GIY Blanchardstown - launch success

Thank you to each and every one of you who came to the launch meeting of GIY Blanchardstown last Wednesday; we were delighted to have such a turn out.

A special thank you to Michael Kelly for his presentation and to him and David for coming up from Waterford especially for the launch; also to David Skelly for providing technical support.

We were delighted to find so many people with an interest in gardening and growing vegetables and look forward to getting to know all of you.

Going forward Ger will be contacting all those who showed interest in becoming involved in the steering group. Following which we will release details of the next meeting and of events coming up in the near future.

There are many events in the pipe line such as GIY week at the end of February and Green Fingal Week in March, which is being organised by Fingal County council. As more details are released about these and other events we will pass them on to you.

If anyone is currently looking for an allotment in the Dublin 15 area here are two contacts, and some information, that might be useful:

· The Fingal Parks Department will be officially launching the new allotments in Blanchardstown on Wednesday 10^th and in Turvey on Saturday 13^th. Anyone interested in these allotments should contact Fingal Coco: info@fingalcoco.ie or 01 8905000.

And...

· Beechpark allotments in Clonsilla have extra allotment plots coming available. They have very generously offered a 10% discount to anyone looking to get an allotment with them that mention GIY Blanchardstown...in the next 2 weeks only. Contact is Ray: beechparkallotments@gmail.com

Don’t forget to plant you garlic and not to plant it too deep!

From Ger and Rebecca.

GIY Blanchardstown.

GIYBlanch@gmail.com
February Grower’s Calender

Interested in growing your own food?

First Meeting of GIY Blanchardstown

GIY (Grow it Yourself) Ireland is a new not-for-profit initiative that is literally sweeping the nation. It aims to get people interested in growing their own food and provide them with the practical skills they need to do so successfully. The organisation gets growers together (in the community and online) on a regular basis to talk, learn from each other and exchange tips, produce and war stories. GIY activities include monthly meetings, talks and demos; garden visits, seed and seedling swaps; produce bartering, mentor panels and grower’s meitheals.

GIY Ireland aims to establish a GIY group in every community in Ireland. There are currently 40 GIY groups in 20 counties nationwide and over 50 other groups in development. Meetings are free and open to people who are growing at all levels – from those who grow a few herbs in a window box to those who are completely self-sufficient, from absolute beginners to old hands. The organisation was founded by journalist and author Michael Kelly and patrons include Diarmuid Gavin, Darina Allen, Clodagh McKenna and Joy Larkcom. Your local GIY group needs a mix of interests, abilities and experience to make this a success – so don’t be shy. Come along and bring any family, friends or neighbours who might be interested too.

GIY Blanchardstown will be based in Blanchardstown Library. The first meeting takes place on Wednesday the 3rd of February at 7pm. For more information visit www.giyireland.com or email GIYblanch@gmail.com.

A very exciting week indeed...

On Thursday this week I met up with Ger Skelly for a coffee and a chat about setting up a GIY group in our area.

Turns out Ger is incredibley organised, thankfully, and by the time we parted ways we had already applied to Blanchardstown Library to book a room, selected a first meeting date, drafted a marketing plan (of sorts) and got to know a little about each other. Not bad for two people who had never met before!

We are just fine tuning the first meeting date now as we're hoping that one of the GIY Representatives can attend. It'll either be Jan 26th or Feb 3rd - I'll let you know.