Blessed with a sunny day on Friday 23rd of August, Ballina Grow It Yourself Group hosted a free Community Garden Open day for all. The clay oven, barbeque and kettle were in full swing when we arrived to the friendly welcome by group volunteers. A guided tour of the garden showed visitors around the orchard, the polytunnel, which was full to the brim with corn, peas and flowers. Children gazed at the Bug Motel for creepy crawlies and ran in among the wild garden flowers. It was evident that community gardening brings people together in a social gathering, as well as providing exercise and teaching new gardening skills you could clearly see the benefit of this type of project. Everyone was happy and mingling among the various groups. This was a truly intercultural, open and friendly group. The garden does not use chemicals and only grows using natural fertilisers and methods resulting in winning their second Green Flag Award this year! It was definitely an achievement worth celebrating and well done to all volunteers involved. Ballina Karen Community Garden is ran by the Ballina GIY group, consisting of all voluntary members. They meet every Tuesday evening and Friday morning. The garden is supported by Mayo North East Leader under the SICAP and TUS programmes.
The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2018-2022 is funded by the Irish Government and co-funded by the European Social Fund and includes a special allocation under the Youth Employment Initiative.
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