Saving seeds in West Cork

We took a trip out to a farm in West Cork near the town of Skibbereen. The farm is called Ardagh and besides raising organic beef they are mainly occupied with their seed company Brown Envelope Seeds. It is one of only two company/farms that produce seed in Ireland. The other being the Irish Seed Savers Association. You can read more about them at their website www.brownenvelopeseeds.com

Drying onions from one of the two polytunnels.



Brassica seed. On all of our field trips we spend part of the day helping out with the projects taking place there. Here we were sifting through dry seed heads, to separate and collect the seeds.







Amaranth, a staple food of the Aztecs that has been cultivated as a grain for over 8,000 years. A beautiful plant.







I wish I could remember the name of this squash. Very interesting! At the farm they are always trying new varieties, experimenting to see what works well in the cool, wet Irish climate. They want to not only give growers more options but also the ability to be creative and have fun with their gardens.



Madeline McKeever, at center, owns Brown Envelope Seeds. Her and her partner were our hosts for the day.



Brassica seeds shells and dried flower stalks



Lunch time with (from left) Lizzie from Canada-Scotland-Oaklahoma...mainly Scotland, me, Michelle from Galway and Sinead from Cork city.
Story... on the first day I met Sinead she was telling me that she had been to America and had lived in the most red-neck town there was. I asked where. Ocean City, MD she said. Real funny.








There was some confusion for us when we got here and our zucchinis were being called marrows and courgettes. So these here are marrows. Apparently courgettes are marrows picked at an immature state and for a better taste. These ones were huge, left on the vine to produce good seeds.