VSO Ireland Garden at Bloom

26/05/2010 15:26:00

Award winning gardener Tim Austen, from the RTE show 'Super Garden', designed a bespoke garden especially for VSO, featuring at the Bloom 2010 event. 

VSO programmes support community initiatives that aim to increase food production and train people on improved nutrition and farming techniques. VSO works in some of the poorest countries in Africa, including Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique, where many people still live on a dollar a day.

The garden was split into two zones. In the first section, an area of low nutrient and infertile land is found. Through this a dirt track leads to the second part of the garden. In the second area you find a water supply, an outdoor classroom and a vegetable growing area. The two zones are split by a simple fence, which can be traversed via a stile with the help of a wooden hand that is symbolic of the ‘hand-up rather than hand-out’ ethos adopted by VSO with regard to its work in Sub-Saharan Africa. Visitors to the garden were encouraged to take their shoes and socks off before entering, so as to get a feel for the sandy soil.

Once visitors have climbed over the fence, they saw logs in the training area, which offered an opportunity to sit and reflect on the experience of being in this engaging garden space. At the top of the path was an VSO Information Point. Within this marquee you could absorb more information on the work of VSO through a photo exhibition reflecting work in agriculture and demonstration gardening; watch videos about VSO’s work benefiting people living with HIV in Kenya and Mozambique; and speak to returned VSO volunteers.

For up to date information on Tim Austen’s garden design work, visit www.austenassocations.ie. For more info on volunteering or donating to VSO see www.vso.ie.

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