The Apple Club Newsletter, Autumn 2003, Page 1

Early this spring we ploughed down our old strawberry plot, and were wondering what to plant there instead. At the time, our first batch of vinegar was finishing, and we thought it would be nice to grow something that we could sell along with it. After some research, we found out that one of the ingredients in mustard (as you buy it in a jar or tube) is vinegar, and since you can already get French Mustard, American Mustard, and English Mustard, we thought it would be nice to have an Irish one too. So we got some seed and planted an acre, and it was harvested a few weeks ago.
Mustard plants look like weeds, and I suppose if they were growing in the wrong place they would be, just as wild mustard grows in Ireland anyway. Whether cultivated mustard would do well here was a mystery, as we had not tried it before, and it is usually grown in warmer countries. However, we need not have worried, because with the summer we had, the plants flourished, and we harvested a lovely crop, though there were some weed seeds present that we still have to remove by fine-sieving.
We plan to make the mustard as soon as our next batch of vinegar is ready, and we look forward to bringing you the resultant Irish Mustard.

For anybody living in the South Tipperary area (or who fancies a trip to Tipp), a great new shopping experience is available every Saturday morning at Cahir Farmers’ Market. This is a recently launched outdoor market, which specialises in local foods. All the benefits of consuming local foods are well known, such as the support of local jobs and industry, and the environmental benefit of not having to transport food the length and breadth of the country. The benefit of visiting Cahir Farmers’ Market is that you get to meet the food producer, whether it is the Grubb family with their World-renowned Cashel Blue and other cheeses, or the producers of other excellent cheeses, breads, cakes, conserves, meats, fish, vegetables and so on, as well as products from our own farm too. The market is wonderfully situated next to the Craft Granary, and because each stall is weather-proof thanks to excellent design, this allows shoppers and browsers to take shelter if necessary.
For anyone interested in supporting your other local producers, I recommend a visit to Cahir Farmers’ Market. Business commences at 9am, and while stalls remain open until 1pm, you always run the risk of meeting an empty stall if you wait until the last moment. I look forward to seeing you there at our stall soon.