'Grow It Yourself' movement launching in Westmeath

Michael Kelly, the creator of the "Grow it Yourself" (GIY) movement will be the key speaker at the first meeting of GIY Mullingar, in Belvedere House's Visitor Centre on Saturday 5th December at 11am.A freelance writer, bestselling author and broadcaster, Michael has found himself riding the crest of a growing wave."In the last three to five years, growing your own food has become less of a fad and more of a fundamental. People are taking control over this area of their life," he says."I think that so much is out of our control that people want to be proactive, improve the quality of their food, their health and reduce the cost of their food by growing it."Michael describes the concept behind GIY - a movement where people grow their own food and belong to a local community which shares information, knowledge and even manpower - as a straightforward idea."I set this up when I started to grow my own food in Waterford. There are now nearly 40 GIY groups throughout the country and a strong, growing online community too."Online, the content is generated by people using the site: they are writing blogs and uploading photos. Between the website and local meetings we can fulfil most food growers' need for information and help," Michael explains.While the idea is straightforward it is also "accidental" he says: "The first group was really a call for help from me. I really just wanted to learn and get to know other growers in the area. It is quite accidental that it has become a movement. That said, the GIY groups have been described as transformational, with fifty, seventy - even one hundred people turning up to new groups. It's great to see that Mullingar is ready to get one up and running and its great that John Smyth and Bartle D'Arcy are working so hard to set up and support a local GIY group."The GIY website home page tells readers "...there is unprecedented interest in producing organic food in back gardens, allotments and community gardens."Many people now believe that growing and rearing your own food is a lifestyle choice that not only makes sound economic sense, but also makes you feel more vibrant, alive and connected to your community and environment."Belvedere House's General Manager Bartle D'Arcy, who first contacted the GIY movement told the Westmeath Examiner: "People are really interested in achieving self sufficiency but there is a deficit of practical expertise about growing and rearing food. This new GIY group, which is free to join, is all about regaining the necessary knowledge and skills that we have lost in the space of a generation."The GIY groups aim to take the ''self'' out of ''self-sufficiency'' by getting amateur growers together so that they can learn those skills from each other.Michael Kelly set up the first GIY group in Waterford in 2008. Michael and his wife had been growing their own food for about five years in their garden but in 2008 they went in search of a local food growers group for them to join so that they could learn more about growing from some real experts and get to know other like-minded folk in the area. But as there was no such group, Michael decided to set one up. Over 100 people showed up at the first meeting of GIY Waterford and the group continues to meet monthly in the city library. A good idea will always grow legs and not long afterwards, another GIY group was formed in nearby Dunmore East and then in neighbouring Wexford.In 2009 with the help of enthusiastic fellow growers from the Waterford group, Michael established GIY Ireland to promote back-garden vegetable growing and the idea of GIY groups nationwide. The organisation aims to establish GIY groups in every town and village in Ireland and GIY Ireland is a not-for-profit initiative. everyone is welcome to attend and to join this new GIY group which will have its first meeting in Belvedere House's Courtyard at 11am on Saturday. The first meeting will also have master gardener John Smyth deliver a presentation on "Breaking New Ground: Preparing your soil".The groups will then split into break into pods of 10 to get to know each other. Each month, the group will meet in the evening time and there will be different guest speaker giving talks on areas such as keeping poultry, bees, home brewing and various other food producing topics. There will also be a page created on the GIY website for GIY Mullingar to keep in touch and build their information and share their advice.