ALL ABOUT GROWING SEASON IN NEWTOWN
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF VISITED THE ALLOTMENTS AT NEWTOWNMOUNTKENNEDY IN THE WALLED GARDEN AT SEASON PARK, WHERE GRACE GARDE EXPLAINED TO HIM HOW THERE IS MUCH MORE TO GARDENING THAN PLANTS
THE allotments at Season Park in Newtownmountkennedy have been on the go since the year 2009, providing fresh air, vegetables and a bolt-hole to plant lovers.
The efforts of the growers over the past nine years have breathed fresh life into a tradition which may date back as long ago as 1740.
The 32 rectangular plots – each one measuring nine metres long by five metres wide - are laid out in an old walled garden beside the 18th century home of Paul Kavanagh and his wife Grace Garde.
The original high brick walls remain partially intact, though some sections are now rendered in rough stone. Whether brick or stone, the combination has the effect of creating a sheltered, mellow micro-climate.
The blessings of the benign conditions are proclaimed at the entrance by a prospering walnut tree, a sight more common in southern France than in Ireland.
This specimen has grown back strongly against the supporting wall after a rigorous pruning and several nuts are currently ripening amidst the foliage.
Grace comments that the heat has been such this year that tomatoes have readily ripened here in 2018, yielding a harvest that is almost Italian in its lush intensity. Normally, the grey Irish skies produce green tomatoes which may make for delicious chutney but which are patently no use whatsoever in a salad.
‘We even get grapes here – and figs.’ She holds back a big leaf to reveal a fruit which is undoubtedly and indisputably a fig.
‘Nine years ago we simply wanted the walled garden used – this is a piece of land made for growing.’
The plot holders have responded impressively and with a will.
The initial impact when walking into this haven of horticulture, this vegetable Valhalla, this organic oasis is one of glorious chaos.
Where so much of the countryside is dominated by fields growing one crop, be it grass or be it corn, here all-sorts are packed into the one relatively small area.
No one who takes on an allotment wants to devote all of their precious space to a single crop, so each one is alive with a pick ’n mix vegetables, fruit and/or flowers. And each one of the 32 is cared for in a different way, reflecting the interests, enthusiasms and talents of the occupier.
The overall effect as the eye roves from the sprawling rhubarb stool in the nearest corner to the apple trees near the far boundary is of Garden of Eden gone mad.
‘ This is really messy,’ says Grace. ‘But we love it that way. Some are tidy, some are not.’
The allotments are let out variously to individuals, couples and families who are a cosmopolitan bunch, with several Continental nations represented as well as all the Irish.
They come from as far away as Dublin, from Bray, Kilcoole, Greystone and Delgany to tend their gooseberries or gladioli, though some reside only a walk away in Newtown itself.
Most of them do not have the space at home to devote to the plants but for all there is a social side to the experience.
This lady over here loves growing flowers, for instance, but rubbing shoulders with the vegetable fiends prompted her to diversify away from her lavender and into the edible.
It seems that Season Park is an informal college of shared ideas and shared experience against the background of the ever-changing weather.
Perhaps the most productive plot is the one kept in the very best of order by a family who come as a group to tend their patch. Together the parents and children prove that it is possible to grow enough to make a real difference to the household budget.
Another couple with a double plot reckon that
what they harvest here supplies around 80 per cent of their requirements for everything from salad to sprouts.
All that is needed is a good freezer, an effective plan of planting, a set of green fingers, and a willingness to spend time at the task.
Yet the truth of the matter is that, though they may claim that own grown is best, no one who comes here is driven by purely economic motives.
Having an allotment is more a matter of primitive pleasure than by-passing the greengrocer.
‘All root crops grow well here,’ declares Grace Garde as she surveys a row of beetroot all bursting out of the ground.
Then she pauses beside a picture perfect, miniature herb garden fragrant with mint, oregano, curly-leafed parsley, sage and a very mature rosemary bush.
Someone is bringing on some nice kale and someone else has wrestled few half-decent maize plants from the drought racked summer.
Yes, there are intruders out to wreck this idyll. A nest of mice was found recently in a garden statue. Pigeons are perpetually poised to strike. Those pretty butterflies spell death to unprotected cabbage.
But benign protective measures can be taken and, anyway, the proprietor likes the idea that the land is not for the exclusive use of humans.
As a harrier hovers overhead, she relishes the fact that there must be foxes and hedgehogs not too far away.
Figs ready to eat. Apples gleaming red against dark green leaves. Cabbages standing to atten- tion in strict rows.
One pair of allotmenteers concentrate exclusively on flowers, pretty plants such as poppies and cosmos which inspire clay sculptures.
All of the landholders are welcome to make the most of the manure heap which is topped up by three tractor loads each year from the cattle sheds of a local farmer.
The well-rotted mix of dung and straw is a tonic for tired soil and the heap has also perked d up the old ash tree which stands alongside.
The ash appeared to be on its last legs but has revived and thrived ever since its diet was boosted by the arrival of the manure.
SOME of tenants who pay €250 a year for their little slice of Season Park have fitted their holding with seats or benches, the better to savour the atmosphere. Some have sheds in which to store seeds, pots and tools, whether of modest timber or formal metal.
Some favour raised beds to demarcate the growing areas while others have tiled paths running through their micro-estates.
The best organised of all is probably the plot donated to the Greystones Cancer Support organisation, which comes complete with a multi-storey wormery.
The cancer support group has delegated the management to their local Men’s Shed who bring a rigorously tidy but practical approach to their stewardship.
‘People come up to the allotments for chill out time and for relaxation,’ reckons Grace. ‘ They get satisfaction out of the harvest and what they get to bring back home.’
They are asked to be organic, though no one is expected to produce certificates of compliance. It is simply expected that no one will resort to sprays or chemicals.
The lady in charge feels certain that this approach is beneficial to the bees which are encouraged to fill their nectar sacks in the walled garden.
An apiarist has taken up an invitation to install nine hives on the land next door: ‘We are delighted with the pollination service.’
The couple behind the allotment project are both steeped in plants, though they come to growing from very different angles.
Dublin native Grace trained as a botanist while husband Paul, who has lived in Season Park practically all his life, is a commercial landscaper.
‘I am someone who adores being out in nature,’ declares the Grace who applies her passion to encouraging everyone she meets to grow.
Grow food for the table. Grow flowers for the vase. Grow to eat. Grow to enjoy. Just grow. So not only has she overseen the allotments but she has also become a promoter of gardening for children in two primary schools where she deepens children’s understanding of nature and science.
The local primary in Newtownmountkennedy, where her own two offspring are on the roll, has benefitted from her enthusiasm for all things horticultural. And the 460 pupils at St Feargal’s NS in Bray have also fallen under her spell and been inspired to win a hotly contested gardening competition ahead of their rivals and neighbours at the Bray School Project.
‘I tell them – plant one pea and you will get one thousand peas. The magic is in the seed.’
Whether in the walled garden at home or in the science lab at St Feargal’s, the essence of the Grace Garde message is the same:
‘Gardening benefits humans and nature. People are fed up with plastic packaging. They want good quality food and a connection to nature.’
Get out and grow.