'Gardening is a way of life that connects us to each other'

A MEATH man has taken his hobby of gardening and growing his own fruit and vegetables and turned it into an online hub for those who want to learn how to grow and garden themselves.

Ciaran De Buitlear of Stamullen and his two sons, Sam (16) and Zack (12), have taken social media by storm with their video tips and tricks on planting, growing and environmentally conscious ways of living.

Ciaran's wife, Fiona, takes part by looking after the wildflowers of the garden, and is passionate about creating habitats for native species.

Their two sons are following closely in their father's footsteps with gardening and planting.

Ciaran advocates for biodiversity and climate action through his social media pages that he has named ‘GardeningWell’.

The family have garnered over 40,000 subscribers on YouTube alone, over 5,000 followers on Instagram and over 13,000 followers on Blue Sky, a relatively new social media app that works similarly to social media platform X.

GardeningWell shares “how to” videos for sustainable gardening and climate action projects along with videos of their own garden and the progress it makes. From growing potatoes, to planting their own wildflower meadow, to cooking videos such as preserving their own homemade chutney, the channel covers an array of topics to do with sustainable living, biodiversity and gardening.

Every year for the last five years, Ciaran and his two sons have grown sunflowers in their garden, donating the sunflower seeds to different local primary schools so kids can partake in growing their own sunflowers. Both boys attended the local national school in Stamullen and have gotten their classmates involved in sunflower growing competitions using the sunflower seeds that Ciaran has provided.

Ciaran said: “It’s all very eco friendly and ticks a lot of good boxes while the kids are also learning how to grow their own food.”

“I do a lot of gardening, GardeningWell is our social media that I do with the kids, but it's mainly me running it. We’ve been involved with RTE before for gardening and for people’s wellness and for climate action. We have 120,000 followers across all platforms and counting.”

“We promote people gardening for their own health, physical and mental online, while teaching about gardening to kids in the local area. I work in computers, but I'm involved in habitat restoration in my local community and biodiversity work.”

Ciaran also has a website, Gardeningwell.ie, where the initiative is described as "family-led, rooted in a deep love for nature, sustainability, and community. We believe that gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a way of life that connects us to the earth, to each other, and to a more hopeful future."

Ciaran and his two sons grow tomatoes, ornamental plants, lettuce, cabbage, onions, carrots, apples, figs, pears, broccoli and kale to name a few, in their greenhouse and walled garden.

“We use different areas and gardens in the community with help from other local people in Stamullen. We have native wildlife friendly hedging and a wildlife pond, flowerbeds and areas for people to sit. We also have sunflowers everywhere.”

“We do different projects with the schools and the community, such as pocket forests and wildflower meadows.”

"This is to turn small areas into wild areas for wildlife to flourish. The community also has a tree nursery and bat boxes. The kids from the school come along to these places and I show them all how to grow vegetables using compost without chemicals.”

Ciaran works in IT, so gardening and growing is a hobby for him that has grown into something much bigger through the power of community and social media, with the help from his knowledge in computers.

"I’m trying to influence people by doing things and showing how they’re done. I work with schools informally and show kids the vegetable gardens and they all start eating the raspberries and asking questions."

The local primary school in Stamullen has started its own pocket forest where they grow native trees close together to encourage a habitat for wildlife. The local GAA club, which both Sam and Zack are members of, planted 200 native trees last year, and Ciaran and his sons try to influence the community as much as they can.