Muintir na Tire School Garden Competition

  Carrots No veg seems more classic than the carrot. And growing your own means you will be rewarded with a crunchy, sweet and flavoursome crop. Not only are carrots a delicious veg to grow, they also store incredibly well, are highly nutritious, and if you time your sowings right you could be self-sufficient through most of the year with this classic ‘stockpot’ vegetable. The GIYer can also try out lots of different varieties of carrots, which, generally speaking, are not on offer in supermarkets. We generally associate carrots with the colour orange, when in fact you can grow carrots of other colours too, such as purple, yellow and even white. SOWING When it comes to successfully growing carrots good soil is key. Fresh manure is not very suitable for carrots – the high nitrogen content encourages excess leaf growth, and manure can also cause the roots to fork. However, well-rotted compost is fine. Apply a general purpose organic fertiliser (such as chicken manure pellets) about t...

  Beetroot Many people have an aversion to beetroot because the only way they have ever tasted it is boiled and drowned in vinegar. If this is your experience, we recommend giving it a second chance. Beetroot is a fine root crop that is easy to grow, is incredibly good for you, and stores well, therefore can usually be eaten all year round. On top of all these benefits, when it comes to cooking it has multiple uses – boil it, bake it, grate it into salads, make chutneys, wine and even cakes (beetroot brownies anyone?). Try baking young, small (golf-ball sized) beets in the oven wrapped in tinfoil – they are a revelation. SOWING Beetroot likes a fertile soil with good levels of soil nutrient. Ideally it should be planted in a soil that has been manured the previous winter. Don’t worry if you have not prepared any beds prior to sowing – you can still successfully grow beets so long as the soil is healthy. Appy an organic fertiliser about a week before sowing/planting out. Beetroot ca...

  Cucumber Cucumbers are the quintessential salad addition and once they have started cropping, you know it’s summer. They are very prolific plants – a single plant can produce 30 cucumbers. Nothing makes you feel more like an award-winning GIYer than growing an 45cm cucumber. Are you up for the challenge? SOWING Cucumbers like fertile soil, so add compost and a general fertiliser to the soil a week or two before sowing/transplanting for best results. Cucumbers are usually grown in a polytunnel or glasshouse, though some varieties have been bred that can be grown outdoors. You can start sowing in April if growing in a tunnel or glasshouse or May if growing outdoors. They are a frost sensitive plant that needs high temperatures to grow well, so keep them indoors until the ground warms up. Sow seeds 2cm deep in pots. The seeds are large, and the plants grow quickly, so don’t use modules or very small pots. GROWING Seedlings will be ready to plant out about a month after sowing, but d...

  Sweetcorn Sweetcorn takes up a good deal of space and gives a relatively low return – just two cobs per plant. It can also be difficult to grow well in Ireland given our relative lack of sun. But the sheer pleasure of harvesting a fresh cob of corn and the incredible sweet taste make it worth a try. They say you should run from the veggie patch to the kitchen when you harvest sweetcorn to cook it immediately – this is because as soon as you pick it the sugars in the corn immediately start to turn to starch and so the flavour is degrading literally by the hour. So, in other words, you will never taste anything like homegrown sweetcorn. SOWING Sweetcorn grows best in soil that has had compost and a general fertiliser added, so we suggest adding some fertiliser a week or two before sowing/transplanting. Sow seeds in May indoors in pots for later transplanting. Sow small pots about 2-3cm deep – one seed per pot. Sweetcorn will need temperatures of 20°C so a warm sunny windowsill or a...

  Florence Fennel A delicious, white, aniseed-flavoured bulb that will be ready to eat in four months. Worth growing for its pretty foliage alone. It’s a little tricky to grow, but definitely worth a try. SOWING Florence fennel is a Mediterranean crop that needs warm growing conditions, so it should be grown in the summer. If exposed to fluctuating or low temperatures it will be at risk of bolting. Florence fennel can be sown in modules for later transplanting or directly into soil. If sowing in modules, sow one seed per module from late April to July. If sowing direct, sow from late May till July, 1cm deep, thinly, in rows 30cm apart. GROWING Plants will be ready for transplanting when they around 10-15cm high. Space 30cm apart in rows 30cm apart and thin direct sown crops to the same spacing. Don’t allow the soil to dry out as this can encourage bolting Florence fennel will grow in any reasonably fertile soil. HARVESTING Expect bulbs to be ready 14-16 weeks after sowing (the bulb...