| Ballybane Organic Garden Project (Galway) |
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As part of the Galway Healthy Cities project an organic garden was developed in Ballybane. Participants from the local area developed an organic garden, learning about organic gardening processes in a supportive environment. The land is provided by Galway City Council. A gardener provides advice and information at each stage from preparing the land right through to harvesting. Foods grown include potatoes, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, coriander and runner beans. “This is the third year of the project and it is going really well” stated Paul Hayes from Ballybane Community Development project. “It’s great to share our experience with other agencies doing similar work across Ireland” he added. Over 20 participants from Ballybane are involved in the project. They meet every Monday evening from 6.30pm – 8.30pm and Thursday morning between 10am and 12.30pm. People are welcome to come visit and become involved in the project. Future plans for the garden include developing a composting scheme to involve people in the wider community. Local crèches are also coming to visit the garden in July.
The Ballybane Organic Garden Project was a joint project between Galway City Council, HSE West, RAPID, NUI Galway, the VEC and Ballybane Mervue CDP. Within the HSE West, Health Promotion Services coordinated the project and the Community Nutrition Department (HSE) and Home Management Department (HSE) provided nutritional education and cooking skills as part of the overall learning process. It is a successful partnership and has a positive impact on those involved and the local community of Ballybane.
The project is currently recruiting new participants for this year’s organic garden project. The gardener and CDP representative work on the garden every second week preparing the area. This will shortly be increased to weekly, with the possibility of another time slot being offered to accommodate more people. A local school within the Westside area are also in the process of developing an organic garden based on the Ballybane model for the school children and the community in that area.
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