GIY Know-How

With COP26 highlighting the urgency of the Climate Crisis and a target set to cut greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, the time for climate action, even on an individual level, is now. However, many of us may find ourselves asking, “What can I do at home that will make a difference?”. Well, as food production is responsible for almost one third of GHG emissions, why not start there? Everything that we eat matters, and how it’s grown, produced, and transported matters even more. With that in mind, here are a few ways that you can cut your carbon footprint by growing your own food.  Reduced food miles  Our...

Preparation Continue digging over cleared vegetable beds and adding well rotted compost or manure. Get Educated – book yourself on a course over the winter! Start a Gardening Diary (gardeners have great plans but bad memories). Start planning what you would like to grow next year including at least one previously untried vegetable. Work out what crop rotation system you are going to use. Study and compare the various seed catalogues carefully before deciding on the best varieties to grow to suit your needs. Start a Compost corner or heap. If you don't already have one, plan a fruit garden/area...

A shortage of garlic means prices are likely to rise next year, so why not grow your own? DRIP, DRIP, drip fell the raindrops last week, in what felt like one interminably long rainshower. It came as light drizzle, then heavy cloudbursts, followed by a grey, monotonous mizzle that made a mire of any vegetable plots. It also did for the annual autumn tidy- up in the OPW's walled kitchen garden, because despite OPW gardeners Meeda Downey and Brian Quinn's best intentions, a week of such watery weather made the task impossible. "The ground is soaking", complained Brian as he...