Monthly News
MAY NEWS Give Peas A Chance #ReciPEA for Success!
The Cottage Market GIY’s very own nationwide Cottage Market initiative has resulted in 20 new Cottage Markets established all over the country. The Cottage Market Kildorrery in North Cork was the first of our new markets to kick off in April, closely followed by The Cottage Market Caherline this month. Make sure you look up your closest Cottage Market on thecottagemarket.ie and go along for a browse, a cup of tea and a chat. Our Cottage Markets help communities develop from the inside out as each village and town creates a market that reflects the diverse skills and talents of the people that live there. They are all about putting ‘homemade, homegrown and handcrafted’ back in the heart of communities.
Give Peas a Chance with Cully & Sully is in full swing. This year we are looking for Ireland’s best young food entrepreneurs. Secondary schools across the country are taking part in the competition, which combines food growing and entrepreneurship. We are challenging students to grow their own pea shoots and to devise a soup recipe using them. Finalists will get to pitch that product here, in GROW HQ in a final battle to win amazing prizes. The winning students will be awarded a prize pot of €5K which includes a €3K food garden for their school, 2 iPads for the winning team and the brand new winning soup recipe will be served in GROW HQ.
GROW HQ With summer comes lots of new opportunities in GROW HQ. Plenty of outdoor classes, parties and, of course, dining will be taking place over the coming months as the days get warmer and the light lingers for longer. We’ll have our kids club every Sunday morning, another chance to attend a beginner’s growing class on the 16th and a bread making masterclass with Bill King on the 22nd, plus lots more. Book in house or online at GROWHQ.ORG.
Bloom in the park The first half of the year is zooming by and it won’t be long before we are back at Bloom! The June bank holiday weekend in the Phoenix Park is one of our favourite events of the year. We’ll be bringing GIY Food Matters back to Bloom again with a series of amazing talks on fascinating food topics like Food in the Digital Age, and the Rise and Fall of Clean Eating. Get your tickets now on ticketmaster.ie and use the code GIY17 for a discount.
www.giy.ie
A Ledgend Visits Charles Dowding, organic gardener and pioneer of “No Dig” garden method is coming to GROW HQ! From 9am to 1pm on the 28th May Charles will take you through easy bed preparation, sowing times and methods, harvesting and pest control. This is a great opportunity to learn from a world-renowned expert and a delicious HQ lunch is included in the class.
what to do in may To do List
Earth up potatoes as the plants develop – covering stem with soil encourages potato growth.
Put protective barrier around your carrots to thwart the dastardly carrot root fly.
Regularly hoe weeds and mulch.
Water outdoors if required and also continue your watering and ventilation routine in the polytunnel or greenhouse.
Support tomato plants as they grow and remove the side shoots as they appear (in the angle between the stem and the trusses). As plants start to flower, tap the flowers to spread pollen and improve fruiting.
e vigilant for pests and diseases (e.g. carrot root fly, aphids, caterpillars, rabbits, slugs B and snails).
S upport your pea and bean plants - twiggy sticks, pea netting, timber supports with chicken wire, or existing fence or hedge.
Pinch out the growing tips of broad beans plants to help prevent Blackfly.
preparation
Finish preparing remaining beds for early summer sowing. May is the time to get those outdoor beds ready for early summer transplanting. Fork over and rake. Don’t tread!
Sowing Seeds
May is the last chance to catch up on seed sowing. It’s a good month for sowing, especially if you get the seeds in before the middle of the month and many of the crops you sow in May will catch up with seeds sown in earlier months.
planting out
Harden off and begin to plant out seedlings you have lovingly raised indoors – e.g. tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, chilli-pepper, celery, celeriac, brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, cabbages, sweet corn, leeks. Sweet potatoes – not related to the humble spud (and therefore not susceptible to blight!) they prefer a sandy soil and do not like a rich soil. They must be harvested before the first frosts in winter and like pumpkins, left to dry for about ten days in the sun before storage.
Harvesting – what’s in season?
May is another tricky “gap” month as stores continue to dwindle. You may however start getting some new spuds, particularly if you sowed an early crop in the polytunnel back in February. Continue picking asparagus, radish, rhubarb, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and chard. May is likely to see the first real bumper salad leaves like lettuce and rocket – as well as the first garlic, beetroot and globe artichokes. The end of this month sees the first of the real (i.e. outdoored reared, grass fed) spring lambs.
Indoors for planting on later: basil, dill, coriander, courgette, cucumber, sweet corn, melon, pumpkins, marrow, summer savory (great companion herb for growing and cooking with Broad Beans). Outdoors: winter cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, sprouting broccoli, leeks, beans (French, Runner, Climbing French), beetroot, parsnip, turnip, swedes, radish, lettuce, peas, broccoli, rocket, carrots. You could also try an extra harvest of early spuds by planting an additional row wherever you can accommodate them.
GIY members
www.giy.ie
Don’t forget our lovely GIY members get four glossy information packed GROW magazines a year plus seeds and a fab welcome gift. Members also mean we get to carry on spreading the GIY message and that’s a beautiful thing. If you want to get in on the action for yourself or even as a unique gift, it’s just the click of a button away www.giy.ie
The Cottage Market GIY’s very own nationwide Cottage Market initiative has resulted in 20 new Cottage Markets established all over the country. The Cottage Market Kildorrery in North Cork was the first of our new markets to kick off in April, closely followed by The Cottage Market Caherline this month. Make sure you look up your closest Cottage Market on thecottagemarket.ie and go along for a browse, a cup of tea and a chat. Our Cottage Markets help communities develop from the inside out as each village and town creates a market that reflects the diverse skills and talents of the people that live there. They are all about putting ‘homemade, homegrown and handcrafted’ back in the heart of communities.
Give Peas a Chance with Cully & Sully is in full swing. This year we are looking for Ireland’s best young food entrepreneurs. Secondary schools across the country are taking part in the competition, which combines food growing and entrepreneurship. We are challenging students to grow their own pea shoots and to devise a soup recipe using them. Finalists will get to pitch that product here, in GROW HQ in a final battle to win amazing prizes. The winning students will be awarded a prize pot of €5K which includes a €3K food garden for their school, 2 iPads for the winning team and the brand new winning soup recipe will be served in GROW HQ.
GROW HQ With summer comes lots of new opportunities in GROW HQ. Plenty of outdoor classes, parties and, of course, dining will be taking place over the coming months as the days get warmer and the light lingers for longer. We’ll have our kids club every Sunday morning, another chance to attend a beginner’s growing class on the 16th and a bread making masterclass with Bill King on the 22nd, plus lots more. Book in house or online at GROWHQ.ORG.
Bloom in the park The first half of the year is zooming by and it won’t be long before we are back at Bloom! The June bank holiday weekend in the Phoenix Park is one of our favourite events of the year. We’ll be bringing GIY Food Matters back to Bloom again with a series of amazing talks on fascinating food topics like Food in the Digital Age, and the Rise and Fall of Clean Eating. Get your tickets now on ticketmaster.ie and use the code GIY17 for a discount.
www.giy.ie
A Ledgend Visits Charles Dowding, organic gardener and pioneer of “No Dig” garden method is coming to GROW HQ! From 9am to 1pm on the 28th May Charles will take you through easy bed preparation, sowing times and methods, harvesting and pest control. This is a great opportunity to learn from a world-renowned expert and a delicious HQ lunch is included in the class.
what to do in may To do List
Earth up potatoes as the plants develop – covering stem with soil encourages potato growth.
Put protective barrier around your carrots to thwart the dastardly carrot root fly.
Regularly hoe weeds and mulch.
Water outdoors if required and also continue your watering and ventilation routine in the polytunnel or greenhouse.
Support tomato plants as they grow and remove the side shoots as they appear (in the angle between the stem and the trusses). As plants start to flower, tap the flowers to spread pollen and improve fruiting.
e vigilant for pests and diseases (e.g. carrot root fly, aphids, caterpillars, rabbits, slugs B and snails).
S upport your pea and bean plants - twiggy sticks, pea netting, timber supports with chicken wire, or existing fence or hedge.
Pinch out the growing tips of broad beans plants to help prevent Blackfly.
preparation
Finish preparing remaining beds for early summer sowing. May is the time to get those outdoor beds ready for early summer transplanting. Fork over and rake. Don’t tread!
Sowing Seeds
May is the last chance to catch up on seed sowing. It’s a good month for sowing, especially if you get the seeds in before the middle of the month and many of the crops you sow in May will catch up with seeds sown in earlier months.
planting out
Harden off and begin to plant out seedlings you have lovingly raised indoors – e.g. tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, chilli-pepper, celery, celeriac, brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, cabbages, sweet corn, leeks. Sweet potatoes – not related to the humble spud (and therefore not susceptible to blight!) they prefer a sandy soil and do not like a rich soil. They must be harvested before the first frosts in winter and like pumpkins, left to dry for about ten days in the sun before storage.
Harvesting – what’s in season?
May is another tricky “gap” month as stores continue to dwindle. You may however start getting some new spuds, particularly if you sowed an early crop in the polytunnel back in February. Continue picking asparagus, radish, rhubarb, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and chard. May is likely to see the first real bumper salad leaves like lettuce and rocket – as well as the first garlic, beetroot and globe artichokes. The end of this month sees the first of the real (i.e. outdoored reared, grass fed) spring lambs.
Indoors for planting on later: basil, dill, coriander, courgette, cucumber, sweet corn, melon, pumpkins, marrow, summer savory (great companion herb for growing and cooking with Broad Beans). Outdoors: winter cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, sprouting broccoli, leeks, beans (French, Runner, Climbing French), beetroot, parsnip, turnip, swedes, radish, lettuce, peas, broccoli, rocket, carrots. You could also try an extra harvest of early spuds by planting an additional row wherever you can accommodate them.
GIY members
www.giy.ie
Don’t forget our lovely GIY members get four glossy information packed GROW magazines a year plus seeds and a fab welcome gift. Members also mean we get to carry on spreading the GIY message and that’s a beautiful thing. If you want to get in on the action for yourself or even as a unique gift, it’s just the click of a button away www.giy.ie
