HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - Moving from 'Surviving to Thriving' in 2014 - Signup for HORTICULTURE CONNECTED Print Magazine Now - 3rd January

Another new year. A time to be thoughtful about the business year past. What worked and what did not? What are the new things we are going to be doing for our business in 2014, with more, the same or even less resources available to us? What do we give up to make sure that any new ideas and initiatives have a real chance to work? Its a common mistake we can all make (us included).

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Ennis Prepares to Host Irish Christmas Tree Throwing Championship

The countdown has begun to the third annual Irish Christmas Tree Throwing Championship which takes place at Active Ennis Tim Smyth Park in Ennis, Co. Clare, this Sunday (5 January, 2014). All proceeds raised by the event, which is organised by Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council, will go toward the Clare Branch of Cystic Fibrosis.

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Horizon 2020 Launched with €15 Billion Over First Two Years

The European Commission has today for the first time presented calls for projects under Horizon 2020. Worth more than €15 billion over the first two years, the funding is intended to help boost Europe's knowledge-driven economy, and tackle issues that will make a difference in people's lives.

Read more: Horizon 2020 Launched with €15 Billion Over First Two Years

HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - Does Technology work for you or Do you work for Technology? Putting the Social into Social Media - Dec 13th

Does Technology work for you or Do you work for Technology? Its a question I ask myself and others all of the time. Is technology freeing up more of my time, just to do more technology, which in turn is making me busier and busier? Does social media allow me to be virtually social with more people on-line and less social with real people who are in front of me? How many times have you been waiting for some service, while the service provider was chatting away on a phone and you get the "with you in a minute" sound-bite?

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HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - Sorry for HortiTrends IT Nightmare - New HORTICULTURE CONNECTED Print Magazine Sign-up Form - 4th December 2013

When you work with Information Technology as much as we do, the learning is usually done by making mistakes, discovering them and fixing them before anyone else notices. We are in the process of moving to a new service provider for our newsletter and its been a bit of a nightmare so far, as any of you who clicked on the link we sent last Friday for the Sign-up Form to get a free Copy of New Magazine HORTICULTURE CONNECTED will have noticed. P.S. It works now!

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SCP Adopts Framework to Assess Environmental Impact of Food

The European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Round Table [1] adopted recently, during its plenary meeting, the ENVIFOOD Protocol [2], a harmonised framework methodology to assess the environmental impact of food products.

Read more: SCP Adopts Framework to Assess Environmental Impact of Food

HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - A week Full of Events - 25th Nov 2013

We have caused a stir with the announcement of the new Print Magazine Launch. We are getting positive feedback for what I call our 'Vanity Project'. Please don't forget to sign-up to recieve your free launch copy of HORTICULTURE CONNECTED. We have some great writers lined up with lots of exclusive news and trends. If you want to advertise please see our rate card for some great value launch offers. Some advertisers are taking a wait and see approach, whilie others are diving in as as print becomes a very viable opportunity when offered in tandem with Web and Social.

Read more: HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - A week Full of Events - 25th Nov 2013

HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - Food & Drink Awards 2013 Winners - NEW PRINT MAGAZINE Horticulture Connected Ireland On Schedule - 19th Nov 2013

FOOD & DRINK AWARDS
We had a great night out last Thursday at the Food & Drink Awards. Keelings came out on top for development of the Keelings Soft Fruit Brand. Ornamental horticulture has access to many of the branding opportunities that Food & Drink have, such as the very successful 'Brand Forum' run by Bord Bia. A visiting Spanish intern at the event was amazed that the minister for agriculture Simon Coveney was not surrounded by bodyguards or handlers and was so accessible to the public.

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HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - New Print Magazine HORTICULTURE CONNECTED Ireland to Launch in December - 5 of the Best Garden & Lifestyle Centres Make it into Top 50 Stores in Retail Excellence Awards - 11th Nov

Congratulations to Ireland's best retail garden stores who made it into the Top 50. We will let the news and headlines do the talking this week. Back to full editorial next week including update on FloraHolland, IFTF and IHTF shows plus next weeks winners at next weeks Bord Bia Food and Drink Awards.

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Grocery Goods Sector by Numbers

A snapshot of information outlined in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine‘s Grocery Goods Sector Report, entitled ‘Increasing equity and transparency in producer-processor-retailer relationships’, which was published this morning.

Read more: Grocery Goods Sector by Numbers

Annual Meeting of Irish Freshwater Biologists 2014: 7th March, UCD

Organising committee: Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn (UCD), Dr Simon Harrison (UCC), Pascal Sweeney (Sweeney Consultancy), Dr Ian Donohue (TCD), Maria Walsh (National Biodiversity Data Centre).

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HortiTrends Weekly News & Comment - Barry Lupton is Editor of New Print Publication HORTICULTURE CONNECTED - Happy Christmas - 20th December

We are very happy to have Barry Lupton MGLDA as the Magazine Editor. He divides his time between Landscape and Garden Design, teaching, writing on industry matters and working as an External Authenticator for Solas and QQI. Among the Launch Edition articles that Barry is currently working on are:

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Sodshow: All I want for Christmas

The SodShow, Dublin's only garden radio show. Live every Friday @ 3pm – or after tea-time in podcast.

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EPAs Research Programme Into Fracking Welcomed

Environment Minister Mark H Durkan today welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) tender for a two-year research programme into fracking. The programme will further the understanding of the potential impacts on the environment and human health from fracking projects/operations (including construction, operation and aftercare).

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The Sodshow Meets Pat Fitzgerald, Paddy Madden and Trevor Sargeant

The SodShow, Dublin's only garden radio show. Live every Friday @ 3pm – or after tea-time in podcast.

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100 Years of Forestry at UCD - Sean McBride Lecture

1912 Augustine Henry Appointed. 

The Sodshow Meets Aoife Cox of The Daily Spud

The SodShow, Dublin's only garden radio show. Live every Friday @ 3pm – or after tea-time in podcast.

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The Sodshow Meets The Community Garden Network and GIY Ireland

The SodShow, Dublin's only garden radio show. Live every Friday @ 3pm – or after tea-time in podcast.

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Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme Opens

Applications for the 2014 Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme has opened recently.  Run in partnership with The Heritage Council, the amount of funding being made available by the Department of Agriculture in 2014 is €600k. According to the department, farmers who are participants in the REPS 4 scheme and who are due to receive a REPS payment in respect of 2014 are eligible to apply and the grants will range from a minimum of €4,000 to a maximum of €20,000.

Read more: Traditional Farm Buildings Grant Scheme Opens

The Sodshow Meets Carl Jones of Jones Garden Centre

The SodShow, Dublin's only garden radio show. Live every Friday @ 3pm – or after tea-time in podcast.

Read more: The Sodshow Meets Carl Jones of Jones Garden Centre