Northern Ireland News
Regularly updated with news of interest to those involved with city farms, community gardens, allotments and other green spaces in Northern Ireland, plus details of training and networking events.
- Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time in Northern Ireland, April 2011
- Successful event at the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, March 2011
- Northern Ireland Allotments and Community Gardens Forum, March 2011
- Call for volunteers to create kitchen garden at Mountstewart Estate, near Newtonards
BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time hosted by FCFCG in Northern Ireland
The recording of the ever-popluar BBC radio programme was hosted by the Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens at the Jubilee Hall at Carrickfergus Town Hall. For more information on Gardeners Question Time, visit the programme's page on the BBC website.
Successful event at the Northern Ireland Assembly
The booming demand for new allotments, community gardens and other green spaces was the focus of a reception held at the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont on March 15, 2011.
The event, hosted by Finance and Personnel Minister Sammy Wilson MP MLA, was a major step forward for Growing Communities in Northern Ireland, a new network of organisations, community groups and local authorities aiming to increase the opportunities for local people to grow their own food.
Representatives from allotments and community gardening groups - as well as other organisations backing the network - showcased their work at the reception to help press home the message about the benefits created by more growing spaces.
For more details click on this link.
Northern Ireland Allotments and Community Gardens Forum
The forum took place on March 16, 2011, as interest in developing community gardening and related activities continues to grow in Northern Ireland. It followed a successful meeting in September 2010, which resulted in positive calls for action to meet the growing demand for new allotments, community gardens and other green spaces.
The forum, which includes representatives from local authorities and voluntary sector groups, previously agreed to create greater awareness at policy level by submitting relevant information to Northern Ireland Ministers and MPs.
A clear agenda for the future has been established, focussing on:
- promotion of the possibilities of new community allotments
- clarification of planning and related issues
- gaining political support
- networking to help peer-to-peer learning
Call for volunteers to create kitchen garden at Mountstewart Estate, near Newtonards
The National Trust's Mountstewart estate outside Newtownards possesses a large walled garden area away from the public gardens and beside the estate farmyard. Part of this has been cleared to establish a propagation centre (3 tunnels, greenhouse & huge potting shed - only 2nd such on NT property).
However, there is still a large south facing walled garden with a large quantity of extra topsoil in a mound (cleared for the propagation polytunnels). Volunteers are needed to take charge of its development back into a kitchen garden again.
It is hoped food grown on the site could be used in the Mountswewart restaurant and the National Trust is happy for the garden to be used for educational visits.
Anyone interested in becoming involved should contact Sacha Workman of the Mountstewart estate on 077 1058 5876.
