Search Results for 'Fruit'

The ideal fruit for Valentine’s Day is definitely the strawberry. Not only is a strawberry the colour of love, in the shape of a heart - it is also good for your heart. Researchers in the US discovered that people who ate strawberries (and other fruits coloured red, purple, or blue) had a lower risk of heart disease. So what has the humble strawberry got that can have this positive effect?

As we age our skin’s natural cell renewal process slows down and cells which were once full of energy become sluggish, reducing radiance and tone.

Velenosi Querciantica Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 2011 (widely available, €16)

Arrigo Bidoli Friuli Merlot DOC 2010 (Independents, €14.79)

A DYNAMIC and engaging arts programme awaits the Galway public in 2011 as the Galway Arts Centre has prioritised staying open and accessible regardless of next year’s budget cuts.

Summer just wouldn’t be the same without strawberries. There’s nothing quite like this sweet, succulent fruit, whether you eat it with cream, with ice cream, out of a punnet in front of Wimbledon on the telly, or—best of all—just as they’re picked, with the warmth of a sunny afternoon suffusing the flesh. And quite apart from the flavour, the sweet, almost honeyed fragrance of freshly picked strawberries is unbeatable: a bowl of fruit on a kitchen table will scent the whole room.

The farming world took centre stage last week with tens of thousands of people descending on Cuffesgrange for the Ploughing Championships. I’d intended going out to have a look and finding a few offbeat facts for this column, but the hourly radio reports of two to three hour traffic hold-ups put me off.

This is the time of year when berries really come into their own. It wasn’t a good year for blackberries – too much rain and not enough sun – but they are well past it by now. (You should never, in any case, pick blackberries after Michaelmas (September 29) because, as I was told as a child, on Michaelmas eve the devil goes around busily spitting on them.) The rowan berries are on the way out, but hawthorns are adorned with masses of jewel-like dark red berries, tiny snowballs are appearing on the snowberry, and the holly is already looking Christmassy.

The gardening year is moving along nicely and hopefully you have been keeping busy, gardening that is!

Enjoy growing and nurturing your own fruit, flowers and vegetables at Castlebar Allotments, Balloor, Castlebar.