From the ground up - Fionnuala Fallon

'Tickle the earth with a hoe,' someone once wrote, and 'it will laugh a harvest.' This book tells the stories of some very talented and very different 'ticklers of the earth', all of whom live and garden in Ireland today. From schoolchildren to pensioners, amateurs to experts, what they share in common is a delight in growing their own fruit and vegetables. They inspire as they share the knowledge and skills to connect with nature at a deeper level and truly experience growing your own, often laborious but always rewarding. Some successes are against the odds, as with the 8-Square-Metres blogger and a wonderful school garden in Dublin's Donaghmede. For a Cork grandmother and allotment-holder, GYO is a family activity, while a sense of community drives a thriving garden in Bundoran. For Trevor Sargent, his town garden is a way of leading by example. Others featured are: Michael and Ethna Viney; internationally-respected vegetable expert and author Joy Larkcom; OPW gardeners Brian Quinn and Meeda Downey; organic farmer Jim Cronin in Clare; author and professional gardener Klaus Laitenberger; Michael Kelly of GIY Ireland; Madeline McKeever of Brown Envelope Seeds; Tanguy and Isabelle de Toulgo.t of Dunmore Country School; and champion of local produce and Michelin-starred chef, Martijn Kajuiter of Cliffhouse Hotel. For those who like vegetables to be the real champions, there are the teenage twins Micheal and Oisin Byrne in County Louth, as they compete for Ireland's Giant Pumpkin title. Whether you have a pot on a balcony or an acre of garden, let these gardeners inspire you to connect with nature at a deeper level and truly experience your garden and food from the ground up.