Schools participation and education

This week as part of the Pop Up Garden Arts Participation Project in Gorey Public Library we are welcoming three schools to help create the garden. The focus will be on the vegetable patch.

Muck and Magic 

Is how I describe using gardening and growing with children to explore and be curious about the natural world, earth sciences, maths, planting, colour,conversation and taking care of nature. It is always a privilege to work with wonder, nature and build civic responsibility.

On Monday Stephanie and I went to sort out plants, muck, grit and seeds in Springmount Garden Centre, Elaine Warren and her staff were extremely helpful as always. Seeds were an easy selection mustard and cress for fast growth, rocket, pull and come again lettuce mix, peas, nasturtiums and sunflowers. We debated the more expensive seeds marketed at children and easier to grow, they have less seeds. Elaine mentioned they are treated with a particular fertilizer to ensure successful growth, good to know why they are more expensive.

While selecting plants and muck we had to consider the indoor warm - hot conditions the plants will have to grow in. It was great to have Elaine to double check my assumptions with and we took her advice on several things. In the vegetable plant section we looked at the array of tomatoes, I wanted a selection Elaine's knowledge was effusive. I suggested at some stage it would be great to have her come to the library to speak at the garden.
Of course she referenced Geoff Stebbings as being a tomato expert and mentioned that Springmount were having a 'Tomato Festival' the last weekend in August! Then as we continued to talk she also mentioned their 'Learn how to...' series on the 17th and 21st of May about growing tomatoes with the author, gardener and renowned grower Geoff Stebbings.
We moved on to select herbs with an emphasis on fragrance and use, lavender, rosemary, lemon balm and mint.

Stephanie and I debated flowers big showy daisy like profusions of pink, peach and everything in between, my concern would be with the glass they would burn. Lets see how the planting goes Wednesday and Thursday. 

As we left and were finishing our conversation at our cars, Elaine called after us. Over she came with a gentleman and introduced us to Geoff Stebbings. Fantastic!
He had been judging the Garden Show of Ireland in Antrim Castle over the weekend - something I knew about as I wondered at some point last week would it be something I could fit in over the weekend (we were up that neck of the woods for the Giro D'Italia). Geoff has a fantastic blog post on it with amazing pictures from the show. Geoff mentioned that one of the gardens was family focused the photos it was a garden by Ryan McGee full of reused and recycled materials. I particularly like the look and inventive use of everyday objects in the Southern Regional College-Grow Project. Their ‘Kitchen Garden'. Geoff's blog is called The Biking Gardener. Well work a look and a read.
I of course debated only for a second about recording the meeting, previously I have been shy about it felt the right thing to do. Here is a meeting between the library, an author and gardener, the garden centre owner and gardener!

Geoff, Stephanie and Elaine