Glensallagh Business Profile – Now Hiring Intern Gardener

Glensallagh is a 47-acre property on the south facing slope of the Mizen peninsular about 5km north of Ballydehob in West Cork. Bought as a farm in 1989, all appropriate ground was planted with 18,000 trees in 1991 including Oaks, Ash, Sycamore and Beech, on roughly two-thirds of the available ground and Sitka and Lodgepole pine on more acid soils. An ambitious woodland garden is being created on 15 acres. There are very diverse environments, ranging from windswept moorland to deep valley shelter. More than 200 species of trees and shrubs have been established along the paths maintained throughout the woodland. In addition, there are wildflower meadows and cultivated open woodland and glades. More than two thousand bulbs are added each year. The gardening approach could be termed, Fiddling With Nature: adding interest and colour to an already beautiful landscape.

In addition, there are two vegetable gardens, maintained entirely on organic principles, producing a wide range of salad crops for sale, two greenhouses with peaches and grapes, an extensive fruit garden, orchard and two polytunnels. More than 200 varieties of vegetables are grown each year, especially oriental and continental salad leaves. There are 20 hens, ducks, geese, and (sometimes) eating fowls.

On the forestry side, logs and mulch are made from thinning and pruning hardwoods and softwoods.

The property is run by Richard Speir, a retired exploration geologist with Dr Julie Hastings a lecturer in medical anthropology. They are assisted by a passing crew of WWOOFERS generally between two and five individuals at any one time.

Internship
An intern or apprentice gardener is required to assist with the day to day running and development of all aspects of the property. The appointment would be based on a one-year agreement.
Ideally, applicants should be fit, excited by gardening and growing, curious and open-minded and interested in pursuing a career in horticulture.
The appointee will take on a substantial part of the daily running of the property providing consistency and management of the transient WWOOFERs. This will involve the acquisition of skills with various mechanical aids, ie chainsaws, strimmers, PTO powered chipper/ shredder, circular saw etc. Separate accommodation will be provided on site, with water, power, heating and WiFi. There will be access to unlimited vegetables and eggs. A wage of €100.00 will be paid for a total of 4 eight hour days a week, which can be worked on a reasonably flexible basis. It is suggested that the incumbent could work for their own part-time gardening clients for some of the balance of the week to augment their income. A.number of possibilities already exist for this. Full insurance and PRSI will be covered by Glensallagh Gardens.

Contact
A small number of images of Glensallagh can be found on the holiday rental website: www.glensallaghholidays.com. For further information please email rpgspeir@gmail.com putting “Intern Information” in the subject box.