Ballymaloe Garden Festival promises an autumnal treat

Even if you don’t know your radishes from your rhubarb, there is something for all the family at the first Ballymaloe Garden Festival which takes place this weekend at the East Cork gardens located around Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Head gardener at Ballymaloe, Susan Turner, is the main organiser, along with Darina and Hazel Allen.

Turner says that autumn is the ideal time for such an event “as it’s the harvest time of the year, a time of celebration”. The festival will focus on sustainability, wildlife and education. There will be workshops, talks and garden walks, with most events taking place in Ballymaloe Grainstore, the restored 17th century former farm building located near Ballymaloe House.

Turner says that the festival “will be a lot of fun for everybody. It’s an opportunity for children to enjoy gardening, getting their hands dirty and learning. There will be a lot of visuals going with the talks and there will be an opportunity for people to buy whatever appeals to them. There is going to be a rare plant sale, as well as crafts and food on sale”.

Everything from foraging at edible hedgerows to information on herbal medicines will be under the spotlight at the festival. The weekend kicks off on Saturday at Ballymaloe Grainstore with Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School and Michael Kelly of GIY (Grow it Yourself) Ireland giving a talk entitled ‘Growing Food in Cities – How Urban Growing can Create Food Empathy and Save the World’. The two experts will explore the political and environmental impacts of growing your own as well as the practicalities of doing so.

Want to learn about #UrbanGardening? Don't miss @mickkellygrows and @darinaallen talk on 'Growing Food in Cities' pic.twitter.com/JR6saQm4Ol

— BallymaloeGdnFest (@BallymaloeFest) August 22, 2013

Helen Dillon will talk about the evolution of her renowned Dublin garden. “It will be a wonderful session with all sorts of visuals. Over the last 42 years, Helen has been developing her garden. She’s thoroughly entertaining about it.”

Dillon will be joined by Rory O’Connell (co-founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School) for a talk on roses.

O’Connell will be talking about crystallised rose petals and rose syrup. “He loves cooking with roses and also makes rose water and rose lemonade. There will be lots of roses for sale at the festival,” says Helen Dillon.

Food critic Tom Doorley who, with his wife, Johann, wrote a book entitled Grow and Cook, will be talking about growing vegetables. No matter how small your garden patch is, it can be cultivated for food.

“Urban growing has completely taken off. People are creating gardens on their rooftops in cities. Edible gardening is now very popular. I suppose it’s because people have lost confidence in the quality of (commercial) food and know there’s no better way to create a good quality dish than to grow your own food and pick it fresh from your garden.”

UK garden writer and TV presenter, Alys Fowler, will be emphasising how some of the food you can grow requires only a tiny space.

Eating Well through the Winter: What to Sow Now To Pick Later, @AlysFowler will guide us through the 'hungry gap' of winter Sun 1st Sep

— BallymaloeGdnFest (@BallymaloeFest) August 24, 2013

UK-based gardening expert and author, Joy Larkcom, will be talking about tracking down and introducing unusual salad plants and formerly exotic vegetables to our plates from her travels around the world.

The importance of bees in eco culture will be discussed by Michael Woulfe of the Federation of Irish Beekeepers.

Susan Turner, originally from South Africa, is a private garden designer as well as managing Ballymaloe gardens. She will present a slide show explaining how to create wildlife habitats, such as ponds in gardens.

“I’ve built quite a lot of wildlife ponds. I try to get as many frogs into my own garden ponds as possible because it makes a massive difference to the slug population as frogs eat slugs. I also keep hens in my garden near Midleton. We’re planning to have rare breed hens at the festival.”

Turner always had an interest in gardening. She became involved in organic gardening in Israel. “I never thought I’d have a career in gardening. When I was backpacking, I got work in a moshav (a co-operative agricultural community of individual farmers). The farmers share tools but own their fields and make their own money. The Israeli government started these settlements to try and encourage Israelis to build communities. They have really taken off.”

In the moshav Turner grew organic fruit and vegetables along with people who were not growing organically. “Everybody came to me for my tomatoes because of their great flavour. From there, I decided to study organic horticulture. What drew me to Ballymaloe is that it has everything, from fruit and vegetable gardens, to ornamental areas.”

* Ballymaloe Garden Festival, Aug 31 & Sep 1. Tickets to individual events cost €8-12, with some free events. www.thegrainstoreatballymaloe.com.