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Amenity horticulture
Amenity horticulture
Amenity horticulture covers a range of non food plants grown in Ireland. Our mild temperate climate provides ideal growing conditions for a comparatively large range of garden/landscape plants and flowers. Commercial amenity crops are grown either indoors in permanent structures such as glasshouses, fixed and mobile polythene tunnels or in open field/plant bed situations. While protected food horticultural production i.e. growing in glasshouses/polythene tunnels, is mostly concentrated in the area just north of Dublin and along the East Coast, containerised nursery stock production is centred in Kildare.
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal
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What to put in your compost bin?
What to put in your compost bin?
For best results coarse materials should be chopped or ground into small pieces before being added to the heap as this will speed decomposition.
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Sheep roaming on Achill Island
Sheep roaming on Achill Island
Sheep breeds kept on the hill areas are a hardier type of sheep more suitable to the tough conditions. This picture was taken on Achill island, off the coast of Co Mayo. Sheep wander the roads as they graze commonage land shared by multiple farmers. Each farmer makes their own sheep with a distinctive colour and sheepdogs are essential in order to gather the sheep for management tasks. Sheep farmers in some mountain regions now market their distinctive lamb direct to consumers (www.ringofkerryqualitylamb.ie and www.connemarahilllamb.ie)
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal
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Ewe and lamb
Ewe and lamb
Lambs are born in springtime after a gestation period inside the ewe of five months. Newborn lambs weigh about five kilograms and feed from their mothers’ milk for about 14 weeks. A ewe can only feed two lambs at a time and most ewes will produce one or two lambs per year. However, some ewes will produce three or four lambs and, in this case, lambs may have to be adopted by another ewe.
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal
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Flock of sheep
Flock of sheep
A group of sheep is called a flock. There are many different strains or breeds of sheep in Ireland, with two main categories - hill/mountain breeds and lowland breeds. The lowland sheep are concentrated in the inland counties and low lying land, while the hill sheep are a hardier type more suited to the tough terrain of the mountains in the west and in Wicklow. Females that are over one year of age and that have given birth to a lamb are called sheep. A mature female sheep is called a ewe. A mature male sheep is called a ram and a castrated (neutered) male sheep is called a wether.
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal
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Hay-making
Hay-making
Haymaking became widespread in Ireland during the late nineteenth century. In more recent times, it has been overtaken by silage as the most popular method for preserving grass. It is cut in the summer time and turned in the field for a number of days until it is dry. In the past, crops were gathered into heaps called “cocks”, which were then gathered in the haggard of the farmyard. Barns to protect hay from the elements were widely in use by the early 20th century. Today, hay is generally gathered in the form of round or square bales, which are formed after passing the crop through a mechanical baler pulled by a tractor.
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Map of Ireland showing sheep numbers by county
Map of Ireland showing sheep numbers by county
This graphic shows the number of sheep per county in 2010 and the percentage change on 2009. For example, Kerry had 274,564 sheep at the 2010 census, a 2.16% increase on the previous year. The larger circles illustrate the larger county totals, with Donegal the most significant, at 387,057 sheep. The top counties – Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Kerry and Wicklow all have one thing in common – upland/mountain land. In these areas, sheep are the only enterprise suitable for the terrain.
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A Charolais calf
A Charolais calf
Charolais cattle are the most popular beef breed in Ireland – (www.icbf.com). They originate in the Massif Central region of France, with the first imports to Ireland in 1969. Today, there are over 3,000 breeders of pedigree Charolais cattle in Ireland (www.charolais.ie). Pure bred or pedigree Charolais cattle have a distinctive white coat, although when crossed with other breeds they can be seen in various shades of grey or white. Their main attributes are fast growth, docility and ability to thrive when grazing or when fed intensively indoors.
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Woodland in Polmounty
Woodland in Polmounty
An excellent view of a number of shade-loving plants can be found in this wet willow-alder-ash woodland in Polmounty in the South of Carlow including ferns, ivy and brambles.
Betsey Hickey
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Sheep dog herding the sheep.
Sheep dog herding the sheep.
A well trained sheepdog is a key aid for moving sheep from one field to another and essential for gathering mountain sheep. Training and handling sheepdogs is a very skilled job and well trained dogs are very valuable. The most common breed of sheep dog is the Border Collie.
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal