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Strawberry time.
It is strawberry time in Ireland, in England, and in Holland
too. That is where I came from in 1967. Now is a good time to
think about strawberries, because you can see them and taste
them everywhere. But when I think of strawberries, I also think
of Holland. The official name of Holland is The Netherlands.
Holland is only a part of the Netherlands. And The Netherlands
has 12 small provinces. I came from one called Zeeland. (This
means sea-land in English). New Zealand was named after my
province. It is a province of many islands.
In 1953 a terrible flood struck our province, and 1800 people
drowned, and many animals too. After this flood a huge dyke was
made to protect the land from flooding again. This dyke is
called the Delta Works, and it keeps the sea from over-flowing
the reclaimed land, much of which is below the level of the sea.
If you ever travel to Holland by plane to Schiphol (Amsterdam
airport) or ferry across the North Sea, you will see that the
land is flat and everything is straight. This makes it easy to
cycle, and in Holland people cycle a lot. There are special
bicycle lanes along all the roads, both in the countryside and
the cities. They even have their own traffic lights. It is very
easy to cycle in Amsterdam, which is Holland’s capital, and
famous for its culture, nightlife and canals. Rotterdam is
famous too, but really only for its harbour, which is the
biggest in the world.
Apart from cycling, you can travel in Holland by canal in a boat
or barge, and also by skating in winter when the water freezes
to ice. Skating is very popular, with skating marathons held in
years when the weather is cold enough.
Also popular is soccer, and I played it too when I was young,
and skated and cycled. But I was no Sean Kelly or Ruud van
Nistelroy. Instead I grew strawberries and other fruit, and we
still do on our farm, though not in Holland any more, but rather
in Ireland.
Competition questions:
1. What country was named after the Zeeland
province in Holland?
2. What is the name of Amsterdam airport?
3. When can you skate on the canals in
Holland?
Send your entries, including your name and address (to reach us
by July 25th. 2003) to:
Summer competition,
The Apple Farm,
Moorstown,
Cahir,
Co. Tipperary
Entrants should be aged 12 years or younger.
1st prize: €20.00 voucher for Easons.
Runners-up (x2): €10.00 voucher for produce at our farm shop.
All correct entries will be entered into a draw for the three
prizes
Spring competition winners:
Congratulations to the winners in our spring competition. The
entries came from all around the country this spring, and the
winners reflect this:
- Conor and Peter from Abbeyfeale
- Alannah from Dublin 4
- Caoimhe from Ballylooby
- Molly from Bantry
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