Farm opens its gates to the public this weekend

Orchard Mushrooms are among 21 farms throughout Northern Ireland taking part in Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend – a completely free, not-for-profit event which runs on Saturday and Sunday. Tours of Orachrd Mushrooms at Boconnel Lane are available at 10am, 12noon and 2pm.

Elaine Shaw, of Northway Mushrooms, parent company of Orchard Mushrooms, said: “The mushroom industry is one that people know very little about. On Saturday we’ll be offering tours so that people will get to see the whole chain right through from cultivation to cooking.”

With 25% of children aged five to eight believing bread comes from animals and 22% of eight to 11-year-olds thinking cheese comes from plants, the two day event at farms across Northern Ireland hopes to shed some light on the food chain.

Farms taking part in the Craigavon area include Blackberry Hill Farm (Gilford), Rathmore Pig Farm (Banbridge), Pontz Home Farm (Portadown), Armagh Apple Farm (Drumnasso Road, Portadown) and, as detailed previously, Orchard Mushrooms at Boconnel Lane in Lurgan.

A host of activities, tours and quizzes are planned for the weekend – all of which aim to help people better understand what goes on behind the scenes - 365 days a year - on a busy farm.

Details on participating farms and times are found at www.openfarmweekend.com