A few years ago, I went to hear Jennifer Bartley talk about her new book, Designing the New Kitchen Garden, put on by her publisher, Timber Press and Powell's Books. If you are an Oregonian you know Timber Press to put out a great meaty book on about any gardening subject around.  I was thrilled at the prospect of meeting Jennifer as I was planning my new 1500 sq. ft. kitchen garden on the lower half of our first acre. Ready to plant and make it of the grandeur of the walled gardens I had seen in Ireland, I had high hopes and expectations of my first real garden! It's been a labour of love ever since and we are planning the garden again this spring, tweaking it just a bit to fit our needs for the coming year.

When I was able to meet Jennifer in person, I immediately asked if she'd consider doing a tour. I had finally met someone with the same ideals in touring as I had. Small, simple, a learning experience.  A way to connect with the people you were on tour with and a way to connect to the people that you were meeting along the way. A rich experience in knowledge and understanding of another country and the way they garden with hands on experience in their culture, their food and their gardens. 

We feel that we have put that perfect tour together for you to enjoy. We'll meet those that have a city garden, such as Helen Dillon in Dublin; those that have palatial gardens such as Killruddery where Becoming Jane and the Tudors has been filmed and Powerscourt in Wicklow County; the Robinsonian Garden of Mount Usher , inspired by William Robinson in the 1800's; The Estate Gardens such as Glin Castle where we will meet with the head gardener, Tom, for some hands on experience in the garden as well as lectures by Jennifer on planning our gardens and to see the kitchen garden gone fallow to eradicate weeds the organic way; Gardens warmed by the gulf stream such as Derreen ; and private gardens, not unlike our own gardens, hugely personal and that tell the tale of  ourselves and loves in the garden, such as John & Ruth Ross's garden, Knockmore , in the small town of Enniskerry.

We invite you to join us in this journey to Ireland to meet her people, her gardens and to learn with us.  We'll meet the locals, take in a cookery class, see the gardens, eat of the "new" organic food movement there with Good Food Ireland and add a bit of history in for good measure.

The tour is limited, so sign up early. We hope you can join us! We look forward to meeting you!

You can inquire about this tour here for a detailed itinerary and pricing.