Growing your own food has never been more relevant in today’s economic climate when people are watching every cent they spend. News stories are appearing regularly containing the term ‘cornflake days’ to describe occasions when parents can only afford to feed their families breakfast cereals, yet with a small amount of effort those mothers and fathers could be feeding their families wholesome, home-grown fruit and vegetables and saving themselves up to €500 per year.
Dee Sewell, owner of Greenside Up, is constantly on the lookout for ways to encourage more people to grow their own food having seen first-hand the positive benefits by working with community gardeners in the South East of Ireland from all social economic backgrounds. Realising that people would be seeking more practical and low cost gifts for friends and relatives, Dee came up with the idea of the Hand Crafted Seed Gift Cards as a means of addressing this.
“By tending to their gardens for just a couple of hours a week, less in the winter months, families can provide an abundance of food – so much in fact they’ll be giving some away to friends and neighbours, all for just the cost of a few packets of seeds. Imagine giving somebody a gift of seeds that will offer them this sense of satisfaction. The initial range of seeds has been put together to attract potential new gardeners to vegetable growing as well as to delight old hands.
From growing seeds that can be made into country wines, herbal teas, winter and summer squashes that will produce and store for up to six months of the year, several varieties of chilli peppers as well as flowers that will attract beneficial insects into gardens, many tastes have been catered for. Each of the five packs is available to buy individually or as a collection that would make an ideal house-warming, retirement, birthday or Christmas gift.”
Dee also mentioned that apart from being hand crafted, the cards are unique in that each one contains a link and QR code that directs the holder of it directly to the Greenside Up blog if scanned by a Smart phone.
“My blog was recently in the finalist position of the 2012 Blog Awards Ireland in both the Eco/Green and Lifestyle categories. It’s regularly updated with recipes, growing tips, product reviews, interviews, guest posts and video blogs. When somebody enters the link that’s printed on the back of their seed gift cards, they will immediately be directed to a series of posts that explain how to grow, care for, make or cook their seeds or plants. These posts are constantly being added to, giving the owner of the seed packets an on-going gardening experience. I’m very active on social media so any questions regarding the growing or caring of their seeds can be asked and replied to on Facebook, Twitter or Google + or Email.”
The Seed Gift Cards are currently available from on-line stockists and at local craft fairs that Greenside Up will be attending in Carlow and Kilkenny over the coming few weeks. For more information on stockists see www.greensideup.ie/gifts.
Plans are already underway to introduce new ranges of seeds in 2013 that will include many of the more popular fruit and vegetables, as well as children’s gift cards and an Irish Organic range.
In 2011 Greenside Up were Finalists in the South East Region of the Women in Business Excellence in Professional Services category, Finalist in the Irish Green Awards and Shortlisted for the Irish Blog Awards.
Dee Sewell set up Greenside Up in 2009 with the aim of teaching as many people as want to learn how to grow vegetables and as well as other projects, is currently teaching vegetable growing to After Schools children in County Carlow and in conjunction with Kilkenny Leader Partnership, to community gardens in Callan and Goresbridge.
Source: HortiTrends News Room
