Gardeners are wonderful. They are resourceful, creative, generous and hard working. Gardeners are from all walks of life, all ages and all races and I for one believe that gardeners are some of the best people I’ve had the good grace to encounter in my lifetime. The two greatest gardeners however, that I’ve had the privilege to know have been my parents. Both hard working, inspiring and perpetually generous and who gifted me with – amongst countless other things – my love for nature, for animals, for flowers and for growing food; my Mam and Dad have gardened for as long as I can remember.

My folks have an allotment too, in fact, they had an allotment long before I did. Six years ago, they leased a small plot in St. Anne’s Walled Garden in Raheny. Plot 77 swiftly became my favourite place to go. It was a small plot, filled with rubble and manhole covers (yes, really) and choked by bindweed; in fact, the rumour goes that each of the plots in the garden in St. Anne’s park all had at least one piece of Nelson’s Column buried somewhere in its midst. It didn’t take long for Johnny and Janette to turn the small wasteland into a beautiful plot and it didn’t take long for me to become green eyed with envy. After a few years tending to plot 77, they had the opportunity to take over a much larger plot, which they have transformed into the most beautiful and productive plot I’ve ever encountered (I know I’m biased but I’m not the only person to have that opinion). Affectionately named “The Monster in the Corner”, plot 49 is a haven, a heaven and the ultimate product of love and hard work from the two most dedicated gardeners I know.

In recent weeks, both my folks have begun to blog and share Instagram posts from their plot. My Mam is a dab hand with a camera and her Instagram is well worth a follow for great photos of the garden (witty captions and quotes often included).

My Dad has also begun a lovely blog over at MonsterInTheCorner that I’d highly recommend to all my fellow garden bloggers. Which brings me to the real point of this post, my Dad has had this stellar idea, to dedicate one day, every year to gardeners around the world. He suggests that on the first Saturday of April every year, we should celebrate gardeners in all their glory. We as gardeners should sow or plant something, buy someone some seeds, plant someone a flower, get someone gardening! He articulates this idea far better than I can so check it out here!

So, this Saturday, 2nd of April, celebrate yourself, celebrate your fellow gardeners and celebrate International Greenfingers Day.