Merry Christmas to allSummer St. turns on Christmas Tree lightsSummer S treet N orth held a wonderful Christmas Event on December 5th. A temporary structure called a Yurt, popular i n Mongolia, was set up for Santa. The Lord Mayor of Dublin attended and helped Santa switch on the Christmas lights on the tree at t he end o f the street. Christmas cake, m ince p ies, m ulled wine and tea were served to all who attended the event. In this time o f recession, Santa even b rought g ifts t o all the boys and g irls. Any gifts l eft over w ere donated t o Temple S treet C hildren's Hospital. A huge t hanks t o everyone for helping to make this event such a huge success. Particular t hanks to Community Policing, a ll

our l ocal S enators, T Ds, councilors, Rossa C rowes bakery (Russell St), Dee’s Yurt from Leitrim, traditional Irish musicians, Tony Murray Displays, O ’Byrne Party Hire, Historic Interiors, Holgate Fencing, all the neigh-bours who donated food, wine and helped out on the day, friends, children and of course Santa himself.

This event was the first of its kind on the street and we look forward to running other community events in the future, which strengthen communities and p romote community participation. Happy Christmas from all the residents!

Summer St. Northgets greener ...

Summer St. North Newsletter Issue # 3 DECEMBER 2009 North NewsletterSS

North NewsletterSS

Summer St. North Newsletter Issue # 3 DECEMBER 2009

The Rubbish Problem

This is a reminder that all rubbish bins / bags must be left out for collection on Wednesday nights for early Thursday morning collections. Tags can be bought at Gala or Benny’s. Dublin City Council are monitoring the street on a regular basis. The residents carry out regular street cleanup days, so help us keep our street clean and tidy. For rented accomodation landlords are obliged to provide bins and pay fees for rubbish disposal. Recycling days (green bags) are every second Wednesday. A timetable should have been delivered to each home.

Christmas on Summer St.

Grow your own veg in ..

North NewsletterSS

Summer St. North Newsletter Issue # 3 DECEMBER 2009

Summer Row Community GardenIt is fantastic, finally, to be able to introduce you to our very own Summer Row Community Garden. Most of you will not be aware of the vacant spot that lies between Summer Street, Sean O’Casey Ave and North Great Charles St., so allow us to give you some history.

Up until the early 1980s, a few small cottages sat in a small terrace called Summer Row. This terrace was sandwiched between Summer St. North, North Charles St. and a street that was called Rutland St. Upper. By the 1980s, Rutland St. Upper had fallen into tenements and was demolished to make way for Sean O’Casey Ave and the Matt Talbot flats. The cottages and Summer Row itself was also demolished. The footprint of that small area remains vacant to this day.

In 2007, the residents of Summer Street began commu-nication with Dublin City Council to reclaim that piece of land with the intention of creating a community garden for the resident’s of Summer St. and the houses on Sean O’Casey Ave, which back onto the garden site. There has since been a great deal of interest with the relevant parties that back onto the plot, who are delighted that at last something is being done with the site. Likewise on Summer St., there is a lot of green-creative thinking into what can be done with the garden to make it as self-sustainable as possible. The license has only recently been handed over by Dublin City Council to the residents, on a yearly rolling basis. We have applied for various community funding and have been supported by Agenda 21, Croke Park and RAPID in the form of grants for a poly-tunnel, fencing to make the garden secure, garden sheds, tools, plants, topsoil, raised beds, a wormery, water harvesters and an exciting community art project that will get kids and parents excited. The diagram opposite is an artist’s impression of a kids led art project that will hopefully kick off in Spring of 2010.

The area has recently been cleared and fenced off to protect it from vandalism and from animals looking for a fantastic loo. The garden will be a community project. It will be a valuable green space in the North Inner City, with an emphasis on community and working together.

What is a Community Garden?Community Gardens promote healthy communities. They are generally vacant spaces of land, government owned and leased to a community for green-space use. The gardens and those who participate in community gardening contribute to a healthier environment, as according to a Canadian study, if 5% of a city's space was green space, the city would consume it's own

green house gasses. Many gardens already exist all over Dublin, growing vegetables, fruit and herbs and an enormously strong community spirit. They bring people in touch with growing their own food as well as tackling isolation by creating a social community. This will be the main principal in creating and maintaining Summer Row Community Garden.

How will it work?A group will be formed once the garden is suitable to work in. This group will be responsible for things such as opening hours, managing compost heaps and wormeries, financial elements and what to grow in terms of managing food prodution. This group will be open to anyone who would like to get seriously involved from the community. We only ask for your time and dedication. We will take on board how other community gardens operate in Dublin and make decisions based on what works for them.

The FutureAs well as the exciting prospect of having a green-space in our community for food growing, we also hope to accomplish the following: In order to make it sustain-able, water harvesting from rooftops and other surfaces will be necessary. We aim to have a fully functioning garden by the Summer of 2010 and have it entered into the Dublin Neighbourhood Competition. We are also planning soup days once the first crop of vegetables can be harvested. We are making a documentary of the entire process that will be screened locally in 2010-11. A local artist resident will be focusing on a community art project in the garden area (see above) and we will be working with local kids who will join in to create their own vegetable and herb window box in their own homes! Any questions, send us an email (opposite).

Two bottles of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot would do nicely) o 800ml water o 1.5 liter of fresh orange juice o peeled zest from 8 oranges o 22g cloves o 25g juniper berries o 25g star anise o 45g cinnamon sticks o 160g slice fresh ginger o 500g brown sugar

Place all these ingredients in a pan onto a low-medium heat. Without letting the mixture boil, bring it to a slow simmer. Leave simmering for about ten minutes. Turn off, cover and allow the mixture to infuse for 15-20 minutes. Pass it through a strainer. Add the star anise back in if you wish for decoration, and be merry.

North NewsletterSS

Summer St. North Newsletter Issue # 3 DECEMBER 2009

Do you have anything you want to add?email us at summerstnorth@gmail.com if you want something included in the next newsletter which is due next Spring!

RecipeMulled Wine

Winter Baskets Dublin City Council have replaced the hanging baskets on the poles, and residents have bought the baskets that are on the houses.

Unfortunately, without watering them, even in winter time, these will dry out and die as they have only a small base. We are asking if anyone would like to adopt a basket and take it on for the winter, watering it and keeping it healthy. We also ask all the residents who have paid for baskets to look after them during the winter. If they dry out and die, they just look haggard and old. Thanks.

Two bottles of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot would do nicely) o 800ml water o 1.5 liter of fresh orange juice o peeled zest from 8 oranges o 22g cloves o 25g juniper berries o 25g star anise o 45g cinnamon sticks o 160g slice fresh ginger o 500g brown sugar

Place all these ingredients in a pan onto a low-medium heat. Without letting the mixture boil, bring it to a slow simmer. Leave simmering for about ten minutes. Turn off, cover and allow the mixture to infuse for 15-20 minutes. Pass it through a strainer. Add the star anise back in if you wish for decoration, and be merry.

North NewsletterSS

Summer St. North Newsletter Issue # 3 DECEMBER 2009

Do you have anything you want to add?email us at summerstnorth@gmail.com if you want something included in the next newsletter which is due next Spring!

RecipeMulled Wine

Winter Baskets Summer St. FundThanks to all residents, landlords and local businesses who donated cash to our community fund. This money is put back in to the street in the form of planting, a stone plaque, stationary & post-age, community events such as the Christmas event etc. etc. In total we raised €650 and hopefully we can top this in Spring of next year.

Newest ArrivalSanta has another baby to tend to this year. Eve Leola O’Reilly is the newest addition to Summer Street North.

Eve was born on the 14th of October and weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces to the proud parents of Paddy & Sinead, the first of seven or eight according to Paddy.

New Year Resolution Ideas!Recession or no recession, make a resolution to tackle the debt, begin saving and reduce spending. Try cut down or quit smoking and put that money aside. Do more random acts of kindness - visit an elderly friend or neighbour who might be alone, be courteous on the roads, ask a blind person if they need help, say ‘thank you’ more. Stop biting your nails. Call your loved ones more. Do something every week that scares you. Eat more greens. Visit that place you never thought you’d visit. Enjoy 2010.

Summer St. Fund

Newest Arrival

New Year Resolution Ideas!