Native Irish Apple collection and saved 48 varieties of Irish grain, as well as setting up a seed bank for over 600 rare and endangered vegetable varieties.
If you can't make it to East Clare you can still do your bit to help preserve Ireland's rich seed heritage. Look out for classic Irish apples now on sale in our garden centre, from the 'Ballinora Pippin' to 'Kilkenny Pearmain'; and set aside a corner of your veg garden for sowing Ireland's home-bred vegetable varieties such as the 'Tipperary Turnip', 'Auld Sod' tomatoes or 'Clarke's Beltony Blue' peas. Look out for packets of these and other heritage seed in our garden centre right now.
The Big Weekend Workshop Event takes place on 13th and 14th September: book at www.irishseedsavers.ie.
