Home Grown returns to RTÉ One this Spring with a second run of the popular seven- part series celebrating Irish horticulture.
Industry advocates and presenters Kitty Scully and Colm O’Driscoll once againtravel around Ireland in search of stories celebrating Irish Horticulture and exploring our increasing interest in growing our own vegetables and plants.
Gardening activity surged during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a growth in spend by consumers to circa 1.5 billion euro in 2021 (IPSOS Bord Bia Value of the Garden Market study 2021), and a whole new cohort of new and returning gardeners.
Home Grown series 2 sees Kitty and Colm meeting people involved in greening public spaces, growing exotic mushrooms, community gardening initiatives, outdoor salad leaf production, restoring historic gardens, and learning how bees play a vital and integral role in large scale fruit production.
Other stories include visiting an amazing sensory garden developed for health and wellbeing, following the young designer who won the Cultivating Talent competition on his first foray into designing and building a show garden at Bord Bia Bloom 2023; and meeting with a new, innovative generation of growers, and finding out how social media influencers are inspiring a new generation into gardening.
Programme Five:
The first story on ‘HOME GROWN this week is about that menace that gardeners dread – the ‘invasive species’. Colm travels to the National Biodiversity Data Centre in Waterford to learn how to deal with nature’s unwanted guests, and to see what we can do to protect our gardens and our wild spaces.
Kitty returns to North Dublin to meet the McNally family in Balrickard, one of the country’s longest established organic growers. She discovers how one company has reduced the food supply chain, dealing directly with customers for the past 27 years.
Colm finds himself in a floral paradise near Oldtown in North Dublin when he meets Susan Lynch, owner and founder of The Vintage Rose Company, Ireland’s only commercial grower of cut flower roses.
This week’s inspirational garden is the captivating Angele Jupe Garden at Bellefield House, Shinrone, county Offaly. Angela Jupe left Ireland with an amazing legacy, and the garden is now in the expert care of the RHSI, and Head Gardener Paul Smyth.
Colm, Head Gardener in Lismore Castle Gardens in Waterford says:
“Once again it was a privilege to meet some of the industry leaders and get an insight into the hard work, determination, and innovation that it takes to succeed in this sector.
“It was encouraging to see the huge role environmental sustainability plays across all sectors of horticulture and its importance to all of the enterprises we met.
The adoption of new technology was also apparent across the sector as companies strive for innovation and efficiencies that enable them to compete on a global scale.
“Horticulture has struggled to attract young people into the industry but by embracing technology and improving the environmental credentials of the industry I believe it can become a more attractive proposition to future generations. It was also really encouraging to visit smaller enterprises that identified niches in the horticultural market and are thriving by growing for these very specific markets.”
Kitty, Head Grower on a private estate says:
“Last year was a really challenging growing season with unprecedented levels of rainfall in March, followed by drought before a wet and cold July/August.
“It was worrisome but yet inspiring to witness first hand the resilience and determination of growers as they navigate our ever changing climate, and reiterated the importance of buying Irish when it comes to plants, produce and inputs.
‘Chatting with growers across the country it became clear that climate was not the only challenge facing growers in 2023. Coupled with ever increasing input costs and vulnerable supply chains, the struggle to maintain viability and stay in business was real. It was encouraging to see some growers respond with a focus on shortening supply chains, which in turn boosts local economy and reduces carbon emissions. The capacity of growers to rethink, reimagine, adapt and act in times of crisis never fails to amaze me.”
Director Mark Boland
Home Grown is produced by InProduction TV & Scéal Creative Ltd. and is sponsored by Bord Bia
Press enquiries:
TVPR
Pauline Cronin 087 26299