Teaching

Last night was my first Tuesday evening gardening class. I was nervous about it, but excited too to meet all these people who were so keen to learn to garden. Unusually for me I had heartburn for a day beforehand, which I can only attribute to nerves.

So I worked in Dublin all day before the course, and drove back to Mullingar directly to the school. I was listening to very mellow music to recharge my batteries on the drive. Amazingly, I got several calls on the way home for people interested in the course, but sadly it had been full since the previous Thursday.

Got to the school early- the Mullingar Harriers were using the car park, so the gate was open. Got the school open and set up, and had a few moments to calm myself before the students arrived.

The first few minutes were a bit messy - getting students registered, waiting for the latecomers, and no one really talking among themselves. But then we got going, and a good interaction started. Things got a bit more relaxed once they started cutting and pasting covers for their diaries, and the questions were fast and furious.

My favourite part was when someone asked me if I bought Lidl's compost activator, and I said that I preferred to use 'wee'. There was a pause while this was digested, and someone said - do you mean 'urine'. And then lots of joking about quality of such after a few drinks. We also had a lot of discussion on types and quality of manure too. So they are starting to think about things differently, I think.

Overall, a pretty successful class, I am encouraged that I can do it. I was pretty buzzed when I got home, so am exhausted today, though I'm sure that will get easier. Quite looking forward to next weeks class, and to the Saturday class on the 24th.