Getting back to basics

DESPITE the hardship that many are enduring as the result of the economic meltdown, much good is emerging at grassroots level.

Many are rediscovering the joy of thrift and self-sufficiency. More than 50 people had to be turned away from a recent grow-your-own-vegetable lecture organised by Cork Free Choice Consumer Group and given by organic growers Caroline Robinson and Rupert Hugh-Jones, at the Crawford Gallery in Cork. There was standing room only, the place packed with people anxious to learn how to grow food in their town and country gardens.

In Waterford a very successful food producer’s network has been established by Michael Kelly and Donal Lehane. The group meets once a month in the Waterford City library to learn about and share what used to be known as home-making skills; how to grow vegetables and fruit, or how to keep a few chickens and pigs. They are planning to operate on a meithil system, where members share plants and seeds and the bounty they grow.

It’s a similar situation in many places around the country. Gardening courses are over-subscribed in many places and there seems to be a deep craving for knowledge.

The Irish Beekeeping Association is holding free beginners beekeeping courses all around the country — check www.beekeeping.ie for details.

Minister for Food Trevor Sergeant is also doing his bit to spread the word. Last year, he organised the dispatch of potato packs to every school in Ireland so 120,000 children could learn the magic of growing potatoes. The initiative was a resounding success, warmly welcomed not just by pupils but by the teachers and parents, many of whom responded to their children’s excitement by growing a few drills of potatoes at home. This year, the scheme has been extended and schools will have the opportunity to grow not just the humble spud but cabbage, lettuce, scallion and strawberry crops.

Each participating class will create a scrapbook documenting the progress of their crops and all additional farming activities the pupils participate in. A national prizegiving ceremony will award over e10,000 in educational funds to the winning schools.

The aim of this educational initiative is to provide schoolchildren with an understanding of the importance of farming, while promoting the benefits and increasing consumption of local Irish produce.

Each child will be provided with an ‘Incredible Edibles’ recipe and nutritional book and encouraged to prepare meals and snacks with their parents.

So, even if you only have a balcony or a window box and a few pots you can grow some food — a few herbs, some cut-and-come salad leaves and scallions. It’s not rocket science, just fork up the soil, run your finger along to make an indentation, drop in the seeds, cover and don’t forget to water.

Friends and neighbours in towns and estates could each agree to grow three or four packets of vegetable seeds and then share rather than having a huge glut of one crop.

From the cook’s point of view, it is a joy to have truly fresh organic produce to pick and share at a whim. Growing your own vegetables gives one a much greater appreciation of food and the time and energy that goes into producing it. It also engenders a respect for the farmers and growers who look after the crops for months on end to feed and nourish us.

When you and your family grow your own, everyone treats it with respect and we are much less likely to overcook it. Even if it’s only a cabbage or a few spuds, eating it feels like a celebration.

From this time of the year to the end of April is called the ‘hungry gap’ —many of the winter vegetables are coming to an end and the summer bounty is still far off or still in a seed packet. Nonetheless there’s still lots to enjoy.