The stylish GROW soil monitoring device
Chairperson of Community Gardens Ireland Joanne Lindsay
Butler from OurGanics in Gortahork is moving one step closer to a sustainable
future.
Joanne is spearheading a pilot study on soil quality around
Donegal as part of a wider European study and is calling on all growers in
Donegal to get involved in GROW.
Community Gardens Ireland have been selected as GROW
‘Community Champions’, and will be joining similar organisations from Portugal,
the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Greece, Spain and Scotland to develop
GROW Places.
Joanne tells us “Through my work with community gardens Ireland,
I have now been selected to roll Donegal out as a pilot stage to advise land
owners/users how to use simple soil sensors and collect soil moisture data to
help with environmental monitoring for climate change adaptation. This means we
will contribute data to help scientists develop more accurate climatic models
and help predict severe weather events such as droughts, flooding and fires. We
are hoping to engage with a wide audience and especially in Inishowen with
recent flooding! "
Taking Part
All we need to do is welcome Joanne and her soil monitoring
device and she will guide us through the simple operating procedure.
“We will provide growers and interested parties with all the
details and support that you will you need to join in” Joanne continues. “This includes printed materials, on-line
supports and sensors. We will also organise fun and engaging face to face events,
these will be a great opportunity to learn more about soil and meet likeminded
growers from this region. This is a big project from a grass roots level to
possible global impact to help mitigate climate change.”
What is GROW?
The GROW Observatory (GROW) is a European-wide project
engaging thousands of growers, scientists and others passionate about the land.
Working together using simple tools to
better manage soil and grow food, while contributing to vital scientific
environmental monitoring.
What is GROW doing?
There are many human and environmental challenges facing us
today and two challenges that GROW is focusing on are saving our soils and
adapting to climate change by collating information to improve both soil and
food growing practices. The information gathered
will contribute to soil moisture data over a large geographical scale and
empower us to work on these topics collaboratively. Changes could come from
adding to climate science, impact on environmental policies, and make a
difference in how we manage the land.
Online
Thousands of growers are learning together on the GROW
website and via the online courses available both locally and across Europe.
Growers are trying out exciting new ways to improve their soil and food
production methods. With the simple, coordinated soil experiments to capture
and make sense of data on our environment, collectively this helps validate
good local growing practices and international environmental monitoring.
GROW Vision –
Building Better Soil Through Citizen Science
GROW’s vision is to create and support a movement of
thousands of citizens across Europe that will produce, exchange and use
information related to land and soil.
This can lead to more sustainable land use practices, better
soil and land governance and policy, and a unique data repository for science.
Through this, people gain a voice on local issues and tailored advice on which
new crops to plant, when to water, sow and harvest. In turn, their insight will
underpin better-informed decision-making and policy objectives, while
improving soil, land use, climate change adaptation and our overall
sustainability.
All we need to do is a simple soil moisture test with the
sensor supplied by Joanne.
Joanne is out and about around the county on a daily basis
and is bust dropping off the sensors to individuals and groups interested in
taking part.
You can read more on the GROW website https://growobservatory.org/
If you would like to get involved and host sensors, contact
Joanne on 0861789971 or growdonegal@gmail.com
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