Muintir na Tire School Garden Competition

  Peppers produce a fine crop and can be grown well in containers and pots. Both chilli and bell peppers are part of the capsicum family. When it comes to peppers there is a huge variety in taste and looks, for example chilli peppers are small and have a hot flavour while bell peppers are larger and milder in flavour. Sowing Peppers like a fertile soil that ideally has had compost and a general fertiliser added a week or two before sowing/planting. Peppers need a tunnel or glasshouse to grow well. Chilli peppers are smaller plants and can also be grown in a pot on a sunny windowsill. They need a long growing season, so the earlier you get started the better your chance of producing good, ripe fruit. Sow in modules or small pots in March (you can do this from February if you have a heated propagation area), as seeds require 20°C for germination. The plants will be ready for transplanting when they are around 15cm high (this will be in late April/early May if you have sown in March)....

We love onions at GIY because they are one of those vegetables that it’s possible to become fully self-sufficient in, even if you don’t have a huge amount of space. A decent sized raised bed could produce a couple of hundred onions, which would be enough for most families for up to a year. Onions are relatively easy to grow and they store well. Above all, there’s nothing better than having onions hanging in your shed and knowing you don’t have to buy those dry, tasteless, imported supermarket onions this year. Sowing Onions grow best in a good fertile soil, so add compost and a general fertiliser for best results. There are two types of onions: autumn-sown onions and the far more common spring varieties. Onions can be grown from seed or small, dried immature onions called ‘sets’. Beginners often find growing from sets easier. To grow from sets, buy good quality sets in either the autumn or spring. Plant autumn varieties in September or October and spring varieties in late March or Apri...

  ` Most of the garlic available in supermarkets is imported from China (over 5,000 miles away). Garlic is relatively easy to grow and stores extremely well. It’s also incredibly good for you. The garlic requirements of an average family can be easily satisfied by even the smallest of vegetable patches. If you were to take a bulb of garlic, break out the cloves and stick them in to the ground spaced about 10cm apart, each clove would eventually turn in to a bulb of garlic. That’s the magic of it. Sowing When planting garlic it is important to make sure you have a variety that is suited to the Irish climate and to the time of year you are planting it. If you buy garlic from a supermarket it could well be imported from abroad, e.g. China or Spain – the variety would probably grow poorly in the Irish climate, which is why we recommend you buy your garlic locally. Garlic will grow in most reasonable soil. For autumn planted garlic the fertility left in the soil from a previous crop sho...

Daisy Dreams How to pick a star performing daisy for your School  garden. School gardens should be relaxed, free flowering and fun; they can. and with plants that bees love; there are no rules, just plant what you love to create a garden that appeals to you. A School garden just wouldn't be the same without patches of great big  daisies  blooming right throughout the season and into autumn. Did you know that  daisies  love sunshine? You shouldn't plant them in the shade – they hate it. To smile and perform, they really require warm sunshine. Daisies  love to be dry. Most people over water them at the beginning of the season, so try to avoid doing this. Go on, have a  crazy  summer – grow some  daisies ! This is also why they are great in school garden as they will not need much watering during the school holiday. Did you know  The word 'daisy' comes from the Old English dæges-eage, meaning 'day's eye. It is easy to se...