On Saturday 24th of September five members of the Transition Year Biology set visited the TY Vegetable patch along with Ms. Hennessy and Ms. McNelis for an afternoon of planting in our newly established vegetable garden.
The previous week a number of other pupils had recovered what once was a vegetable patch from swarms of weeds and shrubbery that had grown over the years.
The previous week a number of other pupils had recovered what once was a vegetable patch from swarms of weeds and shrubbery that had grown over the years.
When we arrived we got straight to work removing the final weeds, mixing compost with top soil and blending it into existing soil giving it a much needed nutrient and moisture boost.
We first planted strawberries which were kindly brought in by Alex Bisgood who has had experience in working on his family garden in Enniskerry. We then moved on to planting a variety of Autumn vegetables including cabbages, little gem lettuce & broccoli in the patch. We planted these around twelve inches in nice even rows.
During our planting we found a little friend buried in the soil. It had a cream body with a brown head and has six legs. We took some photos and looked him up on line to find out he was the larva of the Chafer beetle. These feed on the roots of plants and need to be controlled. With a little research we found one interesting method involving nematodes. The nematodes are applied to the soil and the soil is watered. The nematodes (Heterorhabditis megidis) seek out the chafer grubs and attack by entering natural body openings. Once inside, they release bacteria that stops them from feeding killing the grub. The nematodes then reproduce inside the dead pest and release a new generation of hungry infective nematodes, which disperse looking for new prey. Isn't nature wonderful?!!
Our afternoon of activities lasted an hour and a half. All our hard work paid off and we now have the beginnings of the TY Organic Garden.
By Alex Owens
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