3rd time lucky for community garden in Dublin 8?

dublin | environment | news report

Tuesday September 18, 2007 17:24

by dunk

dolphinsbarngarden at gmail dot com

South Circular Road Garden, Dublin 8

085-7344904

Some months back, people from the Dublin community gardens collective secured the legal use of a space on South circular road, across the road from the White Heather factory behind which the original "Dolphins barn commmunity garden" was started 2 years ago on squatted land but that was later evicted. They have been busy over the past while, quietly and happily digging away, gently making a beautiful social space which is an example of what a more sustainable community or city looks like. There is currently a lovely new addition to the old Dublin 8 street, just after the Mosque coming from the city centre: a line of very colorful sunflowers now stand out against the green of the veggies and flowers growing behind in the SCR plot. The collective have at least another 2 years in this space and hopefully things will keep on growing so that this garden turns into a permanent green space for the city. All newcomers are people interested are welcome.

sunflowers mark the border of the new SCR garden in Dublin 8

The first garden in this urban greening, unused land reclaiming, social space experiment came into life on the 12th of april 2005 in one of the most socially excluded parts of the city: an unused piece of land behind a factory on the banks of the Grand canal just before Dolphins Barn bridge. In little under a year, the time that the first garden existed, skills, stories, food and dreams were shared, new friendships were forged and the beginings of an ever growing discussion were started as to how best space can be used in Dublin city, what grassroots, bottom-up approachs can be started to re-establish community spaces in areas that have lost such spaces, having them let go to pot by the council with all the negative effects that go along with that; drink and drug abuse, violence, homelessness, mental health issues...

The idea of what constitutes a healthier, safer, happier, more sustainable community and city were being explored and in time more people from all sides of life were coming to the garden to get their hands dirty, plant food or to simply give a hand and spend time in an oasis of calm in what seems to be a city which gets more and more noisier and dirtier as the tiger keeps on growing... In time a second garden was started, this time on the Northside, again along the city canal, this time above Phibsborogh, that was called the "cursed earth garden".

But soon "development" was to drive the Dolphins Barn collective from their first garden, just as it was approaching their first birthday, an eviction of sorts: asked to leave and with little alternatives, they did in April 14th 2006, both celebrating and mourning the brief life there and need to find a new space. Some of the collective moved out to land in Finglas and developed a garden there, which is still going.

Around April 2007 members of the original garden crew and some from the newer Finglas plot opened land beside Sallys bridge, 100 metres down the canal from the original plot, on an unused green field behind a fence which backed onto the back of the Dublin Mosque. They were there for only a short while and constructed a lovely wooden sign welcoming people to the garden, but they were quickly notified from the council that they should pack up or else they would be threathened with "trespass" orders and all that goes along with that. During this time some, pre election time, some of the Green party came out and looked at the garden and some talk happened about how unused spaces in the city could be used as green food production zones which double up as nodal community points and can reinforce sense of community. The gardening collective left this space after only a few weeks and the space has gone back to what it was before: unused green space alongside the canal where before much evidence of drug abuse was found in the space.. needles, foil, pills and other dirty dangerous things....especially dangerous if youths from the area use it as a space for play.

So will it be third time lucky for a community garden in Dublin 8, hopefully it will. Some of the gardening collective will be speaking this Saturday as part of the opening weekend of Seomra Spraoi (part 3), the Dublin social centre, and theres even talk of a little soup being shared out from the garden. This happens to fall on International car free day, which amongst other things was part of the initial reason to get hands dirty in Dublins soil in the first place: to explore alternatives to carbon culture, to make real alternatives which lesson the oil used to get our food to our tables, to re-learn the skills our forefathers had: how to go out onto land and work it so that in time food is reaped from it..... to witness the simple joy and magic of watching things grow from mother earth.

If anyone feels like giving it a shot or would like to just pop along to lend a hand or to simply see what its about, do. Personally speaking, the year or so I was involved were a real pleasure and the crew are a great mixed bunch who all made those times spent magical moments indeed.

from the SCR website:
"Regular gardening on the SCR plot is due to begin for the Summer. At least two people will be rostered to open the garden on Tuesday, Thursday evenings and Saturday from 2pm. Email ([email protected]) for further details."
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Contact Numbers >>> Seoidin 085-7344904 Ruth 086-3606830 Patrick 087-7558336 Kieran 087-1304263

Email: [email protected]

http://southcirculargarden.blogspot.com/
http://dolphinsbarngarden.org/
http://dublincommunitygardens.blogspot.com/
http://finglasgarden.blogspot.com/

Previous garden posts:

Dolphin's Barn community garden under threat
http://indymedia.ie/article/75438

dolphins barn community garden birthday party on good friday
http://indymedia.ie/article/75408

The Cursed Earth Garden
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75922

Bringing Nature To Mans Domain
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/69689

all you need to know about permaculture, eco issues, composting, gardening, food production, wormeries, roof gardens....
community gardening, C/O IMC-KENYA
http://kenya.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/1870.php

and lastly an essay about what a future sustainable community would look like..."its not an option, its what were going to have to turn to, to survive"

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE MOVEMENT
http://ssis.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/