Last year we sowed red mustard leaves, Brassica juncea ‘Osaka Purple’, in neat rows in our salad bed in the vegetable garden. This year it is coming up all over the vegetable gardens and beyond. The large floppy red leaves are mottled green and the flowers are yellow and typical of the cabbage family. ItContinue reading “Stuffed Red Mustard Leaves – Recipe”
Category Archives: food
Spruce Shoot Jam – Recipe
Spruce trees are a common site in the west of Ireland, not just as part of the alien forestry that covers much of the land, but also you see groups of old trees close to houses, derelict old cottages and lived in houses like ours. That is exactly what we have close to our house,Continue reading “Spruce Shoot Jam – Recipe”
Primrose Petal Jam– Recipe
Primroses carpet the ground under an old hawthorn tree in our garden, the clothe the soil with a fragility and light, their gentle perfume is a delight. Primula vulgaris is a native plant, a wild flower that is always welcome in our garden. Each year they bring freshness and beauty to the Spring. Their flowersContinue reading “Primrose Petal Jam– Recipe”
Spicy Fried Dandelion Flowers – Recipe
Dandelions, Taraxacum officinale , are the bane of many a gardener’s life. They pop up everywhere, their happy flower heads cheekily appearing in the lawn, in the borders and even in the driveway. They are however nice flowers, they spread like a golden coat over the spring green fields at this time of year. SoonContinue reading “Spicy Fried Dandelion Flowers – Recipe”
Gorse Flower Cordial
Gorse bushes can be seen all over the countryside, their florescent yellow bloom light the hillsides, a blaze of colour across the land. Unfortunately sometimes their blaze is literal, their oil rich wood all too quickly ignites in dry weather and fires of gorse burn fiercely every year. The truth is that gorse is oftenContinue reading “Gorse Flower Cordial”
Gardening with Children – Teaching The Teachers…
One of my earliest memories from my childhood is being with my grandfather when he was digging potatoes in a garden in Wexford. He used to do some gardening work for a neighbour after he had finished his postman’s work for the day. I remember too, shifting wheel barrow loads of gravel with my dadContinue reading “Gardening with Children – Teaching The Teachers…”
Planting Potatoes in Plastic Bags
Early potato tubers are usually chitted before being planted outside. This involves placing the tubers in a well lit, frost free place. The shoots develop from the eyes of the tuber and will then be planted outside when the soil has warmed to 6° Celcius. Early varieties take between 75 – 90 days to mature.Continue reading “Planting Potatoes in Plastic Bags”
Ciaran The Gardener 