(12) (New Series, programme three)
Wednesday March 19th 2025
RTÉ Óne, 8pm
HOME GROWN returns to RTÉ One with a brand new third series celebrating Irish horticulture.
Industry advocates and presenters Kitty Scully and Colm O’Driscoll once again travel the country in this popular series, searching for stories that highlight the very best in the Irish horticulture industry.
HOME GROWN series 3 explores everything from innovative growing techniques to the extraordinary people shaping Ireland’s green spaces, profiling small producers, and highlighting the generosity of community gardening for a good cause.
This seven part series also goes behind the scenes at Ireland’s largest horticulture festival Bord Bia Bloom, highlighting the resilience and ingenuity of Ireland’s horticulture industry, looks at the intrigues of creating habitats for animals, and explores many other stories that inspire growth and connection.
Colm says:
“Horticulture is such a diverse industry and the full spectrum of this diversity is portrayed this season, highlighting the far reach of horticulture and the important role it plays in our society. I got to see the important therapeutic role horticulture plays in the inspiring ‘Field of Dreams’ project, while I also witnessed how horticulture can be used as a rehabilitation tool in one of our country’s largest prisons.
” Last season we saw how vulnerable Irish growers are to weather extremes, so it was interesting to visit Met Eireann to see the work they are doing to bring advance weather warnings to growers sooner, to help them cope with our ever changing climate. I also visited several enterprises that are bringing us new technology and innovations that aim to improve the sustainability of the industry. From autonomous driving tractors to carbon sequestering fertilisers, the range of innovation is inspiring.”
Kitty says:
With twenty years experience in Ireland’s horticultural sector, and my third season working on HOME GROWN, I continue to be amazed by the industry’s ongoing growth and innovation. This season the sheer diversity of horticulture in Ireland truly stood out. From the grandeur of historic castle gardens, meticulously maintained for generations, using time honoured techniques, and inspiring inner city parks landscaped using repurposed materials; to cutting edge rooftop gardening projects harnessing AI driven robotic weeding technology to maximise efficiency and shorten food supply chains.
“The series highlights not only how horticulture shapes our daily lives, through food, public spaces and biodiversity, but also how every citizen plays a role in protecting and enhancing this dynamic, yet often overlooked, industry.
This season is a powerful reminder that horticulture is woven into every aspect of our world.”
Programme three:
Resilient Weather Forecasting: Data-Driven Growing
Colm starts this episode in County Meath at McCormack Family Farms, talking to Stephen McCormack about how localised weather information is vital for successful growing. He then visits Met Éireann’s agricultural unit in Dublin, where experts Padraig Flattery and Eoin Whelan explain how supercomputing and diverse data sources are being harnessed to refine weather forecasts amid Ireland’s increasingly unpredictable and wet climate.
Innovative Energy Solutions in Mushroom Farming
Kitty investigates the mushroom industry’s response to rising energy costs. After discussing energy challenges with Teagasc Mushroom advisor Donal Gernon, she travels to Tullow in County Carlow. There, Leslie Codd, MD of Codd Family Mushrooms, demonstrates how on-site Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology is efficiently producing both electricity and thermal energy, reducing waste while lowering the sector’s carbon footprint.
Behind the Scenes at Bord Bia Bloom
Colm goes behind the scenes at Bord Bia Bloom, Ireland’s largest horticulture festival and discovers the extensive planning required to stock the event in Dublin’s Phoenix Park with a vast array of plants. Bord Bia Bloom Show Garden Manager Kerrie Gardiner highlights how the gardens are utilised to tell stories, while show garden judge Paul Maher explains the importance of planting designs.
Creative garden designers Joe Eustace, Robert Moore and Linda McKeown explain the creative process and the importance of choosing plants for their show gardens, from selecting the right plants for shade, the sheer volume of plants and the importance of ensuring they settle in before the festival opens. Bord Bia’s Carol Marks shares how plants featured at the festival come from Irish nurseries, showcasing world class quality.
A Colourful Journey at Patthana Garden
Finally, Kitty takes a day trip to Patthana Garden in Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow— a garden that is uniquely influenced by colour through the work of its owner TJ Maher, artist and author of Grounded in the Garden. Kitty chats to TJ and walks through this inspirational garden, admiring the seamless integration into the natural landscape, and the carefully selected colour combinations that harmonise beautifully.
The garden’s thoughtfully curated plant selections and vibrant design highlight the creative artistry and dedication that define Ireland’s horticulture industry.
Home Grown is produced by InProduction TV & Scéal Creative Ltd. and is sponsored by Bord Bia
Press enquiries: TVPR Pauline Cronin 087 2629967
Kitty Scully, Bio 2025
Kitty Scully is a well-known organic gardener and local food advocate. Growing up on a mixed organic farm in Co Laois, she picked up a love of eating and growing good food at a young age. She nurtured this inherent passion with a formal education and by working on organic farms and gardens around the world. An MSc in Organic Horticulture is her highest paper accolade but her practical achievements go far beyond. Kitty has had a diverse career in horticulture to date – from managing a market garden for nuns in North Cork, to spearheading the evolution of the kitchen gardens in Airfield Estate; writing for national papers and co-presenting garden shows on RTE, ‘Home Grown’ being her most recent.
She currently writes a regular column for The Irish Garden Magazine and The Farmers Journal. She also co-ordinates the Organic Growers of Ireland Network and is Head Grower on a private estate in her home county. Kitty is a natural communicator who regularly gives talks, lectures and teaches workshops on gardening using organic methods. Kitty’s energy and enthusiasm for growing, learning and talking about all things soil based is endless.
Colm O’Driscoll Bio 2025
A dedicated exponent of organic horticulture and craft gardening, Kildare born Colm O’Driscoll currently works as head gardener of Lismore Castle gardens in Co Waterford.
A Graduate of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland Colm has enjoyed a diverse career gaining experience in many sectors of the horticultural industry including, landscape, retail, nursery stock, and organic food production.
Colm strives to innovate and introduce new and exciting plants while adopting sustainable methodologies, an endeavour that is clearly seen from his regular contributions to The Irish Garden Magazine, and through his lectures and workshops.
TVPR
Pauline Cronin 087 2629967
