FORAGING

FORAGING FOR FOOD

Some of the tastiest food you ever eat can come out of the hedgerows and countryside. At most times of the year you can pick up something very tasty to put in the salad or make into a delicious pudding. Now that we have the fast summer plant growth we can go foraging.

We might have to wait a while to get certain fruit. Crab apples, sloes and rosehips are still too young yet, but hawthorn leaves are out in abundance. It might surprise you that these young leaves are extremely tasty and make a great addition to any salad. The berries later on in the year are also edible and are very high in vitamin C.

A few plants to look out for
Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica). We have just had our first stinging nettle soup of the year and delicious it was too.

Ransoms (Allium ursinum), -also known as wild garlic. Walking along the paths of Swan Park in Buncrana you will see swathes of this plant. It will complement many dishes.

Gorse (Ulex europaeus). This thorny plant makes a beautiful backdrop to the hillsides of Inishowen as it burst into intense yellow blooms. The plant's flowers are intensely flavoured and make a colourful (and tasty) accompaniment to any salad or wine ingredient. Just be careful how you pick them!

Bogland heather (Calluna vulgaris). Young tips can be used to make mead or ale. The flowers are also edible and make a colourful addition to a hedgerow salad or a boiled pudding.

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) and Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinal ) Both have tasty flower heads for a salad.

Garlic mustard (Allaria petiolata) This common hedgerow plant has tasty leaves full of vitamin C that make an excellent addition to any salad. The leaves also have antiseptic qualities and can be added as a preservative to stews or sauces that you want to freeze.

Sheep's Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) These leaves are very common around the peninsula. The leaves and stems of the plants are edible and can be eaten both raw or cooked. However, like all the sorrel family the plant is high in oxalic acid, which is mildly toxic and interferes with digestion. However, cooking the plant by blanching in hot water leaches out the chemical and renders it safe for consumption, it will remind you of spinach.

I must stress here that when you are foraging for food in the hedgerow; make sure you know what you are picking. Don’t let children just eat any old thing, especially not mushrooms until you give them the all clear.

Elderflower cordial
Later on in the year we will be getting elder berries to make jam and wine but for now we can be using the flowers for a refreshing cordial

Elderflower cordial is a delicious summer tonic that you can make yourself. Julie’s mother makes plenty of bottles of this tasty drink every year and it goes down really well with children and adults alike.

This recipe is best made with fresh flowers, which have been picked on a sunny day when they are still creamy in colour and before they fade to white. At this time they have the highest amount of pollen, which contains the yeast.

4.5 litres (1 gallon) of water
1.8kg (4lb) cane sugar
Juice and thinly peeled rind of 6 unwaxed lemons
70 grams of citric acid (2.5 ounces)
40 elderflower heads. Shake them well to remove live insects and only wash if picked beside a road.

(The ingredients are very open to interpretation, you might like to use less lemons or use 30ml (2 tblsp) of cider or wine vinegar in place of the citric acid) There is also a recipe for elderflower champagne which only uses 2 flower heads.

Method: Bring the water to the boil and pour into a sterilised container. Add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. When cool add the lemon rind and juice, also the citric acid (or vinegar) and elderflowers. Cover with several layers of muslin and leave for 24 hours. Stir 3 times a day for 5 days. Filter through muslin into strong glass bottles. The drink is ready after two weeks. Serve chilled, diluted with still or carbonated water to taste. It is best used within three months but it has been known to last up to two years.

For an extra special treat at dinnertime, why not dip the fresh flower heads in batter and deep fry.

Photo: Make a refreshing cordial with elderflowers

NEILS TIPS FOR HEALTHY SUMMER BEDDING

The fantastic weather we have had around the peninsula recently has promoted the growth of summer bedding plants. Garden centres are bulging at the seams with an even wider choice than ever before to brighten up our gardens. I went down to see Neil Porter at his garden centre on the Buncrana road in Carndonagh this week to see what will be filling the peninsulas planters and containers this year. Neil has expanded this year and has two large polythene tunnels at his home-based garden centre and both of them are housing a terrific choice of plants.


Summer plants
“I grow bedding plants that are reliable and proven to give a great show, even right on the coast.” Says Neil. This year I have a couple of new additions. The first is Million Bells, these are small petunia like flowers and very hardy and wind tolerant. They have a trailing habit and come in various colours including red (crackling fire) and lemon yellow.”

The other is the Calibrachoa, also known as ‘Seashore Petunias’.” says Neil. “These plants have a similar growing pattern to the Million Bells and will thrive in the most open spaces. I am also stocking the favourites - lobelia, busy lizzie, geraniums, verbenas, begonias, fuchsias, marigolds, surfinias and osteospurmums, all of which are very well behaved in baskets or containers”.


Neil’s tips for looking after bedding

Neil has had a lot of experience with bedding plants and the baskets and containers in his garden centre are looking great. I asked him to share some of his secrets of success.

Young bedding plant care
“When tending to young bedding plants make sure that the air circulation is good and that the plants are growing in a bright place. Spreading the plants out also help to keep down most fungal diseases that enjoy damp conditions. Try to keep the water from the hosepipe or watering can off of the plants, especially in sunshine; this could damage the flowers and leaves. The pH of tap water changes all of the time, which could have stunt young plant growth. If at all possible try to use water from a well or water butt. This will give the plants a far better chance of thriving”.

Give them room
Putting too many plants into hanging baskets might not be the best thing to do says Neil. “I don’t tend to put a plant in the centre of baskets. Too many plants in such a small area can mean that none of the plants do well,” he advises. “Don’t be tempted to cram them in too tightly. If you put anything into the centre of the basket, make it a plastic bottle. Cut off the bottom and push it down into the soil, this is then filled with water everyday to slowly wet the soil”.


Focal point
“If you do have containers that need a central focal point then Marguerites (Argyranthemum) can be very effective. These plants originated in the Canary Islands and Madeira, and are used to the coastal growing conditions. There are loads of different types of ornamental shrubs that can be used to good effect as well, such phormium, dwarf conifers, bay trees and cordylines”.



Wonder tonic
Neil has been using a new product on the market called SB Plant Invigorator. This is a wonder tonic for bedding plants. “Someone recommended this biodegradable product as a great all rounder for plant health. It is a very concentrated, natural product and acts as a growth stimulant and pesticide, controlling pests such as whitefly, aphids, spider mite and mealy bug. It is also a plant wash, foliar feed and it also cleans the leaves! Not bad from one application” (The Co-op are looking to stock it). Neil stresses the importance of getting the right feed for your plants. “Different plants and shrubs need different nutrients. You don’t want a high nitrogen feed to promote leaf growth if you are looking for a show of flowers, check the labels before you buy”.


Choosing the right compost
Reading labels is also important when choosing the right compost. Neil explains. “When filling the pots and containers up with compost, pay particular attention to the type of compost you are using. Hanging baskets require a heavier, more soil based compost to ensure the containers don’t dry out too quickly and will take up water even when they have dried out. Pots will need another type of soil. There will ones to suit all types of planting”.

Neil also advises a fresh start with compost. “Old containers and pots used last year will need emptying out and new compost added. Over wintering pests such as vine weevil will quickly eat the roots of new plants that are planted”.


Deadheading
Neil has one last piece of advice to give me before heading off to serve another happy customer “Deadheading the bedding plants is crucial to ensure a long flowering season. Taking off the dead flower heads, this stimulates the other buds into action and also thickens up the plant to make is bushier.”

Photo: Neil Porter happy at work in his busy nursery on the Buncrana road in

Carndonagh.

Patios

Most of us love spending time out of doors. There is something really invigorating about being open to the elements; especially with the weather we had last week. After an afternoon tending to the beds and borders, it is important to have somewhere to relax and admire your labours. Having a patio outside of the house is a great way to do this. A patio is a place to relax, chat, read a book or incinerate your chicken pieces on the barbeque. A lot of new estate houses don’t put patios in as standard, which needn’t be a problem. Building your own patio to your own specifications can be a rewarding and enjoyable thing to do and done right will enhance the living space of your house.

Designing your own patio

If you are building the patio yourself getting the landscapers in to do the job, the initial procedure is the same. Take the time to decide what you want the patio to look like, this is after all an area just for you, your family and friends to sit and relax. Draw up a plan, deciding what size the area will be and how it will fit in with the house. Don’t concern yourself too much with the finer details like laying slabs or levels; this is to just get the initial ideas down on paper.

Find inspiration.
Get inspiration from friends and families patios and check out examples on the Internet and books from the library. Adapt the ideas to suit yourself.

Do you want a focal point?
A focal point could draw you eye to the end of the patio making it look bigger. These can be anything from a statue, pond, trellis or architectural plants.

What time of day does the sun hit the area?
This is important as it could determine where the patio is to go. If the area gets the sun in the morning and you only sit outside in the evening you might have to build the patio at the end of the garden instead of nearer the house




Budget, how much can you spend?
Remember you can build onto a patio every year to keep the costs down.

What materials will the surface be made from? If the area you want to build the patio is in a shady damp area, then wood may be a bit of a problem as it can get slippy if not treated. There are loads of different surfaces to choose from. Concrete slabs, stone slabs, gravel, and even rubber if you want a soft surface for the children to play. All patio surfaces will need a bit of attention every year, no matter what they are made of.

Will you need retaining walls? If you are building on a slope then you might need to build up the end of the patio. You might even fancy including raised beds for shelter and planting.
Privacy. Will you be on show from the road as you enjoy the sunshine? Privacy is important so screening will play a big part in the design. Carefully planted
hedging or trellis will help.

Lighting. If you are one of those people that stay out until it gets dark then lighting will be important. It is advisable to fit the cables as the patio is being built. This keeps the cables neatly out of the way. Choose from subtle low lighting to crate a relaxing mood to spotlights that can highlight your focal points (make sure they don’t shine into the neighbours windows though)

Furniture. Select the furniture for your patio depending on the available space and the how the space will be used. Your patio design plan should include where the furniture will be placed on the area.

Shade: If an umberella cover in the middle of the table doesn’t give the family enough protection under the midday sun then you might like to think of other methods of protecion. The patio at Lough Eske Castle has an archway running along the seating area. This will eventually be covered with climbers to give shade to anyone sitting underneath.

Have fun with the design and later on in the coming weeks we can look at how to turn it into a reality.

Photo: The elaborate design at Lough Eske Castle has been built on a steep slope so steps were created to acess the different levels.

LOUGH ESKE CASTLE

It is amazing what can be achieved when you put your mind to it.

I returned to the Solis Castle Hotel (Donegal’s first five star hotel), on Lough Eske this week after a six-year interval. The gardens are looking fantastic, thanks to the hard work of Inishowen landscaper, John McDermott of Mac’s landscapes from Ballymagan who has the contract for bringing the gardens up to their original standard.

Lough Eske Castle and gardens can be traced back to the late 1400’s when the O’Donnell family that founded Donegal town owned it. The rolling grounds lead down to the Lough and the house is totally surrounded by woodland. The original castle was first built around 1474. A date stone of 1621 remains on the property to this day. The current Lough Eske Castle was constructed in the 1860s on the site of an old Brooke mansion, but was destroyed by fire in 1939. Up until very recently the castle and ground have been allowed to fall into serious disrepair.

DERELICT
My family and I went to visit the derelict castle in 2002 and we heard at the time that there was talk of refurbishing the building. The building itself had more or less disappeared except for the front, with its grand castellations around the top of the walls. Trees were growing out of the top of the building and time had eroded the sandstone.

At some stage in the early thirties, the walled garden next to the house had been planted up with conifers, which had grown so tall and dense that you couldn’t get to the far wall. The grounds were extraordinary, with large specimen trees that had obviously been planted hundreds of years ago by someone with a vision, like Capability Brown.

REBUILDING
The house has now been totally rebuilt and extended and for the last year, John and his team have been working to refurbish the gardens. They did a lot of the work in the winter when we were all hibernating in the warm. Now the growing season is with us it is apparent what has been achieved. “The ground is sandy but still very wet.” says John. “There are also a lot of either sunny or shady spots. This influences the type of planting we can put in around the buildings.”

The walled garden has been cleared and thankfully the tree roots didn’t damage the red brick wall surrounding the site. John has used these walls well. “I am planting them with climbers and using the rich red colours of the bricks to set off the shrubs along the beds. The south facing wall would have been where nectarines and plums were grown and also is where the greenhouse would have been,” he informs me.

PARTERRE
There has been very careful planting to create a parterre. This is a large formal garden that is surrounded by a neatly clipped box hedge, the type of thing you see in old stately homes of this period. “We planted loads of different types of herbs to re-create the old herb garden of the house.” Privacy is all-important too for guests at the hotel and John took this into consideration “Careful planting of a yew screen in front of the sauna and swimming pool has made an area of total privacy” he comments. John also enjoys using structural plants such as phormiums and grasses, these have been planted next to the gravel pathways to make a clean and attractive feature.

There is a real attention to detail on the lawns as well. John has put in a lot of grass areas to soften the gardens and to keep up with modern health and safety regulations. “The edges of the grass have been reinforced with a stiff mesh. This will allow the emergency service vehicles to drive on them without damage, should the need arise,” he says.

STATUES
Complementing the designs of the estate are bronze statues and fountains. Resting figures reading books or gardening, jumping salmon and flying swans have been carefully placed to bring calm to visitors. John was more than happy to show me around his work and he is very pleased with how it is progressing. “There were times in the middle of winter when we were sinking in the mud and things got very messy” John commented as he was showing me the new area he is planting up in the car park. “But we stuck at it and look what we have achieved.”

In just a few months, John and his team has managed to bring these neglected gardens back to life. Yes, that is an achievement!