“What, so many mini orchards?”
“We never knew there was one here!”
“And here!”
“When can we pick the apples?”

Those were some of the comments we heard during the Rolling Mini Orchards Picnic, our family-friendly Open Orchards cycle on Wednesday 17 June 2026.

In the lovely evening sun, around thirty people joined Sustainable Skerries and Skerries Cycling Initiative for a gentle cycle around six of Skerries’ fourteen mini open orchards. The group included individual adults as well as families with children, and we explored orchards in the areas of Newtonpark / Townparks, Skerries Rock, Selskar and Kelly’s Bay.

Skerries’ mini orchards have been established across the town over the last five years. Each one is a small group of fruit or nut trees, with between 6 and 30 trees in each location. Earlier this year, new signs designed by local artist Niamh Sharkey were installed at all fourteen orchards, thanks to support from Fingal County Council and Skerries Community Association. The signs help explain why the trees are there, and who the fruit is for. (Spoiler: the fruit is for all of us. That is the idea behind open orchards…)

This cycle was part of our monthly Skerries Climate Conversations series. Sustainable Skerries’ Sabine McKenna, one of the 2026 An Taisce Climate Ambassadors, spoke about how doing something useful that you love, such as helping to plant fruit trees, can be a meaningful and hopeful form of climate action.

A big thank-you to Skerries Cycling Initiative, who brought stewards, route knowledge and organisational know-how. The group explored some little-known paths and connections, and experienced how enjoyable it can be to get from A to B, and indeed C, by bike.

We ended the evening with a bring-and-share picnic in the oldest and largest of the Skerries open orchards, the Kelly’s Bay Open Orchard.

Dominica, our volunteer gardening expert and Head Gardener in Ardgillan, pointed out some of the trees growing there, including hazels, different kinds of apples, pears, and even medlars. We can’t wait for autumn and its harvest.

Adults interested in exploring other forms of local climate action are warmly invited to join our July Climate Conversation:

• Pints for the Planet: Climate Conversations to Dream up Climate Action
• Wednesday 15 July, 8 pm
• The Coast Inn, Church Street, Skerries

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to all who continue to care for, notice and enjoy the open orchards around Skerries.