Empty Skies, empty shelves

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

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.

New Courses

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.

Guest post and arrival of seeds

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.

Mullingar Advertiser

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 :-)

Self sufficiency show

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.