Yesterday was the harvest of a part of the West Cork Bantry community supported agriculture (CSA) oat crop. The smaller field of a bit less than an acre was harvested by hand using scythes. It was great to see how this was done in the times before mechanisation – the farmer remembers doing this only 15 years ago! For me it was a very salient reminder of how much work there could be in a bowl of porridge oats if it wasn’t for modern combines and mills.
The field is in a stunning spot on the Sheep’s Head – so here’s a short video as a reminder of the day.
It’s amazing that any of the crop survived the summer we’ve had – so hats off to everyone involved and best of luck with getting the rest of the harvest in (the big field is to be harvested by combine) and drying it.
[Edit - Madeline has a great video here...]
Spring warmth and Winter Roscoff
Having spent the weekend working at the college I was frustrated to have missed such a warm gardening weekend…
However I managed to get home before the sun went down and although the family were out, Ruth had left some dinner for me. I sat in the evening sun enjoying an omelette, roll and pasta salad. In the salad were caulifower florets – from the wonderful Winter Roscoff cauliflower variety. These plants sat there all winter and at one point looked like the frost had got them… but all of a sudden last week the wonderful flowers emerged! Highly recommended.
Winter Roscoff cauliflower