My name is Kerrie Whelan and I am a Transition year student. On the 20th of February we traveled to Waterford city to visit the GIY grow in Waterford.

We arrived at the city farm and we were split into two groups. The first group went to learn about growing the food first and the second group went to learn about cooking the food and afterwards we swapped.

The first part of the seminar was about different types of crops, where they are from and how they are grown. We got to try different vegetables and we found most weren’t that bad. We then got to grow our own peas- we were given cardboard cups, soil, pea seeds and water. We brought these back to school with us and are continuing to watch them grow.

The second part of the seminar was much more hands on, we went into the cafe and we got to make some healthy recipes prepared for us such as savory carrot and cheese scones and a Spanish omelet. We got to mix the food and prepare it before the chef put it in the oven. While the food was cooking we waited outside and had a look around the farm. When the food was done we got to all try it.

In my opinion this was a very beneficial trip as it thought us how to eat healthy and grow our own fruit and veg instead of just opting for fast food and junk food and it expanded our knowledge on the different types of vegetables there are that we might like.