Growing the business of organic gardening

THE past number of years have seen more and more people starting, or returning, to growing their own food. In backgardens throughout the county, protective structures like polytunnels and glasshouses are springing up.

September will see the first organic gardening course in Ennis by gardening guru, Jim Cronin. It will be held in Ennis Showgrounds, organised by Carmen Cronin in partnership with Clare County Show.

Originally from Ennistymon, Jim has been gardening from his early childhood. He never lost the passion and excitement of practising and exploring organic gardening and is now known to many as a leading expert in organic horticulture and is a mine of information and advice on all aspects of growing organically, with a lifetime of experience and a deep love of working in cooperation with nature.

Jim is also an advocate of local, sustainable agriculture and was a founding member of the thriving Killaloe Farmers’ Market, where he sells his garden fresh produce all year round. He and Rebecca Hussey run courses that are attended by interested people the length and breadth of the country for over a decade. Now, he is bringing his knowledge to the heart of the county with a four-week course entitled Organic Gardening – Extending the Harvest to 52 weeks a year to be held at Ennis Showgrounds starting from September 13.

“In the tradition of our forefathers, I believe we need to make detailed knowledge about organic ways to gardening and growing available to be sustainable into the future,” said Jim Cronin, organic grower and tutor for over a decade.

“Passing on knowledge, information and ideas is a great privilege to me, which goes beyond the act of teaching and aims to create a healthier society and focuses around attention on the increasing need to re-localise our food production in particular and our communities in general for the coming post-carbon era, where food miles will be reduced to food metres.”

According to organiser Carmen Cronin, “Following the success of the recent garden festival and the gracious offer by County Clare Show to organise other events, I was wondering how I can be of service to the wonderfully engaged crowd of gardeners we had and that I have gotten to know all over Clare in the past two years.”

“Myself and my husband have attended two courses with Jim in that same time, which completely changed our ways and productiveness in gardening. Jim is a wonderful tutor with such depth and range of knowledge, which he presents in an amazingly accessible way, allowing questions at all times and presenting answers, which create a true understanding of the topic. It is a huge honour to support him in the organising of his first course in Ennis.”

According to Carmen, this course is suitable for complete beginners and more seasoned gardeners and is of interest also to those who do not, yet, have a polytunnel or glasshouse. Jim promises that going organic is much easier and more rewarding than you might think. The classes are held in a very relaxed and informal atmosphere with questions welcomed and hands-on information and practices explained clearly. The course outline includes two evenings on Extending the Harvest to 52 weeks in the year – Growing in a Polythene Tunnel or Small Glasshouse, followed by weed control and the use of green manures in an organic garden: techniques to reduce and replace hand weeding and concluding with planning a garden through the seasons: site selection, layout, fertility requirements and how to grow through the winter period.

The up-coming organic gardening course is supported by Clare County Show committee with chairman Bernard Hanrahan who said, “We are delighted to provide a new home for gardeners and their interests and events at our Showgrounds and I wish Jim, Carmen and all the participating gardeners a great time and all the best of success during the classes and in their gardens.

The course will be held on four Thursday evenings, 7pm to 9pm on September 13, 20, October 4, in the Ennis Showgrounds. Participants asked to sign up by September 5. The course will go ahead with a minimum of 10 persons, with larger numbers expected; early booking is advisable to avoid disappointment. Full details are available from www.carmencronin.ie or contact Carmen on 087 611 75 38 or cc@carmencronin.ie.