The Willow Man at the Carrickmacross Arts Festival

Last August I was invited to undertake a special new project as part of the Carrickmacross Arts Festival in County Monaghan. To celebrate the harvest season, I undertook create a living willow sculpture of Lugh, a mythological Irish god and member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Lugh is synonymous with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which traditionally takes place in the month of August or Lúnasa. Known as ‘The Horned God’ in some Celtic countries, he is also known by the nickname Lámfada or long arm, a reference to his skill with spear and sling.

He is the father the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn and the foster-son of Tailtiu, an earth goddess, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for farming. In his grief, Lugh established the first harvest festival, Áenach Tailteann, which took place in Tailtin or Teltown in Meath.

Lugh had several magical possessions including unstoppable spear known as Sleg and a sling called Táthluib.

Lugh was created from a combination woven living willow trees, dried willow, sugán and ash. His body was created using living willow branches, woven together over the six months before the festival. Parts of the body, including his joints, were made with the use recently trimmed green willow.

Lugh’s face was made from paper mache. His horned helmet was made using dried willow and súgán. Sleg, his mighty spear is made using ash, dried willow and súgán. Táthluib, his sling is made from súgán and dried willow.

Find out how The Willow Man went HERE 

Learn about the wonderful Carrickmacross Arts Festival HERE

Thanks to the Carrickmacross Arts Festival, Callans at the Bridge, Orla and Paul for giving this a go! Cheers, Andy

Burren Berries at the Clare Garden Festival in aid of Milford Care Centre and One Human Race

Spring has finally sprung and that means the always brilliant Clare Garden Festival rocks into Ennis this Sunday. Burren Berries will be doing things a little differently at this year festival - with all the proceeds from every strawberry and raspberry plant sold going to Milford Hospice in Limerick and the One Human Race charity who are working with refugees.
Burren Berries has a very limited supply of 100 per cent natural and organic garden strawberries and raspberries this year so we wont be trading on any other market. So this is you're only chance to get your hands on some Burren Berries in 2016.
The Clare Garden Festival will take place this Sunday, April 24, at the Ennis Showground from 10am. There will be more than 60 stallholders, dozen of expert talks, pop up gardens, kids entertainment and all the best of craic.
See you there...
Andy    

     

Introducing the Giant Sunflowers

Sunflowers and Nasturtiums

Burren Berries will launch our brand new organic Giant Sunflower Plants tomorrow at the  Ballyvaughan Farmers Market from 10am to 2pm. Grown from hand saved seeds, the saplings will grow into large plants - between 6 and 8 feet tall - and produce one very large and a number of smaller flowers.
Believe it or not, sunflowers grow really well in our unpredictable Irish summers - even on the west coast - and will fit right in in a sunny spot in pretty much every garden. For full growing information click GIANT SUNFLOWERS or visit our SHOP to make a purchase.

Burren Barries at the Clare Garden Festival

Claudia modelling the raspberries

Burren Berries will kick off the 2015 growing season this Sunday, April 26, with our first outing of the year to the Clare Garden Festival in Ennis. To mark the occasion, we are also unveiling a brand new produce - Burren Natural Raspberry Plants.
Year old plants, they produce medium to large red fruits in July and August and will fruit this year. Just like the Burren Natural Strawberry Plants, these plants have been produced 100 per cent naturally, with no artificial fertiliser or pesticides and are born and bread in Clare - which means that they will be well able to handle whatever weather the Atlantic throws at us in the months and years ahead.
The Clare Garden Festival kicks off at 11am at the Ennis Showgrounds with heaps of garden related fun and more then 80 local exhibitors. If you can't make it to the garden festival, Burren Berries will return to the Ballyvaughan Farmer's Market on Saturday, May 4 - or just visit the online ONLINE SHOP.
Cheers
Andy

Strawberry plants - all ready for summer

How to grow lots of strawberries (even if you don't have lots of space)

Strawberries are very straightforward plants - if you treat them right, they'll do right by you. So, if you want to grow lots of delicious strawberries [and who doesn't want to grow lots of delicious strawberries], I've put together a few things to help you on your way. The video below is of my daughters, Alíona and Claudia, showing off one of strawberry beds. This small bed, about 3x5 foot, produced hundreds of berries each summer. Find out how HERE. Cheers - Andy 

Clare Garden Festival

Thanks to everyone who supported Burren Natural Strawberry Plants at last weekend's Clare Garden Festival in Ennis. We had a great day, meet lots of interesting people, saw some great plants and had our best ever day for sales of Burren Berries.

As a welcome to new strawberry growers, I will be blogging tips about starting a new strawberry patch in the coming weeks - starting with advice on where to locate your berries later this week. For those people new to Burren Natural Strawberry Plants, don't forget to like us on facebook or follow us twitter where you can get regular updates and growing tips.
To get your hands on some Burren Natural Strawberry Plants email burrenberries@gmail.com or call/text 086 3512763. We will be back at the Ballyvaughan Farmers Market this Saturday and every Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Not get planting! Andy 

Burren Natural Strawberry Plants at the Clare Garden Festival

Burren Natural Strawberry Plants will kick-start the strawberry planting season at the Clare Garden Festival in Ennis next Sunday, April 27. The festival, which takes place at the Ennis Showground from 11am to 6pm, was a great success last year with around 2,000 people turning out to hear the expert talks and see the best of local food, produce and, or course, strawberries. For more on the festival click HERE. Hope to see you there!
If you can't wait until the 27th, check out how you can get your hands on some Burren Natural Strawberry Plants HERE. Remember, strawberries are easy to grow, great to get kids interested in gardening and, of course, delicious!
Cheers,
Andy