August 2022 news

Coming out of COVID, the gardening year 2021-2022 has seen the garden community gather momentum. The improvements funded by a grant of €20,000, secured through our recent alliance with the East Clare Community Coop, have stimulated interest within the Killaloe and Ballina communities and attracted local press, radio and social media attention.

Annual Membership forms and fees

With the increase in attention comes extra responsibilities to run the garden community effectively.

By completing an Annual Membership form, members pledge to abide by the community rules so that the gardening community can grow, provide a healthy community atmosphere and function as a pleasant place to garden.

Forms

Members will be required to complete a membership form to join the gardening community in the 2022-2023 gardening year. Forms will be posted in September and need to be completed and submitted together with the appropriate fee in cash before, or at, the AGM. Please note that, as our administrative capacity is limited, reminders will NOT be sent. Memberships will lapse if fees are not paid by the AGM and plots will be reallocated.

Annual fees 2022-2023

Fees are:

€80 for membership + full plot
€40 for membership + half plot
€20 for membership without plot.

In addition, each member contributes €5 to support SeedSavers.

Workday Saturday 3 September

Summer may be coming to an end, but every first Saturday of the month is still a gardening community workday, when members pitch in to take care of communal areas and crops, and to enhance the garden. The workdays are also when we socialise, share surplus produce and plants, and learn more about gardening from each other.

The August workday on Saturday the 6th was a huge success. Many hands made short shrift of levelling and seeding to grass the area around the shelter.

Saturday 3 September

Bring your shovels and rakes to help clear and level the ground around the polytunnel. The plan for this area is to construct waist-high deep beds for the less able. In the meantime, we will sow grass seed to keep the space tidy and free of weeds.

Another task is to lift and share the row of maincrop potatoes at the bottom of fruit bushes bed.

Collect autumn leaves, nature's own soil improver, to recycle nutrients and add the humus that plants need to thrive. As the leaves start to fall, rake them up and put them in the leaf mould bin.

The barbecue will be lit for those wishing to bring some sustenance to grill after their efforts.

Compost management

Happily, most members are now chopping up material before adding it to the bin. The temperature in the bins doesn’t reach the temperature required to kill weed or other seeds so please take all plants which have gone to seed away from the garden and dispose of them responsibly. Otherwise, unwanted plants pop up all over the garden.

Please, please don’t let any crops you have grown go to waste after all your efforts. If, for any reason, you are unable to harvest, let this be known. Someone will harvest them for you or share them around if they are surplus to your needs.

Rubbish

Some members have kindly taken away bags of rubbish for disposal. Could those with space in their wheelie bins please take away some of the remaining rubbish in the sacks by the gate.

Fund raising and social gatherings

Fees alone are insufficient to cover maintenance costs, such as fuel and servicing for mowers and strimmers, or to pay for improvements. Many members have bright ideas for fundraising and social events. The committee would welcome volunteers to take these ideas forward and organise these events. Some of the ideas put forward are:

Plant sale
Harvest festival
Day out at the seaside to collect seaweed
Halloween - bonfire

Winterising plots

Autumn is the perfect time to put some goodness back into the soil and help prepare the ground for the next growing season. Most plots have been cultivated for over 10 years during which time the soil has probably become depleted. Sowing a green manure crop, or adding a dressing of manure, seaweed or leaf mould will help improve soil fertility and structure. Seaweed has the perfect balance of minerals, nutrients and micro-organisms needed to help restore depleted soils.

Sow now, plant now

Sow: lettuce, oriental leaves, rocket, salad leaves, spinach, spring onion, radish

Plant: spring cabbage, lettuce, onion sets, salad leaves, strawberries

Autumn and winter

The gardening community is active year-round as weather and daylight permit. Some of the activities planned for this autumn and winter are:

Close on one or two sides of the shelter to provide protection from the wind and rain
Make deep beds in the polytunnel
Build a potting table that can be moved between the shelter and polytunne