The Apple Club Newsletter
Spring 2003
After a wonderful beginning
to the spring, with all our plants bursting into leaf, I have suddenly
become aware that if this spring newsletter does not appear soon, I can
wait until next year. so here it is, and I hope that you enjoy it.
Environmental items:
The
news regarding the solar panels (which I mentioned in last summers
newsletter) is good, in as much as they have been installed, and are
now providing hot water for the juice pasteurisation and camping site.
Altogether we have about 20 square metres of panels, and these are
capable of heating our one thousand-litre water tank to 80 C. We are
greatly appreciative of the financial support promised by Tipperary
Leader Group towards the purchase and installation of these panels.
Anyone who is interested in using solar water heating in their homes,
or in just having a look at how these panels work is more than welcome
at our farm.
Another environmental item that may be of
interest is that our farm has switched electricity supplier from ESB to
Airtricity. While we have always been very happy with the level of
service provided by the ESB, we were disappointed that they generated
so much of their power from peat, coal, oil and gas, and so little from
renewable resources. Airtricity is an alternative supplier that
generates electricity using wind turbines. They have a number of wind
farms around Ireland, and are currently working on the Arklow Banks
project. Having seen wind farms at close hand in the Netherlands, I
must admit to thinking that they are a wonderful addition to the
landscape and the environment, reducing the need for polluting power
sources.
The way that we subscribe to Airtricity is that we agree to
purchase power from them, which they supply through the existing ESB
network. If there is no wind, then they top up their power requirements
from ESB plants, and if they have surplus power, it is passed on to the
ESB. In this way, our electricity supply is just the same as always,
except that when we pay the bill, we know that the money goes towards
constructing and running wind turbines, rather than purchasing oil or
coal for the power plants. So far the system has worked perfectly, and
the nice thing is that in calm weather when the wind generating
capacity is low, the solar panels work at maximum efficiency, while in
windy (cloudy) weather when the panels draw less heat, the wind
turbines are operating at their optimum. All in all a great system!
Charity event:
One
of the people from our farm (Teresa Murphy, who you may meet from time
to time in our shop) is participating in a charity program in Moldova.
The program is run by Outreach Moldova, and is involved in caring for
disabled, orphaned and abandoned children in Moldova. Each month, care
volunteers travel to the Hincesti orphanage in Moldova, to help care
for over 200 children. The orphanage has been refurbished by the
outreach group, but it is in the care of the children that the
volunteers make a real difference to their lives. The children are
assisted by the volunteers in music, sports, play, and skills training,
as well as all their normal everyday pastimes. As you can well imagine,
this is difficult but rewarding work, and it is all done on a voluntary
basis. Teresa intends to act as a volunteer care worker in the Hincesti
orphanage from late June until late July. However, in order to get
there, Teresa needs to raise funds. To this end, Noreen and Josef (two
of the other people you will see at our farm) are going to do a
sponsored parachute jump in early June. This will be their first (and
possibly only) jump, and they will be fund-raising for this via our
farm-shop, and by any other means that they can. If you wish to make a
contribution towards Teresa's worthwhile trip, or to the parachute
jump, we will be glad to accept it at the farm shop, or you can phone
Teresa at 052-27071. If you are interested in getting involved in the
Moldova project yourself, they can be contacted at: Outreach Moldova,
P.O. Box 8039, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, or on the internet at
www.outreachmoldova.org.
Television appearance:
Those of
you who have been watching Seamus O'Connell's Soul Food programme on
RTE1 at 7pm each Friday may have seen the feature on the white forest
gateau a few weeks ago. As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, the
RTE team were here on the farm last summer, and Seamus baked a
wonderful cake using strawberries, raspberries, elderflower and rose
petals. While it took a full day to make the cake, and the program item
only lasted a few minutes, it was still worth it for the taste of that
wonderful cake. If you have the patience to wait, we promise to have
the recipe for our next issue.
Protecting plants from frost
Up
to recently, when severe frosts were a common winter occurrence, it was
a widespread practice to protect plants from frost. Stems of perennial
plants were frequently wrapped with straw, and a plastic covering
placed over this, to insulate against the worst of the cold. These days
however, people have less time to spend looking after their plants, and
with milder winters, frost damage is much less common than years ago.
However, milder winters also have another effect, and this is one that
concerns fruit growers. When weather is mild in January and February,
trees begin to grow earlier in the spring. This is turn means that they
blossom earlier, and this is what can trouble growers. If an apple tree
blossoms in early May, the likelihood of a severe frost damaging the
blossoms is small. If however, the tree blossoms in mid April, and this
is becoming more common with earlier springs, then the risk of a cold
night and frost-damage is much greater, because blossoms can only
withstand one or two degrees of frost before they are killed.
Because
of this increasing risk of frost damage, growers are looking for ways
to ameliorate the damage. Many possibilities have been tried over the
years. In the vineyards of France, smudge pots were placed between rows
of grapes, and waste oil burnt in these. The thick smog created in this
way was somewhat effective, raising the temperature by one or two
degrees, but this method is now considered environmentally
unsatisfactory. A more modern way to achieve the same effect is to use
a tractor-mounted gas burner, and drive up and down the rows of trees
at night. Some people do use this method, though proof of its
effectiveness is limited. In the United States, wind machines are used.
These work on the principal that hot air rises, as is evident when we
look at a hot air balloon. Because the hot air rises, cooler air falls
in to take its place, and in certain environments, the area of air
twenty metres above the apple trees can be substantially warmer than
that at tree level or ground level. This temperature differential is
used by the growers, who, when the temperature in the tree zone falls,
turn on their wind machines. These mix the warmer air from the higher
areas with the cold air at ground level, and can give a rise in
temperature of a few degrees; usually just enough to protect the
fragile blossoms. Unfortunately, in this part of the world, we seldom
see temperature inversions such as those found in the apple growing
areas of the US and so this method has not been adopted here. The last,
and possibly most interesting way of protecting against frost is used
in the Netherlands. This relies on irrigating the trees.
On a cold
night when the temperatures drop to freezing point, the grower turns on
the overhead sprinklers. The water from these may warm-up the trees,
but on very cold nights an interesting thing can happen. If the
temperature drops well below zero, the water applied from the
sprinklers freezes on the trees. However, the act of freezing actually
releases heat (in the same way as for ice to become water heat must he
added, when water turns to ice heat is released), and this heat
prevents the ice (and the plant) from dropping below 0 C, even if the
surrounding temperatures are significantly lower. This system will work
perfectly, as long as the grower can keep adding water (which will
continue to freeze), or until the air temperatures rise above freezing
again. However, this system requires vast quantities of water, with
reservoirs (or canals) containing millions of litres of water for just
a few acres. This does not pose a problem in many parts of the
Netherlands, but the storage of huge quantities of water on the off
chance of a frost is an expensive option. This is probably why there is
only one grower in Ireland (located in Co. Armagh) with such a system.
For everyone else, there is the usual nervous wait between blossom time
and early May, when the risk of frosts has passed.
Spring in the fruit garden
Apples
We
have had a great spring for apples, and the prospects are very good.
There should be few diseases, due to the dry weather. If it does turn
wet, and you have trees which get a lot of black-spot on the leaves, it
is best to protect them with a spray or two of Captan or Dithane,
preferably just before flowering, and just after. Watch out for weed
control too, and give trees some farmyard manure to get them off to a
good start.
Plums
Plums can be pruned from now on. If there
is a lot of flower, do not hesitate to cut off branches that shade each
other, as there will be plenty fruits anyhow. Unfortunately, in some
places a bird called the Bullfinch has eaten flower buds during the
winter, meaning that flowers will be scarce. Don't prune too much if
this is the case.
Strawberries
Strawberry plants are
beginning to produce flowers now. Keep an eye out for slugs, especially
if the weather gets wet. If you are looking for some strawberry plants
for your garden, we have some potted ones for sale from our shop at the
moment.
Children’s Section, By Willem Traas
Charlie and Bobby have died.
I
am sorry to write that Charlie, our top dog, will not be here to say
hello to you this summer. Just before Christmas he got injured in an
accident while chasing a van. That was Charlie's problem all his life:
chasing vans, especially John Haide, the post-man. It was his sheepdog
blood.
Charlie came from Listowel in Co. Kerry. I believe that he
was well known there, going to a local shop every morning to meet the
other dogs. But then he moved to Tipperary, and settled in here
quickly. Charlie took to me in a big way, and of all the dogs I had or
met over my lifetime, he was my favourite. Charlie is now buried under
a chestnut tree in the garden. We miss him every day.
Our West
highland terrier Bobby died too. Again he had an accident with a car in
the yard. It was Charlie that taught him to chase cars, and they both
encouraged each-other.
Bobby came from Kilmanahan when he was two
months old. In less than no time he was completely at home on our farm.
When he was wading through the fields we called him "four-wheel-drive".
He is buried under a cherry-tree.
So, of the three dogs we had, now
we have only Katy left. Katy is the Labrador, but she is getting old,
especially if you remember that one human year is like seven years for
a dog. I think we got her In 1992, and that would make her
seventy-seven if she were human.
We have a new dog too. Molly is her
name, and she is a terrier. We got her from the dog pound, and she is
very timid. Life was probably hard on her. But now she has a wonderful
life, and I promised that she wouldn't have to go back to the pound.
So
that is how it is. Not very good news really, because you can't replace
a dog you love. But who knows, most things work out, and we might find
a nice young sheepdog and Labrador, but we won't forget Charlie and
Bobby.
Johnny Jump Up
Johnny Jump Up is a famous song
about cider, and believe it or not, a cider bearing this name has
recently been revived in Ireland. The cider is fermented and blended by
one Willie Rost in a secret location in South Western Ireland, but we
can confirm that at least some of the apples come from our farm in
Tipperary.
It is believed the Johnny Jump Up song was written by Tim
Jordan of Cork City, Co. Cork, Ireland in the 1940s. Apparently, Tim
Jordan was born and lived all his life in Cork city, and the story
behind the song was that his friend who was landlord of a pub, asked
Tim to write a song about cider to try to increase the sale of cider in
his pub.
This is how the song goes:
Guitar chords: /Dm /D /C /C /Dm /Dm /Dm C /Dm
Come and listen, I'll tell you what happened to me
One day as I went down to Cork by the sea
The day it was hot and the sun it was warm,
So says I a quiet pint wouldn't do me no harm
I went in and I called for a bottle of stout
Says the barman, I'm sorry, all the beer is sold out
Try whiskey or paddy, ten years in the wood
Says I, I'll try cider, I've heard it was good.
Chorus:
Oh never, Oh never, Oh never again
If I live to be a hundred or a hundred and ten
I fell to the ground and I couldn't get up
After drinking a quart of the Johnny Jump Up
Ahhh...
After downing the third I went out to the yard
Where I bumped into Brody, the big civic guard
Come here to me boy, don't you know I'm the law?
Well, I up with me fist and I shattered his jaw
He fell to the ground with his knees doubled up
But it wasn't I hit him, 'twas Johnny Jump Up
The next thing I remember down in Cork by the sea
Was a cripple on crutches and says he to me
I'm afraid of me life I'll be hit by a car
Won't you help me across to the Celtic Knot Bar?
After drinking a quart of that cider so sweet
He threw down his crutches and danced on his feet
Chorus...
I went down the lee road, a friend for to see
They call it the madhouse in Cork by the Sea
Well when I got there, sure the truth I will tell,
They had this poor bugger locked up in a cell
Said the guard, testing him, say these words if you can
Around the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran
Tell him I'm not crazy, tell him I'm not mad
It was only a sip of the bottle I had
Chorus...
A man died in the mines by the name of McNabb
They washed him and laid him outside on the slab
Well after the parlors measurements did take
His wife brought him home to a bloody fine wake
Twas about 12 o'clock and the beer was high
The corpse sits up and says with a sigh
I can't get to heaven, they won't let me up
Til I bring them a quart of the Johnny Jump Up
Chorus...
So if ever you go down to Cork by the sea
Stay out of the ale house and take it from me
If you want to stay sane don't you dare take a sup
Of that devil drink cider called Johnny Jump Up
Chorus... (x2)
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