Getting back to basics

DESPITE the hardship that many are enduring as the result of the economic meltdown, much good is emerging at grassroots level.

Many are rediscovering the joy of thrift and self-sufficiency. More than 50 people had to be turned away from a recent grow-your-own-vegetable lecture organised by Cork Free Choice Consumer Group and given by organic growers Caroline Robinson and Rupert Hugh-Jones, at the Crawford Gallery in Cork. There was standing room only, the place packed with people anxious to learn how to grow food in their town and country gardens.

In Waterford a very successful food producer’s network has been established by Michael Kelly and Donal Lehane. The group meets once a month in the Waterford City library to learn about and share what used to be known as home-making skills; how to grow vegetables and fruit, or how to keep a few chickens and pigs. They are planning to operate on a meithil system, where members share plants and seeds and the bounty they grow.