It started in August 2009. Anyone could come to the monthly meeting. In 2010 it wrote a constitution, opened a bank account and made a website.
It gave new gardens advice on insurance, permission and funding, and pushed the council to let unemployed volunteers grow on unused land.
Then it ran big events: harvest festivals, a garden festival, markets. In 2013 a guide listed 45 community gardens in Dublin.
The events wore people out. After a hard debrief in late 2013 the festivals stopped, and from 2015 it focused on promoting gardens that already existed.
How it happened
- Aug 2009
Founded by four volunteers.
- 2010
Constitution, bank account, website.
- 2012–13
Dublin Harvest Festival.
- Oct 2013
Guide lists 45 community gardens.
- 2015
Scales back to promoting existing gardens.
What helped
- An open monthly meeting anyone could join.
- Shared advice, insurance cover and tools.
What was hard
- Big events pulled time away from helping gardens.
- Volunteer time ran out as people went back to work.
- Selling produce ran into VAT, insurance and food safety rules.
- Keeping a list of gardens up to date needs someone every year.
Who was involved
- Volunteers, meeting monthly
Money
- No regular income. Event funding came with heavy reporting.
Pictures to ask for
No photos yet. These are the pictures we would ask the people involved for, with their permission. Never photos of children.
Where this comes from
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