There are five ways to wellbeing according to Mental Health Ireland. They are connecting, being active, taking notice, continuing to learn and giving. The women of Dalton Park Community Garden tick all of these boxes.
Facing onto the Robinstown Link Road, the vibrant garden brims with plants, flowers, trees, fruit and vegetables. This is a labour of love, 14 years in the making. Three years ago, the women behind the project added a wooden hut, allowing them to add tea to their cherished social chats and recently they purchased, and filled, wooden vegetable boxes.
The garden is picture-perfect thanks to their daily hard work. A rainbow of flowers adorn the patch, a polytunnel houses fresh lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes and other growing vegetables and many apple trees line the way. It is easy to see why the industrious women love to come here.
Gardener Alice Crichton told Topic she loves living in Dalton Park since moving there over 40 years ago, and that the garden has been a joy to be part of right from the beginning.
Dumping Ground
“This area used to be full of rubbish and then 14 years ago they asked if people were interested in doing a bit of a clean up and maybe making a garden out of it,” she said. “Around six of us were interested and we started cleaning it out. It was a dumping ground with mattresses and all sorts, everyone just threw their rubbish into it. The council cleared it out with our help, then every year Mena Roche, Mag Gunne, myself and a few others came down and worked on the garden. Unfortunately Mag isn’t able to be here today but she is very much part of this. The garden wasn’t up to this standard but every year we added to it. We sowed flowers and planted trees, all directed by Mena. This is her work, her garden, it’s all her.”
Mena’s Baby
Dalton Park resident Mena Roche is the powerhouse behind the garden, supported ably by her team of industrious women. When she sees a flower or plant she likes, she brings it back to the garden, with a place for it already in mind. As a result, the garden is a delight for the senses, yet Mena is reluctant to take any credit for it.
“We all do it,” she said. “We all get stuck in.”
“It’s Mena’s baby, she made the garden the way it is, this is all her work, everything you see here is what she’s put in,” Alice insisted. “Truly we didn’t ever have an interest in the garden like she did. She’s a woman who if she says she’ll do something, she does it. If you want to dig a hole to Australia or paint the Wall of China, there’s your woman because she’ll make you do it. She’s a driving force. She has done this herself, we’re just here to help her.”
Support
Everyone knows the women in the estate and everyone talks about the garden, according to Community Engagement Officer Sheryl Keenan who supports the women along with Sophie Flanagan , even though she insists they need little in that line.
“We help them with grant applications and funding but this is very much their project. This is all their work. There is a walking club too on a Tuesday, all driven by the ladies. It is a beautiful garden and a credit to them.”
Fellow residents and gardeners Mai Plunkett and Tess Matthews come to the garden to work and to enjoy each other’s company. That’s when they are not doing their other voluntary community work.
“We paint the walls of Dalton Park with my husband,” Mai said. “We do it because it makes the place look nice.”
Community
The social side of the community garden is as important as the work to the retired ladies who drop in whenever they can.
“We have great fun, there’s always bit of craic here and sometimes it’s good to come in and just take a break when you need it,” Mena said.
“There’s always a good laugh here, they’re great women from a great community,” Alice added. “That’s what we have in Dalton Park – community, something you don’t get everywhere. If you are sick, people check in on you, they ask how you are. Neighbours are there for each other and right from the beginning it was like that.”
“I wouldn’t move away from here if you paid me a million euro,” Mena declared and this was echoed emphatically by her green-fingered friends.
The garden is open 7 days a week to everyone, whether local or passing by.
“Anyone can come in and we’ll show them around. Last week a couple of walkers were passing by and called in to see us,” Mena recalled. “It’s nice to have a place where people can come, although there’s no point in asking me what the plants are called – I pick ones I like the look of and don’t pay attention to the names. I might start keeping a note of them when I buy them in the future.”
The Dalton Park Community Garden was initially developed with support of Westmeath County Council under the Rapid programme and funding. The garden still receives funding through Rapid and other available community grants, and is supported by Westmeath Community Development along with other community groups, including the Dalton Park Residents Association and the Dalton Park Women’s Group.
For more information, contact westcd.ie
