OscailtFinglas Community GardenThis article gives details of a new community garden that has been established in Finglas, in the north of Dublin city. A teacher in a primary school offered some land on the school grounds to activists from the Dolphin’s Barn Community Garden, so that they could set up a new community garden for the city.
Breaking news: Italian MP, Sgarbi denounces the Statistical Fraud on COVID-19. The speech of the Member of Parliament Vittorio Sgarbi in the session of the Italian Camera, Meeting no. 331 of Friday 24, April, 2020. Vittorio Sgarbi, denounces the closure of 60% of the businesses for 25,000 COVID-19 Deaths, of which the National Institute of Health says 96.3% died NOT of COVID-19 but of other pathologies. That means only 925 have died of the virus. 24,075 have died of other things.2006-06-03T10:28:37+00:00Indymedia Irelandimc-ireland@lists.indymedia.iehttp://www.indymedia.ie/atomfullposts?story_id=76336http://www.indymedia.ie/graphics/feedlogo.gifA Dream Come True!http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76336#comment1521742006-06-03T10:28:37+00:00MáireAs the teacher who invited the community gardening group to become involved, I w...As the teacher who invited the community gardening group to become involved, I wish to say that for me their involvement is a dream come true. In recent years a colleague and I have dedicated many after school hours to developing previously non-existent flower-beds. We involved other teachers and children from most other classes in planting bulbs and flowering plants during school hours. Weeding is a nightmare and pupil involvement in this activity has been very limited and sporadic.<br />
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Trees donated to us for the millennium year were initially planted outside the inner fenced area. They had to be transplanted inside the inner fence area as over night some of them were damaged. Eventually the other perimeter of the school was fenced properly. Parents paid for some flowering trees to be planted on two of the three outer front lawns. The trees on the third lawn, near the community garden area, were specially planted in memory of a recently deceased teacher and a six-year old pupil who also died. <br />
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Dublin City Council gave us around 50 native tree saplings two years ago. Tree Walk members arrived on a bicycle one day and offered to plant 20 native trees with a group of children. All these new trees were planted near what is now the community gardening area. However the ground was never properly dug around the trees. Part of the ground around some of these trees has been now cleared by the community gardening group, which is wonderful. The trees will have a better chance of thriving. Weeds took over the entire area around all these saplings last year and had to be strimmed. Competing with so many weeds cannot be a help to the new young trees. Local residents also complained about what they considered the unsightly appearance of this area of the school grounds.<br />
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Several oak seedlings grown from acorns, and holly seedlings, grown from berries, have been planted elsewhere in the school grounds. Lilac trees have also been planted. Though not native plants, they are easily propagated from existing trees and their scented purple fragrance and flower are beautiful in May. Should anyone have a white lilac tree, perhaps they would donate a rooted section of it to the school for propagating. Some elderberry trees, which thanks to bird droppings, have self-seeded here and there.<br />
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Slugs and Snails<br />
Lara mentioned the difficulty of enabling their young vegetables to survive the onslaught of slugs and snails. I apologize to the group for exposing them to this problem! Snails are also very partial to sunflowers. They climb up the stalks and rapidly decapitate them. The more developed they are before transplanting them into the open, the better. Surrounding them initially with a barrier of grit and baked eggshells is a help, but is not fool-proof. Incidentally, if collecting eggshells, rinse them initially, store until there are enough to fill a baking tray, and crunch them up small before and after baking. Diluted stale beer traps are also a help. It is said that if slugs and snails are put into compost bins they are happy to stay there. Whether this is a fool-proof way of compounding them, I am not sure. I used to collect them and dump them under a hedgerow elsewhere. However, as they live under the cracks in the car-park, under various other objects here and there, and under the nearby clematis, even a major snail-gathering blitz on a wet day/evening, would not totally solve the problem. The smaller ones would go undetected and eggs laid in soil would still hatch. Using slug pellets could endanger the birds. The sparrows, which frequent the hanging curtain of clematis on the nearby railings, are already an endangered species, due to the thinning of their eggshells, possibly due to traffic pollution.<br />
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I am delighted, too, that you have managed to attract some local young people to assist you. That too, is a dream coming true. The area, which has been offered to the community gardening group, has been classified as the “wilderness”. Locals used to dump unwanted articles there before the outer railings were in place. Digging it is a mammoth task. I am very grateful to you for undertaking to clear it, dig it and plant vegetables in it.<br />
Wonderful achievementhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/76336#comment1522672006-06-04T15:35:14+00:00Deirdre ClancyI've met some of the community gardners though the Catholic Worker and am deligh...I've met some of the community gardners though the Catholic Worker and am delighted to read of the expansion of this idea. I'm sure it's really great for the kids in the school as well. Well done to everyone who does this important, ongoing work. Directions to the Finglas Community Gardenhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/76336#comment1523382006-06-04T23:55:50+00:00MáireIt is possible to take both the 40 and the 40A buses from Parnell Street directl...It is possible to take both the 40 and the 40A buses from Parnell Street directly to the Finglas Community Garden. Just get off the bus at Barry Road near the Cappagh House pub. St. Joseph's Girls' School is on the right on Barry Avenue.a community garden for rossport?http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76336#comment1526762006-06-07T14:21:45+00:00dunkjust back from one of the best weekends ever in rossport - amazing place, pure u...just back from one of the best weekends ever in rossport - amazing place, pure untouched beauty. the solidarity camp is a near perfect example of sustainable living - low tek, low impact buildings, grey water systems, compost systems, full recycling - the only thing thats missing from the loop is the food production, and they have been offered a space to grow food in a nearby hostel, so who knows....<br />
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theres a little story brewing about how strange and magical things happened in the past on a little island....<br />
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so who knows.... theres a lot of lovely things happening here at present, who knows what it will lead to.<br />
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thanks to one and all for creativity, vision, dreaming, hard work, communicating, trying.