Wheatgrass

There’s a sign on the side of the road coming out of Derry to Bridgend that says you can have a month’s supply of frozen grass for €30. This seems like a lot for something you can get off the back garden on a frosty day, but it actually refers to Wheatgrass. 

There’s a huge market for this ‘superfood’ and you could pay as much as €1.50 for an eggcup sized glass of extracted juice in some places.

Wheatgrass

I’ve been intrigued about the plant for some time so this week I have planted a few trays myself to

see what all the fuss is about.

I was surprised when I opened the 5kg bag that the seeds are actually wheat. I’m not really sure in hindsight what I was expecting, but with all of the hype I thought they would look different somehow. But no, it’s just wheat (Triticum aestivum), the ‘grass’ part refers to the look of the plant as is cut in its early stage of growth. As the grass is bitter and stringy it’s generally run through a juicer to extract the vitamins and minerals.

Origins of juicing

I’m sure juicing is as old as food itself but the idea for wheatgrass juicing is attributed to a dietary health specialist called Dr Bircher-Benner (1867-1939)  who dubbed the juice as 'concentrated sunlight'. He was convinced that health care should be much more than just medical treatments.

In 1897, he founded a sanatorium in Zürich where he practised therapies which included a daily walk, bathing and sunbathing. He even set up exercise equipment, a kind of a forerunner of the fitness centres of today.

He famously invented muesli, and strongly advocated the consumption of more fruit and vegetables, which were traditionally regarded as foods for the poor. Contrary to orthodox medical doctrines of his time, Dr. Bircher continued to believe in what he called "the food of sunlight", meals based on natural raw ingredients so green juices are said to be a forerunner to the raw food movement.

Is wheatgrass powerful?

Wheatgrass is referred to by ‘health food experts’ as a green superfood as it has exceptional nutritional properties. I would say here that the amount of nutrition in wheatgrass is comparable to juicing most raw plants such as broccoli, kale and spinach. Like these wheatgrass has essential nutrients and proteins in the form of amino acids, a collection of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and phytonutrients. The juice is a source of B vitamins, including vitamin B12, folic acid, and also vitamins A, C, E and contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and selenium. The benefits of drinking any green vegetable juice can increase vitality, well-being and energy levels and it’s a good introduction to eating more fresh vegetables

Can Wheatgrass Treat What Ails You?

Wheatgrass believers use it to try and combat a number of everyday health conditions, including colds, coughs, fevers, digestive problems, and skin conditions. Wheatgrass also has been used to potentially prevent and treat more serious conditions, from cancer to AIDS. Those who swear by it say that the potent ingredient in wheatgrass is chlorophyll, the pigment that gives plants their green colour. They say chlorophyll acts like hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen) and increases oxygen levels in the body. Any green plant food you have eaten over the years, such as spinach, parsley, arugula, has also been contributing chlorophyll so again no big surprise there.

Does Wheatgrass Live Up to the Claims?

Despite all the health claims, there is very little, if any, evidence that wheatgrass actually works to detoxify or prevent or cure disease. Most of what little research has been conducted focuses on the effects of wheatgrass on the digestive system. There is an ever growing list of superfoods from avocados, broccoli, mushrooms, blueberry and gogi berries to sweet potatoes. There’s one thing you can rely on though is the price will go up with demand and marketing.

Any risks?

Although wheatgrass is considered safe, some people have reported side effects after using it,

especially in high doses. They have ranged from mild (headaches and nausea) to more serious allergic reactions (hives and swelling of the throat). Because most people eat wheatgrass raw, there is also the rare chance that it can be contaminated with bacteria or other organisms from the soil.

Should I Use Wheatgrass?

There isn't really any harm in trying a small amount of wheatgrass . You can buy the drinks readymade or buy full trays of the grass. Maybe you could do what I have and grow a tray yourself to experiment.  All you need is a handful of seeds, a tray with some soil in it (even the soil is optional) and then follow a few youtube videos until you find a method to suit. I’ve opted for the tray covered with newspapers after soaking the seeds for a few days. You’ll probably find the leftover pulp makes a great skin toner too.

Update: I've just found out that we need to buy a masticating juicer. Centrifugal juicers only produce about a teaspoon of juice per tray!

Children, pregnant or nursing women, and anyone who has compromised immunity should avoid it because of the potential for bacteria.

Updated images: Various stages of growth. A fungus appeared telling me I had these a bit too wet. It' probably why it's recommended to cut about 1" above the seeds.

Spuds

It’s time to think about growing a few spuds.

I was chatting to Klaus Laitenberger from Green VegetableSeeds this week about planting times for the varieties he stocks in his shop. Klaus tells us there are some amazing and unique varieties available and his tubers listed here are certified disease free, which will save any shortages this year.

Planting definitions of potatoes

First earlies: Plant in tunnel in February and harvest in late May/June. Plant outdoors in mid-March and harvest July. Spacing: 20cm in drill (drills widely spaced so you can earth up)

Second earlies: Plant outdoors in late March/mid April and harvest late July to September. Spacing: 30cm in drill (drills widely spaced so you can earth up)

Maincrop: Plant outdoors in mid-April and harvest late September to October. Spacing: 30cm in drill (drills widely spaced so you can earth up)

There are usually about 10-12 seed potatoes in a kilo.

Different types of potatoes

International Kidney – also known as Jersey Royal (First Early)

Jersey Royal certainly sounds a lot better than International Kidney, but only potato growers from Jersey can call them with the real name.  This potato originated in Jersey around 1880.  The EU protects this variety and it was given protection of designation of origin (PDO), just like champagne that can only come from the Champagne region.

You can grow them like any early potato and plant the seed potatoes around mid-March.  Potatoes can be harvested from June onwards.  If left in the ground a bit longer they can be used as maincrop potatoes, for roasting, chips or wedges.

Red Duke of York (First Earlies)

One of the few red-skinned first early varieties.  They grow easily and produce a high yield of delicious large tuber suitable for baking and chips. 

Red Duke of York potatoes can be planted from mid-March/early April and harvest starts in July.

Homeguard (First Earlies)

A first early potato. It has an excellent flavour and good scab resistance.  Blight resistance is low but is usually harvested before blight arrives.  A great all-rounder suitable for steaming, boiling, baking, mashing, roasting and frying.

Homeguard potatoes can be planted from mid-March/early April and harvest starts in July. 

Charlotte (second early)

Charlotte is a second early waxy potato which are excellent for boiling without falling apart.  The flesh is creamy yellow. They taste delicious hot or cold in a potato salad.  They also make delicious roast potatoes.  Charlotte grows on all soils and has good overall disease resistance. Blight resistance is average but good resistance to slugs and scab.

Charlotte potatoes can be planted in late March/early April and harvest starts in late July.

Wilja (second early)

Wilja is well known for its taste.  It has the old-fashioned real potato flavour.    It’s a dry potato excellent for boiling, roasting and chips.  The potatoes are less prone to disintegrating if boiled too long.  It also has good resistance to scab and slugs. 

Wilja potatoes can be planted in late March/early April and harvest starts in late July.

Arran Victory (maincrop)

A heritage variety from 1918 bred on the Arran Island on the West Coast of Scotland.  The tubers have deep purple skins and pure white flesh.  It’s delicious steamed, roasted or mashed, but falls apart when boiled.  

Arran Victory potatoes can be planted in mid-April and harvest starts in September/October.

Salad Blue (maincrop)

First grown around 1900. Both the skin and the flesh have a deep blue/purple colour that remains even after boiling.  You can have blue chips, blue potato salad or even a blue mash. The name Salad Blue may be a bit misleading as its best use is for mashed potatoes and not for salad unless you like a stodgy potato salad.  

Salad Blue potatoes can be planted in mid-April and harvest starts in September/October.

Sarpo Mira (maincrop)

You’ll be guaranteed a massive yield of potatoes and the one that blight will not touch.  There have been many years where all other varieties collapsed with blight and this one stood proud with not a sign of the dreaded disease.  Sarpo Mira has very large, irregular shaped pink tubers.  The growth is very strong and the foliage quickly covers the soil thus reducing the need for weed control. 

Sarpo Mira potatoes can be planted in mid-April and harvest starts in September/October.

Golden Wonder (maincrop)

A gourmet potato with many followers.  It has a chestnut creamy brown russet skin and is one of the most floury potatoes and has a lot of fans in Ireland.  The flavour is excellent.  It’s suitable for 

boiling, steaming and roasting.

Golden Wonder potatoes can be planted in mid-April and harvest starts in September/October.

Pink Fir Apple (maincrop)

Also known as a fingerling potato due to the long and narrow, knobbly tubers.  The skin is pink and the flesh is white.  The flavour is outstanding, a nutty, earthy buttery taste.  In fact it tastes like an already buttered potato.  It’s ideal for boiling and makes a delicious potato salad.

All this talk of spuds is making me hungry. I’m going to pop a few in the oven.

Valentine Flower Care

                                                       For me? You shouldn't have...

How is your valentine’s day? 

 

If it’s anything like mine it tends to go without any reference to romance or commercialism. I don’t mind though because it saves me the pain of never getting a card when I was young and bringing back lonely memories. Even when my school introduced a policy of everyone in the class writing out a card for someone else and sending it through the internal mail, I never got one. ‘Lost in the post’ I used to think, or someone was collecting them on my behalf out of jealousy of my natural good looks and charisma.

I’m sorry if my story of love and romance is upsetting. I’ll give you a few moments to wipe away the tears.

Valentine’s Day Flowers

There are a lot of things we can buy for our loved ones or people we admire from a distance, most of them are either edible or soft and cuddly. I prefer the live presents though and I don’t mean a dog or cat –its flowers. 

For centuries flowers have been the solution to some of life’s disagreements, and admissions of guilt as well as showing love and devotion. It’s an extremely complicated issue buying flowers for someone and only the most experienced florist can save you from buying a bunch that would be totally unacceptable for the occasion.  Take funeral flowers for example. Apparently white carnations and gladioli are not really in keeping with romance. But what do I know?  If they are mixed with other flowers their meanings could change although you’d always think you were in a funeral home if you smelled lilies, so again best avoided.

Now what?

So if you have read this far I will assume you have got yourself a beautiful bunch of flowers from your loved one for this special day. You have assessed they are not being presented to you out of guilt or an apology and would like to look after them as long as possible. 

I’ve come up with a few ideas to prolong that feeling of euphoria you must have tingling through your body (Much the same feeling you would get drinking a bottle of wine they might have bought ... or preferred)

Cut flowers.

• The flowers have probably come from a near perfect growing environment in Europe and will need acclimatising a bit. Try to keep them away from drafts and extreme temperatures, which can quickly dry out the flowers and cause wilting.
• If your flowers came in plastic, remove this after reading the loving card message sellotaped to the side.
• Ethylene gas is detrimental to many flower types so, daft as it might seem keep the display away from fruit bowls.
• This time of the year you would get away with the display in the window as the sun isn’t that hot. Summer would be different
• Most flowers will last longer under cool conditions so playing a few Barry White songs will keep them fresh and perky. This will also be advice for the fella too.

How to keep them fresh

Like relationships the plants will need to be kept fresh.

• I found cutting the stems with a sharp knife or secateurs (not scissors) underwater helps them suck up water better. Chop an inch or two off them when they are ready to be put in the vase.
• Keep your vase filled with fresh water and replace when cloudy.
• You might get a packet of white powder in the display. This isn’t for dipping liquorice in, it’s a water soluble plant food that you can add.
• Take off dead or wilting leaves and stems from fresh flower arrangements.

Changing the Water

• Remove any dead or dying flowers from the arrangement and spend a long time picking up the leaves and petals that have scattered themselves across the table.
• Clean the empty vase thoroughly with soapy water to remove any bacteria that could cause the fresh flowers to deteriorate even quicker. And rinse.
• Replace the water and mix in more flower preservative provided by the florist. I actually find plants do far better with rainwater and get some from the butt outside.
• Maybe cut the stems again to keep the waterways open.

Place back in their designated space and wait a few days until you have to do the whole thing again to keep the display looking fresh. Alternatively you could put the wilting, brown tipped display that’s clinging on to the memory of romance in the compost bin.   

By this time next week Valentine’s Day will be a forgotten memory in the minds of your admirers and it’ll be business as usual, working, cleaning, cooking and other domestic chores whilst your admirers watch you from afar.

Tiny Houses

Photos Tiny Home made by Noel T. Higgins and Mark Burtons house

We’re advised every winter to put our gardening tools in the shed for safe storage. It’s not very often any suggestions are made towards the condition of the shed itself though. If there’s a leak in the roof it’s not long before the walls and floor are rotting and the equipment starts to perish in the damp. So next time you have to rummage through the piles of “I’ll put it in the shed and deal with it later” stuff on the floor, have a look to see there’s no damage to the structure.

Our shed in the garden does have a small leak. I put off reroofing it last year but it’ll definitely be a job to do this summer.  Our shed isn’t full of tools though and as we spend time in there in the evenings, the heating stops any serious issues with damp. Having lived in a 14’caravan for a year with Julie, a one year old and a very smelly dog I have become accustomed to living in small spaces and actually enjoy it as there’s less to clean. 

There’s something very cosy about small space living and as the shed is 4m square it would have room to add a bathroom and kitchen with a living space up in the eaves of the roof should I ever feel that way inclined to live at the bottom of the garden. I’m sure most of us have at one time thought life would be easier in a shed away from everything. Well, now you can as it’s become fashionable to build and live in “Tiny Homes” 

The quest for a simpler life.

A “Tiny Home” is referring to anything under 300 sq. feet (37 sq. metres) and can be built on a trailer and towed. It’d need to be within the national height and width allowances for road travel in Ireland. Alternatively they can be built on a foundation or anchor pads such as our shed.

Many will have sleeping lofts, making the most of any and all available floor space, or instead have futons, pull-out or fold-away beds allowing a living room to transform into a bedroom, and back again when the occupants are suitably rested.

 

Tiny Homes are usually built with traditional natural, breathable and chemical-free materials; such as sheep’s wool insulation in place of rigid foam or fibre glass matting. For the more permanent builds straw bales, cob (a mixture of clay, sand and straw) lime mortar, stone and wood could be used in their build.

Salvaged or recycled materials also feature heavily in Tiny Houses, too , sourced and repurposed for use in an alternative and imaginative way.

Though living in smaller, simpler and/or handmade homes is certainly nothing of a new concept, indeed many people historically lived in smaller, more modest structures, and continue to do so. It was not until the “boom times” of greater widespread wealth and consumerist desires in western societies that the current craze of living in houses with a larger square-footprint, with more bedrooms than members of the family, truly took hold. You only have to look into Irish history to realise small was the norm in home building.

Boats, Caravans, Camper Vans and Mobile Homes provide a lot of practical inspiration for tiny Homes, to designers such as Noel T. Higgins from Co. Mayo. He uses many space-saving tricks, gadgets and techniques than are popular in more accepted living spaces. Some designs can be used completely off grid and have no reliance on external electricity and water by means of solar or wind power and rainwater collecting.

Suzie Cahn from Carraig Dúlra says “The Tiny house movement (also known as the “small house movement”) is an architectural and social movement toward living more simply in small homes. People are joining this movement for many reasons, but most often because of cost, environmental concerns, wanting to spend more time in nature, and for a sense of freedom.”

Small home living is increasingly popular for those simply wanting to downsize from their previous houses, and for retirees wishing to spend their time in a hand crafted and more manageable dwelling. Tiny homes are also being built and lived in by both teenagers in the back gardens of the family home such as ours which gives them a safe and reachable distance to stretch their fast-growing independent legs.

While it does have to be noted, living in a Tiny Home is not for everyone; it should also be recognised, that living in a structure the size of the average Irish “conventional” house is not for everyone, either! 

That said, choosing to do so requires the ability to perhaps part with knickknacks, ephemera and large clothing and shoe collections in order to maintain a smaller space. 

Maybe keep the shoes and just have one for the weekends then?

 Tiny Homes Introductory Workshop
Joanne Butler from OURganic Gardens in Gortahork is running a day course workshop on Tiny Houses on Saturday 11th March, 2017

The course offers a rundown of Tiny Home styles and ideas, along with an overview of the variety of tools, skills and other resources needed to create them. 

The day will be led by Suzie Cahn from Carraig Dúlra farm in Co. Wicklow. Check the Ourganics website for more information and contact details.