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Saturday 19 September 2020
Some advice on growing leeks and a delicious recipe for a potato and bacon bake to include them in.
This week’s gardening column features tips for growing your own herbs and a recipe for root veg pie.
Having your own fruit trees is both a joy and a challenge.
Its real value is in providing us with winter greens from October or November right up until April, writes Michael Kelly.
There’s something so elementally enjoyable about peeling back a sweetcorn’s skin to find the beautiful shiny yellow kernels underneath, writes Michael Kelly.
An insect hotel will encourage more wildlife and biodiversity into the garden, writes Michael Kelly.
As well as specific watering methods there is the regular pinching out of side shoots to allow air to circulate around the plants, writes Michael Kelly.
As consumers we have to vote with our wallets, eating in season and buying Irish, writes Michael Kelly.
Katie Sanderson cooked this recipe in the Kale episode of this season’s GROW COOK EAT and the reaction was amazing, writes Michael Kelly.
Many growing books will tell you to sow carrots in March or April but I always wait until May or June to sow mine, writes Michael Kelly.
Learn to make ‘a one-pot veggie wonder that’s crammed with healthy vegetables, herbs and pulses and as an added bonus uses up stale bread too,’ writes Michael Kelly.
Obviously, if you are harvesting nettles from the wild, wear gloves or you will get stung, writes Michael Kelly.
It is remarkable to watch this young woman speak her truth to power, writes Michael Kelly of Grow It Yourself Ireland.
‘Most parsnip seed packets will tell you to sow them in February – don’t do it,’ writes Michael Kelly.
It’s worth buying good quality potting compost – ideally one that is approved for use in organic production and peat-free, writes Michael Kelly.
Growing tomatoes is a double-edged sword because once you’ve tasted a proper homegrown tomato you really can’t go back to the bland shop-bought alternative, writes Michael Kelly.
Time to transplant those tomatoes too. ‘Did you know that the little fuzzy hairs on the stem of a tomato seedling can become a root if planted under the soil?’
The act of harvesting spuds is pure GIY joy. Rummaging in the soil underneath a potato plant and finding lots of lovely tubers is as good as Christmas, writes Michael Kelly.
We’ll be teaching you to grow onions, pumpkins, sweetcorn, courgettes, kale, beans and chillis for all shapes and sizes of gardens, writes Michael Kelly.
‘All aspects of our lives – food, transport, energy and waste – will have to change dramatically if we’re to avoid catastrophe,’ writes Michael Kelly.
Michelin star chef, Derry Clarke, with us at Grow HQ recently and he shares our homegrown, seasonal ethos, writes Michael Kelly.
This week, Michael Kelly took advantage of a quiet period in the growing season to take stock.
Since reading the book, I’ve started sweeping the floor every morning in a mindful way – it’s delightfully old school and calming at the same time, writes Michael Kelly.
Turning over the soil in the polytunnel is a breeze with a little help from friends – who also provide some helpful tips, writes Michael Kelly.
Potatoes are high in vitamin C, naturally fat-free, a source of fibre and potassium and low in sugar. They are also versatile and delicious, writes Michael Kelly.
It’s no longer just about ‘exotic’ fruit and veg that are difficult to grow in Ireland, we are now importing lots of veg that grow perfectly well here, writes Michael Kelly.
I have had some God-awful compost heaps over the years – slimey, smelly, sludgy yokes that festered away in the corner of the garden, writes Michael Kelly.
This is a delicious, warming and healthy pie that utilises those vegetables that are still available in early January, writes Michael Kelly.
As usual, the aubergines were a disaster – at this stage, I think I only bother sowing them because there’s not much else to do in February, writes Michael Kelly.
Farmers protested outside M&S in Liffey Valley last week to draw attention to what the IFA called ‘predatory’ pricing models, writes Michael Kelly.
Bogland is usually not the best place to grow things, but it came in handy this summer for growing squash during the drought, writes Michael Kelly.
Leeks often don’t grab the health headlines the way their allium cousins – garlic and onions do. But they contain most of the same flavonoids and sulfur-containing nutrients, writes Michael Kelly.
Fermenting artichokes will reduce their – ahem – windiness and this recipe is delicious, writes Michael Kelly.
So many people in my generation remember their fathers toiling away in the garden, we’re only one generation removed from the soil, writes Michael Kelly.
As I’ve looked glumly from the house at the sodden garden, it’s been playing on my mind that it’s high time I got the beds in the veg patch covered down for the winter, writes Michael Kelly
Instead blanch them for just a few minutes, writes Michael Kelly, as he also advises on growing beetroot and making celery soup.
In 15 years more than half of Irish field vegetable growers have stopped production, writes Michael Kelly.
Here’s how to make sure you always have some homemade healthy kimchi to hand.
This week, Michael Kelly has a recipe for blackberry crumble that’ll get some great vitamin C into your system.
Tomatoes are a vegetable that can be preserved in many ways – they can be used in jams, jellies, relishes and chutneys, writes Michael Kelly.
MORE THAN THREE-quarters of people would support the government looking into the prospect of a four-day work week, according to a new survey.
This means doing the same job for the same salary, but over four days rather than five.
There have been calls for this idea to be explored already and the Four Day Week Ireland campaign today released details on its public attitude survey conducted last month.
Two out of three respondents said a four-day work week is “realistic and achievable” in the medium term.
67% of employers said they support the idea and 46% said it would be “feasible” to trial in their workplace.
“The four-day week, with no loss of pay, offers the potential of a genuinely better future for workers and employers alike,” said Joe O’Connor, director of campaigning with Fórsa trade union.
What may once have seemed like a radical concept is now, for many, a reasonable and rational ambition. The Covid-19 pandemic has further disrupted societal and workplace norms, while illustrating the potential for very different models of work.
So today we’re asking: Would you support a four-day work week?
Poll Results:
Share your story: voices@thejournal.ie
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