Fruit Hill Farm Blog

Supporting Farming and Farmers through Crowdfarming There has been an outbreak of irony at Fruit Hill Farm – we have become proud owners of a fruit tree! To be precise an Orange tree.  Our tree is growing on a family farm in Bétera, just north of Valencia in Spain – and most deliciously – we have just received our first...

Parsnips are a very reliable winter root vegetable.  They have a distinct nutty flavour and sweetness and are very versatile in the kitchen.  In Roman times they were believed to be an aphrodisiac and they were often used as a source of sugar before cane and beet sugars were available.  Parsnips are a member of the cow parsley family along...

There are two types of people in the world – those that like sprouts and those that see sprouts as the vegetable that spoils Christmas.  This is probably all down to cooking so perhaps I should have started by saying there are two types of cooks in the world – those that respect the sprout and those that boil it...

The History of the Turnip & Swede Turnips are a cruciferous vegetable (member of the mustard family). Turnips thrive in cool climates. The turnip that we know is thought to have descended from the Wild Turnip which is native to Central Asia, the Mediterranean and the Near East. The turnip was a well-established crop in Roman times. Fast forward to...

Paint – Look beyond the colour The properties that we desire in paint - such as durability, dispersion, resistance to fungus and vibrant colour - are unfortunately generally achieved by the use of man-made chemical additives.  The constituents of most paints may include formaldehyde, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds - or VOCs for short (those VOCs are partially responsibe...

Livos wood care products will colour, enhance and care for all your wood items in a natural and sustainable way.  The base of most LIVOS products is the oil of linseed - one of the oldest cultivated plants.  You could say that linseed is woods best friend! Linseed Oil Flowers of Linseed (or Flax). When used as a wood finish...

It's that time of the year again when wild blackberries are getting ripe and can be found in abundance growing wild around Ireland. We think that wild blackberries have an amazing flavour and we have a few tips for picking the best berries and, if you can manage to refrain from eating them all as you pick them, we have...

Congratulations this month go to Eve from Lowertown in Schull, Co.Cork. We love how she deals with the slug problem in a very organic and beneficial way and that her garden is a place for relaxing in whilst also providing food for her large family. Well done Eve, hope you enjoy spending your €50 voucher here at Fruit Hill Farm...

Easy to grow and producing a rewarding crop, courgettes are a popular vegetable to grow.  Sow indoors from April in medium sized pots at a minimum temperature 20c. Harden the plants off slowly and plant outside after last frost at a spacing of 30cm x 30cm.  Courgettes like a sunny spot and rich soil so incorporate some compost or well...

Lovely Knockvicar in Boyle, Co Roscommon. There are some fantastic gardens that are open to the public in Ireland and, if you are planning some trips this Summer, you may want to consider including a visit to some of the gardens listed here - this is by no means a definitive list as there are just so many to...