Why grow?

The fact that you are actually reading this section means that you probably fall in to one of the categories below or a number of them like we do. The reality is that in Ireland, the previous generation pretty much all grew some level of their own food if not all of their own. For a number of reasons (Celtic Tiger included) we seem to have missed out on the passing down of this knowledge & lost the love for growing our own food. It’s estimated that over 65% of people born before 1975 were only 1 generation from the farm. Think about it. How many of us have either a mother or father who came from a farm. Now however even people who live on farms rarely grow their own food & if they do it may only be a crop or two. This is now changing & changing fast.

In the US over 19 million people now grow their own. This figure was less than 7m 5 years ago. Figures in Ireland are hard to come by but we do know that last year 50% more people than the previous year grew their own. It is estimated that this year alone at least 30,000 people will start for the first time, & we believe this is a conservative figure.

So why join this worldwide movement?

Simple

Because it is good for you & seriously rewarding. But here’s the thing. Its actually great fun & saves money. See the list of reasons below or if you really want to learn a lot more about Growing It Yourself why not join one of the many new Free local groups that have been set up over the last 18 months in Ireland by going to www.giyireland.com Here you will find a local group of people who grow in your area who come together monthly to share knowledge of growing & expertise on how to get started.


Guaranteed High Quality Food –
You can’t get fresher than growing your own. When you pick a bunch of spinach, walk to the kitchen & put it in a pot. You know 100% that nothing has been sprayed on it to keep it fresh & none of its nutrients have been lost because you are cooking it within an hour of picking (Spinach looses 70% of its nutrients within 24 hours of being picked). Somehow it also tastes so much better.

Satisfaction -   
The feeling of bringing your own produce in to the kitchen is incomparable. I still get a major rush from it 10 years after I first started.

Healthy Lifestyle -
The combination of the physical activity of digging & working in the garden with the fact that you are eating much healthier food, leads to a healthier lifestyle.

Taste -   
The reality is the supermarkets have managed to take the taste out of our food. Taste a carrot or tomato from your own garden & instantly tastes from when you were a child will flood back.

Environment -    when you pick that carrot or parsnip from your garden & walk to the kitchen with it you have not only saved a serious amount of food miles you have also saved on all the packaging & reduced the amount of insecticides which destroy insect life etc.

Seasonality -   
Get back to the way food should be eaten & appreciated. When you only get to eat Broccoli during the 4 months of the year that it is ready in the garden it once again becomes a real treat & something to look forward to. Instead of just an add on Vegetable any time of the year flown in from Peru.

Save Money -   
You will be pleasantly surprised at how much you can save. Particularly on salads/herbs/beans etc. We pick our own salad from the garden 4 times a week for 5 months of the year form a small patch of cut & come again salads & herbs. I haven’t done the calculation but at €4 for a bag of salad leaves (drenched in chlorine) I must be saving a small fortune.