On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:12:54 GMT, wrote:

I have been granted the use of a very large plot near the ocean, here
in the south-west of Ireland. I have been told that the salty breeze
coming in off the Atlantic will make it difficult to grow many crops
successfully, that potato blight would be difficult to prevent, etc.
There are a few apple trees on the land, but they are in terrible
condition, no-one has taken care of them for years.
What sort of crops would be likely to thrive in this area? The soil
appears to be excellent, dark and crumbly.
Thanks for any advice.
Gerard [http://homepage.eircom.net/~gerfmcc]

Get yourself a copy of 'Seaside Gardening' by Christine Kelway, pub.
by Collingridge, 1962, and/or 'Shrubs for the Milder Counties' by W.
Arnold-Forster, pub. by Country Life, 1948. The former is out of
print, but the latter has recently been re-published. Not much about
veg. but plenty on shrubs and shelter belts. Try the Advanced Book
Exchange for second-hand copies:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchEntry


I'm not a veg. grower, but as Sacha says, you can grow plenty of crops
in those conditions. In west Cornwall, which has a similar climate and
exposure, early (new) potatoes, 'spring greens' and cauliflower are
popular commercially, although the former do have to be regularly
sprayed against blight especially when it's warm and damp. I suspect
that main crop potatoes wouldn't survive blight. You have to choose
your season for what you grow, avoiding the worst of the winter storms
(your phrase 'salty breeze' is something of an understatement!). Crops
that need support such as peas and beans, do tend to get blown over if
not sheltered, or grow dwarf varieties.

Good shelter trees and shrubs are Cupressus macrocarpa, Pinus radiata,
Quercus Ilex, Olearia species especially O. traversii, Elaeagnus
ebbingii, Griselinia littoralis and Pittisporum species, but all take
time to get to a useful height. Here in the 1950's, you often saw
fields with long screens of hessian netting supported on post and rail
frames running across them, or temporary lath fencing (inch laths with
inch gaps, running vertically) to act as windbreaks, although you
seldom see either nowadays.



--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net