Greetings GIYers! What a wonderful weekend of weather - cold nights and frosts are causing us problems still but there's good heat in the sun by day and a definate feeling of spring in the air.

After a frantically busy GIY Week in the last week in Feb (in which we started an incredible six new groups), things have settled down somewhat but we did have some activity over the weekend. GIY Ireland's Ciaran Walsh was at a community food event in Fota House with some of the Cork GIY groups, while Michael Kelly gave a talk on GIYing at the Ennis Book Club Festival.

Watch out for a feature about GIY Ireland on Duncan Stewart's Eco Eye on RTE 1 tomorrow (Tuesday 9th) at 7pm. A video of our previous outing on RTE 1 - Ear to the Ground - is available on the You Tuber page. There is also (we believe) a feature on GIYing in Tina Leonard's Smart Consumer column in this Thursday's Irish Independent.

On the website, check out the articles page for new features by Dorcas Barry, Denise Dunne and Michael Fox. We have also added new discussion groups on living willow and (hic!) homebrewing. Happy growing!

Interested in growing your own vegetables for the first time this year but not quite sure where to start? Or are you already growing your own, and would like to connect with other growers?

Ah yes the 2010 season spreads out before us like a blank canvass ready to be filled with veggie-growing triumphs, and GIY Ireland is celebrating spring with a national schedule of events to mark our first ever "GIY Week" (February 20th to 27th).

Established just last September, there are already over 55 GIY groups around Ireland with over 3,500 GIYers involved.

Part of the AONTAS Adult Learner’s Festival 2010, GIY Week will see groups reaching out to potential new members by hosting talks and meetings; garden visits; seed, tool and plant swaps; demonstrations and growers meitheals.

Events include:

• GIY patron Diarmuid Gavin at launch of GIY Terenure (in Rathgar Junior School, 8pm Tuesday)
• GIY Patron Clodagh McKenna (in Fingal Town Hall, Swords Thursday, 7.30pm)
• GIY Ireland Founder Michael Kelly at launch of GIY Drogheda (Boyne Valley Hotel, Monday, 7.30pm)
• “Meitheal" to build raised beds and provide training in growing vegetables being run by GIY Balbriggan in the Refugee Centre Mosney (Thursday 25th Feb)
• GIY meeting and tour of Carraig Dulra with Suzie Kahn(Sat 20th)
• Cookery demo by Liz Moore (Westenra Hotel, Monaghan on Tuesday)
• New group launches in Edenderry, Ballinasloe and Mountmellick
• Michael Kelly at launch of GIY group in AIB Bank Centre in Ballsbridge as part of the GIY in the Workplace programme (1pm Tuesday)
• “Meitheal" at a new edible community garden in Dunmore East (noon, Saturday 20th)
• Green Learning Event at Tipperary Institute, Thurles (Tuesday)
• Discussion on favourite GIYing tools and seed sowing at GIY North Meath (Tuesday)
• Seed swap and talk on composting at GIY An Spideal (Wednesday)
• Seed sowing demo at GIY Clontarf (Thursday)
• Seed swap and talk on sustainable living at GIY Clonmel (Thursday)
• Seed sowing demo at GIY Athy (Thursday)
• Meeting of GIY Dundrum at Airfield (3pm, Saturday 27th).

For more information on GIY Week activities click on "Meetings" in the navigation menu.

Thank Crunchie it's Friday! We have some exciting news to round up the week - GIY Ireland is delighted to welcome Woodies DIY on board as our lead sponsor for 2010. Part of the thrill for us in having them on board (apart from the much needed funding that it brings), is that it gives us (a) the opportunity to potentially reach hundreds of thousands of people around Ireland with the GIY message (they have over 40 stores nationwide) and (b) access to the experienced horticulturalists that work in their stores. And of course, they are an Irish company which is very important to us too.

On the technology front, this week we sent out our first monthly e-zine to registered members. We hope you liked it. Don't forget to check out the "Tip of the Day" discussion group for daily GIYing tips and the articles page for articles on seed sowing (by Jim Cronin and Hans Wieland), growing parsnips (Michael Fox) and the Grower's Calendar for March and April. Don't forget that you can now upload You Tube videos on the site - do a tour of your veggie patch and show the rest of us what it's like, or upload some footage of a GIY meeting or meitheal.

Forecast is good for the weekend - so get out in that garden. Those weeds won't hoe themselves!! Bon Weekend.