Author: Jenny Young
At Castlefarm the craziness of spring farming continues this month writes Jenny Young. We have 85 cows to milk twice a day and 32 calves to feed. We are still waiting for our last 16 spring cows to calve. We have 120 hens and 31 ducks to feed and their eggs to collect. We also have to tend to our 15 six month old pullets that seem to be doubling in size every week. The bull and pigs also need to be fed twice a day.
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Author: Michael Kelly
Weeds are a downer. Many the great GIYing dream has been dashed against the rocks of a bed full of weeds. We start off with a lovely clear bed, we sow some seeds, there’s a shower of rain and some sunshine, and hey presto, the bed is covered in weeds. Lots and lots of weeds.
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Author: News
Easter wouldn’t be Easter without the many chocolate treats that have become synonymous with it. Chocolate eggs top the list of course, and the many superb Irish artisan chocolatiers offer a wonderful choice, with many of them available online...
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Author: In Season
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is a fast-growing semi-aquatic perennial plant and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings. Watercress belongs to the cabbage (brassica) family, and is related to garden (land) cress and mustard — which, like the nasturtium flowers that grow so freely in our gardens all summer, are know for their peppery flavour.
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Author: Cookbook Reviews
As memories of the Celtic Tiger fade into the clouds of dirt it kicked up as it disappeared over the horizon, there’s a poignancy to reading Trevor White’s funny, perceptive, bitter-sweet diary of publishing his thinking person’s magazine, The Dubliner, through those crazy years. Trevor writes brilliantly and it’s a great read on all sorts of levels. And, while even the most energetic verbal gymnastics could hardly persuade anyone that this is a food book, it certainly has relevance to Irish hospitality.
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Author: Just Ask
As more and more Irish chefs take pride in introducing customers to the foods of their locality, it is especially gratifying to find chefs who have chosen to make Ireland their home expressing the same confidence - while also bringing their own cuisine to the Irish people. Euro-Toques member Jacques Carrera is one such trailblazer...
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Author: Georgina Campbell
A recent correspondence with an American food writer has got me thinking about St Patrick’s Day traditions, both here in Ireland and across the pond. It’s interesting that there’s a dish - corned beef and cabbage - universally cooked (but not universally enjoyed, so I hear) to celebrate the day in the USA, whereas here in Ireland we take a much more casual view with ‘anything traditional’ fitting the bill pretty well, whether it be bacon and cabbage, Irish stew, beef & Guinness, or a number of other old favourites.
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Author: Jenny Young
Beginning her new column about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare – and selling its produce – Jenny Young sets the scene by introducing herself and some of the other characters who play regular roles on the farm, and explaining what it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today. Castlefarm is an organic farm and farm shop in Co Kildare. My husband Peter and I farm 170 acres, with the help of Peter’s father and a full time employee.
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Author: Michael Kelly
There’s a wise old GIYer I know who says that the “sap starts to rise” in gardeners in March. It’s an odd expression and I yet I completely get what he means by it. The sap is of course starting to rise in plants, but it feels like something is stirring inside us GIYers too – spring is in the air everywhere we look and the desire to get out there and stick your hands in the soil is palpable.
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Author: In Season
Irish vegetables have been seriously undervalued during the boom years, and none more so than the staple crops that have stood by us so well down through the centuries – everyday foods like carrots, leeks and cabbage. They suit the climate and our traditional dishes, and are available locally and inexpensively over a long season; yet we so often favour ‘exotic’ imports over these simple but nourishing and versatile foods.
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