Promoting Local Organisations

I love browsing informative websites that are gardening and nature orientated, but find myself constantly drawn to British organisations. Their standard is not to be denied and the country has a long history of conservation and study but it suddenly occurred to me that it is ridiculous I am not automatically seeking out Irish resources that are dealing with my native environment. I became aware of it while I was browsing The [British] Wildlife Trusts website and I thought, maybe there is an Irish Wildlife Trust? And of course there is!

Similarly, I’ve always admired the community gardens springing up around the UK. We spent a weekend in Bristol a few years ago and were amazed walking through the public parks to see vegetables growing among the flowers. I since discovered the Incredible Edible Bristol movement through an excelled TED TALK by one of the founders Pam Warhurst. Then while out for a drink with a friend one night, she introduced me to a woman who was just about to embark on a community garden in Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill, Cork City, which is now going strong. It made me realise that this was happening in my own locality. This year I learned that a community garden had opened in Dunmanway, the town I attended secondary school in. A GIY group meets every month in Passage West holding practical demonstrations such as apple pressing and Indian cooking and visits to local polytunnels and gardens. Cork is full of interesting people doing fascinating things.

An enlightening little publication that has taken off this year is The West Fork, a supplement with The Southern Star newspaper that features profiles on Cork food producers, from those who harvest the raw materials to the people who create the finished product. The most recent edition introduced me to specialist businesses such as Roaring Water Sea Vegetables who farm seaweed and sell it as a dried product and Ruby Harte Floral Design in Drimoleague who can create an edible bouquet for you.

Buying all local produce is undeniably expensive but maybe do as I have and start replacing one big brand product with a local variety every week. So the next time I go to buy a supermarket own brand box of biscuits, I'll stretch the extra euro and choose a box of Régale Cookies Of Character that are handmade in West Cork using Clonakilty free range eggs and local unsalted butter among other local ingredients. Or I'll bring my salad to the next level by trying some Macroom Buffalo mozzarella, from the only milk producing buffalo herd in the country. Cork is vibrant and innovative and it is a joy to take an invested interest in promoting my local economy. 

 

Community Spirit and Buying Local

I've been thinking a lot about "community" the last few years - the almost unseen efforts made by ordinary people to keep a town or village alive. Suddenly I realise those pretty flowers in the middle of the roundabout didn't grow wild, those educational talks didn't organise themselves and that farmer's market didn't appear out of thin air. Did you ever wish a certain group or class was operational in your area without realising that maybe you should be the person to make it happen? Many of us are now living away from our family and the friends we grew up with. We have to create our own community support, and this can be difficult. A mutual hobby is an almost effortless way to meet like minded people. I've always held the belief that a single hobby goes a long way to enriching a life. It gives you something to feel useful about, something to talk about and something you can teach others about. Overall, it can give you confidence and that spills over into other aspects of your life.


How can you find out what is happening in your area?

Think small. The library is a good place to start, the local area/church newsletter or the noticeboard in the local supermarket. An internet search probably won't be the most effective way but maybe your town or village has a Facebook page that keeps up to date with local goings-on. The amount of [often free] interesting events organised might surprise you.

What prompted this post? Well I was in my local library recently and the librarian, on seeing that I had checked out a book on healing gardens, gave me a flyer for an upcoming talk in a local hall. The event was organised the GIY fraction in Passage/GlenwoodMonkstown and the speaker was Madeline McKeever of Brown Envelope Seeds, an organic seed producing company that operates out of Turk Head, near Skibbereen. The subject was seed saving - something I have started experimenting with. It couldn't have come at a better time for me. Having a young nursing toddler I am happily limited in my socialising. If given the choice, I'd much rather meet people at something interesting and educational and be home before ten! There was a great turnout of at least 50 people, much more than expected, we donated a few euro each, got tea and cake and were able to buy locally produced seeds after hearing from the grower herself about her history and methods.

It's one thing going to your local garden centre or co-op and buying a bunch of seeds - the choice is overwhelming and the prices can be cheap - but to listen to someone speak about how they choose, grow, nurture, harvest and clean the seed in your local environment is far more inspiring to be a part of. It makes sense that the seed should thrive in your back garden as it was reared in the same conditions. I'll let you know in a few months!

So what did I buy? Firstly I bought two varieties of cherry tomato - Sungold Select and Black Cherry. Since I am still obsessed with beetroot, I had to expand beyond the comfort of the popular Bolthardy and bought a pretty breed called Chioggia which is pink skinned with pink and white flesh in a concentric circle design. Lastly, I looked ahead to the winter months and bought seeds for a salad leaf that any reader of Joy Larkcom will be familiar with - Winter Purslane. By all accounts it grows like a weed and is frost hardy, making it sound like an ideal source of vitamin C. Putting them into my seed box and seeing all the cheap multi packs of seeds I've bought over the years made me slightly wish I was starting off again so I could buy local as much as possible. I'd buy less but hopefully increase the quality of my seeds.

If you want to start buying Irish produced seeds, check out Brown Envelope Seeds and Irish Seedsavers. If you know of any others, let me know!