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Anne Marie Fuller of Transition Kerry looks forward to workshops for National Allotments Week. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE inaugural National Allotments and Community Gardens Week is taking place from October 14-21 and Tralee Allotments are launching two 6 x session programmes starting this Wednesday in Rahoonane Community Centre and Allotments and this coming Saturday in Marian Park allotments.
These workshops are open to all and each session can be attended in its own right, but people are asked to register in advance so that the organisers know how many people to expect.
Anne-Marie Fuller of Transition Kerry said; “The aim of National Allotments and Community Gardens Week is to raise awareness of allotments and community gardens, and to highlight the many benefits community gardening has for communities, individuals, and the environment.”
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“The 2023 theme is “Growing with Nature” and comes on the back of Kerry Mental Health week where a number of workshops highlighted how connecting with nature is great for mental health and wellbeing. Academic research is now showing what we already intuitively knew. According to Rachel Freeman, lecturer in Horticulture at TU Dublin ‘a wealth of academic literature shows community gardens are not only important for the biodiversity they promote and for the food that they cultivate, but that access to such urban oases is hugely important to people for reasons to do with social inclusion, environmental awareness and mental health’.”
Gardening for Community People and Planet will run Wednesdays from 10am-12noon at Rahoonane Community Centre and Allotments, Tralee, V92 D9HF, up until Wednesday 6th December.
The workshops will be delivered by Thomas O’Connor of Transition Kerry and Manna Organic Farm who said; “Allotments hold a great space for building community and connecting people to their food through practical experience and learning”.
A number of different themes will be covered over the 6 weeks including:
• Understanding the Soil Food Web which will involve looking at the importance of the soil food web for the health of our plants and quality of our food. It will also cover building fertility and reducing inputs
• How Composting Works will cover practical methods for composting such as wormeries, garden composting and the Su Johnson Reactor
• Seed Saving will provide tips and practical tools for local Seed Saving and examine the importance of Seed Saving in building resilient communities
• Orchards/Fruit propagation will include information on air pruning
• Permaculture Principles will look at our gardens/allotment through the lens of permaculture and plan using this wisdom
There will also be an optional Practical Farm Walk at Manna Organic Farm to see the above principles in action.
The Practical Gardening programme will be delivered by Padraic O’Briain on Saturday mornings in the Marian Park Allotments, Tralee, V92 V6KV from 10.30am– 12.30pm starting this Saturday 21st and finishing on Saturday December 2nd.
The course will give participants an introduction to growing and caring for their own fruit and vegetables, covering the following areas:
• What to grow in Autumn and Winter
• Storing and preserving your produce, including new cooking ideas
• Semi-ripe and Hardwood cuttings – cloning and pruning fruit bushes – e.g. figs, grapes, berries, sage, rosemary etc.
• Growing Perennial Vegetables – Jerusalem and Globe artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb etc.
• Root cuttings – e.g. comfrey, mint, fennel, lemon balm, horseradish
• Divisions and Layering – e.g. strawberries, mint, thyme etc.
• Grafting and Pruning and increasing the productivity of fruit bushes and trees
• Watering and irrigating crops using low tech methods
• Composting and mulching
The programmes are delivered through a Transition Kerry and NEWKD collaboration and would not be possible without the funding gratefully received from the Department of Rural and Community Development Community Recognition Fund administered by Kerry County Council.
To register for the Gardening Community People and Planet please e-mail: marycahill@newkd.ie To register for Practical Gardening please e-mail: transitionkerry2020@gmail.com
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