Work starts on community garden

Up to 30 volunteers turned up at land at Ardbraccan at the weekend to start work on the Navan Community Garden Project.
They planted 30 trees and created 15 raised beds, which they planted with salad vegetables over the course of several hours.
The work was all done on a voluntary basis as they aim to develop a community garden on the Navan to Bohermeen Road, which will be open to all.
The Ardbraccan/Navan Community Garden Project is the brainchild of Frances Campion  of Old Johnstown who wanted to get involved in a  fully inclusive project that would include all people, including those with disabilities, the unemployed, people with mental health issues and other difficulties.
She came up with the idea of a community garden, which would develop active participation in community life, by providing a practical focus on working together with people from a wide variety of community groups.
“Tara Mines offered me these lands at Ardbraccan under a caretakers agreement and last March I got together with a group of other people and set up a voluntary group.”
There are ambitious plans for the garden - at one end there is the organic garden growing fruit and vegetables and there are also plans for a natural childrens play area, with a willow maze and board games re-created on the ground, as well as a sensory garden for people with disabilities and an area for small snimals including ducks and rabbits.
A woodland area duck pond and crannóg form part of the overall plan.
The group also hopes to build a ‘cob’ round house as a meeting place and this work would also be undertaken by volunteers.There are no services on site, so he group will have to harvest water and are considering solar panels to supply electricity.
“There will be a lot of manual work involved, so we will need plenty of volunteers asnd everyone is welcome,” Frances says.