“You could get a GPS from iPod, but they are cheaper for a PSP”. My lad is suggesting a sat nav for the car, as I’m not totally sure where I am. We’re on our way to the Northwest Garden Show in Castlefinn, and although I have been there before I am considering out loud that I should have taken a map with me. I get lost in Buncrana most days and I’ve even been known to get lost in my own house occasionally, so a sat nav would be a good idea, I’d probably lose it though.
There is no need to worry, it is well signposted to the Partnership Initiative Complex on the main street of Castlefinn. As we arrive, one of a multitude of fluorescent jacketed stewards direct us to a field a few hundred yards from the venue. There is a shuttle bus ready to take us across the road to the event, but as it’s a sunny day, we decide to walk in.
8 Acres for 5 euro
The Garden Show is on the 8-acre site and on a normal day is a recreational park, with a public allotments scheme. It also boasts the much admired Alphabet Park. The concept of the park is based on tree or crann ogham, the ancient Irish alphabet. The site was reclaimed from wasteland ten years ago and very impressive it is too. We pay our 5-euro on the door and are given a free entry to win a lawnmower from Robert Kee’s and a floor plan map of the site (so I won’t get too lost).
I am sometimes a bit reluctant to part with money at the gate of events that are just trade fairs. It’s a bit like paying to go into a shop and then get pressured into buying stuff that you don’t want. The Garden Show doesn’t feel like that though. The 100 or so stallholders and sponsors have a very laid back and friendly approach to the visitors and thankfully we aren’t being pounced on every few steps to buy. I am still cautious about asking any questions to sellers though; just in case I go home with something I had no intention of buying.
The choice of products is amazing, and most of the companies are local and Donegal based
Ice cream time
We’re sitting on some ornately carved wooden chairs eating an ice cream and looking at a beautiful geodesic dome that is a smaller version of the ones at the Eden Project in Cornwall. These state of the art structures are the brainchild of Peter Ellis and his company Atlantic Domes. We go over to talk to him. “The domes are multifunctional,” Peter tells us. “They are used as classrooms, exhibition places, growing areas and extra rooms. They instill a bit of magic into the places they inhabit.” Peter is very enthusiastic about his design. “ The structures can be either made with glass or plastic and can even be double glazed if needed”. The prices are comparable to a very large garden shed and they come completely installed by Peter’s team.
Next we’re over to the stallholders, I suggest we visit them in a methodical manner, calling on each one in turn. My lad has other ideas and decides to just go to whatever catches his eye. Whilst he checks out the Garden Challenge area where amateur gardeners lay out their ideas, I am looking at Greenhill Farms array of fine looking tools, some of which I haven’t got yet. Next to them are some really stately looking gates made by Iron Style. They are made from galvanised steel and oiled cedar wood. Each gate is beautifully crafted, I think they would make fantastic partitions in a small garden. You would enjoy looking at them for years.
Gillespie polytunnels are here showcasing their new concept of raised beds. Not content with just a bed, they have decided to put a mini polytunnel over the top of an eight foot by three foot bed and call them Hobby Tunnels. What a fantastic idea. It’s more than a cloche and perfect for tomatoes and salad crops all year round.
Mini Gardens
My lad pops back from the Garden Challenge for a moment. “ My favourite garden is by Janice Campbell from Dunwiley Nursery. She stacked wooden logs for hibernating ladybirds to live in, in the urban garden”. He’s away again wandering over to the Donegal Donkey Sanctuary.
I make my way to the Mini Gardens. These are pallet sized gardens made by pupils of the local schools. Dromone NS came up the idea called “Thinking outside the Box”. Ballyraine NS had an equally entertaining title of “Roots, shoots and Wellington boots”. St Safan’s school were very inventive with their metre square garden and used upside down plastic bottles with their bottoms cut off as bedding plant holders. Ballylast NS planted vegetables in their “Healthy eating” display and Youthreach Letterkenny used waving grasses to good effect in their world cup entry, complete with small model footballers on the pitch. Another topical entry was from St Mary’s NS in Castlefinn. The 1st and 2nd class used New Zealand flax inside a papier-mâché volcano to give the effect of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupting causing havoc for aeroplanes. White alyssum gave the effect of a surrounding glacier. Very clever.
Value for money
I met up with my lad and we watched Chef Brian McDermott give one of his imaginative outdoor cookery demonstrations. We’re now very hungry and decide to check out the Catering Zone. We are thinking of buying a burger, but there are no prices being displayed. I am always a bit wary of this, assuming I’ll be fleeced at the tills. “We’ll go to Leo’s (Burnfoot) on the way back”, I say. “They put all of their prices on the menu, and they do chips”.
We’ve been here two hours; good value for money, but decide to leave, as the lure of chips is strong. Walking past the main hall we hear Diarmuid Gavin having trouble with the PA system, he’s tapping the microphone. No one seems to mind though, hanging on his every (other) word about how to get the best from your garden this summer.
My lad has a suggestion “ How about getting on the shuttle bus to take us back to the car?” he suggests. Not a bad idea. As the service is there we might as well use it. Clambering on to the busy bus, we hop over the collapsed baby buggies and take a back seat for the 500-metre trip to the car park. There’s a sign on the front of the bus next to the driver that states. “Don’t ask me, I’m lost too.” I can relate to that, maybe he needs GPS too.
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