Online and in the shops: Free meals

Free meals — vegetarian curry — will be provided at Grand Parade, Cork, from 1pm tomorrow, as part of the Feed the City initiative.

This will highlight food waste and sustainability, and will only use vegetables that would otherwise go to waste. There will be talks on growing your own vegetables, composting and gardening, and cookery demonstrations by Denis Cotter, of Café Paradiso, and Mercy Fenton. The event is part of Cork’s three-day St Patrick’s Festival; www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie. Pictured at the Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill community garden are children from St. Mary’s on the Hill primary school, Knocknaheeny, Cork.

Fruitful activity: If you want to garden with the children this spring, Dealz has gardening tools, accessories and seeds, including a new ‘grow your own fruit’ range, with everything priced at €1.49; www.dealz.ie.

Going to the zoo: Dublin Zoo ( www.dublinzoo.ie) will be joining in the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. The zoo will be transformed into a playground of leprechauns and fairies, with maypole ribbon dancing and storytelling with the leprechaun king. Talks will be held and visitors can watch their favourite animals enjoy treats in honour of St Patrick. Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival begins today; details on www.stpatricksfestival.ie.

Baby teeth: DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland has produced a Parents Guide to Children’s Oral Health to provide dental hygiene advice for children. The advice, from Dr Ger Gavin, chief dental officer with DeCare, includes brushing at least twice a day for two minutes and waiting for an hour before brushing, after meals or snacks; water instead of fizzy drinks; and a child’s mouth-guard while playing sports. For more oral health tips or to download the full children’s guide, which provides further information on dental hygiene, see www.decaredental.ie.