Welcome to a week in the country

with Dr Catherine Keena, Teagasc countryside management specialist

Look out for willow catkins. Immature male catkins are covered in grey fur and elongate and open to allow the pollen drift on the breeze to pollinate. Catkins appear before the leaves on our most common varieties such as goat willow grey willow and eared willow. There are up to twenty varieties of willow in Ireland including hybrids and are difficult to distinguish. They vary from tall trees to small bushes. Goat willow is the most common one in hedges and has broad leaves.Willows also known as sallies grow in damp ground and are part of our native Irish biodiversity.

Hi Amii,

I’m only now getting to “Crafting: much more than a hobby” in Backchat in the Farmer’s Journal and realising how much I have enjoyed Margaret Leahy’s writing, whether it’s about Christmas or crafting.

I too am a serial craft workshop attendee and for me her writing is so authentic and I can really relate to her experiences.

Looking forward to the next one because I feel like she is relating my own story, whether it is about Christmases past or crafting with new friends.

All the best,Trish

Hi Amii

I just need to email you and wish Damien well in the future I liked his column but I am delighted to congratulate you on your great weekly column by Margaret Leahy, what a breath of fresh air, she is so like some of my friends and I can really relate to what she has written.

I loved her column about clocks love the friends one and 424 bus, we need someone like her to say it as it is and to have in our corner as life is difficult enough with all the stresses of family life especially coming up to Xmas. Looking forward to next week’s edition dying to see what she is writing about. I am sure it will be interesting, thank you again. I love Irish Country Living. I have told my non-farming friends to buy the paper and read Margaret’s column.

I have a husband and two sons who are robotic dairy farming. I do tell them about important items in Irish Country Living. Keep up the good work.

Kind Regards, Breege

Tipp girls Sarah and Kate Egan ready to help their Grandad Pat Treacy with the foddering in Portumna.

with Katherine O’Leary

Change your towel policy

A fluffy bath sheet with a deep pile is a luxury, but it is an expensive one. With energy costs rising, everything about the deep piled towel is wrong. The minute it goes into the washing machine, it is obvious just how much space it takes up. It also takes a lot of extra water to wet it. Then come the drying! All the other washing is dry while the fluffy towel needs a further day on the line.

Change your thinking about the fluffy towel. Leave it for the summer months when drying is easy. Buy lighter ones when your present ones are worn out. There’s no need for bath sheets, a bath towel is quite sufficient. Also, assign a towel to each family member. Wash them when the weather allows every couple of weeks. It is not necessary to wash a towel after every use.

"Agriculture is the Swiss knife that can resolve many problems for society; from food, energy, and biodiversity, to carbon capture and carbon keeping in soil. Now, the problem is that farmers are becoming very pessimistic because of the criticism and we must find a way back from that"

Christiane Lambert, COPA president in Pic of the week">We are essential

Meet the Maker, Alla Shadrova, who established an upcycling craft business in Boyle, Co Roscommon, after being forced to flee her native Ukraine last year.