Secretive Irish Climate Science Denier Group Steps Up 'Bizarre' Parliamentary Lobbying 22:27 Sep 27 0 comments EU Commission proposes new strict EU-wide rules on single-use plastics 12:29 May 29 0 comments Protecting WIldlife in Ireland from Hedge Cutting and Gorse Burning 23:37 Feb 23 0 comments WRECK THE « CLIMATE CHANCE » SUMMIT! At Nantes, France, from 26 to 28 September 2016 20:04 Jul 17 0 comments Why the corporate capture of COP21 means we must Kick Big Polluters Out of climate policy 22:47 Dec 03 3 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireRheinmetall Plans to Make 700,000 Artill... Thu Apr 25, 2024 04:03 | Anti-Empire America’s Shell Production Is Leaping,... Wed Apr 24, 2024 05:29 | Anti-Empire Ukraine Keeps Snapping Up Chinese Drones Tue Apr 23, 2024 03:14 | Anti-Empire Moscow Is Prosecuting the War on a Pathe... Mon Apr 22, 2024 12:26 | Anti-Empire US Military Aid to Kiev Passes After Tru... Sun Apr 21, 2024 05:57 | Anti-Empire
Human Rights in IrelandA Blog About Human RightsUN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights 5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights
Lockdown Skeptics
Humza Yousaf?s SNP Coalition with Greens Collapses Thu Apr 25, 2024 11:05 | Will Jones
Eastern Europe is Showing Britain Up on Free Speech Thu Apr 25, 2024 09:00 | ?t?pán Hobza
Transgenderism, Social Media ? and Aliens Thu Apr 25, 2024 07:00 | Steven Tucker
News Round-Up Thu Apr 25, 2024 00:31 | Will Jones
The Micromanagement of Speech in the Workplace is Out of Control Wed Apr 24, 2024 19:30 | Dr David McGrogan
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionIsrael's complex relations with Iran, by Thierry Meyssan Wed Apr 24, 2024 05:25 | en Iran's hypersonic missiles generate deterrence through terror, says Scott Ritter... Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 | en When the West confuses Law and Politics Sat Apr 20, 2024 09:09 | en The cost of war, by Manlio Dinucci Wed Apr 17, 2024 04:12 | en Angela Merkel and François Hollande's crime against peace, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Apr 16, 2024 06:58 | en |
The Cursed Earth Garden
dublin |
environment |
feature
Tuesday May 09, 2006 00:56 by Cursed Earth Gardener
In February this year, a new community garden has opened in Phibsborough, on the banks of the Royal Canal. It started off with some trees and a herb garden, and is establishing itself as an alternative means of urban food production. This article is a reflection by one of the community gardeners on the reasons for the project. Excerpt: We have lost the ability to provide for our needs from our local areas, and this coupled with an avaricious consumerism means we import more and more goods, both necessary and unnecessary, increasing the destruction worldwide. The only sensible way of life is a sustainable one, everything else is by definition, doomed to failure sooner or later. Our lifestyle is so far removed from an idea of sustainability that it has become an absurdity. It’s nigh on impossible to find Irish apples in Tesco in September Full text: The land itself is squatted. It appears to be a long disused part of the railway. We’re not asking permission from a higher authority, we’re taking it because we believe in the merits of our actions and the futility of requesting somebody else to improve our lives. It’s all about doing things ourselves, learning, making mistakes, making friends and trying to improve our local area in some small way. Our city is being held hostage by speculators who crowd our neighbourhoods with over-priced and shoddily built apartment blocks, with no investment in local facilities, green spaces, playgrounds, community centres, etc. The garden will probably be built over with one of these at some time in the not-too-distant future. If nothing else it might serve as a symbol of our society’s principles when it gets bulldozed to make way for yet more gated apartment blocks. Our environment in this country has been ravaged by the effects of thousands of years of civilization. We have killed all the native forests that used to blanket the island and turned the countryside into a chemically-green wasteland. We have lost the ability to provide for our needs from our local areas, and this coupled with an avaricious consumerism means we import more and more goods, both necessary and unnecessary, increasing the destruction worldwide. The only sensible way of life is a sustainable one, everything else is by definition, doomed to failure sooner or later. Our lifestyle is so far removed from an idea of sustainability that it has become an absurdity. It’s nigh on impossible to find Irish apples in Tesco in September.
I don’t know if I particularly want the garden to become ‘organized’. Currently it exists as a loose collection of friends and associates. I’d like to see it grow and change organically, with people coming and
working on it at their own leisure, for the sake of it, for the enjoyment of walking away from the traffic and digging hands in dirt. It’s self-empowering. It’s practical. In economic terms it means I can grow
a few vegetables, save a bit of money, work a little less and have more time to spend doing what I want to do with my time. In human terms I learn a little about how to look after myself, spend time with good friends doing something healthy and life-affirming,
make new friends and get to see a piece of land damaged by industrialism get a new lease of life.
This was originally a comment on this article: report on Phibsborough garden |
View Full Comment Text
save preference
Comments (7 of 7)