The Fox and The Gander

We first got hens here 14 years ago when my son moved to a new primary school in the next village. There was a craze in the school at that time with many of the kids keeping hens.  It was the usual story - "but mum everyone has them - can I not get some too?"  The hens were just the beginning and were rapidly followed by ducks and geese.   At that time we also had two ponies, my cob, a dog and numerous cats.  The hens, ducks and geese were duly installed into an old wooden playhouse which the kids had outgrown and we built a make-shift run around it.  As with every animal that sets a hoof, paw or a claw here they got the run of the place (excuse the pun). They viewed the make-shift run as jail but for me it was a necessary evil; when I got fed up of having to search a huge garden for their latest favourite place to lay -  usually in the hedge but also in the stable or in the wood shed.

The geese were a magnificent pair and soon produced a gosling much to the delight of the kids especially as it was the gander that took control of the parenting. They were absolutely fascinated that the daddy took such an active role.  The gander was wicked and took great delight in chasing anyone and everyone dumb enough to enter "his" territory.  My mother and my daughter were chased up the field by him.  My mother was terrified and this was a woman who grew up with wicked turkeys and whose best friend was afraid to call for her to walk to school. Unfortunately the gosling met an untimely end under a visiting van.  The gander got some sort of stroke (possibly after a failed fox attack) and lost the use of his legs.  I took him into a very bemused vet who told me I had to try and get him to exercise the legs or he would never regain use of them.  I cut a hole in a toy deck chair and sat him in it everyday and he paddled his legs and got a work out.  He recovered surprisingly well.  The ducks were given an old plastic sandpit converted into a pool and made a huge mess everywhere but were great fun and lovely to look at waddling about.

The eggs were a bonus despite all the hassle particularly the goose eggs which made the most amazing deep yellow sponges. For a number of years we had a plentiful supply of the freshest, tastiest eggs but gradually a bit of laziness and work and other commitments meant we were not as dutiful as we should have been in locking them in at night and Mr. Fox was quick to take advantage.  Little by little he reduced my stock until finally he finished off the gander (by this stage he had got the goose).  It was easier not to bother replacing them but I really missed the eggs.  If I ever saw a sign advertising eggs for sale and it was obvious the hens producing them were free to roam then I was first in line to buy them.

A few years ago I decided I missed "real" eggs so decided to get hens and ducks again.  Last summer a fox (vixen as I later found out) made several attacks in broad daylight.  She got a couple of ducks and another time ran across in full view of my kitchen window snapping at the tail feathers of my rooster.  She managed to get a hen another time.  Poultry are a nuisance despite what people say as the fox is an ever present threat.  You need to organise someone to lock them in if you are not going to be home soon after dark, they need a decent amount of space to roam and plenty of grass and vegetation.  They are extremely dirty and they are a menace in a newly planted garden casually scratching new plants to one side in order to root out bugs.  However, the up side of this is they are great slug busters and chicken poo makes great manure.  The eggs are really amazing and there is not a shop bought egg - free range or organic that comes close to the flavour, colour or freshness.

My Cuckoo Maran rooster

Why I Don't Want to Eat GMO

Do I actually know anything about GMO foods?  For that matter does anyone?  We all just assume that the boffins (as known as scientists) have our best interests at heart - but do they?  First off I had to look up a definition of GMO foods.  I had a vague notion that the process involves transferring genes from one organism to another to produce desirable qualities in the resulting genetically modified plant.  These desirable qualities can be, among others, resistance to a particular disease for example, meaning that the yield of the crop would be increased.  A brief search yielded the following link http://biotech.about.com/od/faq/f/GMOs.htm.

Modern agriculture has for decades concentrated on growing small numbers of plant varieties that are primarily high yielding.  Selective breeding has been carried out so that many old varieties of crops have been cast aside.  Seed Savers have done some amazing work to try to reintroduce and save these old varieties.  The problem with mass-growing of specially selected, high-yielding crops is that should a new pest or disease get hold the losses can be devastating.  For this reason the crops need to be sprayed with a cocktail of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers.  The pro GMO lobby will tell you that the new genetically modified varieties will need less spraying and so will be better for you and for the environment.  However, many of the varieties of plants discarded have better flavour, taste and in some cases are even more resistant to disease but are not high yielding. 

The natural environment is a very finely balanced ecosystem and if disrupted, the consequences can be serious.  I don't believe that there has been enough research carried out on ensuring introduction of genetically modified crops will have minimum impact on the environment or the delicate balance of the ecosystem.  What impact these crops will have on the animals they are fed to or in turn what impact will they have on us - the end consumer?  After all BSE was caused by feeding animal remains to animals that were natural herbivores.

Apparently Teagasc are about to start trials on GM potatoes to increase late blight resistance.  This is unbelievable especially with the recent furore over the raw milk debacle.  The reason the department of agriculture gave me for wanting to ban raw milk was to prevent any damage to the image of Ireland as a clean, green and tuberculosis-free producer of milk especially to our export market. It would make a lot more sense to promote our image as a GMO-free producer of food.

On balance, I made a decision a long time ago that I did not want to be a guinea pig for the biotech industries' trials on GM foods.  I avoid all soya as over 60% is genetically modified and it is virtually impossible to guarantee that any source is completely GM free.  Maize apparently is also genetically modified.  I heard years ago that tomato puree is made with GM tomatoes.  But far more difficult to avoid is eating meat from animals fed genetically modified cereals in meal.  For now there is not enough public demand for such meat or even if there was there are not enough producers.  One thing for sure though, is if the demand were to increase, the industry should want to zealously guard the image of Ireland as a clean green GMO free producer of food!

Going Back in Time in Sligo

Every year my family try to organise a weekend we all get together.  We are scattered over four counties and all have busy lives so to get a weekend that suits everyone can often take some organisation.  To date we have stayed in Galway (Connemara Coast), Waterford (Faithlegg), Leitrim (Ramada and Lough Rynn) among others.  We have been doing this now for probably the last 10 years.

This weekend gone we went to Markree Castle in Sligo.  It is a stunning place, totally unspoilt and a really authentic experience - down to the dodgy boot-camp showers, cool bedrooms (temperature-wise) and the threat of an appearance by the resident ghost!  It is a throw-your-boots-off and throw-your-leg-up on the coffee table, type of place! The drawing rooms are filled with elegant ancestral paintings, huge fireplaces and big comfortable old couches.  I spent most of the weekend wandering around in my socks.  They allow dogs which is lovely and there were a mixed assortment from pooches to big smelly hounds including my sisters's totally mad border terrier. The bedrooms are a real surprise; I had a big "frilly" (my brother's description) four poster bed in a lovely room with the most amazing view.  It had some very interesting antique furniture as well.  The other bedrooms were not quite as impressive but they were quirky.  One had steep steps down to the en suite - I could imagine a few worse-for-wear guests found that a challenge in the middle of the night!

View from the knot garden

Main entrance

The beauty of the place was that we all felt as if we could really make ourselves at home and as if we were the only guests (even though it was full on the Saturday night).  The staff were mostly eastern European and were efficient as they tend to be but they lacked the real charm and friendliness of the Irish staff or the willingness to think "sideways".  One late night barman when asked for a pot of tea answered "it is not my service to provide".  The bar and the whole place was empty by this time and we were the only stragglers left.  We wanted nibbles earlier before dinner and were unable to get them so one of our party drove to the local filling station.  However we did feel that if we arrived in with our own wine and nibbles we would not have been challenged.
 

My bedroom

View from my window

The food while not bad was not great either but I am always accused of being the critic from hell.  The garnish was very dated with piped swirls of mashed potato and the side orders of veg were the usual unadorned lumps of broccoli, carrots and very roasted - roast potatoes.  Some of the family had the steak the first night and said it was really good and to be fair when I had it, I asked for it - "walked through a warm room," and they obliged!  We had little option but to eat in the hotel both nights as we had young children with us and we would have needed a fleet of taxis to go the 15-20 minute drive into Sligo.  They screwed up on the gluten-free request for my brother giving him the correct bread but a non gluten-free sausage and a triangle of toast under his scrambled egg.  Oh, and the tea was dire at breakfast, but this is coming from a family of tea leaf users, with the tea pot scalded and the milk in first brigade. 

Overall the experience was very positive and we all agreed we would be very happy to go back again.  It could have been amazing though and that makes me sad.  There was no sign of either the owners or even a general manager all weekend and one or two staff cover both the reception, the bar and the bar food service so when you go to order drinks you had to go look for someone!  However, all that said we had a great time and are already looking forward to another get together.

The very elegant dining room

We spent a lovely morning in Sligo pottering about the great selection of foodie and craft shops.  We had lunch in Hargadons, a pub decorated with every imaginable accolade outside.  They were justified, as the food was great, the service fantastic and so friendly and the atmosphere charming. After lunch we had a bracing walk on the beach at Rosses Point.  On Sunday we went to Tobercurry as my father had worked there over 50 years before as a newly qualified accountant.  Then onto Tarmonbarry to the fantastic Purple Onion for lunch (another well decorated establishment).