Bantry Community Garden

31/07/2026

This is a photo of maybe a sixth of the spuds some of us harvested a couple of days ago with probably the same amount again still to come out of the ground. The seed potatoes were surplus stock from a local garden centre. Many thanks to you. We didn't have space in the garden to plant them so we took a little field trip out to Bantry Bay Equestrian Centre. Many thanks Georgia for letting us use your space and for the beautiful horse manure. This is what community gardening can be about. Using and sharing locally available resources to create a surplus. So much can be done without money when people just get together and cooperate and we need this more than ever as the global situation gets more and more hairy. We import a shockingly huge proportion of our food and vegetable growers are few and far between. If you have land, please consider letting people use it to grow food. It doesn't have to be a big space. Every little helps. If you want to grow more food and make yourself a little more secure, don't be afraid to reach out and ask for the space to do it. We need each other. Good luck!

05/06/2026

07/04/2026

Hi Connacht - News - Community gardens are being highlighted as a vital part of Ireland’s future food security, as Community Gardens Ireland...

27/03/2026

The 2025 Horticulture Census is open until March 31st.

All growers in Ireland who sell horticultural produce are invited to take part.

This annual census has been developed in conjunction with the Horticulture Industry Forum and the Central Statistics Office, to help build an accurate picture of the horticulture sector and inform national policy and supports for growers.

📅 The closing date is March 31, 2026.

The census can be found on the DAFM website - see link below


Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Central Statistics Office Ireland

27/03/2026

The Hungry Gap is the in-between-seasons period after winter vegetables but before the availability of early spring crops - typically March to early June.

Today, we can buy almost any fruit or vegetable at any time of year. But the Hungry Gap is a reminder of the natural seasonality of food. It encourages us to think about where our produce comes from, how far it travels, and the environmental impact of importing out-of-season crops.

There are a few ways to help fill out this time of year, including careful storing, overwintering or perennial crops & more. Check out our blog post for some ideas and a list of what's in season in Irish spring.

👉 https://www.fruithillfarm.com/info/2026/03/the-hungry-gap/

25/03/2026

Last week between about 6.30pm Weds 18th March and midday the next day someone went into the poly tunnel in the community garden and knocked over tables, broke a chair, tipped over a bin and, most seriously, destroyed seedlings.
We obviously do not like this but we tidy up and carry on.
We reason that either someone is annoyed with us and this was their way of expressing it, in which case please come and talk to us directly and see if we can resolve it or this was just someone venting anger, in which case, we can see lots of reasons someone might be angry right now but please don’t take it out on us or the garden, we are both trying to do our best.
Anyway, that said and now that maybe we have a few people’s attention this is what we really want to talk about:
We are a group brought together with a shared interest in Nature, plants and growing some of our own food.
Our philosophy is based on care for Nature, mutual aid and shared responsibility.
We think that local food sovereignty is very important with the world the way it is. And we think that we are a long way from being even food secure.
We expect interruptions to food and resource supply chains in the near to medium future and we are working to minimise the shock from this.
We would like more of our community to join in on this.
We are a small group of volunteers operating on a shoe string so we can only do so much.
We encourage people to think about what local food sovereignty might look like and how you could contribute to this.
Please share your ideas under this post.
Better still please drop into the garden, talk to us and have a look around. Maybe some of what we are doing will inspire you. Maybe you will find a way to get involved or work alongside us.
Some of the ideas we have considered that would need more input to come to fruition include:

A garden meitheal group
Collectively owned equipment and spaces like fruit presses, seed saving gear, tools etc
An organised growers network in the town that collaborates on growing and sharing food and saving seeds
A skill share network
Community composting and recycling systems..........
Thanks very much for reading. We look forward to meeting on the soil.

02/03/2026

2026 is the International Year of the Woman Farmer

At Rooted in Strength, organised by An Talamh Beo, women farmers from across Ireland made one thing clear:
Food security isn’t enough. We need food sovereignty.

Ireland exports most of what we produce — and imports most of what we eat. That system is fragile.

Across the country, women are building something different:
🥕 Small market gardens feeding local towns
🥛 Micro-dairies selling direct
🌿 Farms centred on soil health & biodiversity
🐑 Regenerative livestock systems
“We are passionate about soil health, holistic animal care, biodiversity and climate action.”

This isn’t about going big.
It’s about more small producers, in more places.

Know your farmer. Know your food 👩🏻‍🌾💚💪🏼

21/02/2026

What happens when the food system falters?