Crooked Boot Farm and Nursery is a family run plant nursery based in Ballydehob, County Cork. Specialising in nature friendly plants for pollinators, all of our stock is propagated and nurtured on our 8 acre Smallholding. With sustainability at our core, all our plants are pesticide free, grown in peat free compost and supplied in plastic free pots made from rice hulls.
Crooked Boot farm was delighted to provide a number of pollinating plants for Ballydehob Tidy Towns in the spring of 2025. Plants provided included native species such as Red Campion, Meadow Cranesbill and Yarrow in recognition of the unique co-evolved relationship that such species have with our native wildlife. Pollinating attracting herbs such as Rosemary, Chives and oregano we used as well as a range of garden herbaceous perennials that serve as a rich nectar and pollen source for species such as bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies, moths and butterflies.
In addition to the plants provided and in order to utilise the actions taken to include and educate, Crooked Boot Farm carried out a number of workshops on protecting pollinators in the local community. Workshops were held in the local primary schools of Ballydehob and in the wider community.
Alongside facilitator Aimi Pinder, children helped plant a Tidy Towns bed with pollinator plants after receiving a power point presentation on pollinators and how we can protect them, supporting their full life cycle as well as providing food. Older students also planted a native perennial meadow on school grounds, building a wall to protect it and stop it being cut untill the autumn.
In a free workshop for adults, participants learned about pollinators in a presentation before planting a Tidy Towns bed with Crooked Boot Farm plants. Participants came not only from the local community but also from other nature centered and Tidy Towns groups from as far away as Kerry.
We hope that by taking these actions pollinators will be further supported in our village and are very proud to have been part of this project.
