GEAI (Good Energies Alliance Ireland) recently organised Climate Action days for Transition Year students of Mohill Community College. The Organic Centre in Rossinver was the final venue of our Climate Action Days in 2018.
Tom O’Rourke, manager of the Organic Centre, showed us around. They have a history of more than 20 years of organic gardening here in North Leitrim. From Community Garden to composting areas, we were able to see different sections from start to finish of the organic agriculture process.
We saw a few greenhouses, or polytunnels, each of them with different groups of plants: tomatoes, lettuce varieties, aromatic plants, flowers and many more. By the principle of organic planting, not every plant can be grown in winter, so some zones were empty, covered with compost and waiting for spring.
Tom is passionate about his work and he shared his knowledge with us. It was great to hear that the Centre is thriving and commercially viable as well as being an example of good practice in organic farming. Together with staff, many volunteers take active part in the life of the Centre and locals can also grow their plants in the Centre.
The students were really interested and found the session inspiring, although the cold drove us all indoors before we could see everything. No time was wasted, however, as the students prepared for the final Climate Action presentations.