Ireland's community growers have called for a doubling in the number of allotments and community gardens to 5,000 by 2025.
Community Gardens Ireland say demand for garden space is skyrocketing, driven by the need to battle climate change and a renewed focus on urban growing.
In 2020, a local government report identified 2,500 publicly provided community gardens or allotments across Ireland. But that is well below what our European neighbours can boast.
"Austria have about 38,000, Denmark has 40-60,000. Germany has 1.3 million gardens for its 89m population," Donal McCormack, Chair of Community Gardens Ireland, said.
Speaking on RTÉ's This week, he said that Ireland had more community gardens 70 years ago.
"In the 1940s about 35,000 were provided in Ireland," he said. "Since then they were removed for other purposes, for other projects in local areas."
Mr McCormack said demand for growing space far exceeds supply.
"There's waiting lists for up to 10 years so it shows the demand is there," he said.
Community Gardens Ireland has proposed a doubling of publicly facilitated gardens from 2,500 to 5,000 by 2025.
"That’s not that far way but it’s still achievable," Mr McCormack said. "We hope that that would be translated down to each local authority so that each has a requirement to increase by a certain amount."
Mr McCormack said the group recently took this target to the Oireachtas committee on Housing and Heritage.
"There is all-party support for this," he said, adding that it was now with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien.
Where local authorities do not have available land, Mr McCormack said they should "support and facilitate" community groups in finding landowners who will make land available.
Climate change has put a renewed focus on food security and urban growing.
Young members like Cody Redmond of the Mud Island Community Garden in the North Strand area of Dublin see the garden as an important social space.
"If you just want to go out with your friends and not stay inside all day you can come here and run around, let some energy out. It's an urban escape, a nice bit of nature in middle of a big city," he said.
In the shadow of Croke Park, the 10-year-old Mud Island Community Garden has 370 members, a performance stage, a pizza oven, potting shed and lots of fruit and vegetable trees and plants.
"People come here and they've never gardened. They come to read a book, but they have skills in maybe music or art," said membership secretary John Moran.
"We also run Tai Chi classes in beautiful surroundings. And that’s all you have to do - appreciate nature. Sometimes you don’t have to do anything with it, you just have to appreciate it!"
The biggest challenge, according to garden secretary Maeve Foreman, was to be taken seriously by the local authority. Now that the Mud Island Community Garden has ten years under its belt, schools have come on board.
"We have our seed to pizza project," said Ms Foreman, which involves students growing wheat from seed.
"Each school has its own raised bed. They’ll watch it grow, harvest it, and learn how to mill it," Ms Foreman said, adding that the flour is used to make pizza on-site.
Horse manure is sourced from a local riding school and the garden’s five-stage composting operation produces plenty of fresh compost.
The Mud Island garden does not sell its produce to shops, but members enjoy seasonal fruit and vegetables, as well as the company of neighbours.
"I've lived here for 30 years, I didn’t really know anyone around the place," said garden member Michael McCusker. "I know more people now than I did 20 years ago."
