DUNMORE COUNTRY SCHOOL

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DUNMORE COUNTRY SCHOOL Learn how to grow your own food in a sustainable way. Become a bee steward. We organize half days to follow up. Face to face or Zoom/Skype

Our intensive 1 day horticultural course will bring you through the essentials of creating a garden that is both productive and a pleasure to the senses. We organise Warré natural beekeeping courses as well as French classes for all level.

14/10/2026

🍐 160 pears from ONE tree — no ladder needed! 🌳

This is the beauty of combining old knowledge with simple, clever techniques.

Our W-shaped pear tree is trained into four equal cordons, each 2 metres long. The result? A beautiful, productive and incredibly practical tree that’s easy to prune, easy to maintain and easy to harvest — all from the ground! 🙌

✨ Better ventilation means less humidity and potentially less scab.
✨ A beautiful, balanced structure.
✨ Easier maintenance and harvesting.
✨ And an amazing harvest of 160 pears from this one tree!

The variety is Jules? No — it’s Joséphine de Malines, a wonderful winter pear that can store until March when kept in suitable conditions.

The pears are now harvested and resting in trays in our cellar. I’m already looking forward to enjoying them in February or March. 🍐

This is what I love about traditional orchard knowledge: you don’t always need more space, more equipment or complicated techniques. Sometimes, the smartest solution is one that has been known for generations.

🌿 We teach these techniques in our pruning course, and our last course of the season is coming up in November!

Learn to grow fruit trees that are productive, beautiful and easy to care for.




11/10/2026

🌱 Four crops, one bed! Intensive gardening for beginners. 🫘🥦

In the video I said three in one, but actually, this bed had FOUR crops growing in succession! Here’s how we made the most of every inch of space:

🌱 February: Broad beans went in first.
🌿 March: I direct-sowed Rovera, an old Italian heirloom pea that we use to make delicious soup.
🫘 June: Time for Tarbais beans, a traditional white bean from the Tarbes region of France, famous for its role in the classic cassoulet.
🥦 June: I also planted purple sprouting broccoli, which will reward us with a harvest next March!

The secret? Think in succession, not just in individual crops. As one crop progresses, you can introduce the next, making better use of your growing space throughout the year.

And notice how many legumes we grow! Broad beans, peas and Tarbais beans all belong to the legume family. They can fix atmospheric nitrogen through their relationship with soil bacteria, helping support soil fertility. Their roots and crop residues can also contribute to soil health.

This is a great strategy for beginners: plan ahead, use the same bed across different seasons, and combine productive crops with a little patience. Your garden doesn’t need to be big to be productive! 🌱

Four crops. One bed. A whole lot of growing!

07/10/2026

So I accidentally found the ultimate sweet potato hack for cold climates like Ireland 🍠😂
If you want your harvested sweet potatoes to get super sweet and last forever, you have to cure them first. Here is the easiest lazy-way to do it:
-Pop them in a ziplock bag (leave it slightly open so they don’t suffocate!).
-Put them on a sunny, south-facing windowsill for 2 weeks.
The bag traps the heat and moisture, creating a perfect little tropical microclimate. After 2 weeks, take them out and put them in a kitchen cupboard. They literally keep for months.

04/10/2026

🍠 Sweet potato harvest! 🌱

I grew these in 15-litre pots from little slips I started back in February/March from sweet potatoes put into warm compost. And now, before the frost arrives, it’s time to harvest! ❄️

You can’t eat them straight away — they need to be cured first. I’ll show you how in my next video. 👩‍🌾

This is the beauty of growing your own food: from one little sweet potato to a whole harvest. And sweet potatoes are so good for you and surprisingly easy to grow! 💚🌱

03/10/2026

There’s something very special about having a little garden of your own.

It’s not just about growing vegetables or fruit. It’s having a place you’ve created yourself — with flowers, colours, birds, bees, sounds, and all the little things that make a garden feel alive.

For me, it’s a place to slow down, get grounded and reconnect with what really matters.

A little piece of Eden, right at home. 🌿🌸🍎

If you have even a small space, grow something. Plant some flowers, grow some food, create your own little paradise.

You might be surprised by how much it gives back. 💚

Still one place left for tomorrow!
02/10/2026

Still one place left for tomorrow!

29/09/2026

"As a horticulturist, I had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge and passion for soil and food production with a wonderful and very engaged group of people from Rathdowney.
The training was organised so smoothly, thanks to Cassia, who did a fantastic job coordinating everything. We were also lucky to have such a beautiful setting at the Clochar Centre, with its kitchen garden, beautiful polytunnel and flower beds — a lovely old walled garden that was the perfect place for learning and sharing ideas.
For me, opportunities like this are really important. Sharing knowledge about growing food can inspire more people to become interested in growing some of their own, understanding their soil and becoming more connected to where their food comes from.
I’m very grateful to Connect Laois for giving me the opportunity to share the word, meet such an interesting group of people and hopefully inspire a few more people to get growing!"
Copy the link in the comments below to read more kind words from some of our service users during Local Development Week 2026.
Local Development Companies Network Rathdowney Community Centre Rathdowney MENS SHED DUNMORE COUNTRY SCHOOL Laois County Council Laois Local News Laois People

27/09/2026

🌶️ A simple way to dry peppers! Thread a needle through the stem, string them up, and hang them somewhere dry and airy. As they dry, they’re ready to store and enjoy later! 🌶️✨

26/09/2026

Tree grafted with 5 c***r apple varieties

22/09/2026

🌶️ What is pepper corking?

Sometimes a pepper grows so quickly that the inside flesh grows faster than the outer skin. This can create little scars or lines on the skin that become woody and cork-like.

This is called corking.

I’m growing five varieties and it’s interesting to compare them:

🌶️ Chinese Five Color — no corking
🌶️ Espelette — no corking
🌶️ Red Jinda (Thailand) — corked
🌶️ Jalapeño Rubens — corked
🌶️ Cayenne — corked

For me, corking is actually a good sign. It can show that the pepper has been growing very quickly and putting on a lot of growth.

But corking can also be variety-dependent — some peppers simply do it more than others.

A little cork on your pepper isn’t necessarily a problem. 🌶️😊

Address

Dunmore Country School, DURROW, Co Laois
Durrow
R32HC93

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+353871258002

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