Welcome to the country: black knapweed and preserving vegetables

Dear Editor,

My fundraising book, Hope to Cope, was featured in the Irish Farmers Journal on 7 July, a poignant date as my dad’s birthday was a few days previous. Hope to Cope is in his honour. The article was beautifully written and evocative. It brought a tear to my eye even though I knew the story. My father was a district superintendent with the Department of Agriculture. The article led to several of his work colleagues reaching out to me and connecting through shared stories. This I will cherish.

It raised a lot of awareness for my special fundraiser, which is incredible because all proceeds go to the Irish Cancer Society and Marymount Hospital and Hospice. In addition, sales of Hope to Cope have increased since the article’s release.

People are taken with the story when they hear it so getting it in the Irish Farmers Journal gave it a massive platform of loyal readers. My dad always said that the people who buy the Irish Farmers Journal read it. So it was a real privilege to be featured in this paper.

I bring the featured article around with me to all my book signings, and it has pride of place on my book stand. It gets a lot of attention because it is reflective of how Irish people support each other to do good and pay forward to those in need of support.

Katherine Dolphin Griffin

Planning to preserve some homegrown vegetables this year? Here are three tips:

1 Don’t re-use lids as the seal may not be as effective.

2 Don’t simply sterilise jars in the oven if you plan to store your preserves for several months - either sterilise them in the dishwasher on the highest temperature setting or in the oven before filling. Then submerge the filled jars in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes (make sure they are submerged) to ensure any bacteria is killed. This is only for high-acidity preserves; veggies like sweetcorn or green beans should be sterilised in a pressure canner.

3 Store your preserves in a cool dry place and enjoy the fruits of your summer labour throughout the winter.

With Dr Catherine Keena, Teagasc countryside management specialist

Look out for common or black knapweed with reddish purple thistle-like flowers, whose bases are covered in scaly bracts with bristly edges. The grey-green leaves grow alternately up the stiff branched ridged stems. The nectar at the base of tube-like florets is only available to long-tongued insects, mainly butterflies. Knapweed flowers stay open during rain as the pollen is only exposed when flowers are touched by visiting insects. With at least nine species of gall flies and small moths feeding on it, many of which are prey for other predatory insects, knapweed is a good example of a food web – all part of our native Irish biodiversity.

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Mike Parle - The Lost Valley Dairy

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