The Irish Times had an article about Trevor Sargent’s plans for allotments and urban vegetable gardens. It states that developers will be asked to provide land for these.

FOOD SECURITY: Builders and developers will have to provide land for urban farming and community allotments alongside future housing developments, according to Minister of State for Food Trevor Sargent.

Food will also be grown on allotments that are part of Office of Public Works land.

“Ireland now faces a similar challenge as Britain experienced during the second World War, when its government realised there was a clear need for food security. They went from being 120 days self-reliant for food to 160 days,” the Minister said.

Back in June Sargent was featured in the Irish Times Magazine in his own back garden which he uses to grow vegetables.

I think allotments are a great idea. The development I live in has oodles of space that could be made available for raised beds and vegetable growing. I’ve often contemplated making my own raised veg box and seeing does anyone ask me to get rid of it. That would fall under the category of guerilla gardening, but, given the whimsys of our residents commitee (they who don’t want organic material composters or wormeries, despite telling us in all their newsletters to make efforts to reduce our rubbish), it would probably be shot down, so guerilla is the way to go on what is, technically, land for all residents to share, and is currently wasted as lawn length grass, the gardeners don’t even have the sense to leave it as a wild flower meadow for honey making bees in the summer. I am considering at least a square meter garden next spring however. Committees be damned. The only difficulty will be all the cats in the development, you really don’t want cats clambouring over your raised beds and urinating on it e.t.c. I suppse our urban gardens could be fenced in though. The area behind our home gets sunlight all day, being south west facing, a perfect spot. There are zillions of online guides for growing vegetables and what to do each season. One example is the telegraph’s kitchen garden.

September 5, 2008 gardening