It might not be apparent at first glance, but there is a story behind nearly every aspect of landscape designer and part-time sheep farmer Barry Kavanagh's award-winning garden, Across Boundaries, at Bloom 2016. You only have to ask the man himself.

The lake and the ram sculpture (made of chicken wire and designed by Glen Wilkinson) situated on a drumlin to the right of the garden represent where Barry himself now lives, in lake-dotted, sheep farmed Co Cavan.

The area opposite represents the west of Ireland with its herringbone dry-stone wall and a bench made from pieces of wood washed up on beaches around Co Clare and the Burren.

The hay meadow to the far left comes from the farm in Begliff, Co Cavan that was passed down to Barry last year by 98-year-farmer Peter O'Brien (known to locals as P O'Brien).

Barry transplanted the meadow to Bloom this year and he said Peter would be "delighted to know" that the land he farmed was being admired by visitors to the five-day festival.

"He'd be delighted to see that. What I'm trying to do is get everyone together... the whole farming and rural community into one space," Barry says.

And there is even a story behind the space itself. Having grown up in Ashtown in Dublin, as a child Barry used to play in Ashtown Castle, the space where the Bloom festival is being held.

"As a child I used to play in Ashtown Castle so being in this space is like coming home for me," he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Social farming

Barry won gold for Across Boundaries on Thursday, which means the garden scored over 75 points from the judges who were looking at criteria ranging from fulfilment of the design brief to overall impression and design.

The theme of the garden is social farming – a scheme whereby people who are in conventional-based therapy or day-care facilities come out to work on farms as a way of improving their mental and physical health.

The people come to the farm to experience what the farmers themselves experience. It can be simple things that help them

The garden is broken up into different areas to represent this. The square room to the far left represents conventional therapy and within the room is a figure facing an open barrier. The message written on the wall is: "Every exit should be an entrance to something better". Crossing this barrier, the figure takes a step into naturalistic farm-based therapy.

Barry, who participates in the scheme on his own farm in Co Cavan, says it is "a relaxed type of therapy".

"The people come to the farm to experience what the farmers themselves experience. It can be simple things that help them like walking across the land, nature, working with animals, stroking cows, whatever."

Listen to an interview with Barry at Bloom 2016 below

Between 2011 and 2014, 20 farms were involved in the Social Farming Across Borders project (SoFAB), an EU funded project which operated in the border counties of the Republic of Ireland and all of Northern Ireland. The project was run in partnership with UCD, Queen's University Belfast and Leitrim Development Company. Some of the farms are still in operation on a voluntary basis.

It's like all rural communities, I suppose, they all chipped in to help the garden

Then, in April 2015 a Social Farming Office was opened by the Leitrim Development Company with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture and the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA) fund to continue the work of SoFAB. The Department has also recently issued a call for tender under the CEDRA fund to advance social farming in rural areas.

CEDRA and the Department of Agriculture, as well as the IFA and the National Dairy Council, are sponsors of Across Boundaries.

Barry, who was one of the SoFAB farmers, says he benefited greatly from the scheme.

"The guys who came out to me have all benefited and I have benefited also. It's a two-way agreement in a sense. And it's not necessarily because of the work they do on the farm because some of them cannot do that much. But just the interaction is great."

Community

Barry is especially proud of the sense of community in his garden, shown in the way different members of his community offered and/or created pieces of furniture and other items for the garden.

"It's like all rural communities, I suppose they all chipped in to help the garden."

When asked if he will be around for the five days of Bloom, Barry shows a smile. "Well I've been here for the last three weeks so I might as well stick it out for another five days," he laughs.

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