Urban Food Gardening

Natural Cosmetics, and Summer Camp

2011-06-01T12:02:00.004+01:00

My soapmaking course participants prevailed upon me to teach a Natural Cosmetics course, so I'm planning to run it as an evening course, on June 14th.

It will be at Mullingar Educate Together from 7:00pm to 10:00pm
Cost is €35.

Participants will learn how to make Bath bombs and other bath products, Massage oils, Body creams, Exfoliants, and will make origami boxes to package them in. All materials will be provided, including a wide variety of essentials oils to scent the products. You will go home with clear recipes so you can make them on your own, or with your friends and family.

I'm also getting ready for a Science and Nature Summer camp for 7-12 year olds - at the same location. Working on some interesting projects - getting inspiration from this site - the school gym would be an excellent location for walkalong glider flying, and learning about what keeps airplanes in the air....

To book either, email annambrowne@gmail.com or phone me - 087 2222562

Mullingar Summer Camp

2011-05-27T10:17:00.003+01:00

Once again, I'm planning a summer camp - at Mullingar Educate Togethr NS. We'll be making the most of the organic garden that was a part of the school's 2011 Pride of Place award - it's their third win, and their second in this location.

Summer Camps are funny things. Sure, they occupy the children during the
long school holidays (and get them in out of the Irish Summer weather!). But
they generally fall into two categories - Sport or the Arts. Once again I'm bucking this trend to teach students about Science through Nature.

Readers of this blog know that I have been been gardening ʻforeverʼ. I hope to share some of my enthusiasm for nature and the outdoors in this camp.

On top of my BSc, I have just finished a Post Graduate Diploma in Education in Maynooth, so I'll be putting some of what I've learned into action.

ʻCurious Kids – Science & Nature Summer Campʼ is 5 days of fun activities for
7-12 year olds. It runs fro July 25th to July 29th.

Using the school garden and common household ingredients, students will explore Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Participants will harvest,
cook and eat fresh produce from the garden. They will plant and save seeds,
and make seed bombs. Like all good scientists, they will keep a record –last
years participants still refer to the diary where they documented their experiences and observations.

The cost is €70 per child; if you have more than one child attending there are discounts available. For bookings/more information, contact Anna on (087) 2222562 or send an email to annambrowne@gmail.com.

A taste of Westmeath - calling all locavores!

2011-05-25T20:19:00.007+01:00

A busy weekend ahead for me, with my soapmaking course on Saturday, and 'A Taste of Westmeath' in the Park hotel on Sunday.

Doors open at 12:00, the usual purveyors of fine food - including my brother Joe's Organic Beef and Pork.

There will be cookery demonstrations from Fergal O'Donnell from the Fatted Calf and Gary O'Hanlon of Viewmount House - I'm looking forward to seeing these guys in action. Looking at the menus in both restaurants is making me think about some trips further afield for fine dining in the near future, now that my studying is done.

There will be lots of free samples, and wine tasting (probably not local, though) - I'm hoping to munch my way around all the stands.

€3 is the admission charge - kids are free. See you there!

Return to the blog

2011-05-21T12:53:00.006+01:00

Hi -

I've been away from this blog for ages - and my 3 gardens are suffering from similar neglect! My college course is almost over, and I'm looking forward to getting blogging again - and to getting my hands really dirty over the next few weeks getting the garden in order.

Apologies if you posted comments and I didn't publish or reply - it was a hectic time (though very enjoyable) and I hope that any courses I run will ebenfit form all that I learned about being a teacher.

Speaking of dirty hands (and teaching) , I'm also planning a soapmaking course for next weekend - if there's enough interest.

As always, it will take place in Mullingar Educate Together NS, next Saturday May 28th.

Time - 10:00am to 3:00pm. Cost €60.

Participants will learn how to make soap from scratch, in a safe and playful environment - and will go home with recipes, and soap that they made, coloured, and scented themselves. Essential oils, colourants and organic additives - like calundula petals, poppy seeds, cosmetic clays will be provided.

If you're interested, please let me know asap. If you'd like to learn to make soap, and this time doesn't suit, let me know that you're interested and if you'd prefer an evening course or a Sunday - or a different Saturday.

Contact me - at annambrowne@gmail.com, 0872222562

If you have any friends you think might be interested, please let them know too!

2010-12-07T13:36:00.000Z

Little Gull in centre of group, another to the right on 'final approach'. Blue cast due to photo being taken from a distance, through a window, on an iPhone, and before I had my coffee this morning. Probably mostly the coffee thing. 5 kids here, enjoying what is hopefully the last of their 'snow days' at the expense of my hearing, so retouching will have to wait!

You know times are hard...

2010-12-07T13:27:00.000Z

... when you start seeing sea-birds in the back garden, this far from the coast. We're right in the middle of the country, and we have some unusual visitors fighting off the Starlings and (less successfully) Rooks. My 'Collins Complete Irish Wildlife' - a good one for Christmas! - identifies them as 'Little Gulls'. According to the guide, they are the World's smallest gulls, and they don't even nest in Ireland. So I can only assume the poor little perishers have been as discombobulated by the weather as the rest of us, keep the grub coming, and hope they find their own way home when things settle a bit. Not easy to get a decent photo as they spook easily, but if I get something useable I'll post it.

Somewhere else

2010-11-21T14:55:00.002Z

So you have not heard much from me lately - I'm getting to do a bit of harvesting, but not much else. Eating lots of pumpkins. :-)

I'm settled into my Post Graduate Diploma in Education at NUI Maynooth - and enjoying 2 days a week teaching practice in Castlepollard .

Collaborating with a fellow student, we are having an online conversation about the cource, not too much about vegetables or food, but come check us out, and leave us a comment.

See you back here in the Spring, I hope.

2010 successes - home garden

2010-09-12T12:03:00.004+01:00

Well, 2010 is not over yet, but we're transitioning into the colder autumnal darkness. Worth marking what were the successes and failures in the summer garden this year.

Upside down tomatoes - not prolific, but no blight. They are starting to ripen now. Yummy!
Courgettes doing great. Onions and shallots were fab - all harvested, dried and stored.
Some potatoes that self seeded produced a huge crop in a raised bed, and the spuds in pots yielded reasonably.
Garlic got rust, but it seems to be fine - lots stored, and lots saved for planting more in a month or so - will plant loads of hard neck garlic.

Sunflowers in a pot are great - just about to bloom. The cherries ripened, and were very small and tasty in September. No Damsoms. No pears - a few apples on one of the trees.

Lettuces did great in window boxes until July.
Beetroot didn't do so well. Carrots were a dead loss. Sunflowers in the front bed were decimated by slugs when they were several feet tall. Also wasps were harvesting cellulose from other sunflowers and weakened the stem, so the wind blew them over.

We saw lots of butterflies, bees and other bugs in the garden - which was great, the long hard winter would have decimated them. We will leave our teasel to provide homes for them again this year.

The tall beans are getting decimated by the wind - as always - but some nice borlottis growing there.

I have planted a lot of daikon and corn salad for the winter - and the leeks seem to be doing well. Have planted spinach also, it has germinated and is thriving in seed trays.

The home garden was neglected a little in favour of the allotment, and I have left a lot of leeks to go to see to save seed - they have now occupied the same area for > 12 months, so a good weeding is in order. The seeds don't seem to be turning into the small black seeds that I would expect - anyone know anything about saving leek seeds?

Rhubarb and Strawberry crumble

2010-09-12T11:56:00.002+01:00

This is not a timely recipe at all, but I came across this photo and wanted to share it with you. At the start of June, we had plenty of lovely tender rhubarb at the school garden. So we made a strawberry and rhubarb crumble. It was truly delcious - they are such a great combination.

I've had an item to make rhubarb and strawberry cordial on the to-do list since then, but I think that will have to wait until next June. Something to look forward to after my exams!

Rhubarb and Ginger Chutney

2010-09-12T11:33:00.003+01:00

Rhubarb has such a unique flavour, and there's only so much crumble you can make. I like to freeze rhubarb when it's plentiful - I just wash and dry it, cut it up and bag it - and come back to it when there's time.

Last week was my first week in college since 1984 - I'm back studying to become a maths teacher. I was more exhausted each day, and had no kitchen time at all - thankfully my supportive husband took care of feeding me (and the rest of the family) very well all week. But after a great sleep, I wanted to feel like myself again.

So I spent a little time in the garden, filling up a recently renovated raised bed with compost. It will settle in readiness for the spinach I planted in trays last week, and for the hard-necked garlic I saved.

I felt a bit more like myself after then, but some kitchen time was in order too. So I made some Rhubarb and Ginger chutney - and here's the recipe. Tastes pretty good - but with chutney you have to wait a bit - hopefully it will taste even better!

Rhubarb and Ginger chutney

1.5 kg rhubarb
2 large onions - chopped up
300ml white wine vinegar
350g white sugar
100g brown sugar
2 large thumbs fresh ginger - chopped up
1 teasp ginger powder
5 chunks crystallised ginger
100g sultanas
1 teasp salt

I simmered all the ingredients for an hour or so, and when everything was soft, and the bubbles were lava like, I potted it up into sterilised jars. If you try making it, let me know how you get on!

Harvesting

2010-06-27T21:22:00.003+01:00

Harvested all my Garlic scapes last week and made pesto with them - and froze most, so we'll have garlic scape pesto for some time to come. Harvested some 'All Blue' spuds today from a pot - Yum! And blue all the way through after cooking. Had some broad beans last week - more on the way - and courgettes starting production. Lots of strawberries at the school for the students - redcurrants too, and broad beans. And they had their potato feast last week.

Blackcurrants and redcurrants at home too - where will I find time to harvest them all?

Overwintering onions harvested

2010-06-23T11:33:00.002+01:00

These onions have not turned yellow, and still seem to be growing a bit, but I need the space.

Planted 3 types of set last autumn - Electric - a red onion, Snowball, a white one, and Unwins first early - a conventional yellow one. Of the three, the Unwins did the best. Good size and shape. The Snowball is next - they are not so big, but useable. The red electric - very small - and in previous years went to seed. So reckon I should discontinue these.

Now off to plant some beetroot before the rain hits!

Community day and plant sale

2010-06-13T21:13:00.002+01:00

Next Saturday, June 19th is the annual Big Day out for Mullingar Educate Together NS. As always there will be a wide variety of food and beverages , lots of kids entertainment, and of course the Green Stand, with loads of plant for sale. Kick off time is 2:30 pm - we had a fabulous day last year - hope it's half as good this year.

Midlands Home and Garden Festival 2010

2010-06-08T12:43:00.003+01:00

This weekend I'll be speaking at the Midlands Home and Garden Festival 2010, taking place in Belvedere, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.

I'll be speaking on Sunday at 4:00pm - I'll be talking about gardening with kids. Maybe I'll see you there?

Bloom 2010

2010-06-06T21:24:00.006+01:00

Burts Bees garden

Crann Garden

More Burts Bees

School garden with Scarecrow

Great day at Bloom on Thursday. If you haven't been there yet, there's still a day to go - it's definitely worth it.

I arrived on Thursday, at 11:30 - opening time was 11:00am - there where huge queues to get in - lots of people arriving by bus. I made straight for the lost and forgotten skills area, where I heard a great talk by Tommy Osborne about killing pigs and making black pudding. Picked up a good tip for next week, when I hope to get some fresh blood form the pigs Joe is killing - adding a handful of salt to the bucket before the blood goes in will keep it liquid.

Then a quick look round all the gardens , and got ready for my talk at the GIY Ireland show garden (which was deservedly awarded a silver medal).

Show gardens I liked - Fiann O'Nualainn other garden ( he also designed the GIY garden), the Burts Bees garden, and the one with the ducks.

The Crann garden was not so beautiful, but made a great point. they had trees and other plants, planted through a much of cardboard. We did something similar in the school with willow, so I can show the students that we are doing the same as some forward thinking garden designers!

Met Suzie Cahn from Carrig Dulra - she was showing a school garden which she created in 2 weeks - good work Suzie!

Had a picnic lunch, delivered my talk - which was well received, and got a few chuckles in the appropriate places.

Had a great walk around the OPW walled garden - to be honest, this kind of permanent garden wows me much more than show gardens - the plants look a lot more natural. I was dead envious of the corn.

Over the years, Bloom has changed from being all about gardens to being a good balance between gardens and food. This is reflected in the gardens - lots had veg growing, and the artisan produce on sale is fabulous. I stocked up on a good few items - Annaharvey mini cakes, smoked sausages, strawberries, juice, and noticed that the Soul Bakery had very little bread left by 3:30pm. It's great to see such wonderful food being produced, and consumers snapping it up!

There's lots for kids to do - and the craft displays are excellent too. A real smith in operation, with real blacksmiths! I may have to bring the boys back tomorrow!

I took loads of photos, but I was using my iPhone, so they could be better. If you'd like to see some wonderful images, Bord Bia organised a photowalk, and the photos are on pixie. Check them out.

And only noticed the fantastic sculpture at the entrance on my way out ...

Bloom tomorrow

2010-06-02T18:36:00.002+01:00

Headed to Bloom tomorrow, with my press pass from Bord Bia (thanks guys) clutched in my sweaty hand. And unexpectedly, this week I got an email from Michael Kelly from GIY Ireland who have a garden at Bloom - they have some talks going on at their garden, and have asked me to speak there.

So at 2:00pm tomorrow, I'll be speaking for 15 mins on gardening with kids. Still have to figure out what to say, but I reckon condensing to 15 mins will be the hard part :-) Hope to see you there!

Read about Bloom in the Times today

2010-05-29T11:53:00.001+01:00

Lots of Bloom coverage in the Irish times. I think I'll be buying the paper for the photos!

Make your own Natural Beverages.

2010-05-29T09:42:00.004+01:00

Like a nice sparkling beverage on a summer’s evening? Love the smell of early summer? Well you can bottle that smell, and have it available year round.
Learn to Make Elderflower Cordial, Elderflower Champagne and Ginger Beer this year. The elderflowers are just coming into bloom, so now’s the time. Join me for a series of 3 classes – Tuesday June 8th, Thursday June 10th, and Tuesday June 15th at Mullingar Educate Together NS. Classes begin at 8:00pm, and the cost is €60. For further details, or to book, contact Anna Browne at annambrowne@gmail.com or 087 2222562. Deadline for booking is Thursday 3rd June.

Bloom 2010 - more details

2010-05-29T08:26:00.003+01:00

I got an update from Klara Golez at Bord Bia on the Lost and forgotten skills demonstrations at Bloom. And now I want to go there every day! These talks will take place alongside the food market.

Times are subject to change - currently the first talk starts at 12pm and the final talk of the day starts at 4pm. I'd imagine that there will be details posted somewhere at Bloom when you arrive. Here's the line up:

Thursday 3rd June
Blood Pudding and Sausages
History of Irish Farming
Apples and Cider
Cheese-making

Friday
Butter-making
Oysters
Forgotten Skills with Darina Allen
Home baking and preserves

Saturday
Seaweed
Boxty and Irish Potatoes
Guided Tastings with Dillisk and Connemara Peat Whiskey
Honey producing

Sunday
TBC (Possible Smoked Salmon- subject to change)
Seaweed
Soda Bread and Jams
Honey producing

Monday
Boxty
Guided Tasting with Peter Ward
Poitin talk and tasting with Bunratty Poitin

The ones I'm excited about -
Blood Pudding and Sausages
Seaweed
Apples and Cider
Cheese-making

So I'm hoping to get there on Thursday at least. All going well I'll be tweeting about it when I'm there - follow me @greenannabrowne

Another GIY article

2010-05-17T09:57:00.002+01:00

Another GIY article published - possibly a better activity for earlier, bit it's not too late to plant some potatoes.

Also, Posted some photos of phase I of the recycled bottle greenhouse in an album on the site. We ran out of 2 lt bottles, so if you're in the Mullingar area, and you have 2 lt plastic bottles, drop them by Educate Together (asap) - we're hoping to have another go at it on Wednesday morning - and build the frames for the roof, the door, and the other 2 sides.

It's turning out to be a really great project - from a community point of view, as well as recycling and making a greenhouse for the school.

Bloom 2010 - Lost and forgotten skills

2010-05-11T12:43:00.001+01:00

I'm intrigued by something which is getting a minor mention in the Bloom web site. The Artisan tent will host demonstrations of things like cheese making, butter churning, apple pressing and fish smoking. I'd love to see a schedule of when these will take place - guess I'll have to keep an eye on the food part of the site as that info gets worked out.

I've made butter - accidentally, and made a bit of soft cheese, but I'd love to see a mozzarella made - believe it's very easy, and I'd love to see apple juice made too - given that my kids drink so much, it would be cost effective for me to grow a lot more apples! If I get any more info about this, I'll post it here.

Bloom 2010

2010-05-10T12:09:00.004+01:00

Now that First Communion is over, I can start looking forward to some fun events. I'll be speaking at the next GIY event in Belevedere - May 20th - I'll be showing how to grow upside down tomatoes.

Then we have the June Bank holiday to look forward to, and 5 days of gardening at Bloom. I found the show very inspirational last year - especially the school garden. See photos above. The weather was fabulous too, which always helps - with 5 days to choose from, there are bound to be a few good ones.

Something else that I love about Bloom - there will be lots of food producers showing their wares - I didn't have a lot of time last year to sample, but a quick trip through the Artisan Food market had me licking my lips.

There was lots of kids to do last year - this year looks to be even better. Maybe I'll have to spend a day there on my own, and another day with the kids :-) Looking forward to getting even more ideas for my Summer camp there.

Slugs back

2010-05-01T19:57:00.000+01:00

I ran out of inside space for my tomatoes, so moved them to a Lidl Tent greenhouse a few weeks ago. A few of them got burned by the frost, and not the slugs are back in action - in spite of copious amount of vaseline on pots. The sooner I can get the tomatoes upside down the better. But ti's still a bit cold.

An interesting article here at Irish Gardeners.

Also, we burned some slugs in our wood file, and hope to mix the ash with some rainwater - as a biodynamic deterrent - but I haven't found a recipe, and suspect that I would need to stir for an hour, so not sure if I have the patience for that. Not to mention it's probably the wrong time of the month.

Another solution I saw was to boil garlic and chillies, and spray with the water from that - worth a try - it would sure be wonderful to find something that works.

In the meantime the hooch from my sourdough starter is outside in bowls, and some slugs are meeting a happy end there...

Sun, Snacks, Science - Summer Camp Mullingar , Co. Westmeath

2010-04-23T10:28:00.003+01:00

Summer Camp details are finalised.
It's called Sun, Snacks and Science. While I can't promise the sun, our days will be structured so that we make the most of any dry time to go outside in the school garden.

Summer Camp for 8-12+ year olds, Mon-Fri 10:00am-2:00pm
Cost €70 per week. If 2 kids from the same family book, the price goes down to €130
Week 1 - July 19-23rd,
Week 2 - July 26th-30th

Depending on the weather, we'll have activities inside or outside - harvesting from the school garden, cooking and eating what we harvest, making bath bombs, paper making, seed saving, vermiculture, composting, pond dipping, mini beast hunt, physics experiments, seed planting in recycled paper pots, making ginger ale, scavenger hunt, nature awareness. The week will culminate with the students making pizza for themselves. Parents welcome to join in for the pizza eating on the last day.

I will keep adding new activities as I think of them. The garden is looking great at the moment, and there are plenty of bugs in evidence. We had our pride of place judging yesterday - waiting with bated breath to hear how we got on. The students did a stellar job of presenting all of Natures riches that we have in the garden.

To Book contact Anna Browne at 087 2222562 0r email annambrowne@gmail.com

Empty Skies, empty shelves

2010-04-17T19:03:00.002+01:00

Lot of people in the blogosphere/net from the UK posting about empty shelves in the supermarkets because airfreighted food is not arriving.

Hedgewizard - Empty Skies, empty shelves

Telegraph - food rotting in Kenya

Green Review

Maenwhile, I have spent a good day at Belvedere at the Self Sufficiency Show - where there's no evidence of any food shortages, as we're eating locally. Organic beef, milk, cheese, bread, all produced within a 10 mile radius is on offer. Local and delicious. Lots of interesting plants and seeds so that you can grow your own vegetables also.

Show on again tomorrow - get yourselves out there and hedge your bets in case this volcano stuff goes on for longer...

Title courtesy of Hedgewizard - I'm to tired to think of anthing else - thank you!

Competition at Belvedere Self Sufficiency show

2010-04-16T13:59:00.002+01:00

Took a trip out to belvedere, and have staked out my area with some of my new bunting. The vegetable garden out there is looking great, and from talking with Bartle, they have an excellent weekend planned for young and old. Dale Treadwell will be there, and a clown, not to mention fly fishing demos, pigs, plants, and bread. I'll have 2 activities at my stand - making paper pots and planinting seeds in them, and bath bomb making.

I'm planning a competition also - come by my stand and enter to win a selection of sustainable produced goodies - Jam, Chutney, Marmalade, Soaps, Bath bombs, Body Lotion, 2 Tomato plants, and 6 runner bean plants.

The draw will take place on Sunday - I'll be speaking at 4:00pm about bread making, and will do the draw during the talk. I may have some runner up prizes for people attending the talk also.

Mullingar Summer Camp

2010-04-14T12:34:00.005+01:00

In addition to my classes for grown ups, I'm going to run a Summer Camp this year. Can't decide whether to call it Gardening and Cooking, or Science and Maths - we'll cover all 4 topics, and have a blast where we're doing it. There are a lot of fun activities we can do, and I keep thinking of new ones.

Summer Camp for 8-12 year olds, Mon-Fri 10:00am-1:30pm
Learn about Science and Maths through Gardening and Cooking
Week 1 - July 19-23rd, Week2 - July 26th-30th,

We’ll choose from the following activities depending on the weather – harvesting from the school garden, cooking and eating what we harvest, making bath bombs, paper making, seed saving, vermiculture, composting, pond dipping, mini beast hunt, physics experiments, seed planting in recycled paper pots, making ginger ale, scavenger hunt, nature awareness. The week will culminate with the students making pizza for themselves. Parents welcome to join in for the pizza eating on the last day.

To Book contact Anna Browne at 087 2222562 0r email annambrowne@gmail.com

New Courses

2010-04-13T22:02:00.000+01:00

The Self Sufficiency weekend coming up in Belvedere, Mullingar, Co Westmeath has concentrated my mind, and so I have had to plan my courses for the months ahead. Here's what I'm planning:

•Soapmaking and Natural cosmetics – Sunday May 23rd 10:00am-5:00pm €75
•Sourdough Bread Making - starting Tue April 27th 7:30pm – 10:00pm 4 evening sessions, €90
•Making Elderflower and other natural beverages starting Thur June 10th. 7:30-10:00pm cost €60 3 evening sessions.

There will be another allotment gardening course on Saturday afternoons - starting mid May - don't have full details yet.

If you're interested in any of these email me at annambrowne@gmail.com or phone me at 087 2222562.

I'm also looking forward to speaking at the show both on Saturday and Sunday, and doing some demonstrations. More to follow on that.

Phew!

2010-04-11T21:08:00.003+01:00

Busy weekend - but beautiful weather. Got loads done. Lots of credit to the undergardener.

Flower Seeds planted.
Some veg seeds planted.
Allotment course taught.
Loads planted at the allotment - it's coming together...
Soapmaking course taught.
Signs made for school garden. (with help from the undergardener)
Cars washed.
Path laid in the mucky area using recycled bricks(thanks to undergardener)
And lots more basic household humdrum stuff.

And now onto preparation for next weekend - Getting ready for the Belvedere Self Sufficiency Show - more to follow on that...

Busy weekend

2010-04-10T19:39:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was a frenzy of seed planting - mostly flowers. Calendula, sunflowers, french marigold, foxgloves, poppies...

The tomatoes are needing to be repotted, so that was done, and got a lot of runner beans started.

At the allotment yesterday - planted the rest of the spuds, and onions and shallots. All the flowers are in too - so the cutting garden should be producing in a month or so - fingers crossed.

Today was back with the class, we put in loads of autumn fruiting raspberries - probably need a few summer ones, strawberries and blackcurrants. Sowed some carrots seeds on top of the sheet mulch, and put some sticks round the broad beans to support them. It's starting to look like something - must take some photos for here..

Those crazy Germans...more LIDL specials for the garden

2010-04-08T10:40:00.003+01:00

Coming up on Thursday 15th April (a week from the date of this post) in Lidl - spades, forks, and shovels, all with stainless steel 'pointy bits' and FSC-approved timber handles, for €12.99 each. Other goodies include anti-bird netting (which would probably also deter cats and less-determined dogs, I reckon), folding saws, and ratchet pruners (good for stubborn branches or those with less strong hands). Also on the site for the ladies there are some gardening 'clogs' with adjustable heel-straps; for the gentlemen there are ads featuring ladies in bikinis. Girls - get the lads to get the heavy work done now, before the distractions start!

A word of warning, though, about their 360 Litre Thermo Composter. We have two of these and while they are good in some aspects (good capacity, rodent-deterring base-plate), there is a design flaw with the lid. It doesn't fit very well in the first instance - it pops out of the hinge when you try to open it, and it flies away with any sort of breeze (and we get EVERY sort!) so it needs a weight on top of it. The bin itself is also a flat-pack job and on the 'blue language' scale of assembly I'd give it at least a 6.

Guest post from Peggy

2010-03-24T21:03:00.003Z

Growing Your Own

This guest post comes to us courtesy of Peggy who writes at Organic Growing Pains.
Allotments have been a way of life in the UK for years but really only catching on here in the last few years.Why did you decide to join the GYO movement? Was it like me looking at the country of origin on what I was buying in supermarkets and knowing that the 'healthy' veg I was eating was probably anything but and did not taste the same over the years. Whatever the reason welcome aboard and enjoy the growing experience, if you are reading this and still thinking about getting a plot,the waiting lists are growing fast!

When we took over our plot it was sadly overgrown and we took one bed in hand and grew salads,peas, strawberries and spring onions. Over the 4 years we have gradually worked over the whole plot and last year took over a second one!
I know anyone taking a plot on Lowel Organic allotments is in the very lucky position of getting a brown site turned over and manured by their very helpful Landrace pigs. A whole plot is still a lot of work in one season unless you have lots of help. Decide what veg you buy most of, what you would like to try if it was available fresh and if you have children involved they need to see something growing quickly! Peas and runner beans almost grow while you are looking at them,the kids love to see them growing up their stakes and podding fresh peas with a satisfying 'pop' cannot be beaten.

If you are going to have fruit bushes then you have to plan a permanent bed for them, we have ours running along the path at the top of one plot and a rhubarb bed in the same position on the second plot. The first year you can grow anything anywhere, after that you have to rotate crops and believe me there is a lot of conflicting advice out there! We are using potatoes, roots including onions (which some will say are a separate group) legumes and brassicas for our 4 year rotation.
Keep notes!! You may think you will remember where you had what but by the time you come back to the plot next season you may well have trouble remembering
The growing season is late this year maybe up to four weeks in some places so there is still plenty of time to get in potatoes etc. We are only putting in first and second earlies this year as the dreaded blight gets to the main crop which are in the ground longer and organic blight spray is expensive to maintain a healthy crop of spuds. Go for the taste of your own early spuds when after all they are at their most expensive.
What do you need to start apart from the designer wellies? Tools are the most costly item to build a collection of,I think car boot sales are a good place to look and also you will find people selling off their excess plants there much cheaper than the garden centres.
In your first year you may find it easier to buy plants than get lots of seeds going but believe me you can get a lot of tomato plants from a packet of seeds for 2.35, one plant will cost you more than that! On the subject of seeds, don't plant a whole packet as we did in the first years, a few seeds in a tray will give you about 10 plants which is more than enough of anything! You can stagger your harvest by sowing a few seeds about 4 weeks apart to have a supply of veg over a longer period, we had cauliflower coming out our ears one year! Once the seed packet is open I put them into a zip lock bag in an airtight plastic container in the end of the fridge,all of the seeds kept this way since last year have germinated successfully this year.
Parsnip seeds are the only ones needed to be bought fresh each year, so swap some left over ones with another plotter for something you don't have
Peat pots are another expensive buy, make your own eco friendly pots by rolling newspaper around a suitable sized container, stick a bit of masking tape to hold it together .A great rainy day occupation! When planting out just pop the whole thing in the ground with no root disturbance..
Becoming a plotter makes you more eco aware and let me tell you, you will soon become a hoarder! Toilet rolls and kitchen roll holders (cut in two) filled with compost, become root trainers for plants with a long root system like peas, beans and sweet peas,they grow quite happily and can be planted out in their pots which disintegrate over time allowing the roots to grow into the soil.
Egg boxes are the ideal container to chit the spuds in.

3 litre plastic bottles or if you are lucky enough to lay your hands on 5 litre ones, are ideal as mini cloches for tender plants.The cut off top makes a funnel to water plants at the roots, I put one at the base of each tomato plant to make sure feed and water get to the roots.
Butter cartons ,washed and cut into strips make ideal outdoor plant labels if you use a permanent ink marker.
Aldi & Lidl and some supermarkets sell soft fruit like plums & peaches etc in deep plastic cartons which have holes ready cut in the bottom and domed lids,they are the perfect mini propagator for small amounts of seeds.
The above stores are doing gardening specials for the next few weeks, buy up netting of all sizes, you will need it to protect brassicas from pigeons and the cabbage white butterfly.When you want it, they will be finished with their specials and you will pay a lot more for it elsewhere.
Raised beds or not? We found during our previous wet summers raised beds with paths in between were better.You will need timber of various sizes for stakes and boards for the beds.Scaffolding boards are ideal and can be picked up quite cheaply due to the recession.
I can guarantee every time you pass a skip on the roadside you will cast avaricious eyes on the contents for 'handy 'sized boards and carpets!
Carpet is ideal for covering beds not in use to keep down weeds and stop nutrients leaching in wet weather, not the underlay which is rubber coated and just breaks into pieces eventually.
Old clothes airers on stands are great for drying onions!
One thing I have learned not to scrimp on is the seed compost, buy the best you can find, preferably non peat with John Innes added, don't be tempted to buy the 3 for the price of 2 bags of compost etc, your seeds need the best start you can give them.
What you plant is a personal choice, if you don't eat it don't grow it, but do grow something just for fun like a pumpkin or sunflowers.
Make your plot colourful with flowers,some of which are edible like nasturtiums, marigolds and calendula to attract bees and butterflies to your plants
Most of the private allotment sites have BBQ and picnic areas but believe me the most important piece of kit you will buy for your plot is the deck chair!
Nothing can beat sitting out on a summers day with the all important cuppa, looking at your plot growing, listening to the bees humming as they pollinate your plants and the sense of achievement is priceless, Enjoy!

Role model

2010-03-24T16:21:00.002Z

Here's a great interview with Madeline McKeever of Brown Envelope Seeds - maybe the recession will see more innovation in the 'green' area.

Here comes summer!

2010-03-24T09:51:00.004Z

Just heard some Summer weather predictions on Newstalk. The guy they were talking to, from Positive Weather Solutions says we can expect one of the 'best' (ie hottest and driest) summers ever! These are the people who accurately predicted that the euphemistically-named 'cold spell' would last until March. While this is welcome news on some levels, (good for tomatoes, bad for slugs...) particularly after the long run of washout summers we've had recently, bear in mind that reservoir levels are going to be pretty low. So now's the time to be thinking about rainwater conservation. Water-butts (sack the marketing people who thought that one up!!) are readily available at good garden centres and hardware stores, and are easy to fit to most modern downpipes.

You can link butts (stop sniggering!) together with a special kit in case one is full and you want to increase your storage. But be creative - if you can be sure that they haven't been used for hazardous materials, any large, sealable, container can be used. If you have the space for it, an IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container - or in 'Irish', the huge big square yokes the farmers use!) - pictured at the top of this post - is ideal. The seal is important to reduce evaporation and very importantly, to prevent insects laying eggs in it.

And if you're leaving home for a while, (and think about an Irish holiday before you go anywhere else - or if you're reading this from outside Ireland) don't forget to get someone to keep an eye on the garden, and harvest anything that ripens while you're away. You might even train some of the more responsible neighbourhood children in the ways of watering, and other summer garden jobs and help get the next generation of gardeners started.

It might seem weird to be talking about this now, but by the sounds of the predictions, it could be a great summer for growing with a bit of forward planning. And don't forget to protect your skin when you're enjoying the weather!

Guest post and arrival of seeds

2010-03-23T20:23:00.005Z

I'm delighted that Peggy from Organic Growing Pains has agreed to do a guest post here in the upcoming weeks. As an experienced allotment grower, I'm looking forward to hearing some tips from her to help me in my first season on the allotment.

Peggy is in the finals of the Irish Blog awards - I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for her on Saturday night.

And speaking of community, the photo above is the embarrassment of riches recieved from Patrick at Bifurcated Carrots as part of the Blogger Seed Network.

One of the best things about networking with other gardeners is knowledge and bounty that you share - without having to spend much, and without spending too much time in Garden Centers.

Allotment Vegetable growing course

2010-03-22T16:33:00.003Z

Growing your own food on an allotment - 4 week course starting March 27th. Saturdays, 2:00pm - 5:00pm.

This 4 week course will take you through the basics of growing vegetables on an allotment. The course is open to all - whether you have an allotment or not. There is a strong emphasis on the practical element, so each week you will spend at least an hour on the allotments at Lough Owel Organic Farm, working with experienced gardeners and getting your hands (and probably most of the rest of yourself!) dirty. And if you get tired, you can stop and admire the view of Lough Owel - see above.

The theory part of the course will take place at Carton Rural Consultants, Tullaghan. Gardening tutors are James Carton and myself.

The course is part funded by LEADER , so it only costs €40 for the 12 hour course. Great value! To book, contact James Carton at 086-2488708, or email cartonrc@eircom.net.

9 bean rows will I have....

2010-03-21T22:45:00.003Z

I love growing (and eating) beans and now that I have the allotment, I can plant loads! The problem was, how to stake them all. Last year the bamboo stakes blew down just when the pods were starting to fill. So I was looking for a more rigid solution for the allotment.

My brother - who is a genius at repurposing - came up with this grid. I'll supplement with some bamboo and hazel to increase the height, but this is an excellent foundation.

He has rigged up an incredible water harvesting system - using watertanks chained together, and taking a good amount of the water from his hayshed roof. The metal grid was a casing from one of the water tanks used in this system.

The bend in it makes it more stable than if it was straight, and the organic curve fills my heart with delight! Have to wait till April - at the earliest - to plant the beans though...

Expanding horizon

2010-03-19T21:42:00.006Z

While my current garden in Mullingar is way bigger than what I had in Dublin, and there's still lots of room for slides, a willow house, and a wild corner, I struggled with producing enough veg to feed us, and always had too many seedlings to put in the existing space.

This year, that's all changed. I have an allotment on Joe's farm - and I now have the opposite (and excellent) problem - how to fill it! The morning of Paddy's day was our first extended stint out there - luckily Granny was on hand to feed us, and the weather was dry and mild.

We started digging one of the beds - we will sow a green manure there in advance of planting Squash, and the rest we'll cover with a sheet mulch of cardboard, mushroom compost and straw.

The undergardener was on digging duty - he reckons he'll be like the Bull McCabe when we're done - and the boys were picking rocks, spreading Mushroom compost, and breaking up lumps of clay. And adding nitrogen to the beautiful compost bin which resides at the bottom of the allotment. Photos to follow, and no doubt several posts on the compost bin.

In the meantime, it's time to rest up for a weekend of allotmenteering....

Seed Savers Network 2010

2010-03-09T16:10:00.003Z

Here's a remarkable online resource for exchanging seeds - if you are an experienced seed saver - and for getting new open pollinated heirloom varieties of plants if you're a beginner (and trying not to spend too much).
In 2008 I had an extremely positive experience with this network, and the bulbs and seeds I received grew well for me. I was able to share my hardneck garlic locally, and hopefully will have lots more to share in 2011.

Gardeners are so generous, and nature gives us an abundance - I saved lots of seeds myself, but they all went to students in my various classes. So I have none to offer this year in the network - in spite of that I have requested some from Ewa , and from Patrick - I may have to make a small contribution to postage, but generally people are very generous.

Join in! And if you have nothing to swap now - don't worry - some day you will!

Day one of WordCamp

2010-03-06T19:12:00.004Z

Nothing to do with gardening, but had a great day at the WordCamp gathering in Kilkenny today. Saw a few friends - David from PollDaddy, AnnMarie from whatshewears.ie, and being well minded by Cathy and Martin. Michael has joined in today, and is being put to work teaching the boys a 17th century song in the car on the way home to relieve their boredom.

2 things stand out - apart from the incredibly educational and inspirational talks I've attended - the family friendly nature of the conference means that the 2 boys are in a safe place playing DS and XBox games all day with other kids - and not a bit bothered that I'm not paying them any attention - in fact when I have gone to check on them during the breaks, they wave me away 'maturely'.

The service in Langtons is really good too - this morning we were looking for extra croissants, extra jam, and they couldn't have been more helpful. At the first break I wanted decaff anything, and they had a lovely decaff coffeee for me. At lunch the boys were grizzling about the absence of cheese sandwiches - one of the staff heard them, and next thing they each had a lovely grated cheese sandwich presented to them. So we are all doing great. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Off to WordCamp

2010-03-05T09:50:00.003Z

I'm off to the WordCamp Bloggers weekend in Kilkenny this weekend - looking forward to learning loads, and meeting online friends, and networking. It's family friendly, so the boys are coming with me - they are really looking forward to it too - I hope it works out for them :-)

Getting an allotment

2010-03-04T12:05:00.004Z

I'm very excited about this spring - normally I'm restricted as to what and how much I can plant, as we have a suburban garden. But this year I'll be getting an allotment at Lough Owel Organic Farm - It's just out the road from us, and it's where I grew up, so we spend a lot of time out there anyhow with my mother.

The ground has been beautifully prepared by my brothers pigs - see below - and we'll be getting things planted just as soon at the ground warms up. So I can go crazy with Brassicas, potaotes, beans - the things I normally hold back on for want of space. Yippee!

Check out his site and tell me what you think - I created it!

Good Deals in Lidl next Thursday

2010-02-28T12:17:00.006Z

Some good value garden equipment in Lidl next Thursday.

The tent greenhouse in particular is a favourite. Expect that after a year, the metal poles may succumb to the midland winds, but you can alway build a permanent frame on your raised bed (see below) on which to drape the longer lasting cover. Last year I used one of these greenhouses to protect my tomatoes and squash plants until the danger of frost was past, having run out of space and sunny windowsills indoors. If you haven't yet built your raised beds, it's a good idea to build them so that one of these tents fits over them. I just got lucky :-)

Be warned, however, the handles on the garden bucket snap off when you are carrying a heavy load, so it may be worth paying a little more if you want a good trug.

Nukazuke

2010-02-25T19:03:00.007Z

I adore Japanese pickles, but they are not so easy to come by in Mullingar. There are a couple of different ways to make the, but I have been intrigued by the idea of a rice bran mix hosting lactobaccilli which pickle for you. It's not a far cry from the sour dough bread which is a staple here.

Almost a year ago, a Japanese friend gave me a package of Nukazuke mix, which her parents had sent her from Japan. (Thanks Shino). Now the thing with Nukazuke is that you have to mix it every day (sourdough is once a week), so I had put off starting it as there was always a trip away planned. We have nothing now till July, so yesterday I got started.

The nukadoko will live in a plastic bucket - traditionally it would be in a wooden bucket.

The bacteria have to come from somewhere- so I added an organic carrot and some apple peel, and some sourdough bread soaked in water.

So now, I have to mix daily until it starts to smell ready - whatever that smells like! Something to do until the weather improves, anyhow...

More info.

Teaching kids to eat real food...

2010-02-25T13:44:00.003Z

Couldn't say it better myself.....

Go Jamie!

Seed planting and planning

2010-02-19T11:31:00.004Z

So, once again trying to work out when the last frost might be, and making a plan accordingly. At last nights GIY Mullingar event, a seasoned farmer was saying that the last frost could be as late as June- aaagh! Last year I took a guess based on the full moon, and went for a mid April date - This years relevant full moons are April 28th and May 27th. So I'll be going for a last frost date round April 28th. I have a reasonable sheltered location - for Mullingar- so I'm not going to plan for a May 27th frost date. :-)

I'll be using the excellent guide provided by the ladies at Little house in the suburbs - since I love my crafts, this is a nice way to combing gardening and making things.

While we're on the weather - a great local resource is here. Weather station in Killucan.

Dig for Victory

2010-02-17T21:44:00.002Z

The imperial War museum in London has an exhibit based on the gardening war efforts. Classic Dig for Victory film here, I'll be doing everything possible to get myself and the undergardeners to London this summer for a trip to this show.

If we manage that, I'd love a visit to the Physic Gardens. If we're really lucky we'll also squeeze in a trip to Fergus Henderson's St John restaurant.

And of course, we'll spend a day at Legoland :-)

Published again!

2010-02-10T21:20:00.006Z

Another article on the GIY Ireland site. This time about planting broad beans with kids. I'm hopoing to make this a monthly feature.

While I'm on GIY Ireland, looking forward to next weeks GIY Mullingar Seed Meitheal in Belvedere - Feb 18th, 8:00pm. We will be breaking into groups which will each get some plants started from seed, and then we'll supply the other group members with seedlings. There will be some seeds at the event, but it would be wonderful if people could bring seeds which they have saved themselves to add to the pot.

And did I mention that yours truly will be giving a short talk about propagation at said event - busy month!

Castille soap Giveaway

2010-02-05T11:53:00.003Z

What's soap doing on a gardening blog?

I'm running a giveaway on my craft blog - call it a last hurrah before attention shifts to the outdoors and the garden for the next few months. Check it out, and let me know if you came via this blog.

Seriously, though, this soap is great if you have been out for a few hours rooting in the dirt, and need to wash up - it cleans and moisturises!

I'll be running soap making courses in Mullingar soon, and at the Organic Center later in the year.

Published

2010-02-01T20:43:00.002Z

A good start to February - GIY (Grow It Yourself) is an organisation which has been snowballing in popularity here in Ireland in the past year or less. They have an excellent website where they share tips, build community, let people know about local meetings.

And now, one of the people writing articles for that website is me! I'm doing a series about gardening with kids - something very close to my heart - see the first article here.

Planting Broad beans

2010-01-25T13:56:00.003Z

It's a bit later than last year, but inspired by the sunshine, and the fact that I start teaching soon, and with the help of my trusty undergardeners, who are on a half day from school, we have the broad beans planted. We have ignored the planting dates on the pachets, and planted Aquadulce Claudia, and the Sutton - both varieties did well from a Jan 1st sowing last year.

I soaked the broad bean seeds overnight - this will accelerate the germination. And it's so promising to see them plump up. And tried to organise my seeds (see my tiny plot for a good method), and found lots of other broad bean varieties. So I think I'll be planting a lot more of these over the coming weeks. They are a great early cropper, and you can eat the tips, the tiny seed pods before they fill out, and the seeds - so the more the better. And popping them open to see them nestled in their downy pods in a great job for all the family.

Gardening courses - start date moved out

2010-01-21T10:07:00.003Z

I'm moving out the start dates of both the 'Grow your own food' courses.

The Saturday class will now begin on January 30th, and the Tuesday evening class will now begin on February 2nd. This means that the later classes will be in the early growing season, so we can do lots of practical stuff with seeds and seedlings.

Also, a reminder that the Mullingar GIY meeting takes place in Belvedere this evening (Jan 21st) at 8:00pm, and will be every month on the third Thursday

Marmalade oranges

2010-01-15T12:02:00.004Z

If you love marmalade, and would like to try making some yourself, now's the time! Marmalade oranges are in the shops right now - we got a case of them last weekend, and all kinds of marmalade is being made. Below is a recipe - you can leave out the cranberries if you can't find any. See photos here.

My gardening courses are filling nicely - if you're interested act now and contact me at 087 2222562.

Cranberry and Orange Marmalade
This one is a perfect January preserve – Seveille oranges are only available then, and you’ll be sure to have some cranberries in the shops round Christmas. Both oranges and cranberries can be frozen, and used when you want to make this.

Ingredients:
3lb bitter (Seville) Oranges
5 pints water
1lb cranberries
7lbs sugar
2 large Lemons

Squeeze lemons and reserve juice. Scrub oranges, and remove disks form the stalk end. Put the whole oranges, and lemon peels into a large heavy pan, and cover with 4 pints of the water. A narrow rather than a wide pan might be better – it’s important that all the oranges are covered.
Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for about 1.5 hours, until the peel is quite soft. Lift out oranges and lemons, reserving the liquid. Halve oranges, and scoop out the flesh and pips into a small saucepan. Add the remaining pint of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 mins, to extract pectin. Put a few saucers in your freezer.
Cut up the softened peel as coarsely or finely as you like. Put the peel in a pan containing the reserved liquid, add sugar, cranberries, lemon juice, and strain the juice from the flesh and pips into this also.

Start off on a low heat, stirring while sugar dissolved. Bring to a fast boil for 10-15 minutes. Test for doneness: remove one of the saucers from the freezer, and put a little marmalade on it. Put it back in the freezer for 2-3 mins. When you check it, push the skin which has formed on top – if it wrinkles, you have successfully gelled. If not, keep boiling.

After gelling, remove form the heat, and allow to cool for 10-15 mins. This means that the fruit will be distributed well through the marmalade.

Pot in hot sterilised jam jars, put on lids, leave to cool, and label and date.

Grow your own food - 2010 Gardening Courses

2010-01-11T19:57:00.005Z

Spring is coming! Hard to believe, but the nights are getting shorter, a thaw will eventually arrive, the ground will be muddy, and the weeds will sprout at the first bit of warmth.

With that, I'm happy to announce that I'll be teaching a Beginners Organic Gardening class. I had hoped to start this weekend, but with the bad weather I have moved the start dates out.

There will be an evening class in Mullingar Educate Together NS(on the C-link road, beside the new Spar) - Tuesday evenings 8-10pm. Starting on January 26th.
...alternatively...
There's a Saturday morning class in Belvedere - 11:00am - 1:00pm. Starting January 23rd.

Get back to basics with this 6-session course, to prepare for a
bountiful harvest. Whether you have a garden or a window-box, there’s something here for you, even if you don’t know a trowel from a dibber. And if last year is anything to go by, you'll go home from the later classes laden down with seedlings, as well as enthusiasm and information.

Cost is €120.

You will learn about -

Organic methods and permaculture,
Soil preparation - no dig methods,
Garden planning,
Growing plants from seed,
Preparing a place to grow vegetables,
Soil fertility,
Choosing plants,
Keeping a gardening diary,
Growing fruit,
Plant propagation,
And much more!

If you’re interested, please contact Anna at 087 2222562 or
annambrowne@gmail.com

Please book your place early – numbers are limited!

Yummy Cabbage

2010-01-11T18:23:00.001Z

It wasn't a huge cabbage, but it was very arttractive. And it tasted great, even after 3 weeks of severe frost!

Harvest!

2010-01-11T11:41:00.004Z

Our local butcher was selling off his Christmas hams at half price, so we bought one. And what better to go with ham than cabbage? However, I didn't foresee this when last shopping for veg, so no cabbage in the house - or was there? I remembered a little cabbage growing outside, so I went out, and wonders - it had survived the Big Freeze... Harvested it, washed it, and cooked it in the ham stock - it was delicious! Seems like cabbages can handle a little freezing.

Don't know about the leeks - was relying on them for a winter staple, but the ground has been too hard to harvest for some time. Wonder what they'll be like when the thaw comes?

One a warmer note, I'm organising a felting workshop at the end of January see my crafting blog for details.

And I will be running beginners gardening courses soon - details to follow.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T13:44:00.004Z

Happy New Year to all - I have been away from this blog a good bit lately - making crafty things and baking - some results on my other blog.

However, now that the nights are getting shorter, and the days are lengthening somewhat, it's time once again to turn back to the garden. Maybe I'll just be sorting my seeds, and starting some broad beans inside, and harvesting a few leeks, but summers a coming - and we have been waiting since 2006.

Twittering

2009-12-08T22:50:00.000Z

OK, I have succumbed to twittering. You can follow me at GreenAnnaBrowne.

I've been asked to develop a course for people starting their own business, in building an online presence. So I need to get my head around the twitter end of things, though it always felt a bit twitchy for me. I have to say I'm enjoying it....

Natural Cosmetic course

2009-12-01T22:14:00.000Z

Make your own Natural Cosmetics

Love pampering? Adore taking luxurious baths? Love all the beautiful products for creating a home spa experience, but find them a bit pricey? And maybe you’re a little concerned about the additives in the cheaper ones?
Well, now you can learn to create those luxurious products, at a fraction of the price, using ingredients that you can easily find in your supermarket, health food shop or pharmacy. Make lots for yourself, and maybe even make a few for your friends for Christmas presents.
Anna Browne (growyourownfood.blogspot.com) is offering a course in making your own Natural Cosmetic on Saturday December 5th in Belvedere house, Mullingar from 10:30am-1:00pm.
Participants will learn how to make Bath bombs, Massage oils, Body creams, Exfoliants, Bath salts and Bath bags, and will make origami boxes to package them in. All materials will be provided, including a wide variety of essentials oils to scent the products. And they will go home with clear recipies showing how to replicate these at home.
To book, call/text Anna at 087 222562, or email annambrowne@gmail.com

For directions or more information about Belvedere House, go to
http://www.belvedere-house.ie

Leeks

2009-11-16T14:58:00.003Z

Some of my leeks are going to seed - which makes them completely inedible. I ODed on leeks this year - though I don't think you can have too many. The Hannibal leeks are still growing well, but the Bleu de Solaise seem to be an autumn harvest variety,(though they were sold as a good overwintering variety), and a good many of them are producing seed heads.

I should remember to sow those ones early, and the Hannibal later, to get a good crop from autumn on. And stick with the Hannibal, or another variety for winter eating.

November Harvest

2009-11-14T17:26:00.001Z

Lovely afternoon, so had a bit of a go in the garden. Harvested the last of the Borlotti beans and the runner beans - not as bad a yield as last year, but not great either. The French beans at the front which went in in July were a fiasco, though - maybe one pod per plant.

Have taken out all of the corn - it's really not a great use of space - will leave it out next year. Kevin Harmon has beautiful corn for sale in the latter part of the summer - that will satisfy my yen for fresh corn.

Harvested the last of the ildi and millifleur cherry tomatoes - the upside down hanging tomatoes seem less susceptible to the frost.

Preparing beds for garlic - it seems like I need another bed :-)

Finally, cooked some of the beans and slowly braised some kale & beet leaves in garlic and olive oil - blended all with salt, pepper , a little creme fraiche for a yummy dip.

Christmas Crafting - make your own gifts

2009-10-30T11:33:00.001Z

Gertrude Tlou of Umbrella Studios (087 7498039 gertrudetlou@eircom.net) and Anna Browne (087 2222562 or annambrowne@gmail.com) offer you the chance to enter the world of hand made gifts, and realise your dreams of a better Christmas. They will teach you to make a selection of goodies which will delight, amuse and please your nearest and dearest. Choose from a selection of Bath bombs, bath bags, Heat pillows, Neck gaiters, christmas decorations, granola, chocolate macaroons, truffles, Cookie mix in a jar, and go home with recipes and instructions for all of these, and the confidence to make them at home yourself. In addition you'll learn to make gift wraps, gift cards, and cute Origami gift boxes, using recycled materials.

Remember last Christmas? Fighting traffic, stuck in shopping center parking lots? Fighting with the other harried shopper over the last Bath set at the chemist on Christmas eve? Wracking your brains trying to remember who you forgot? Snarling at the family when it's supposed to be such a happy time of year? And then realising you forgot someone very important in the stress of it all? And knowing deep down that you have missed the spirit of Christmas....

This year can be so much different. Imagine a serene day spent learning new crafts, with interesting new people - picking up tips and tricks for creating personalised homemade gifts, and wrapping them in your own individual style?

Imagine spending the last few days leading up to Christmas, relaxed and basking in the knowledge that you have already made all your gifts. Or enjoying the last minute party you have been invited to, knowing you have a unique gift for the hosts in your stockpile. Imagine the appreciation you'll see on the recipients faces, when they see that you have taken the time to make something especially for them? And, best of all, imagine not being in fear of your January credit card bill!

'Make and Bake your Christmas Presents' will be held at Mullingar Educate Together NS on November 7th (leaving you lots of time to put your skills into practice before the holidays), running from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Cost is €75 euro, and all materials will be provided.

Making Natural Costmetics in Carlow.

2009-10-19T16:07:00.002+01:00

Just back from a great weekend in Carlow. Headed down straight after school on Friday, so arrived before it was dark - that will be a luxury for the next few months. Staying with our friends Cathy and Martin (and Holly the dog - she doesn't have a blog, but she is the most popular with my kids), so lots to talk about in the Art and ecology area.

On Saturday, a friend of mine - Nicola Browne, who blogs at Clasheen, had organised for me to teach my Natural Cosmetics course at her studio.

Lots of interesting people attended - I should have taken some photos, but it was all a bit of a rush to get to Martin's opening at the Norman Gallery. Course participants went home happy with 4 or 5 bath bombs, various ointments and balms, a bath bag, and a handmade origami box to hold their goodies. That was the surprise hit - everyone that sees them falls in love with them - especially children, and they are a cinch to make. All were delighted that they had lots of ideas and techniques for making lovely hand made Christmas presents for all their friends.

Looking forward to teaching the same course here in Mullingar in Belvedere on Nov 24th (10:30am- 1:00pm) , and METNS Dec 5th (7:30pm-10:00pm)

Mullingar Advertiser

2009-10-16T09:22:00.002+01:00

Got a good write up in the Mullingar advertiser this week - welcome if you're here because of that. Hope you enjoy the rest of the blog.

The list of courses is here- get booking :-)

Off to Carlow

2009-10-14T22:00:00.002+01:00

Spending the weekend in Carlow, teaching a make your own natural cosmetics course...

Food Preserving course starting tonight

2009-10-06T15:15:00.002+01:00

Looking forward to my first Food Preserving course - beginning tonight. I have a syllabus prepared, but the class needs will lead us to different places than what I have imagined. I'm excited to find out what they want to focus on!

Course Booking Bonus at Discover Mullingar

2009-09-25T19:30:00.003+01:00

If you book one of my upcoming courses at the Discover Mullingar event on Sunday 26th September, you'll get one of these beautiful bath bombs in an origami handmade presentation box as a Thank You.

I have 3 types - Vetivert with a hint of Rose, Calendula petals with Mandarin and Fennel, and Lime and Ginger. The Calendula petals are harvested from my garden, and dried before adding them to the bath bomb.

The boxes are made of recycled road atlases and sugar paper. Completely Biodegradable, not to mention environmentally friendly.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Upcoming courses

2009-09-21T22:44:00.002+01:00

Here are the courses I'll be running for the next few months. If you'd like to book any of them, please email me - annambrowne "at" gmail "dot" com

OCTOBER Classes:
Keep those Crops!
How to pickle, freeze, and preserve your crops to keep them through the winter.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: October 6th, 13th,20th, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Cost: €50.00

Seed Saving Workshop.
How to collect, test, and store seeds, and why it’s so important. Includes a walk in Belvedere’s famous walled garden to spot and collect ripe seeds.
Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar.
Date/Time: 24th October, 10.30 am to 1.00pm. Cost: €25.00

Parent & Child Seed Saving Workshop.
Family fun with nature! Bring a grown-up helper, learn how to spot and save seeds, and bring some home with you to plant next Spring!
Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar.
Date/Time: 27th October, 2.00pm to 4.30pm. Cost €30.00 per child/adult pair.

NOVEMBER Classes
Make (and Bake) it a Christmas to remember!
Have a simpler, saner, Christmas this year. Nothing says you care about someone quite like a hand-made gift - learn how to make and/or bake something to suit everyone on your list. Stress-relief Guaranteed!
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: 5th November 10.00am to 5.00pm. Cost: €75.00

Here comes the Summer! (Eventually)
Gardening isn’t just for half the year – learn how to prepare your patch before and during Winter, to maximise crops and minimize necessary work next Spring.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: 17th November, 7.30pm to 9.30pm COST:€25

Make a big splash!
Luxuriate in your own cleverness – learn how to make bath bombs, scented oils, balms, and exfoliants using natural ingredients. All materials will be provided and you will take home a variety of products you will have made yourself.
Location: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar
Date/Time: 24th November, 10.30am to 1:00pm. COST:€35.00

The staff of life…
…never tasted so good! Fill your home with the aroma of fresh baked Sourdough and other Artisan breads, or make your own Pizzas from scratch. A 3-session course, held over a weekend.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: Friday 26th 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Saturday 27th 10.00am to 4.00pm, Sunday 28th 10.00am to 12.00pm. COST:€90.00

DECEMBER Classes
Make a big splash!
Luxuriate in your own cleverness – learn how to make bath bombs, scented oils, balms, and exfoliants using natural ingredients. All materials will be provided and you will take home a variety of products you will have made yourself.

Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: 5th December, 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Cost: €35.00

JANUARY 2010 Classes
No Wheat? No Problem!
Learn how to bake your own delicious Wheat-free bread – like mixed grain no-knead bread (No wheat, no work - a no-brainer!), sourdough spelt, and a variety of non-yeast breads. A 2-session course, held over a weekend.
Location: Mullingar Educate Together National School
Date/Time: Friday 8th, 7.30pm to 9.00pm. COST:€90.00

Grow Your Own Food.
Get back to basics with this 6-session course, to prepare for a bountiful harvest. Whether you have a garden or a window-box, there’s something here for you, even if you don’t know a trowel from a dibber. Cost: €120.00
Starting January 16th at Belvedere, from 11.00am to 1.00pm,
or January 19th at Mullingar Educate Together National School from 8.00pm to 10.00pm

To Book - please email me - annambrowne "at" gmail "dot" com

Discover Mullingar

2009-09-16T10:08:00.003+01:00

For my local readers, just wanted to let you know about an interesting event happening on September 27th. It's a showcase for all that's interesting, local, good in Mullingar. For further details see here

I'll be publicising my upcoming courses there (and here), but on the day there will be local food producers (including my brother with a big pot of stew made with his organic beef), arts and crafts, sports organisations - I'm going to have to try to find time to get away from my stand and see some of the other exhibits. Some of them will be taking place in the new County council buildings - where last nights launch was held - it's worth a visit just to see that, it's a beautiful space. Hope to see you there!

Beetroot Chutney

2009-09-14T12:51:00.004+01:00

On of my buddies showed me a (tiny) jar of beetroot chutney that she bought somewhere exclusive in Wicklow for €5.99. Had a look at the ingredient list, and a taste and here's what I came up with. To me it tastes as good, if not better - we'll see what her discerning daughter decides...

1kg beetroot - peeled and chopped up into 5 mm cubes (no need to get out calipers, very small is fine)
750 g onions - chopped finely
500g eating apples - peeled, cored and chopped up into 5 mm cubes (see above)
40g ginger
400 ml malt vinegar (or whatever vinegar you have handy)
200g brown sugar
30 ml balsamic vinegar - optional

Chop beetroot, onions, and apples. Peel and finely chop the ginger (or grate it). Cook in the vinegar for 45 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the brown sugar and cook for at least another 45 minutes. I added the balsamic vinegar at this stage - it tasted like it needed it.

When the beetroot and onions are soft, and the mix is less runny and more like chutney, you're done. Put it into scrupulously clean jars that you have heated - a judicious run of the dishwasher will see to both, and lid and label. Better kept for a month before eating like all chutneys -I'm guessing here, as this is my first time making beetroot chutney...

Ginger and Marrow Chutney

2009-09-08T12:41:00.004+01:00

If you find yourself in possession of a very large courgette (or lots of little ones), here's what I suggest you make.

Ginger and Marrow Chutney

Ingredients:
1.5 kg courgettes/marrows
250g chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
2 peeled, cored and chopped eating apples
600ml vinegar - white wine, cider, or a combination of the two.
300g brown sugar
up to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger - about 3 thumbs - depending on how much you like ginger.
175 g raisins or sultanas

Method:
Before you start make sure that you have lots of clean jars with lids. Put them on an ovenproof tray. You will want to heat them a little before you put the chutney into them.
Peel, deseed, and chop marrow.
Place in a pan with everything except the sugar and raisins, and simmer for 30 mins.
If you haven't chopped everything up really small, now is the time to spot the big bits and make them smaller.
Add the sugar and raisins - and keep simmering. Now that the sugar is in, burning or sticking to the pan is more likely, so keep stirring regularly. Cook for 30-60 minutes more until it's thick.
Meanwhile, put the jars into the oven, and turn it on fairly low.
When you're happy that the chutney is thick enough, put it into the jars, and put the lids on them. Label and date.

The chutney will taste better if you wait a month before opening and eating it - store in a cool dark place. so it will be perfect for Christmas presents for your lucky friends!

Onions

2009-09-07T23:50:00.001+01:00

This year I harvested enough onions to make a couple of plaits.

They won't last through the winter, but it was fun to do, and they look lovely...

Chutney time

2009-09-07T23:38:00.003+01:00

We 'came by' a giant courgette - 2.5 kg, so this evening I made 2 kinds of chutney - Ginger and courgette, and a spicy Courgette and tomato chutney. I ended up with about 20 pots. I'll post the recipes I used if anyone is interested. And there's green tomato chutney to come...

Free food

2009-08-31T21:05:00.002+01:00

This is the time of the year for collecting lots of free food - I'm starting to see ripe elderberries in the hedgerows, and my jam making mother has been on a blackberry collecting mission for the past few weeks. Good crop this year. You might also find crab apples. I think that things are too wet for good field mushrooms - at the end of the last good summer (2006 - remember it?) my brother was presenting me with carrier bags full of mushrooms - wonderful stuff.

If you are picking - try to pick away from a roadside - less dangerous and dirty, and if you are in any doubt as to what you are picking, as an expert.

Here's a sample of what you might do with your pickings...
Elderberry Jam
Elderberry syrup
Blackberry Jam
Crab Apple jelly

OK, now I'm motivated myself - that Elderberry syrup sounds tasty, healthy and easy to make - think I'll have to try it!

Cranberry Marmalade

2009-08-24T23:15:00.001+01:00

Not exactly the right season for Marmalade, but my mother had some Seville oranges in her freezer, and I had some cranberries, and I had been hankering to make a marmalade flavoured with cranberries. Here's what we did:

Oranges were boiled till soft, insides removed, and peel sliced small. Looks good already!

At a rolling boil, waiting for it to set...

In the jars - what a colour!

Yum - it tastes as good as it looks!

Happy Bee

2009-08-14T17:00:00.000+01:00

This bumble bee was really enjoying the Artichoke flover - you could see that he was covered in pollen, and you could almost hear his happiness as he stuck his tongue into the flower....

Upside down Tomatoes - companion planting

2009-08-14T16:46:00.003+01:00

The upside down tomatoes are doing well- though not many are ripe yet. Fingers crossed for a bit of sunshine.

The only thing I would do differently next year is to plant modest plants at the top of the bucket - ones which don't get huge and suck up all the tomato's water. In the greedy category are calendula (see above) and nasturtium. Even though it's not hot, I'm having to water the tomatoes daily, and I think there's just too much greenery to support top and bottom.

The good companions are French marigold, Night scented stock (the scent in the evening! Sweet and peppery at the same time - is there a perfume like this?) and Basil. They thrive above the tomato, but don't get so big that they compete.

Jam and Chutney making

2009-08-05T23:29:00.003+01:00

This months course is Jam and Chutney making - both on the one day - you can do either or both. I'm very excited to share these skills - especially the chutney - you can make a wide variety of chutneys, once you follow some simple steps, and you will have a great addition to your savoury dishes, and a lovely home made gift.

We'll be making Strawberry Jam in the morning - my mother - who is an award winning Jam maker, will be doing most of the teaching, she's the expert. If you have ever had home made strawberry jam, it's so much better than the shop variety. And you can work with the strawberries which are not so beautiful, so you can buy cheaper fruit from the growers.

Here are the details:

Make your own Jam August 15th 10:00am, to 12:30pm: €35
Make your own Chutney August 15th 2:00pm, to 4:30pm: €35

One course + Lunch: €45, or both courses + Lunch: €75

Location - Mullingar Educate Together National School (Opposite the 'Rathgowan' housing development on the 'C-Link' road - 3rd roundabout after the hospital from the Castlepollard side, 2nd roundabout from the Ballymahon side).

To book your place, email me - annambrowne@gmail.com

August Harvesting

2009-08-04T21:32:00.003+01:00

Just to note what is doing well in the garden at the minute, and what we are enjoying at the table.

Potatoes: Lots dug, and waiting to be used, lots more still in pots.
Courgettes: Producing steadily, but not in glut amounts. The round ones are especially good.
Squash - a few uchiki kuri, a crookneck, Anna Hubbard.
Runner beans: Keeping on top of them so far.
Dwarf French: Sharing with the slugs
Lettuce: Bitter and running to seed
Beetroot: Lovely and big - leaves yummy, roots mostly going into chocolate brownies
Onions: mostly harvested, eating lots
Shallotts: I have 1kg in a string bag for storage - don't think they will last too long, though.
Tomatoes:Lots of green ones - just a few ripening.
White turnips - pulled some today for my mother - await her verdict. I fancy them pickled....
Artichokes are still producing a bit, but the novelty has worn off. We are letting a few flower for the beautiful colour, and maybe the seeds will be viable.

Blueberries ripeing, and a few raspberies.

A little sunshine would go a long way...I suspect I might have a glut of something then...

My strategy on the onions and shallotts is to eat away at them,and have leeks and bunching onions for when they are all gone.

I'm trying not to buy any fruit or veg - so that part of the fridge is strangely empty. I think I'll have to crack and buy some carrots - they are miserable this year.

Garlic harvest

2009-08-04T21:08:00.004+01:00

My Garlic has all been harvested, and dried, and I have lots to plant next year, and to eat for as long as it lasts!

If you have been following this blog, you'll know that I got lots of garlic from a generous member (Spade Work) of the seed network. Here's my joyous entry last November.

All the garlic did very well - I'm delighted that I'm one of only a few people in the world growing Gazebo grande. And they all taste great - but I'm smitten with the garlic scape pesto (see bottom of the archive) so I'll be planting as much hardneck garlic as possible.

I have put aside the following to grow again next year - I think this is enough for me - hopefully next year, I'll have some to share.

Marco (softneck) - 7 cloves
Inchellium red(softneck) - 9 cloves
Prim (softneck) - 6 cloves
Gypsy red (hardneck) - 2 cloves
Gazebo (hardneck) - 2 cloves
Susan Delafield (hardneck) - 4 cloves
Misc - grown for supermarket garlic - 1 clove
Unknown hard neck - 3 cloves

Going into the end of last year, I was dismayed that I didn't have a good variety of garlic to sow - that's all changed!

Summer planting

2009-07-24T12:28:00.004+01:00

Here's a list of some of things you can plant at this time of the year - good to plant some if you'd like to have food from your garden year-round.

Root veg
Fennel
Leeks – from existing plants, not from seed
Winter onion
Carrots
Parsnips
Beets
Radish (for Cooking)
Daikon
German varieties (black/purple)
Turnip
White – for pre-frost harvest
Yellow – for winter harvest
Leaves
Asian Leaves – frost hardy
Mizuna, Mibuna. mispoona
Pak Choi
Chard, kale, cabbage
Raddichio
Purple sprouting broc
Rocket
Corn salad /lambs lettuce ( great in early spring)
Winter salad mix
Endive
Beans and Peas
• French beans – climbing and dwarf – till end July
• Peas – till end July, and Sept/oct for next spring

Useful links:
Where to get these seeds:
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/summersowing2.html
http://brownenvelopeseeds.com/index.php/

Also check out the realseeds guide to Summer sowing

Making Jam

2009-07-23T21:07:00.004+01:00

This week my mother and I made some delicious jam. We were going to make a Rhubarb/Strawberry jam - based on this one from David Lebovitz (what a great blog!)

Anyhow, we couldn't leave well enough alone, so we ended up with a variation with Rhubarb, strawberries and red currants. It's delicious, and has a nicely complex flavour.

Rhubarb, Strawberry and Red currant Jam:

1.25kg rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into 1/2-inch (2cm) pieces
250g strawberries
200g red currants
250ml apple juice
1.3 kg sugar
juice of one lemon
pinch of salt

1. In a large pot, mix the rhubarb, berries, and the apple juice. Cook, stirring frequently over moderate heat, until the rhubarb is cooked through and thoroughly tender. It should take about 15 minutes.

Put several saucers in the freezer.

2. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and salt, and cook, uncovered. You want to get to a rolling boil, which is beyond simmer, and spitting a bit.

To test when the jam gells, you take one of the cold saucers, put a teaspoon of jam on it, and chill in the freezer of 5 minutes. If the surface wrinkles when you nudge it with your finger, it's done. This may take longer then you expect, but be patient, the redcurrants and lemon juice will help with setting.

If you put it in the jars before it's done, it will be runny. If you cook it for too long, it will be impossible to spread. Either way, you can probably find a good use for it :-)

Once it's gelled, you need to put it in clean hot jamjars - a dishwasher cycle will work for both, or heat them in the oven. Get the lids on fast. The jam will keep for a few months- but it may not last that long....

Getting Kids to eat Vegetables

2009-07-20T18:05:00.003+01:00

In spite of involving my children in all aspects of growing and preparing their food, they balk at vegetables which are not disguised. Which is a bit embarassing as I'm doing all this work teaching and encouraging people to grow and eat their vegetables.

So, I have to be pretty fiendish to get vegetabls into them. And in fairness, anything with Tomato sauce goes down fine, so the blender is my friend.

But this weekend, I came up with a new way to get them eating vegetables - this time beetroot. I used this recipe and it went down a treat! Chocolate beetroot brownies - how could you resist! They were begging for more! Thanks Hugh!

I also served them at my Saturday gardening class, and had a similarly good reaction - along the lines of "they have vegetables in them - they must be healthy - yes please I'll have one more"

Meatloaf

2009-07-20T10:14:00.006+01:00

This might seem like a strange summer recipe, but it's a great match for the onions and shallots which are being harvested at the minute.

Recipe is for 2 meatloaves, you can halve it, but it's as much work to make 2 as one and if your beef is fresh, you can freeze one for later use - or just have it in the fridge for sandwiches.

1.5 kg minced beef (I use my brother's organic beef)
2 onions, finely choppd
2 shallots finely chopped
100 g porrige oats
10g salt
Freshly ground black pepper
100g tomato puree
2 cream crackers, crumbled up
2 large free range eggs
Optional: one of the following
1 clove garlic, rosemary, basil, parsley.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Beat the eggs. Mix everything in a big bowl. Use your hands to mix and squish it together.

Put into 2 loaf tins, and bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. Stick a knife int the middle to make sure there are no bloody bits. Eat hot or cold. Good with almost anything!

Note: If you don't have shallots, it's no big deal. If you are adding salt, pepper, herbs to taste, mix it on, and then put a teaspoonful into a pan, and cook it for a minute or so - then you can taste to see if you have enough seasoning.

This recipe also works well for meatballs, which I bake on a cookie sheet in the oven.

On the Telly - again :-)

2009-07-15T19:12:00.004+01:00

This time just the blog featured, on TV3 am this morning. Here's the link if you'd like to see it.

And welcome to anyone here as a result of the TV3 plug!

Upcoming Gardening Course

2009-07-15T11:57:00.000+01:00

The course on Sat 18th July is now full, and I have only 2 places left in the Wed 22nd class. So I'm happy that there is plenty of demand, and I'll be running lots more courses over the coming months.

Upside down tomatoes

2009-07-14T20:45:00.002+01:00

Last year the upside down tomatoes were the only ones to grow, so this year I decided to put in a few more (8!) I have used most of the 4 sides of the uprights on our lean-to shed to hold them. (You can see the laundry behind.) You can also see two little red tomatoes in the tub to the left. We have already had two or three from it - it's a tumbler, bought from Kevin Harmon. And possibly put out a bit early - the later ones are thriving better.

In this one, between the plants on top growing down, and the tomatoes growing up, the plastic bucket is almost hidden.

While I was planting them, I decided to put some companion plants in the tops, so I planted nasturtium, calendula, basil, french marigold, night-scented stock, chamomile. And for the same reason that the tomatoes do well, they did well too. There's a volunteer tomato in one of the tops too!

Slugs just can't make it up that far. If it wasn't so damp, I'd worry that there wouldn't be enough compost to hold water for all these plants, but this hasn't been a problem yet. And if it is, I'll thin out the top plants. I put a lot of compost, manure, worm castings, and fish bones & guts into the tubs, and I have been watering with Comfrey tea, and worm tea, so they are all thriving.

Purple podded peas - a picture

2009-07-14T20:29:00.003+01:00

These are the flowers...

...and these are the pods .The flowers are beautiful - all pinks and purples, and smell wonderful. I had never noticed peas being scented before, but I guess they are related to sweet peas.
As I've mentioned the pods are good as mange tout, or you can let them fill out and eat the peas. They are easier to harvest, because the purple stands out against the green.

Purple podded peas

2009-07-08T22:50:00.005+01:00

Big harvest today of Purple podded peas. They are really beautiful - I'll have to upload a photo - and delicious, of course. But the peas are not themselves purple, which is a little disappointing in a purple loving household.

However, I made a vegetable stock from the pods, added some garlic tops a bit of thyme and an onion - all fresh from the garden, and little detour for some before the compost bin. Now I have purple vegetable stock!

If you'd like to grow some yourself the Brown Envelope Seeds.

I will be entering my purple podded peas, and some other interesting looking veg in this weekends Mullingar Agricultural show (July 12th, Cullion)- I don't expect to win or even place, but my mother thinks it's important to participate to keep such institutions alive, and I am starting to see her point of view. The fact that her jams, breads, and cakes clear the board, and are fought over at the end is beside the point :-)

July Gardening course

2009-07-07T22:55:00.002+01:00

As requested by my Spring students, I'm runnning a mid -summer course to get people thinking about how to continue the garden abundance through the year. There are 2 times of the year for planting seed - March to May is the first (here in Ireland), and we are in the throes of the second.

If you're interested in learning about this second phase, course details are below - email me at "annambrowne at gmail dot com " if you'd like to attend.

Grow Your Own Food – get ready for Winter!
This one-day course will include:

'Succession' planting – keeping the garden going.

What to plant now – the best crops to see you through the colder months.

How to make space – ensure a smooth transition between summer and winter crops.

Review of successes and challenges so far this year.

Some suitable seedlings and seeds may be available to participants.

Dates:

July 22nd 7:30 pm to 10:30pm

OR

July 18th 10:00am to 1:00pm

Cost: €30

Locally-sourced refreshments will be provided.

Location - Mullingar Educate Together National School (Opposite the 'Rathgowan' housing development on the 'C-Link' road - 3rd roundabout after the hospital from the Castlepollard side, 2nd roundabout from the Ballymahon side).

Numbers are STRICTLY limited, so book your place, stating your preferred date, by email as soon as possible, or call Anna on (087) 2222562 or (044) 9390430.

Payment in cash on the day please – or in advance if by cheque.

Garlic scape pesto

2009-07-07T13:20:00.003+01:00

We are just back from visiting a friend in London, and I wanted to bring her something unique as a hostess gift. So right before we left, I headed out to the garden, and harvested all the garlic scapes that were there. They are funny spiral things, so I had to cut them up a bit to fit in the plastic bag, with a damp kitchen towel. I also packed a little pot of gooseberry jam, that had been flavoured with elderflower, made by my mother, which I was really looking forward to trying. Both items went in my carry on bag.

Surprisingly (or maybe not) the security scanner detected both, and they confiscated the jam! I was almost in tears. So let that be a lesson to all - put any jams in your checked bags - they qualify as a liquid. The scapes however, could in no way be construed as a danger to passengers, so they made it through.

On arrival we made up a pesto with the scapes, some parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil, salt and pepper. It was green and fragrant, and wonderful on bread, in a yoghurt salad dressing, with Tuna salad - definitely a success, and pretty unique. We didn't try it with pasta, but I'll bet it would be good with that too. Or on new potatoes. I didn't measure - worked to taste - there are lots of recipes online. Maybe I'll make a recipe next year...

The stalk works better than the flower part - the flower is inclined to be stringy - and when harvesting, you should cut as close to the ground as possible. I have made some more of the pesto now that I'm home, and am freezing it in an ice cube tray so as to have small portions. Not sure how long it will last, though :-)

Broad beans finished

2009-07-07T13:08:00.003+01:00

This year I planted 2 kinds of broad beads - The Sutton and Aquadulce Caludia. Planted them in January (1st) - inside - and then at the end of January the Aquadulce went into a tent greenhouse. The Sutton were planted out without cover a bit later. Both did well- the ones in the greenhouse produced a bit earlier.

The Sutton have short fat pods, with the beans close together, so a surprisingly good yield per pod. The Aquadulce have bigger pods, but about the same amount of beans. So they are both good choices in my opinion. Not sure if growing them inside or the greenhouse is necessary - will try just planting them out directly next year.

I'm taking the last harvest from them today, and I'll plant leeks in one of the beds. The other I'll re-cover with the tent greenhouse, and use it for winter greens.

Upcoming courses

2009-06-29T21:43:00.000+01:00

Here's my proposed schedule - dates and time to be firmed up over the coming week.

July 2009:
• Succession planting – year round food from your garden. It’s not just for summer!
• Creating unique seasonal preserves – Strawberry

August 2009:
• From the garden to the Larder - Pickling, freezing, & preserving your crops.
• Creating unique seasonal preserves – Plum.

September 2009:
• Adult and child pizza making. A fun activity you can share – and eat the results!
• Sourdough and artisan breads. Photogenic & delicious loaves that you can make in your own home.
• Free food – recognising, collecting, & using Nature’s wild bounty.

October 2009:
• Making Chutney. The perfect winter preserve.
• Adult and child pizza making.
• Preparing your garden for the winter. Get everything in shape for the next growing season.

January 2010
• Grow your own food – 6 week course to prepare for a bountiful harvest.

Self Sufficiency at Belvedere

2009-06-28T21:25:00.005+01:00

It's all over - and what a whirlwind it was! Seems like the exhibitors and presenters were well recieved, and the visitors seems interested and engaged. In our little Freecycle/Artisan Breadmaking Sheebeen, we talked to loads of people, baked countless 'Rubbish' flatbreads with the help of lots of volunteers, young and old. I woudl have loved to have seen more of what was going on, but we were flat out the whole time.

Lots of interest in all of my courses, and in freecycle. So now we need to put dates and locations to the proposed courses, and make them happen. This should be a lot easier for me now, as I got laid off last week. Great timing - it would have been difficult to pull off the Belvedere show, while working :-)

Readers of this blog will know that my passions lie in these (gardening, breadmaking, teaching) areas, and while I loved my IT work, it will be no harm to have a little break from it. I was in that job for nearly nine years, which is a lifetime in the software business.

Anyhow, expect to see a lot more frequent posts!

Program of events at Belvedere

2009-06-23T15:54:00.001+01:00

Saturday Seminars

11.00 Composting and Care of the Soil Making with Will Sutherland, Seymour School.

12.00 Starting your own Fruit and Vegetables Garden with
Will Sutherland, Seymour School

13.00 Brewing your Own Wine and Beer Completing the Cycle with Shane Conroy, Home Brew Company.

14.00 Preserving and Storing Fruit and Vegetables with Will Sutherland, Seymour School.

15.00 Traditional Bread Making with
Anna Browne, Organic Teacher.

16.00 Bee Keeping Techniques with
Jim Donohoe, BBG

Sunday Seminars

12.00 Traditional Bread Making with Anna Browne; Organic Teacher.

13.00 Brewing your own Wine and Beer with Shane Conroy, Home Brew Company

14.00 Saving Seed - Completing the Cycle with Jo Ann Newton, Irish Seed Savers.

15.00 Poultry Keeping and Breeding, with Joe Payne, Poultry Breeder.

16.00 Brewing your own Wine and Beer with Shane Conroy, Home Brew Company.

17.00 Bee Keeping Techniques with
Jim Donohoe, BBG

Saturday Demonstrations

13.00 Split Rail Fencing with
Paddy Murray, Deerpark
Lakeside Arena

14.00 Bee Keeping Demonstration. Midlands Bee Keepers
Lakeside Arena

15.00 Scything and Grass Management with Will Sutherland, Seymour School.
Lakeside Meadow

Sunday Demonstrations

13.00 Split Rail Fencing with Paddy Murray, Deerpark Sawmills Lakeside

14.00 Bee Keeping Demonstration with Midlands Bee Keepers; Lake Side Arena

15.00 Companion Planting & Medicinal Herbs with John Smyth, Belvedere House Garden Market in Lakeside Meadow

Self sufficiency show at Belvedere

2009-06-23T15:52:00.001+01:00

I'm very excited about this - I'm the breadmaker below, and Brian is hoping to organise a Freecycle Live meeting!

Belvedere Self-Sufficiency Show takes place this weekend Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June. The show is based on John Seymours famous book The Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency and also will have in attendance co-author Will Sutherland from the Seymour School in Wexford. A new area on the estate has been specially created for the show, Lake Cottage Model Farm will have poultry, pigs, goats, donkeys, vegetable and fruit plots, craft demonstrators including basketry, pottery and wood turning. The lakeside arena will have BeeKeeping, Split Rail Fencing and Grass Management demonstrations.

Seminars on Home Brewing and Wine Making , Bread Baking and Poultry Breeding will take place daily. Contributors include Irish Seed Savers, Crann, Midlands Beekeepers and The Home Brew company. Exhibitors include, handmade Ark chicken coops, Freecycle a new web based method of recycling and organic food stalls with nettle potato breads and wild roasted salmon. Belvedere master gardener John Smyth will give a seminar on companion planting and medicinal herbs in the GardenMarket on Sunday. The aim of the show is to reinvigorate people in the ways of Self Sufficiency and is an ideal opportunity to come along and learn the old skills. For a full list of seminars and demonstrations log onto www.belvedere-house.ie

The Minister for Food Trevor Sargent TD will perform the official opening at 2pm on Saturday 27th June. Belvedere normal admission rates apply and there is no extra charge for the show.

Self sufficiency show

2009-06-15T11:15:00.002+01:00

I have been invited to demonstrate breadmaking at a self sufficiency show in Belvedere.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to demonstrate something which takes hours in today's world of short attention spans. I'm thinking about making flatbreads on a pan, as it's a very quick process, but would love to hear any other ideas or suggestions.

Refreshments

2009-06-14T12:00:00.004+01:00

Here are the recipes that I used for making Elderflower Cordial, and Ginger Beer. They are wonderfully simple to make, and use cheap or free ingredients. If you are concerned about the additives in commercial drinks, but are finding water a bit boring, here's a good compromise.

The Elderflower cordial has a myriad of uses - you can mix it with still or sparling water, it adds great flavour to an Apple Crumble or Gooseberry fool.

It's also mentioned as a remedy for hay fever or sinus problems, so the undergardener is drinking it to help with being stuffed up. I usually make a few batches, and freeze them in plastic bottles, so that we can have the taste of summer whenever we like.

Fund raiser success!

2009-06-14T11:49:00.004+01:00

Yesterday at Mullingar Educater Together- where I volunteer as a gardening teacher - we had our annual fundraiser. It's called the Big Day Out, and it lived up to it's name.

For the past 3 years, I have been responsible for the Green Stand. In 2007, I had lots of harbs and vegetable plants for sale, but no one was interested. Last year, we gave away flower seedlings, grown by one of the classes. Also, that class was working on the stand for that day, helping kids to pot up their free seedlings.

This year we took it a stage further. We grew all kinds of seedlings, and other gardeners brought their excess seedlings as well. We made Ginger beer and Elderflower cordial, and since it was a really hot day, we almost ran out of stock!

The vegetables and herbs were much more popular than the flowers, and we could have sold a lot more fruit plants if we had them. Fifth class were there to help throughout the day, and we would have been lost without them. We didn't sell out of plants, but we sold a lot more than I would have anticipated, and we can use the left overs in the school garden.

Next year, we'll have to focus on growing the things that sold well, and have pictures of what the plants will look like when mature. But all in all a very successful day.

Plant sale - date for your diary

2009-06-02T23:06:00.001+01:00

On Saturday, June 13th, there will be a School fund raiser for Educate Together National school. Starting at around 2:30, it takes place on the ground of the school, beside the mullingar harriers club and Ardleigh.

With 5th class, we have been preparing lots of interesting plants, and they will be for sale on the day. Lots of delicious food, games, child friendly atmosphere. All welcome - hope to see you there!