Hello to all GIYers in County Monaghan

With the Summer upon us, I hope that you are getting a good harvest from your garden, allotment, windowbox or wherever you do your growing. The weather has been a bit variable to say the least but the plants seem to be making the most of it these last few weeks.

The reason I am contacting you is to tell you about plans for new groups in Monaghan. There is already a long established and active group in Monaghan town, and many of you will already have benefitted from going to meetings and events there.

However, GIY is all about bringing people together in their own community. While some people are willing to travel a distance to join with a group, we know that we can involve many more people from an area by having a GIY groups set up in their own localities.

In the last few months, there has been a lot of interest in getting a new group going in South Monaghan. Depending on how many people would like to get involved and from what areas, then we might even see about getting two groups going – one based around Carrickmacross and one around Castleblaney.

So, what I am asking people to do is as follows:-

1. If you live in the Southern half of the county, and you would like to see a group in your own locality, then please get in touch. My contact details are at the bottom of the message and I would love to hear from you.
2. If you know of friends, neighbours, workmates or people you bump into on the street who might be interested in these new groups, let them know and ask them to give me a shout.

Please note that GIY local groups are set up and run by the people in the area. There are now around 100 groups throughout Ireland with new groups being set up nearly every week. Local groups are a great way to meet other growers in your area and share hints and tips, seeds and produce, and generally get more out of your growing while enjoying the process.