Officially autumn commenced on August 1st, although here on the farm, we always feel that September 1st would be a more appropriate day. No matter which way you look at it, autumn is definitely here now, and so are our apples; the ultimate reminder of the season we are in. We hope that you enjoy our autumn newsletter.

 During the summer, we were lucky enough to be asked by RTÉ television to participate in the making of a cookery program. The chef in question is Seamus O'Connell from “The Ivory Tower” in Cork city. His mission on our farm was to select some of our produce for a “white forest gateau”. Luckily we were able to supply our strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, free range eggs, and even some ingredients that we did not know we had (such as rose petals and elderflower), for the delicious recipe. Everything was made on the farm, baked in our oven, and sampled by customers who had the patience to wait for a few hours while the work progressed. The result was an unbelievable success; a white forest cake like none that I had ever tasted before. I look forward to getting the recipe when the program is screened after Christmas.
The taste of the elderflower sauce has even inspired us to try making an elderflower juice next year.

Here in Ireland we have an organisation known as the “Irish Apple Growers Association”. Every now and then we hold an event for growers and other interested parties, and this year the theme of our event is “new apple varieties”. The event is split over two afternoons, one on September 24th, and the second on December 4th. At the first meeting we will be touring an orchard in Cappoquin, and looking at new varieties. We will have one expert from the UK with us on this day to guide us through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
For the December meeting we expect to have a researcher from Holland who has assessed one thousand new varieties over the past ten years. Of great interest will be his assessment of a number of new disease-resistant varieties. These varieties are showing great promise for gardeners who do not wish to spray, and will also make life easier for organic growers.
If you wish to find out more about this event, and apple varieties which will be good in your garden, keep an eye on our website. And if you have a deep interest in apples, and want to attend this event, please give us a call at the farm for more details.

The selection of apples in our farm shop over the next few months will include Katy, Delbar Estivale, James Grieve, Alkmene, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Elstar, Jonagored, Golden Delicious and Karmijn de Sonnaville. We will also have Bramley’s Seedling cookers and as usual, apple jelly, strawberry jam, and Karmine apple juice. 
We should also have some wonderful pears including Conference and Doyenne du Comice some time in late November.

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