This is a short update on the status of the Community Harvest Group – Skerries.

We have replied to everyone who expressed an interest in joining the CHG. At this stage we have a very good response rate to the publicity which went out earlier in the month.

A public meeting will be now held for all potential CHG members during the third week of November. We will confirm the date, venue by email directly to the potential members ( it will of course be in our beautiful Skerries!).
At the meeting, we can all get to know one another and the farmer. It will be an opportunity to learn more, ask questions, share thoughts, concerns, ideas etc

Most critically, at that meeting we will be signing up members via the membership agreement and the members application form. Signing up will include completing a direct debit mandate for the upfront monthly payments. Each member will receive a copy of the agreement in advance. The Community Harvest group will also sign an agreement between it and the farmer.
Also at the meeting, we would be delighted to find members who would like to join the core group. This core group will essentially lead the Community Harvest Group – Skerries with the farmer, positions to be considered will include (treasurer, communications officer, members day liasion etc )

We are very excited about the Community Harvest Group – Skerries and are thrilled that there are so many people interested in joining. We look forward to meeting everyone and creating a community of people who who want to receive fresh, seasonal and local produce and want to directly support local independent farming to achieve that.

Risk of Flooding in Skerries Sunday night and Monday morning Met Eireann have issued a flood warning for Dublin coastal areas, for Sunday night and Monday morning.

They are tracking an area of low pressure which will combine with high tides and rainfall similar to that which occurred in February 2002. Skerries, together with many areas in Dublin, was badly affected by the 2002 floods.

The weather is subject to change but it is worth checking the weather sites over the next few days. The SCA has contacted Fingal to highlight the need for sandbags to be ready for the town. If you want to request sandbags phone Fingal Co Co on 01 890 6210, give your name and address and they will assess if your house is at risk and supply bags accordingly.

Stay Safe, Do NOT Enter flood water.

Sustainable Skerries is launching the Community Harvest Group. This is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA’s are a partnership between the people in the local community and the grower where we all work together to provide healthy, local food for our families and our community. This partnership allows us to share both the rewards and also the challenges that our independent farmers face every year. CSA’s are a relatively new concept in Ireland but they have been working wonderfully in USA, Canada and in Europe for many years.

 By joining, we as members get a lot closer to where our food comes from. Each member pays a set monthly fee and in return you receive a weekly box of locally grown, freshly picked and seasonal organic vegetables. As a member you can also visit the farm on Member’s Day to walk the land, learn about the vegetables being grown or even  help with the harvest. A newsletter is sent out regularly keeping you involved in the daily happenings on the farm. By forming CSA’s we make each farm a community in itself.

The CSA allows everyone the opportunity to have access to a resilient, local and healthy food supply. We are currently getting a panel of people who are interested in joining the CSA. We understand that you will have lots of questions and reservations. So we will be inviting potential members to a consultation meeting. This will give you a chance to ask questions about the food, the money and how the scheme will operate. We will have the organic farmer at the meeting and we in Sustainable Skerries will be there to pull the whole thing together and help make it work.

Community Harvest Group is a working group of Sustainable Skerries, we are a “Not For Profit” group affiliated to the Skerries Community Association. We are limiting the number of members in the scheme to approximately 25 in the first year. The reason for this is to allow us in the Community Harvest Group, you the members and the Organic Grower to learn and develop at a reasonable rate in the first year.

If you are interested in learning more or in becoming a member please contact us at:

Email:  sustskerries@yahoo.ie

Phone: 087 2266 922

Another very successful day up at the allotments. We got up to the fields at 10am, finished up at 1pm, just before the heavens opened and watered the newly sown grass seed.

The work party got all the marked out pathways cleared and grass seed down on the upper field. Also the lower field is now partly marked out and ready for the next work party to get stuck into clearing pathways and clearing access to the lower field.

Another work party is planned for next week, Sat 9th Oct 09:00am, Weather permitting.

Some of the Work Party. Sat Oct 2nd

Sustainable Skerries and Codema will hold a public information meeting in the Little Theatre on Thursday 7th Oct at 7:30 pm.

Residents will be given an insight into the current energy standards of Dublin homes and they will also receive expert, independent advice on saving energy around the home.  Homeowners who are interested in improving their homes’ energy performance will also learn about the benefits of joining an Energy Smart Community and getting work carried out as a cluster.

Please come along to get some very valuable information which will save you money and carbon.

Well loads of good work was done this morning at the allotments fields in Skerries. A bit of fun and banter was the order of the day in the beautiful Autumn sunshine.

Over 60 people turned up to give a hand at preparing the fields paths and marking out allotments. Stones were cleared, the ground was prepared for grass seeding on the walkways. All of this done in the old fashioned way without machinery.

Its amazing what zeal and enthusiasm will achieve even in the absence of the kind of real financial support other allotments such as the ones at Turvey recieved. It is a real credit to the people of Skerries that they have shown such resilience. Tom Hussey from Fingal Co Co, came along to organise and help out in the measuring and marking. Sustainable Skerries would like to thank Tom for his unwavering support for this project.

The next Work Party will be next Saturday the 2nd of October at 10am. Hopefully we will have good weather. Hope to see you there.

For those of you who are planning to take one of the new allotments on the Golf Links Road, we will be organising a work party next Saturday 25th September at 10am. Weather permitting…..
Meet up at the field. Please note there is limited parking in the new car park, so please reduce your carbon footprint. We would encourage everyone to walk, cycle or car pool if possible.               
We hope to mark out perimeters of allotments, remove stones from pathways, and seed these.
Please bring rakes and shovels. and help us turn our open fields into allotments.

Sustainable Skerries has won a TidyTowns Sustainable Development Award. This is a special competition sponsored by Comhar, The Sustainable Development Council to recognise projects undertaken by individuals or groups within the community that have helped to promote sustainable development in their local areas.It is a great honor to win this award in conjunction with the Skerries Tidy Towns Committee. It is a great example of the co-operation which thrives between the various sub-committees of the Skerries Community Association.