Sowing seeds: Grow it yourself to nourish body and mind

GIY founder Michael Kelly has written an accessible and informative book that encourages everyone to sow a seed for delicious and nutritious results

Michael Kelly, GIY founder, food writer, TV presenter and gardener. Picture: Colin Shanahan/ DigiCol Photography

“It’s such a hopeful, forward-looking activity.” 

For Michael Kelly, GIY founder, food writer, TV presenter and gardener, there are many benefits to growing it yourself — getting outside, eating fresh food, saving money — but perspective might be one of the most valuable elements.

“I’ve been growing for 20 years but I’m not an expert or guru. It’s all about working away — getting lots of things wrong and a few things right — but still growing amazing food. It has transformed my relationship with food and the environment,” says Kelly.

Kelly’s new book, The GIY Diaries (Gill Books), pulls together years of newspaper columns, muddy diaries from his home in Dunmore East, Co Waterford, and tried-and-tested recipes to document 12 months in the garden. “It’s a book about the common threads and also about how different every growing year is, how veg can surprise us. It’s a highlights’ reel.”

From dealing with garden gluts (“At last count, there are now 40 tubs of passata in the freezer…”) to railing against bland tomatoes and revealing the best way of growing basil, Kelly’s warm, friendly writing style is complemented by illustrations from Berlin-based, Tipperary-native Sarah Kilcoyne.

The message that Kelly wants to deliver is simple: just grow food. It might be a few herbs on a windowsill or salad leaves on the patio, but the action of growing something for yourself is life-affirming. “There are so many physical health benefits associated with being outside and in the air. Soil interaction, being exposed to the good bacteria in soil, is known to be good for your health. And there are mental health benefits — it was a lifesaver for so many people during the pandemic. Gardening grounds you and brings you back into the moment,” says Kelly.

The message that Kelly wants to deliver is simple: just grow food

The balance between what you do here and now with your hands in the dirt while dreaming of a future harvest makes gardening an addictive triumph of hope over experience.

When I spoke to Kelly on a crisp autumn day, he was already planning for the next stage of the gardening year. “This morning, I had to order seeds for green manure to fertilise the foil, so suddenly your mind goes to the next year’s growing season. You’re always looking ahead. Sowing is 100% potential - everything could work,” he says.

“Of all of the segments of the growing years — the sowing, the growing, the harvesting — sowing is my favourite activity. You start it at a time of the year when things are so bleak but you’re already looking ahead to the harvest.”

At times when the cost of living crisis and food security can feel like they’re beyond individual control, growing food is an empowering action. “There’s a kind of an infantilising of food that has happened over the years, that we take what we’re given — and in the way it’s given to us — from the supermarket,” says Kelly. But it doesn’t have to be like that and The GIY Diaries will encourage even the most tentative gardener to start sowing a few seeds.

Kelly has also seen that the impact of gardening happens outside the vegetable patch: “Look at the main trends by studying people over three to five years of growing their own food. There are profound changes: they eat more plants, waste less, buy more local food and buy seasonally. Even if you’re only growing 5% of the food you eat, it can change the other 95% because you’re creating a different type of consumer.”

He has noticed the impact on his family; he and his wife Eilish have two children and he has observed “a kind of gradual transition” to a more plant-based diet. “I’m not anti-meat at all,” says Kelly, “but we’ve really dialled back how much meat we eat. There’s so much to eat from the garden — you just don’t need to eat as much meat. On top of that, our grocery bills plummet at this time of the year. We’re eating more vegetables and more of the vegetables. When you grow it, you’re willing to try all parts of the plants.”

Kelly believes that nutrition and sustainability are vital benefits but homegrown is also about experiencing deliciousness and real freshness. “The number one comment we get from people is: ‘I grew something and couldn’t believe how good it tasted’.”

No matter what happens over the course of a gardening year, no one loses out by trying to grow something, enjoying the process and eating the results: “At the beginning, I wanted everything to be perfect,” says Kelly. “And I was self-critical about things that didn’t go according to plan. There are always things going wrong, but I know I’ll still produce lots of lovely food.”

Illustrations by Berlin-based, Tipperary-native Sarah Kilcoyn.

Michael Kelly’s top three autumn recipes

You don’t need to grow it all yourself, says Kelly. “If your supermarket or farmers market has gluts of Irish produce you can turn it into something you save for the winter.”

1. Tomato sauce: “This time of year, we are inundated with tomatoes. I have a tomato fetish and there are kilos coming in from the garden each weekend that we turn into a sauce. Bung them into a baking tray with a courgette, head of garlic, plenty seasoning and herbs like rosemary and thyme. Bake for an hour and blend. That is our go-to sauce for winter pizza, pasta and stews.”

2. Cucumber pickle: “There’s a cucumber pickle recipe that I use every year to make 20-30 jars — it’s great for school lunches and bringing cheese and bread sandwiches to life.”

3. Sauerkraut: “This has me in full-on processing mode in the kitchen with lots of cabbage. Every spare hour is spent on it, but it’s got a lovely feel to it. I’m at my most smug when I’m looking at a line of jars and pickles and saying: ‘I’ve done that myself’.”

Michael Kelly on herbs

“From annuals — for example, coriander, basil, dill — that you have to sow every year to perennials that you pick when you need (like mint, rosemary and thyme), the beauty of herbs is that they are easy to grow and you can pick them fresh when you need them. They’re a fantastic thing to start with because even if you don’t produce a lot of food, you can add herbs to every meal and it can feel homegrown.

“I’ve two favourites: lemon verbena, a perennial, that is good for digestion. You make tea from the leaves. And in cold and flu season, we’d use thyme as a tonic. Make a drink with thyme, garlic, and ginger and it’s good soothing cure.”

• The GIY Diaries: A Year of Growing and Cooking by Michael Kelly is published by Gill Books. Find out more about GIY and their inspirational GROW HQ in Waterford at giy.ie