Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it’s all right
Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right
Yes, indeed it has been a long cold lonely Winter and yippee here comes the sun at long last and worth singing about. Today we bring you the third part of our trilogy of columns on the proverbial Rites of Spring as gardeners plot their way forward in growing their own, be it in their own gardens or in a local allotment. We brought you that story in article one of this series. Last week we introduced you to Michael Kelly, well to those of you who have not already heard of this down-to earth guy from Dunmore East whose enthusiasm for home farming led him to establish a great national success story which is daily growing from strength. This movement is known as the GIY – grow it yourself and started just a few years ago from a meeting organized by Michael in our Central City Library, over a hundred people turned up for that meeting. Already there are over 50 branches nationally with as many as 2,000 in active membership.
GIY on the Move
So this week to conclude this series, I thought I would bring you an indication as to why the movement is proving so attractive to ‘grow it yourself’ enthusiasts. And who knows you might be get the bug yourself – begetting a real potato as opposed to the couch variety!
As I said above over 100 people showed up at the first meeting of GIY Waterford and the group continues to meets monthly in the city library. Of course you can’t keep a good idea down and so not long afterwards, another GIY group was formed in nearby Dunmore East and then in neighbouring Wexford. In 2009 with the help of enthusiastic fellow growers from the Waterford group, Michael established GIY Ireland to promote back-garden vegetable growing and the idea of GIY groups nationwide. The organisation aims to establish GIY groups in every town and village in Ireland. GIY Ireland is a not-for-profit initiative and is supported by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. Patrons of GIY Ireland include Diarmuid Gavin, Darina Allen, Clodagh McKenna and Joy Larkcom.