Leading families down the garden path

Edel Flannery thought that gardening was something she should be doing with her five children but she didn’t know where to start.

She was aware that they probably didn’t know which vegetables grew under the ground and which on top, or what grew on trees. And she was struck by the amazement of an au pair, who came from rural Germany, that all the family’s carrots came out of plastic bags.

So when Flannery saw that Grow It Yourself (GIY) Ireland was looking for “pioneer” families to sign up for a six-month project to grow some of their own food, she decided that this was the incentive she needed. No big time commitment or large space was required, they were just being asked to take on six simple projects.

Initially the Flannerys planned to grow a few things in pots but, in their enthusiasm, they built a raised bed in the garden of their semi-detached home in Cabinteely, Co Dublin.

“We planted more things than we would have had to do for the project,” says Flannery. “It was great to see the kids pulling carrots out of the ground or picking peas out of a pod.”

The two younger children, Liam (seven) and Sinéad (nine), are very keen as they are still at the age where they want to potter around with their parents. She found the trick with the older boys, Seamus (11), Eamonn (13) and Conor (15), was to let them wander in and out of the garden and be involved on their own terms. And although they might have been slow to do assigned tasks, they were quick to claim credit when the produce reached the dinner table.

Bigger garden

“It kind of took over – we got more involved than we thought we would,” says Flannery. “There was one point last year when I thought we were just going to have to move house because I wanted a bigger garden, a greenhouse.”

One year on and the Flannery children have just started asking are they planting again this spring. “They like to say ‘we’ but they mean me,” jokes Flannery, although Sinéad shares her fascination with seeds and seedlings, while her husband, Paul, and the boys have become adept at hunting down slugs and snails.

Armed with the confidence of veterans, they will focus on last season’s successes – lettuce, carrots, runner beans, peas and potatoes. They will also try cabbages.

Any family interested in having a go at growing their own food is being encouraged to sign up for this year’s “Operation GIY Nation”. Registration is free and, from April to September, you will receive monthly projects pitched at complete novices. Ongoing support is provided through the website, giyireland.com.

"We try to get them over the very daunting first steps and give them a quick 'win' so the first project is growing cress," says GIY Ireland founder Michael Kelly. "It gets trickier each month and the last project is growing spuds for Christmas."

All of the projects can be grown in containers so you don’t even have to have a garden.

Kelly believes there is a gap between people who don’t grow anything at all and those who grow a lot. GIY is trying to get everybody to grow some of their own food and, in the process, change the way they engage with the food chain.

“We’re not into everybody being 100 per cent self-sufficient or anything like that,” says Kelly, who lives in Co Waterford with his wife and two young children and happens to be in a supermarket, with potatoes in his basket, when we call.

“This time of the year is always tricky for me – you are waiting for the new season veg to come in and last year’s stores are dwindling away.”

He always tries to buy "local and seasonal and organic if possible" and believes that when people start to grow their own produce, no matter how little, it alters their buying decisions because they understand the process of growing that bit better.

Gardening classes
Ailish Drake, an architect turned horticulturist, is always surprised how few people are growing anything. She started running gardening classes for small children but then realised that without the support of adults, be they parents or childcare providers, it was impossible for youngsters to continue.

“Our generation of parents don’t know much about gardening,” remarks Drake, who grew up on a farm in the Ballyhoura mountains in Co Limerick and lived in Dublin for 13 years before returning to her native county to set up home with fellow architect Conor Hourigan and their two children, Sam (five) and Michael (two). She now runs “gardening with kids” courses through her Sow and Grow business, to teach adults the basics so that they can foster children’s natural interest in it.

“It is great for them to get out and get their hands dirty. From age three on they really understand and are very excited to see seeds germinating and the little plants growing up. I still get excited about seeing that.”

Choosing the wrong things to grow is a common mistake parents make. “If a child is trying to grow something that is too difficult and they have failures, they are going to lose interest,” she points out.

“Peas are number one – you can’t go wrong with peas.” She also suggests beans, a salad patch, and onions and turnips which are easy to handle and quick to harvest.

“Herbs are another great thing for children – they may not be eating them that much but they are very sensory and again very foolproof.” There are easy, attractive edible flowers too, such as nasturtiums and pot marigolds, calendula, which can be sown outside.

Drake is a big fan of potatoes in planter bags. “You put four potatoes in a bag and keep covering them with soil as they grow. You get a big bag of potatoes at the end of it.”

She did this with her own children, who are always very proud of what they’ve grown. “The biggest thing for me is that they are much better about eating fruit and vegetables because of the garden.”

If parents want to interest their children in gardening, then they need to garden themselves, points out Hans Wieland of the Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co Leitrim. "Up to the age of 13 or 14 you are the hero for your children . . . There is no point in just saying we should do this."

Children also need responsibilities in the garden. “Don’t be afraid when you’re sowing seeds to show them how to do it and then let them sow the seeds. Once the seeds are up, it is their task before school in the morning to water them.

"I find parents often say 'they can't do that, the seeds are too small, they spoil everything'. Let them spoil it. Don't be afraid of failure – they only learn by literally doing it."

Beginner courses
The organic centre's next "food growing for beginners" course is on Sunday, April 7th and parents who book are welcome to bring along an interested child, says Wieland. It is also running an outdoor vegetable gardening workshop in Bridgetown, Co Clare on April 13th.

The Irish Seed Savers Association, which operates a shop, cafe and garden with orchards in Scarriff, Co Clare, encourages people to grow older, native varieties of vegetables, which, they say, have a better flavour and are more likely to thrive in Irish growing conditions. There is a one-day "getting started" course there on April 13th. It also runs eco-courses for children during school holidays.

Horticulturalist Geraldine O’Toole, who is teaching a beginner’s one-day course in organic gardening at Sonairte Eco-Visitor Centre and Gardens in Laytown, Co Meath, this Saturday, is also passionate about encouraging people to grow their own vegetables and fruit.

“Basically my job is to take the fear out of it. It is very doable for anyone, particularly families. It is a lost skill and people are just coming back to it,” she says.

“You can grow anything in a few containers out the back – a raised bed is really just a bigger version of a container.”

Any sort of product, vegetable or fruit, needs the sun, she explains. “Stand in your garden and decide where is the sunniest spot – that is where you put your pots or your beds.”

People pay a lot of money for herbs, lettuces and scallions which can be easily grown, she points out. “You can do it on a balcony; you don’t even need a garden.”

She also recommends having a go at fruit – blackcurrants and redcurrants are fairly easy to maintain and there are dwarf varieties of apple trees now if you don’t have space for a full-size one. Strawberries are easy to do as well.

Growing your own is both functional and educational for children and they will be entranced by the “miracle” of watching a seed grow. “Seeing a seed as small as a grass seed . . . and suddenly you have a head of lettuce in front of you – that is when the bug hits home,” O’Toole enthuses. “It’s very addictive.”

Flannery knew she had the gardening bug when she began to put photos of her carrots and radishes on her phone, where once it would have been pictures of the children.

“It will definitely always have a part in our lives,” she says, “but I have gotten over the idea of needing a bigger garden.” However, with a shed, a climbing frame, a slide, a trampoline, a football net and a washing line, alongside the raised bed, there is fierce competition for space.

“There is just about a patch left to sit on,” she adds, “and now my husband is saying that is the best patch to grow on.”

See giyireland.com; sowandgrow.ie; sonairte.ie; theorganiccentre.ie and irishseedsavers.ie

swayman@irishtimes.com