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Thursday 30 June 2016

School of the Divine Child and Togher Girls best 1916 Gardens

Togher Girls National School (Scoil an tAthair Maitiu )and the School of the Divine Child in Ballintemple were joint winners in the best 1916 Category in this years Cork Schools Garden Competition organised by Muintir na Tire in association with Cork County Council and Griffins Garden Centre Dripsey.

In Togher the garden committee (pictured above) consists of eight students from 3rd to 6th class, and teacher, Ms. O’Shea as well as Pat  their very helpful caretaker, This is the second year for most of the students to give them a chance to practice some of what they learned last year. A new committee will be selected next year.  Everyone enjoys being on the committee and they feel it is fun to get their hands dirty and to see things grow.  Every class is assigned a particular vegetable to grow, and is given the area in which to grow it (to make sure we are rotating their crops). The Girls tell us 'While this is good as it allows every class to be involved, it can be difficult to manage. We must make sure there is enough compost there for classes to start off their seeds, and we must make clear labels for the garden so that each class knows exactly where to plant out their seedlings' 

In the School of the Divine Child they  have selected different garden spaces around the school. • the Junior classes are working a creating a mixed garden with particular emphasis on colour, simplicity and a fun place to explore..
• The Middle classes are concentrating on innovation and creativity using a wide range of colour, recycled materials and lots of hard work. Students will also use their art/craft work to enhance this garden space and create a seascape effect.
• Senior 1. are  developing their little sensory garden space, with lots of herbs, a place where you will experience  all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. They will also have a few surprises  in store for the judges They will also  grow some vegetables ,carrots , lettuce, turnips  etc. in their raised beds.
• Senior 2. explore the theme of 1916. They will create a special wall in honour of our 1916 heroes. Build a model of the GPO in the aftermath of the Easter Rising and compile a booklet  ‘A Century of Changes ‘Now and Then’
• Home Economics group are being very practical with their edible garden raised bed. At the moment they have potatoes, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, peas and rhuburb. They also have a compost bin, recycle bin, and now we have a water butt installed as part of our water conservation.
• The whole school is  actively involved in the Gardening Project. • It is co-ordinated by Mary O’Hanlon

Pumpkins GIY Ireland

Weekly Column- Pumpkins #26 2016

Weekly Column- Pumpkins #26 2016
Published: Jun 29, 2016    By: Shona Dubois
We associate pumpkins with halloween, and of course they are fun to carve faces in to – BUT, they are also very good to eat.  For the home-grower that is trying to produce crops to store over the winter, pumpkins are an attractive option since they store particularly well, thanks to their very tough skin.  So, if you have the space, they are well worth a try.
Sowing
Sow seeds in early May individually in 7cm pots.  Sow about 2cm deep. The pots will need to be kept on a heating mat or a sunny windowsill.  Transplant them to larger 12 or 15cm pots after about 3 weeks.  Leave the pots indoors or in a greenhouse or polytunnel. 
Growing
Since pumpkins are a hungry plant, you will need to make sure the soil where you are going to grow them has had a decent application of well rotted manure or compost.  Harden off the plants well and then plant out in early to mid June.  Cover with fleece if it’s cold at nights.  Space the plants 2m apart – this seems a lot, but once these babies get moving, there will be no stopping them.  A single plant can support just one or two decent sized pumpkins, so you should remove the smaller fruits and flowers to allow the plant to focus its energy on growing the larger fruits.  Place a piece of slate or a brick under each fruit so that it’s not touching soil – if the fruit is in constant contact with wet soil it will go soft and might rot.
Harvesting
Harvest when the leaves die back or before if there’s a risk of frost.  Cut off the pumpkin from the plant leaving the stalk attached to it.  If they need to be ripened further put them out in the sun by day, before bringing them in again by night – do this for a week or so.  Or leave them on a sunny windowsill to ‘cure’ – this is where the skin hardens up which means they will store for longer. Pumpkins will store right through the winter in a cool place.
Recommended Varieties
Pumpkin ‘Vif d’Etampes
Problems
They can take over a veg patch, sending shoots here, there and everywhere.  So probably not a great idea for a small garden.  Keep them in check by moving the shoots back to the bed they should be in.  They can be coiled carefully in to a circle and pinned down to keep them in check.
GIY Tips
• Grow them somewhere sheltered – they don’t like wind.
• When you plant the pumpkin plants out in June, interplant with fast growing crops like lettuce or spinach which can be eaten before the pumkins take over.  This will use the space more efficiently.

Monday 27 June 2016

Schools Garden PowerPoint

Lots of schools have asked us to share the PowerPoint shown at the awards Ceremony last week.

PowerPoint from Awards.

This PowerPoint will run automatically after slide 2.

Enjoy

Free Summer Events at Mitchelstown Library

FREE Summer 2016 Events for Children @ Mitchelstown Library 025-41939

1. National Play Day Treasure Hunt with Johnny Hanrahan

Join in the treasure hunt which will involve discovering facts of all kinds about 1916 on a pre-determined route where info will be hung up, chalked, rolled up in bundles, etc. These hundreds of facts are not to be taken, merely noted. The whole family can go on the trail and after everyone has had a chance to find all the distributed information, there is a quiz which will draw on the 1916 information. There will be clues strewn around the quiz space so that people can either respond from what they have gathered or what they find. This will be a quiz in which points are awarded for singing and reciting as well as hard facts!!
A fun family event lasting about 2 1/2 hours

Open to children and their grown ups – no age restrictions
Saturday 2nd July @ 10.30am

2. Even More Revolting Rhymes creative writing workshop with Dave Lordan

A one day workshop, in three parts, for children inspired by the work of Roald Dahl with plenty of multimedia fun thrown in. 

In part one participants will work in groups to design posters based on and including the text of their favourite revolting rhymes by Roald Dahl. These will be instantly transformed into posters usinge iPad apps and printed copies will be given to each of the children and to the library for display._________________________ 

In part two participants will write their own set of original revolting rhymes. They will have lots of fun reading and listening to each other's rhymes. They will draw illustrations to go with the rhymes and then the illustrations and the rhymes will be blended into a professional slideshow and will be emailed to all parents to enjoy with their families and friends._______

In part three the children will enjoy having their own revolting rhymes professionally recorded and played back to them IN A VOICE OF THEIR CHOOSING (cat, snail, ghost, helium, Darth Vadar....) using up to the minute voice-transformer tech. The recordings will be emailed as mp3s to families for playback and enjoyment at home.

Aged 8 – 13 years (Oh - and participants must like having fun!)
Wednesday 6th July 10am – 4pm

Scoil Aban Naofa and Mitchestown CBS are best small Gardens

Everyone helps out in Scoil Aban Naofa's garden when needed but it is mostly a group from 3rd & 4th class who have done the majority of the work this year – in particular Darragh, Dermot, Fiona and Máire. Along with Múinteoir Siobhán Ní Luasa, they do a great job in the garden. This year, they were very lucky to have the help of two local men – Michael O Callaghan and Noely Healy. They made the little hen house, the ‘insect hotel’ and did a lot of colourful painting around the garden. Also, Múinteoir Nóirín was involved in the garden this year and helped them to design and create our ‘Peace Pole’.
Their garden is an established garden which they have been growing and developing over the past few years. Over the past number of years they have developed many aspects of the garden and its surrounding areas. They have done a lot of planting and growing of fruits, veg, herbs and flowers in the main section of the garden at the side of the school. They have planted around the main entrance to the school. They have designed murals on 3 sections of the school walls in the yard which really add to the vitality of the school yard.
This garden has really developed since they started entering the Schools Garden competition.






At Mitchelstown CBS Mr. Carey and the boys from 4th class decided they were tired of looking out at the bleak untidy area. It was time to get to work, cleaning, painting and planting. They were going to need help! They painted the boxes they had since last year. They added some fresh compost and planted some vegetables. They added a few extra items to plant. They included some seating so the garden could be enjoyed by all. This wasn’t a task they could do on our own. Brendan the school caretaker helped them with some of the woodwork, they also got some help with the wall art from Dace Kaulakane who’s son Leon is in 1st Class. Ms. Dunne painted the signs. and Mr. Cahill did the drilling. All in all this was a collaborative effort between parents Teachers and Pupils well done to all.









Visit to Banteer NS Cork School Garden Winners

Last Friday we visited Cork School Gardens Overall winners Banteer NS where we were given a very warm welcome from Teachers Parents and Children alike.  See below for photos of our visit.














Parsnips from GIY Ireland

Weekly Column- Parsnips #25 2016

Weekly Column- Parsnips #25 2016
Published: Jun 21, 2016    By: Shona Dubois
Why Grow It?
Earthy and homely, parsnips really do provide the quintessential taste of winter. Worth growing just for the smell you get when you pluck a parsnip from the soil on a cold winter’s day. Unlike carrots, they are relatively easy to grow (once you have persuaded them to germinate), needing very little attention. They will also stay in the ground quite happily (through even the worst winter weather) until you’re ready to eat them.
Sowing
Dig bed deeply in winter but do not manure (causes forking in roots). Break down clods, rake well and add an organic fertiliser a week before sowing. Most parsnip seed packets will tell you to sow them in February - don't do it. Far better to leave it until late April or early May. The seeds won’t germinate in cold, wet soil and later-sown parsnips are less likely to get canker. Germination takes up to three weeks. Make a drill 1cm deep – if soil is dry, dampen. Sow three seeds every 6 inches in rows 12 inches apart and cover in with soil. When seedlings appear, pull out the two weakest ones. This spacing will produce medium sized roots. If you want larger roots go to 8 inch spacing. How much to sow? According to GIY Patron Klaus Laitenberger, the parsnip "season" runs from October to March - you start eating them fresh from the ground in October and you will be able to store them until March (after that any remaining roots will most likely start to rot). So if you want to eat 3 parsnips a week for the 24 weeks between October and March you will need to grow 72 parsnips. In a standard bed (1.2m wide) you will get three rows of parsnips - if you space the parsnips at 6 inches in each row you will get 20 parsnips per meter, so you will need a bed 3.5m long to get 72 parsnips.
Growing
Very little maintenance needed. Weed carefully until well established. Watering shouldn’t be necessary except in dry spells.
Harvesting
Parsnips are ready to rock when the foliage starts to die away in autumn but flavour improves after first frosts. Leave in soil until ready to eat but lift by February. Lift carefully with a fork. If you have water-logged soil in winter you should lift the crop and store in a box of sand in a frost-free shed.
Recommended Varieties
Gladiator F1
Problems
Canker (a fungus that produces brown/black growths on roots) is the main issue. Avoid sowing too early and use canker resistant varieties. Rotate parsnips as part of your root rotation. Earth up parsnips in summer - this will prevent spores reaching the roots. Occasionally carrot root fly can be a problem.
GIY Tips
Always use fresh (this years) seed, parsnip seeds don't store well.
Try sowing seed indoors in toilet roll inserts filled with compost. Once seedling is established, pop the whole insert in to a hole in the ground. Works a treat!

Sunday 26 June 2016

Beaumont Girls National School Garden

Last week I visited Beaumont Girls National School to see their wonderful garden. The teachers parents  and grandparents have come together with the pupils to develope a beautiful colourful garden full of vegetables herbs and flowers. It has lots of upcycling colour and art and biodiversity elements and is a credit to all involved. Well done to all involved. We are regularly getting requests from Cork City Schools to enter our competition
Unfortunately we in Cork County Muintir na Tire cannot accept entries from City based schools into the Cork Schools Garden Competition as we do not currently do not have the capacity or the resources necessary to expand the competition to the city. This is a great pity because there are many fine school gardens in the city which could benefit from such a competition, where the sharing of ideas is an important element.
The aim of the Cork Schools Competition' is to support pupils, teachers in County Cork to bring nature, wildlife, plants and colour into their school garden/grounds, to promote horticulture and biodiversity and to give students a chance to interact with the environment and nature in a positive way.  Studies have shown that school gardens promote positive environmental attitudes and provide an excellent opportunity to develop more positive attitudes towards science at an early age.

We would gladly provide support any organisation/s who would like to replicate the competition in the City Area.

Denis Kelly

See below some of the pictures from Beaumont Girls National School











Free Membership Mitchelstown Library


Mitchelstown Library

Suttons Court
Clonmel Road
Mitchelstown
Co Cork
025 41939

Open : Tues – Sat 9.30-5.30
Closed Saturday of Bank Holiday weekends

Membership is free for all
Just bring proof of address and
photo i.d.

Adults & Children- 6 items - 2weeks
Senior Citizen – 6 items - 4weeks
DVDs max 2 per person - 1 week

Fines – 5c per item per day

Free internet & WIF access for library members.

Online resources available :

Free e-magazines with Zinio – free app

Free e-books & e-audio books with BorrowBox - free app

Free online courses with Universal Class

Free online languages with Mango Languages

Free online newspapers with ProQuest

For online renewal, requests and resources go to

log in to your account with your
library card number
(the barcode on the back of your card)
and your pin
(the last 4 digits of your barcode number)

Monday 20 June 2016

Banteer National School win Best Overall Garden in Cork Schools Garden Competition


Members of Banteer National School  accept Award on behalf of school. Included in picture are Conor Nelligan, Mary Stack, Denis Kelly, Sean Holland,Denis O Donoghue, Kevin Conway Deputy Mayor of County Cork, Thomas Walsh Miriam Dillon and Sean Murphy Muintir


      Cork, June 20, 2016: Banteer National School were deemed to have the best overall school garden at the Muintir na Tire Cork School Garden Awards held in Cork County Hall today. The leaders of the Banteer NS project are the enthusiastic Green Flag Committee members- Sadhbh Neenan, Donal O’ Donoghue, Con O’ Brien, Queen Ogumefu, Katie Patton, Roisín Murphy and Cian Cashman. This was a whole school effort, with each class involved in the planting of some section. The teachers involved in the planning are Mrs. Eileen Fitzgerald, Mrs Linda Keane and Mrs. Bernie O’ Connor. In the preparation of the garden they also enlisted the help of members of Banteer Tidy Towns Committee and some very interested parents.
      Their garden had many memorable elements including the growing of vegetables herbs and fruit. They grew potatoes in bags and tyres. Courgettes, peas, onions, broad beans, salad leaves, red currants and strawberries were also grown

One of their beds also has a sensory element with mint, lavender and curry plant.

The garden also included many features to encourage wildlife and biodiversity. The pupils are very mindful of the plight of all their tiny friends – especially the bees and they developed a ‘wild patch’ to promote lots of living creatures.

The judges were particularly impressed by their ‘1916 remember your Roots’ garden project which was created using lots of upcycled materials. They also have many plants in their Proclamation Section also to commemorate 1916.

The judges also remarked on the wonderful colour and the use of recycled items in the Banteer garden.
Deputy County Mayor Mr. Kevin Conway presented the award and he praised all 37 schools who took part this year. Mr Sean Holland Chairman of the organising team said the standard was getting better each year making it very difficult for the judges.

Annette Lane Chairperson Of Muintir in Cork thanked Cork County Council Environment Directorate and Council’s Heritage Section for their support. She also thanked Griffins Garden Centre in Dripsey for all their support.






 The Results

Commended Gardens

Category
School
New
Ballyhooly
Glandore
Rathbarry
Castlelack
Mixed
Gaelscoil Skibereen
Kealkin NS
Scoil Mhuire Ballincollig
Scoil Barra Ballincollig
Edible
Aghabullogue
St Marys Special School Rochestown
Midleton Educate Together
St Colmans Cloyne
Small

Biodiversity
Muinefliuch NS
Upcycling Colour and Art
Gaelscoil Mallow
Innovation Creativity


1916
Ardfield NS


Highly Commended Gardens
Category

School
New
Knockavilla NS
Edible
Kilcredan NS
Scoil Chroi Iosa Blarney
Small
Ballygiblin NS
Carrigboy NS
Carriganima
Upcycling Colour and Art
St Marys Rosscarbery
Knockskeagh NS
Rath NS













Category Winners
Winners
New     
Skibereen BNS
Mixed
Rusheen NS
Edible
Timoleague
Small
Mitchelstown CBS and
Scoil Aban Naofa
Biodiversity
Drinagh NS
Upcycling Colour and Art
Conna NS
Innovation Creativity

Scoil Mhuire NS Schull
and Clonakilty BNS
Most Improved
Scoil Phadraig Naofa Bandon
1916
Scool of Divine Child and
Scoil an tAthair Maitiu



Overall Winners Banteer National School









Photos From Banteer NS Garden



We all need Rural Ireland

“Taxpayers can’t afford to subsidise rural way of life. If it is to prosper Ireland must become a Global City.” says former Finance Secretary General John Moran. This was our response:
I refer to John Moran’s recent article which I hope is merely kite flying for his native city and does not represent the views of the current civil service. Those who believe all we need is a city state should remember that rural Ireland provides the food and electricity necessary to support cities and indeed if one wishes to just look at economics, it begins and nurtures the labour pool. Agriculture and tourism are not only our largest industries but kept the country going during the recession.
In Muintir na Tíre we empower all communities – urban and rural – and we do not support this artificial divide that is being created, particularly with inflammatory headlines such as this. We believe all communities are entitled to basic services but feel that rural communities have fallen behind in these basic services. Nobody expects a medical centre for excellence at the end of every road and nobody expects something for nothing. Remember rural dwellers already pay for their water, pay more for their electricity, pay high car running costs out of necessity, and so on.
There is much merit in some of Mr Moran’s ideas on urban development, including the idea of an urban counterbalance to Dublin. However there is no reason this cannot be done in tandem with providing essential services nationally, as part of a proper regional development plan.
We simply request that all of Ireland should have access to basic services to allow the country to prosper together. Rural broadband (which customers will have to pay for) is essential. Reasonable transport is also essential. A reasonable social and economic network, possibly through the Post Offices, is also essential. More than all, we have long called for a Government policy for rural Ireland so that we can all share a vision of what we want and how we might get there. We wish new Minister Heather Humphries well in her task.
Niall Garvey
CEO
Muintir Na Tire

Sunday 19 June 2016

CORK COUNTY COUNCIL PUBLIC PARTICIPATION NETWORK (PPN)



CORK COUNTY PPN
As you may be aware Cork County Public Participation Network (PPN) replaced Cork County Council’s Community & Voluntary forum in 2015. Cork County PPN is intended to act as the main means by which Cork County Council communicates with the community & voluntary sector in relation to matters such as:
·         Plan-making  - LECP, County Development Plans & Municipal District Plans.
·         Policy-making - The 8 Strategic Policy-Making Committees (SPCs) of Cork County Council and Cork County Joint Policing Committee.
·         Funding Opportunities  - LEADER funding, Cork County Council Grants & Funds, & any other National, European or Local funding streams that we are made aware of.
·         Training Events – Community and Enterprise related training for voluntary groups, businesses and individuals run either by Cork County Council or by external bodies such as the Local Development Companies or Enterprise Ireland.
·         Public Consultations – Statutory & non-statutory consultations with communities in relation to Council policies, plans and strategies.
The range of groups registered with Cork County PPN is diverse and includes Tidy Towns groups, Sports Clubs, Environmental organisations, Heritage Groups, Community Councils and Social Inclusion advocacy groups. (You can register your group with CORK COUNTY PPN by clicking HERE. )
With this in mind, Cork County PPN has been working on procuring access to an innovative Social Media tool that has been developed specifically to cater for all types of Community & Voluntary Groups, Social Inclusion Groups and Environment groups.
NEW ONLINE RESOURCE FOR GROUPS
This Social Media tool is similar to Facebook in that it provides an online space for organisations to build a profile and presence.
However, its functionality also allows groups to:
ü  form online discussion groups
ü  connect with other organisations / community groups
ü  share information / expertise with other groups
ü  upload photographs and other file types
ü  receive notifications of grant aid, funding opportunities etc.
ü  be kept informed of new policies & programs
ü  upload information such as meeting minutes, agendas, correspondence etc. amongst group members
ü  poll the members of their organisations on topics such as the choice of date for their next meeting or the type of fundraising event to hold in the future.

Crucially, it also allows Cork County PPN to post details of important announcements, funding opportunities &  upcoming events on an Events Calendar so that we can begin to minimise the number of emails we send to each PPN member.
We believe it will also be a very effective tool for posting details of Heritage Events to a wider online audience. Groups must first register with Cork County PPN.
Further information on Cork County PPN can be found at www.corkcountyppn.com   You can register your group with Cork County PPN HERE. If you have any queries please contact me on one of the numbers below. Regards,
Noelle Desmond  |  Cork County PPN Co-ordinator  | ( +353 (0)21 4285340   |  086 0284611