Transforming Blessington No.1 School Allotment: A Community-Led Garden Revival
The new Blessington No1 School Allotment as of May Bank Holiday 2024
On the 1st of March last a small group of parents met to do some maintenance of the school garden. The plan was that this was to be an hour a week for the foreseeable future. The whole Covid situation, among others, saw the allotment area fall into decline. The nine raised beds were rotting and falling apart. I initially made the approach of putting a healing plaster on the beds, by using decking screws and galvanised band or strapping to try to stabilise and pin the sleepers together again. I knew it was a bit of a pig’s ear!
The old Blessington No1 School allotment.
Mrs. Murphy, the principal, in passing talked of how she would love to fix the area up and have nice pathways around the allotment. That to me was the green light needed to put this right. I suggested that I could do something about this, and here the project began! I say project because it is / was an actual project. It has been a huge undertaking. This was something that needed to be taken by the scruff of the neck and driven forward to achieve the goal of having a manageable, accessible, and interesting garden, that was also a blank canvas for the children to grow in for themselves, as well as being manageable for the teachers.
Hugh & Yvonne onsite, having a tea break!
After getting the green light I pressed ahead by myself. This area had sat long enough in a state, so politics and bureaucracy would be a no, no, especially if the allotment was to be running for the children before the end of spring. My background in construction, supply chain, procurement, and study of project and business management kicked in, and I began to reach out to businesses and organisations far and wide across Ireland, the UK, and even mainland Europe for support. My intention was that this project would cost the school nothing and that the school would have the basis to make this area a true amenity for the coming years. I have succeeded in ensuring that what I have done brought no financial cost to the school. The kindness and generosity of businesses big and small helped to achieve that goal. Some very kind people have been great supporters.
Essential groundworks! This is what it’s all about!
With Easter break looming I began to disassemble the failing raised beds. Deirdre Maguire and my wife Ashling helped with demolition! The hope was to get as much work done while the kids were off for Easter. The Garden Shop (thegardenshop.ie) in Portarlington offered to assist with a donation of half a pallet of compost, which I collected. While there I visited Tirlán Monasterevin who donated 15kg of bonemeal and 15kg of Vitax feed. At the very least one large skip would be needed, and Dolly Skips in Naas quickly offered support. Dolly Skips went out of their way to accommodate the school with delivery timings, and quick collection. Deirdre, husband Mark, and their daughter Saoirse, who goes to the school, helped with filling the skip.
A business in Naas, which wants to remain anonymous assisted with the first load of scaffolding boards. I started the new raised beds before the Easter break and had a large audience of kids on a few occasions! I felt a bit of pressure with so many kids watching and asking questions! Clane Providers offered support with a pallet of boards in their yard for me to draw down upon as I needed. All Ireland Scaffolding were happy to help too by letting me call to their yard in Leixlip to load up on boards more than once. After collections from Clane Providers and the Naas business, I reached out for assistance with a pickup from All Ireland Scaffolding. I asked for help from the garden maintenance group, Deirdre volunteered. She brought her sister along too, who was staying for a few days over Easter, as a bit of a holiday, or as it turns out not so much a holiday! I don’t think Deirdre will ever repeat a drive like that again, with her car on its hunkers laden with scaffolding boards!
As I “deconstructed” the beds the ladies cleared the site and stacked the rubbish. Deirdre then got her husband Mark in for a day, and they deconstructed the last of the old beds, as I built the new ones. This helped move things along a little. Masonry Fixings and TJ O’Mahony supplied decking screws and fixings. MSS Building Services supplied Unistrut for bracing the new beds. MSS also supplied penny washers for fixing, end caps, and galvanized spray to rust proof the cuts.
While this work was happening, I was reaching out constantly for support by phone, email and text, and the phone was constantly on the go! Like any project the next steps needed to be in place to achieve the next milestone. HSS Hire on the Longmile Road, thanks to Terry, donated the hire of a tiller to till the new raised beds. Roadstone quickly came on board to supply 16 tonnes of pebble for pathways around the raised beds to make the area clean, safe, and tidy for the children to navigate about. LEECO in Rathcoole offered a large amount of weed barrier to furnish the pathways for receiving the pebble. The area needed to be framed first and the business in Naas sent a delivery of treated timber, fixings, and accessories for me. This included hacksaw blades, box knife blades, drill bits, and fixings. With the site sitting on a hill the frame had to be tiered into the hill. This was quite a task but an enjoyable one eventually when completed! Struts were driven into the ground and fixed to the frame to support it. Next the weed barrier was laid and fixed in place with tent pegs thanks to Charles Camping in Blessington, and Irish Flooring Products in Roscommon for the staple guns and staples used.
Roadstone then liaised with me to arrange a time that would be good to drop off the first 10 tonne of pebble. When I say time that would be good, that’s kind of a simple way of putting it, as a large truck would need to cross through the school grounds, park in the yard, and then try drop tonne bags into the allotment itself, while trying to reduce hardship for me! Normally loads of this size would be dropped unbagged by tipper truck, but Roadstone knew it was just myself and wanted to facilitate me and the school as best, so sent tonne bags that could be dropped as near as possible to their final resting point using a long reach grab. A 6.45am drop off was arranged, to avoid everybody and with safety in mind. The Roadstone driver couldn’t have been more helpful with the drop. Roadstone were under pressure with time slots for round two of the pebble, another 6 tonnes, and once again to facilitate the school, and me, they at a moment’s notice arranged a truck from another local business BRYKO to deliver the balance on the Friday evening of the May bank holiday weekend just gone. Roadstone, upon realising that the school was closed for a few extra days, worked hard to arrange the balance of pebble for me, to take advantage of the empty school. Thank you Derek in Roadstone.
BRYKO sent a small truck with the 6 tonne of pebble balance and when the driver, Paul Kenny of Kenny’s Supervalu Blessington fame, saw the awkward location for delivery of such a load, decided to go back to the BRYKO yard to transfer the bags of pebble to a bigger truck with a longer grab. This was done to help get the load closer to the new raised beds and reduce the pain for me! Peoples’ acts of goodwill like this need acknowledging. Lots of planning, lots of arranging, lots of facilitating, lots of conversations, were required, and some people looking on don’t seem to get that!
In the interim Carey Tools in Cork sent hand tools, forks and spades, and a hose for the children for the allotment and garden. Smart Garden Products in the UK sent children’s gardening and rigging gloves, ladies’ and men’s gardening gloves, and a selection of children’s gardening rakes and watering cans. Burgon & Ball in the UK sent children’s gloves with animal characters on them. Sheds Direct in Finglas sent tool sets in carry cases and tool bags with stools for the children, and solar lights that have been placed at the four corners of the allotment area as markers. In the front corners there are potato grow bags donated by Meade Fam in Navan, Co. Meath, with seed potatoes planted. Lucan Garden Centre donated two adult sized garden rakes. Over the Easter break I did a run to the northside of Dublin and on into Navan with Ashling, and our children Hugh and Yvonne, to collect donations from several small businesses. Whites Agri in Ballough, north Co. Dublin donated a large roll of weed barrier. Anne from Bawn Nurseries in Navan donated a large selection of herb plants to create a herb bed for the children, as well as trays of Buxus hedge for the garden. Finally, Mullaghbeag Nurseries near Navan donated a haul of seed potatoes, red and white onion sets, and garlic sets. Both Bawn and Mullaghbeag Nurseries offered more support too.
Before the second delivery of pebble arrived Glen Petticrew in thegrowshop.ie in Navan sent some of his team in one of his vans down to Blessington No1 School. They arrived with a pallet of specialist compost, propagators, 1000 seed coins, plant pots, and some very unique upcycled plant pots that would go on to be a feature in a flower bed I constructed over the May bank holiday weekend. The lads helped unload the van and headed for ice creams in Blessington! Ken from Green Lane Nurseries near Naas / Prosperous donated the shrubs and plants for this new bed in the school front garden. Green Lane Nurseries also donated saplings and native plants for the school grounds. Sturdy Products in Blessington donated the largest composter in their range. DEKAH in Tullamore sent safety gloves. Another local business, tomphibbs.ie gave me some pallet skirts for flower beds, which have been installed inside the school gates.
Linking the garden and allotment, and nature, and bringing that into the school building was another process to think about for me, linking everything out. For this I reached out to visual artists. Two that I hoped dearly would support us, did! Andrew Collins Photography from The Naul in Co. Dublin presented the school in person with 20 framed A4 prints of his very fine wildlife photography. Beautiful photographs. Then Ciara from Ciaraíoch Art in County Kerry sent on some prints of her very fine Irish wildlife drawings complete with species names in Irish. The Tree Council of Ireland sent learning aids in the form of posters about Irish flora and fauna. Bloomsbury Publishing in the UK have some learning supports in transit.
As the raised beds neared completion Tirlán in Rathnew donated plug vegetable and salad plants, bamboo canes, netting, cane toppers, brassica collars, seed trays and garden novelties in the form of little garlic characters for the children. I collected these in person. Tanks Direct in Cork sent a 200 litre Carbery Roto Composter. Cullen Nurseries based in Hacketstown Co. Carlow sent a selection of native saplings. Fruit Hill Farm in Bantry, Co. Cork sent seed potatoes of special varieties, organic potato fertiliser, and a selection of natural wild seeds for creating a healthy growing environment. And another Cork business Future Forests sent fruit bushes.
I passed the selection of seed on to Brian Murray @microwildhq (microWild) & @BeesOfIreland (Bees & Wasps of Ireland). He is passionately involved in the study of bees, wasps, bugs and all things micro and creepy crawly. He’s involved in rewilding in the area and runs workshops for young and old. MSS Building Services and All Ireland Scaffolding stepped up again to support myself and Brian with materials for making a sand box, for sand nesting bees over the May bank holiday weekend, near the shores of Blessington Lake. This was done in between works on the school allotment and front garden. The school project has linked into other areas locally, like Brian’s work, and now Blessington Tidy Towns, through donating on some items to their good causes.
As part of creating a space that links nature, growing, and enjoying the outdoors I reached out to businesses for support with seating for the garden. With the imminent arrival of a second skip, this time from Oxigen Environmental, I went into the storage sheds where chairs and stage materials are stored for school events. This was to see if anything needed tipping into the skip. Mrs. Murphy pointed out that there was teak wall top seating stored away after a repainting job on the yard walls. This was a bonus find and I set about getting fixings to reinstall the seating around the yard. HSS Hire on the Long Mile Road donated the hire of an SDS drill to drill the 180 holes required to fix the seating into the concrete walls. Caulfield Industrial in Co. Galway sent a selection of drill bits for the 180 x SDS holes, 180 x 6mm HSS holes, 180 x 8mm HSS countersinking holes. Rawlplug Ireland sent specialist stadium seating fixings, 180 of which had to be secured into the concrete then! My hand is still vibrating! Tucks Fastners out in Century Business Park also kindly donated screws that went to use in another area of the project. The weekend that I was reinstalling the yard seating I couldn’t get assistance off the school with power outside and ended up in search a generator to complete the works while I had the SDS drill on loan from HSS Hire. Mike and Pat Cummins of Donard Tidy Towns assisted by loaning their own personal, new, shiny, generator to me. This was another of several silly obstacles that was manoeuvred around to go forward, thankfully.
Writing today, on the 7th of May, what has happened in the last few weeks with regards to overhauling the school allotment, reinstating a big flower bed in the front garden, and reinstating the yard and garden seating, there are a few things outstanding that will hopefully be closed off in the coming day or week. Another small business, shedsdepo.ie is donating a 6x10ft garden shed for the children to store their equipment, to use for sowing seeds and potting. The idea is to give the children, teachers, and the school the basis and basics to make this project a real asset to the school and the Blessington area for the coming years. Ideal Storage in Cork has sent shelving units for when the shed has arrived. TW Clarke in Bluebell, Dublin sent locks for the new shed. DOSCO will send some storage bins and yard brushes too. DRAPER Tools in the UK sent a cultivator / tiller for maintaining the raised beds! Ocean Leaves in Wexford sent a massive donation of their dry and liquid organic seaweed feeds. They also sent sets of unique little labels for the plants. Another job needed was the replacement of hinges on the original storage shed and Handle King Hardware Ireland sent stainless steel hinges as replacements for me to complete that fix!
A host of seed businesses, small Irish businesses, have supported the project, and have been the backbone of support;
- Brown Envelope Seeds, supplier of organic seeds, in West Cork.
- Little Green Growers based in Co. Roscommon, sent a selection of organic seeds.
- Gardens for Wildlife in Trim, Co. Meath sent wildflower seed & organic fertilisers.
- Donegal Bees sent wildflower seed.
- Wildflowers.ie sent wildflower seed.
- Cappagh Nurseries / Van Der Wel Ltd. in Wicklow sent a selection of veg & salad seed.
- Seeds Ireland, seedsireland.ie, sent seeds, pots, coins & pumpkin seeds for Halloween!
- Greens of Ireland in Portlaw, Co. Waterford sent seeds.
As part of the wildlife side of the project I reached out to nestbox.eu (MKW) in Poland. They arranged an interpreter and set a date to ring me. I told them all about the project and they were very happy to help with trying to encourage the wildlife part of the project, particularly the native bee aspect and native garden birds. On the back of this, nestbox.eu fast tracked a package from Poland with their beautiful bee, bug, and bird houses, as well as a bird table, and feeders. All of which were installed over the May bank holiday weekend. GM8 Group in the UK have two bird feeders in transit to us too.
VITAX in the UK are sending slug and snail deterrent pellets made from sheep’s wool, as well as a number of other ecofriendly deterrents. Jones Tools in Baltinglass donated a duck leg shears for maintenance, and O’Sullivan Safety (Long Mile Road) gave me 40 pairs of different safety gloves when on a run to HSS Hire. Connemara Seaweed sent 15kg of their great dry natural seaweed feed. Luceco Group, aka Masterplug, supplied me with an extension lead for working around the grounds with power tools. Mick Dempsey of the former Dempsey’s Chip Shop in Blessington donated all his unused fish and chip wrapping to use as weed suppressant that breaks down.
Quinns of Baltinglass supplied treated timber to construct a new raised bed in the front garden over the May bank holiday weekend. Quinns also supplied fixings and some replacement tools for me, to replace the ones that are somewhere under the 16 tonnes of pebble!!! The new bed in the front garden was an area that seemed to be difficult to manage and maintain. It’s a bit like a bunker on a golf course. Mrs. Murphy was very concerned about maintenance of this area going forward, so a bit of thought was needed to try keep maintenance to a minimum while also having a focal or feature point in the main garden at the front of the school building. I squared off the area with a frame of treated timber and secured it in place with struts from MSS.
The scrub was cut back. Weed barrier was pegged down and stapled in place. Mulch from Conal’s Tree Service, here in Blessington, was then spread across the area. Compost and pots from thegrowshop.ie were then placed around the area as features. Some of the pots were upcycled from hydroponics and aeroponics equipment, very unique looking. Some hessian sacks, or jute bags, were used as the two central features. The jute bags came from PS Coffee Roasters Roastery who are based in Kilcullen, Naas and Clane. The selection of plants in the pots and bags came from Green Lane Nursery and my own back garden. A decision was made, by me (doing it voluntary I couldn’t be messing about), not to plant anything in the ground and to create a pot bed, to try to reduce work for the school going forward. The majority of plants are evergreen species chosen to try create colour and life all year round.
Working into darkness to complete the front garden bed.
The new shed under construction by Aleksandr Melichov of shedsdepo.ie
As this week closes out I hope to have the last of the pebble in place. There are some hollies from Cullen Nurseries to be planted and Buxus hedge from Bawn Nursery. The holly and Buxus are going along the top end of the allotment area. Some weed barrier matting will be placed around those, and a little pebble to secure that. I hope to hand the garden or canvas over to the children in the next few days!
A number of other businesses to mention that have offered support too;
- Dempsey Sand & Gravel in Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow.
- Pergola Nursery in Virginia, Co. Cavan.
- Kestral Forestry in Gorey, Co. Wexford.
- Parkswood Tree Centre in Co. Waterford.
- Hometree Charity, in Co. Clare.
- CaherhurleyNursery.com in Co. Clare.
- Nightpark Nursery in Co. Kildare.
- The Irish Tree Centre in Co. Cork.
- McGreals Pharmacies (Blessington & beyond!)
- Irish Lock Supplies in Baltyboys, Blessington, Co. Wicklow.
- Muddy Faces in Sheffield, England.
- Snickers Workwear.
Tanks Direct Carbery Roto Composter 200 litre
The Sturdy Products Recycone Composter 527
Dunnes Stores sent a generous voucher from their HQ on Georges Street in Dublin. Lidl Ireland donated a €40 voucher to purchase rhubarb and strawberry plants instore. Finally, Aldi, that has a store very close to the school, sent a €10 voucher!
I hope these works will be an asset to the school, offering interest and joy to the children, ultimately helping them to engage with growing their own, nature, and the environment.
Oh, and one more thing, it’s been emotional!…