House Youth Hostel, Kinvara, Co. Galway dating back to 1866. Rescued from dereliction, the garden has been replanted. The Doorus Orchard Project was set up in 2004 and with Heritage Council of Ireland funding, was planted up with over 50 heritage apple trees from the Irish Seed Savers Association - representing the West of Ireland apple collection - and other tree fruits such as Mulberrys , Medlars, Green Gages, Damsons, Peach and Plums. Each tree is clearly labeled, showing the type of fruit and origin of that fruit. All of the trees within the orchard have been sponsored by local families, encouraging local community involvement. We hold regular work days and open days, where people come and enjoy the garden or give us a hand weeding. As a community Garden it is open to the public all the time so if you are in the area you can pop in and have a look.
A walled garden is every gardener’s dream. The high walls provide shelter from the strongest winds and encourage a benign microclimate. Our vegetable garden - against the south facing wall is a pleasant work place in all but the wettest weather. This year we have erected a large and a small Poly tunnel for wet day gardening and courses. We also have a well equipped tool shed and a picnic area surrounded by soft fruits - raspberries, black, red and white currants, rhubarb and gooseberries.
Summer has ended…..
Summer has ended and various different things have changed in the garden. The new veg plot is overflowing with produce, the giant pumpkins aren’t giant, but they are rather large. We’ve had peaches for the first time, with almonds and grapes on the way. 2 things that haven’t worked are-
1. the Wednesday evening drop in idea, a few people came for a week or two and then it fizzled out altogether. Any ideas welcome as to how people would feel welcome to come and help out in the garden and get involved….
.2. Lots of apples have been picked off the trees long before they’re ripe. I’m assuming it has been children taking them (as they were all under a certain height!!). It’s very disappointing to think they will have taken one bite, said YUCK!! and thrown them away!! Some of the varieties we haven’t even got the chance to taste yet! We’ll need to organize picking and bagging next year, with an h0onesty box of types as they ripen and then big signs saying please don’t pick the apples. There are almost 50 types of apple planted that ripen from August through to December, some of which are cookers/cider and will never sweeten for eating. Ideas welcome….maybe that is just the reality of community gardening…….
On a brighter note, the bees are doing great, and the fruit harvest in general has been very exciting. It’s great to literally taste the fruits of our labors!!! Widow’s friend apples were particularly tasty.
I have covered an area fro a children’s garden in mypex, so that it’s ready to go when I have a group of interested people. I envisage a small tree house for wee tots in the fallen over brambly, which will give the impression of a real tree house and yet be only 75 cm off the ground!! I’d also like to see a clay/stone play house, with thatch or living green roof planted with pinks and campanulas etc. something very pretty, a honeysuckle up the front, alpine strawberries around the base. There would also need to be a bark mulch or other area, open to ideas, nothing set in stone…..
2010- a new year, lots of new ideas!!
Happy New Year to everyone. Work has been hampered in the garden due to the wet weather and then the frozen weather. We had great help from 3 WWOOFers in November/ December. Mark and Giselle helped to clear around the Apple Trees - I’d forgotten there was gravel around them all!- and Morgan gave me a hand gathering and spreading seaweed, we also tidied out the small poly tunnel and planted early potatoes. Thanks for your help!
We had a couple of Pizza days over the cold spell which were good fun, and the lads have started work on the roof, waterproofing the structure with larch ’slates’.
We have some new people getting involved and I hope to complete as many projects this year as last. Anyone interested in helping out with a cob ’shell house’ folly/ children’s play house - perhaps even thatched- let me know. Ideas welcome.
Lynn
Projects completed in 2009 were the construction of a biodiversity garden and the building or a wood fired clay oven.We also put up 2 tunnels and got honey bees!
The Biodiversity Garden is a sample plot that could be fitted into any suburban or rural back garden, 6m x 8m. We planted up this small space as an oasis for birds and bees, insects and frogs, by using a mix of native and non native plants that provide habitat s and food sources, and by including a small pond, stone pile and log pile, and a bog garden. This garden proves that even in a small space you can do a lot to increase the amount and diversity of wildlife in your garden, while still looking very attractive!
The woodfired clay oven has been built this summer by a very enthusiastic group, who mixed clay by foot and used it to construct a giant sea shell, in which the most amazing pizza can be cooked. All this is under an octagonal roof. We hope to plant a section of this roof with hardy succulents as a green roof, and use the rest to collect rain water for irrigation in the poly tunnel.
New residents in the garden- we got a beehive, thanks to local beekeeper Antionette Lyons. This will be a great addition to the garden. Helping in pollination, and also education. Honey bees are extremely important and under threat. We hope they like our garden!
Just a couple of photos from our midsummer picnic 2009 on the 21st of June. It was a lovely sunny day, and we had a great turnout. Thanks to everyone who came! This year’s will be on Sunday June 20th!
DOORUS ORCHARD PROJECT
OPENING OF OUR NEW BIODIVERSITY GARDEN- SUNDAY AUGUST 30th, 2009
What a wet day when we started out, but it improved and and in the end wasn’t too bad at all. Fair play to all those who attended, and apologies to those who tried but couldn’t find us, more signage in future I think! At this event there was a talk on biodiversity and some of the simple things you can do to make your garden more welcoming to wildlife. There was also a very interesting talk about honey bees by Antoinette Lyons, and a clay oven building demonstration by Liam Carroll, which after lots of mucky feet stomping put the first layer of clay on the oven dome.
If you would like to become more involved in this community garden or be on our emailing list for open days and events, contact us at kinvarasustainableliving@gmail.com and we will let you know about upcoming events.
