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Posted on Aug 13, 2010 in Food Events, Grow | 2 comments

Blueberry time at Derryvilla Blueberry Farm

Blueberry time at Derryvilla Blueberry Farm
Growing up in Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s, blueberries were a rare, exotic fruit, only read about in the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder or Roald Dahl. Years later, my first encounter with a blueberry was in a muffin but, alas, it was one of those ever-lasting, plastic-wrapped ones and the purple...
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Posted on Aug 3, 2010 in Bake, Grow | 3 comments

Redcurrant Almond Cake

Redcurrant Almond Cake
If you grow any soft fruit, in the summertime there is always a need for a simple cake recipe that lets you showcase the berries (and use them up). Last year, it was this Blackcurrant Almond Cake, which I made several times before the blackbirds finished off my currants, but this Midsummer Cake from Nigel...
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Posted on Jun 29, 2010 in Food Events, Grow, Travel | 1 comment

Blooming all over

Blooming all over
Gardens and food in the sunshine: what’s not to like? The Husband and I – Little Missy landed with the Little Sister for a day’s worth of chasing the dog in my parents’ garden – headed up for the Friday of this year’s Bloom festival. It was a day for sunscreen and...
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Posted on Apr 19, 2010 in Grow, Work | 0 comments

Silver Circle: Urban Chicks

Silver Circle: Urban Chicks
Forget growing your own vegetables – keeping chickens in the back garden is one of the fastest growing hobbies in Ireland. But how easy is it to make sure you have your own fresh-from-the-hen free-range eggs for breakfast? Caroline Hennessy shows you how on SilverCircle.ie. Fancy having a friendly,...
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Posted on Apr 6, 2010 in Grow | 4 comments

Tips for would-be hen owners

Tips for would-be hen owners
With Little Missy turning one on Friday, we thought it was time to get her a few pets. Four pets, specifically, of the clucking, squawking Rhode Island Red variety. Between foxes and disease, we said good bye to the last of our original four hens in November and have really missed having our own delicious,...
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Posted on Mar 22, 2010 in Grow, Work | 0 comments

SilverCircle.ie: Saving the seeds

SilverCircle.ie: Saving the seeds
When Madeline McKeever’s dairy farm proved uneconomic, she started saving her own seeds out of financial necessity. Now her company, Brown Envelope Seeds, sells a wide variety of organic seeds, all saved on her west Cork farm. She talks to Caroline Hennessy about turning adversity into opportunity....
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Posted on Feb 18, 2010 in Grow, Work | 0 comments

Grow your own spuds (and other useful things)

Grow your own spuds (and other useful things)
Despite the current cold snap and impossibility of actually doing anything about it, I’ve been looking at the raised beds in the garden and trying to plan for the summer to come. Last year we went on an inspirational (and very affordable) two-day gardening course at Glebe Gardens with Jean Perry,...
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Posted on Dec 10, 2009 in Cookery Books, Grow | 2 comments

Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch by Nigel Slater

Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch by Nigel Slater
Nigel, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love your appetite-stimulating writing, your easy recipes, your ability to always show me something interesting to do with kitchen constants like cauliflower, onions or lentils. I love your weekly column in the Observer and I love the Observer Food Monthly...
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Posted on Nov 23, 2009 in Grow, Storecupboard Specials, Work | 0 comments

EveryMonday.ie: In a bit of a pickle

EveryMonday.ie: In a bit of a pickle
If you grow your own fruit and veg, you can turn your garden gluts into winter treats. Caroline Hennessy has some useful tips and a few straightforward recipes for pickles and chutneys on EveryMonday.ie. Growing your own fruits or vegetables is very satisfying. However, you will invariably end up with a...
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Posted on Sep 26, 2009 in Grow, Life | 2 comments

Blackberries for babies

Blackberries for babies
The Little Sister, who finishes college early on Fridays, was around yesterday so we took Little Missy for a walk that turned into an impromptu blackberry picking expedition. Not being very organised, we had to use LM’s hat for a basket, gathering (and eating) the berries while we strolled down the...
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Posted on Sep 19, 2009 in Grow | 0 comments

Eating with the seasons

Eating with the seasons
Seasonal? What is seasonal? If you were to look in my garden at the moment, you might think that courgettes (and a few caterpillar-eaten cabbages) are the only things that are in season but my shortcomings as a gardener might not be best representative of what vegetables are available at the moment! Take a...
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Posted on Sep 15, 2009 in Grow, Storecupboard Specials | 3 comments

Going green: Green Tomato and Apple Chutney

Going green: Green Tomato and Apple Chutney
I started growing my own vegetables when I was about 11. After a long winter hording my pocket money, poring over seed catalogues and haunting the seed display in our local hardware shop, I bribed my younger brother to help me dig a few beds in the overgrown back garden. An early adopter of raised beds, my...
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Posted on Sep 13, 2009 in Grow, Work | 0 comments

The Irish Mail on Sunday: If you go down to the woods today…

The Irish Mail on Sunday: If you go down to the woods today…
…you just might find there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Discover wild mushrooms, or berries for a juicy jam in the untimate foodie treasure hunt. By Caroline Hennessy for The Irish Mail on Sunday on Sunday 13 September 2009. No matter how busy things were for my Grandad, there was always...
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Posted on Sep 7, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends, Grow | 8 comments

Blackberry picking: Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Blackberry picking: Apple and Blackberry Crumble
As a child, autumn was one of my favourite times of year. Going back to school was much eased by the fact that there were blackberries available for eating on nearby hedges, crab apples down the fields to be gathered and plenty of field mushrooms to be picked. This year, Little Missy in her sling for our...
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Posted on Aug 27, 2009 in Bake, Grow | 6 comments

A few blueberries: Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

A few blueberries: Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
My Clonmel Cousin has been getting into the gardening gifts lately – and I’ve been the lucky recipient, getting a cheerful pink petunia and fuschia pot for my birthday and a Christmas present of a hazel tree with a pair of blueberry bushes. We had tried blueberries in the garden previously but...
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