There are pros and cons to a small garden when a visit by fellow gardeners takes place. The downside can be congestion, but on a wet evening, the comfort of a cup of tea and the shelter of the kitchen is on the doorstep. Eleonor Turner from Cuidiú, the Malahide based family support group initiated the visit to ‘Trevor’s Kitchen Garden’. Soon word got around and a few GIY groups heard about the appointment. In the end the group was quite cosmopolitan, but all Fingal based.
It was a win win for me as I could offload some spare everlasting cabbage cuttings and black peppermint plants, so my very friendly guests went home happy. I was grateful for a gift of a jar of plum jam and some currant buns to go with my couple of pots of hot tea and coffee. I also gleaned some advice on how not to propagate aloe vera. It is really a house plant in Ireland and is not happy in direct sunlight. This might explain why it died in my greenhouse! You live and learn. Having visitors drop in to the garden is an enjoyable way of picking up tips in return for giving away cuttings.
Trevor is co-founder and was, until his appointment to Government, a board member of Sonairte, the Irish National Ecology Centre, near Julianstown, County Meath which is an Agricultural Training and Visitor centre with a 2.2 acre walled organic garden. He is also a member of Amnesty International, the Dublin Food Co-op, the Irish Organic Farmers’ and Growers’ Association, Organic Trust and a former member of Macra na Feirme. A former teacher and fluent Irish speaker, he relaxes by reading, walking and playing music. His favourite form of relaxation is tending to his prolific organic garden at home in Balbriggan, North County Dublin, an area known by many as Fingal.
