Articles

This month Martin recounts their first proper holiday since they set up business in France - A Fortnight in Italy. When we moved to France and therefore onto the Continent of Europe I imagined that we would be popping into the car every weekend we had free and tripping down the road to Italy, or Germany or Switzerland...
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Today we dried off our spring herd of 81 cows. This will give them a 2 month break before they begin to calve. So no milking on Christmas Day at Castlefarm, yippee.
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I can’t confess to know a lot about beekeeping. Actually, correct that, I know absolutely nothing about beekeeping. So, one might be surprised to find a beehive in my garden. But there it is nonetheless, nestling happily in a secluded patch between my polytunnel and the hedgerow.
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As much a part of our Christmas as the turkey or the plum pudding, cranberries are borne on evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines (subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium). A major commercial crop imported from North America, they thrive in acidic bogs and the sharply flavoured red berries have antioxidant qualities which have led recently to their reputation as a ‘superfruit’.
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This month Marilyn Bright talks to Eithna O’Sullivan, proprietor-chef of Eithna’s by the Sea, Mullaghmore, Co Sligo. our Seafood Restaurant of the Year 2014, sponsored by BIM
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Built in 1720 and rescued from dereliction by John and Nora Egan in the 1980’s, Inch House stands like a welcoming beacon at the centre of the family’s large tillage farm near Thurles. Its sense of connection to the land is palpable, embodying a family philosophy that is tangibly demonstrated in their fine classically furnished restaurant, where showcasing local produce has always been a priority.
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With Christmas just around the corner, preparations are coming into full swing and kitchens everywhere will be a hive of activity in the coming weeks. This miscellany of seasonal dishes is from some of the best new cookbooks - and there are ideas a-plenty among them to make this Christmas a very special food celebration, both on the day itself and throughout the festive season.
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Stunning is a word that’s overused these days, but first sight of this beautiful and long anticipated book simply took my breath away. It is big, very big (weighing in at around two and a quarter kilos in fact) but, even before you open it, the subtle, enigmatic cover design flags an original and thought provoking approach.
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This month Darina writes about an aspect of 'cheap' food production that is rarely discussed - the human cost. And says it is time to ask questions. I was totally shocked by an article by George Arbuthnott in the Sunday Times Magazine recently on the human cost of our food...
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If, like me, you like your apples, you will almost certainly have noticed how badly served we are by the commercial food chain when it comes to this wonderful fruit. Though there are literally thousands of apple varieties available around the world, just a handful make up the vast majority of apples sold by supermarkets.
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