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The Organic Centre |
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Written by Pauline Howard
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Tuesday, 30 November 2004 |
How the vision of a few makes a difference
The Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co Leitrim is celebrating its
10th anniversary in 2005. It seems appropriate to reflect on its beginning, what
it offers today and its aims for the future. The organic centre provides training,
information and demonstration of organic gardening, growing and sustainable living
on a 19-acre site in North Leitrim.
In the Beginning
The west of Ireland has attracted people seeking to live life on their own terms
since pre history. Where once monastic settlement were established, in the 1980's
people seeking relief from an industrial lifestyle were attracted to the west
lands. A few visionaries recognized that a core was necessary: a centre that
would facilitate the exchange of information, support their lifestyle choices
and encourage continuous improvement. As a result, The Organic Centre was created
in 1995. As the Centre evolved it became clear that long term survival required
not only committed and knowledgeable staff but professional financial management.
The Organic Centre has developed by working in close partnership with the various
funding agencies in the region and also with the private sector. The Organic
Centre is successful largely because it has been able to attract the right blend
of innovative, creative and skilled people committed to sustainable methods
of living. The board of directors includes representatives from growers and
those involved in the organic sector from both the North and South of Ireland.
The Centre is an independent body with links to national organic organizations
in Ireland, with the Henry Doubleday Research Association in the UK, and Stiftung
Ökologie & Landbau in Germany.
In the Garden
The Organic Centre incorporates an ecologically designed award winning building,
a wetland sewage disposal system, a display of composting techniques and a variety
of visitor gardens open to the public, schools and community groups. The Centre
has over two acres devoted to display gardens, and the public can purchase organic
seeds to grow most of the plants in their own garden. A key aspect of the gardens
is to deliver a message about good environmental practice and sustainability
even to casual visitors in a subtle way through the use of organic techniques.
The kitchen garden shows a wide range of vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers
that can be grown organically for the home. The people and plants garden displays
how plants have been used by various cultures for dyes, food, religious and
medicinal purposes. There is the orchard and soft fruit area, hedge management
demonstrations showing hedge laying and rejuvenation, a sensory garden for those
with a disability, a heritage vegetable garden where old favorites are kept
alive, a neighbourwood planted with mostly native trees, and a children's play
area constructed from willows. This is not an exhaustive list of the things
to see on a visit to the Organic Centre and each year new things are added.
Currently, a commercial wormery is being installed and it is hoped that restaurants
and institutions will be encouraged to turn their kitchen waste into a compost
resource. No visit to the centre would be complete without a peek into the "exotic"
polytunnel where you will find tobacco, loofa, and Inca tubers thriving.
Building stronger communities
Being so close to the border, the centre attracts groups from both sides of
the border and reintegrates, in a natural way, communities which have been driven
apart due to the conflict. The cross-border schools environmental education
programme continues to expand. Participating schools are provided with a trained
gardener who works with the children to develop and grow there own organic vegetables
on the school grounds. The "composting doctor" programme introduces
secondary school students to sustainable ways of living including composting
and recycling. This year the centre was approached by the Northwest Health Board
to be a partner in a Community Food Project. The project is part of the cardiovascular
strategy of the NWHB to encourage people to eat healthy food. The centre provided
a vegetable patch which was developed by the group under the direction of an
experienced gardener. Upon harvest the group learned methods of preserving and
cooking the vegetable to preserve the nutritional value. The community food
programme is taught throughout the growing season, allowing the participants
to apply the techniques they learn to their own gardens. This project is facilitated
by a dietician, a doctor, a cook, and an organic gardener and is a model of
excellence for such programmes.
Learning by doing
The Organic Centre offers a wide range of courses to meet the growing demand
for information on organic gardening, growing and farming. Despite a rapid increase
in the interest in organic food, it is still only one of two locations in Ireland
which offer full-time training in organic horticulture. Each year 15 new students
join the 10 month full time award wining FAS Commercial Organic Horticulture
course. Practical hands on experience is the emphasis of this course and the
trainees run the community supported agriculture scheme which supplies food
grown at the farm to restaurant, individual households, and the on site shop
and Organic Café. As awareness of the course spreads an increasing numbers
of enquiries are received from outside Ireland. The trainees come from a plethora
of backgrounds and many have given up lucrative but unconnected work in order
to take the full time course. One interested visitor said, "There is nothing
like this in Germany." This year there are two trainees from Germany, one
from New Zealand and a Malaysian taking the course, and the counties of Ireland
are well represented.
Beginner to professional
On weekends from February to December short courses are run on a wide range
of courses on organic, environmental and craft themes. The Complete Garden course
is a ten day course given on a one day basis from February to October taking
the participants through the growing season. The interest in growing organic
food and adapting sustainable ways of living has resulted in some of the courses
being offered in the Airfield in Dublin and in Clare. This year the Organic
Centre introduced a week long course called "Living the Good Life".
This course encouraged participates to take a holistic approach to living a
sustainable lifestyle – from growing and preparing organic food, to enjoying
informative walks in nature to experiencing alternative health therapies. The
Organic Centre worked with other providers in putting this course together so
that participants can choose from a smorgasbord of enjoyable learning experiences.
For many years the Organic Centre has been advising and assisting farmers in
their conversion to organic production. Through the outreach program, which
is free of charge, a program can be tailored to the specific needs of the interested
group. This year the centre delivered the Commercial Horticulture course for
Skillnets aimed at organic farmers, producers and those thinking about conversion.
This initiative is the only one of its kind in Ireland and is an appropriate
model for other parts of the country to follow.
Adding value
Recently, the Organic Centre, together with the largest producer co-ops in the
northwest established a commercial company. The aim of Atlantic Organics Ltd.
is to significantly increase the level of production and improve the quality
of organic produce, to increase the sale of value added organic products, and
research "new generation" co ops as a viable option for the agri food
sector in Ireland. The northwest Organic Guide 2004-2005, listing producers
and suppliers of organic and green goods and services, produced by Atlantic
Organics Ltd. and the Organic Centre is now available in the Organic Centre
shop. This publication is packed with information from where to get organic
produce, wormeries, polytunnels to alternative building services and restaurants
serving organic food.
Special days to visit
Each year the Organic Centre has five important theme days – Potato Day
in March, Herb Day in June, Garden Day in July and Apple Day and Organic Fair
in September. These are excellent opportunities to hear experts in their field,
keep up with want is going on in the gardens, and find out about ongoing experiments
into potato blight, tomato and pea trials, and green manures. This year at the
Organic Fair there were more stallholders than ever before: from eco friendly
baby nappies, local cheeses, organic vegetables, honey and wine, to various
crafts and artisans. It is the biggest organic event in Ireland and a fabulous
opportunity for consumers and producers to meet. As one attendee from Sligo
said,"I was dragged here today by my sister-in-law. But I am so glad I
came, I have never been here before and I had no idea there was so much happening!"
Let’s celebrate what we have
The Organic Centre, in conjunction with the Glen’s Centre and Northwest
Leitrim Tourism Co op organized the 1st Green Festival in 2003. This festival
is a celebration of the heritage, environment, food and ecology of the region.
The aim is to provide an interesting, informative and fun range of activities
for local people and environmentally aware visitors. The Green Festival, held
in September, is comprised of a staggering number of quality events including:
the alternative health fair at Ard Nahoo Health Farm, the North Leitrim hill
walking festival, the Organic Fair, the shelter conference and alternative building
demonstrations, woodcarving, writing, and stained glass workshops, environmentally
themed walks, eco themed film festival, and an extensive entertainment and arts
program. The Green Festival encourages like minded individuals and organizations
to come together to exchange ideas, build links, and showcase their achievements.
More information about the 2004 Green Festival can be viewed at www.thegreenfestival.com.
Here’s the craic
The Organic Centre has made a major impact on the local area and region, both
socially and economically. The Centre is the largest employer in the local area.
The staff and full time students live locally, creating a demand for local accommodation
and services which is satisfied by local people. This has led to local farmers
investing in refurbishing abandoned cottages for rental. This impact is reinforced
as the centre has become a national resource with people traveling from all
over Ireland to the long and short-term courses. These courses are open to local
people and create activity and social opportunities in the area. The centre
is growing in popularity as a conference centre for all manner of organizations
as it offers an atmosphere far away from the stress and fast pace of the day
to day work world. The Green Festival attracts people from around the country
and further afield, and puts the northwest on the "eco tourism" map.
Local restaurants, pubs, accommodation and other tourism providers benefit from
people coming to the area, and indeed a fair few of these visitors like what
they see and decide to move to the area.
Today the Organic Centre is a hub for information exchange providing a combination
of organic and environmental education. The Organic Centre offers support to
emerging organic projects in Ireland and abroad, encourages individuals, groups
and communities wanting to create sustainable ways of living and provides guidance,
training, and expertise to effect these changes. Through the vision and commitment
of a few individuals the Organic Centre has developed into a unique organization
delivering important benefits regionally and nationally.
Becoming a Friend
For more information about The Organic Centre call 071 9854338 or log onto www.theorganiccentre.ie.
Call Hans at the Organic Centre if you have a group interested in composting,
the schools program, starting a community food project, are a small farmers
group seeking information about organic farming, or are interested in participating
in next years Green Festival. If you would like to support the work of the Organic
Centre you can become a Friend of the Centre for just ?30 or purchase a gift
voucher for someone special. See the website for details.
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