Gort Na Nain - What a day

Lucy Stewart and Ultan Walsh opened the gates to their farm last Saturday and gave us Slow Food Members and Friends an amazing time. It seemed a day just made for us - the sun was shining and Ultan who had been bitten by a 'few' bees the day before was in good shape again :-)

We followed Ultan along this farm and listened very carefully to his stories, explanations and I think I speak for all of us that Ultan's sense of humour is affectionate. We learned how he and his partner Lucy started the farm 5 years ago and what they had done in the meantime - which is an amazing story in itself as most of the work is still done by hand by Ultan and Lucy (they have a help once a week). Even the weeding is done by hand as Gort Na Nain is free of any chemicals.

We were offered samples of the most yummiest orange cherry tomatoes, cucumber and I even 'won' an aubergine which I 'recognised' as beetroot (to my defense, the leaves look quite similar).

After we returned to the farm house - which looks quite 'old' but has been build by Ultan and Lucy - we were treated to a lunch that exceeded my expectations (but it shouldn't have been a surprise as even Denis Cotter is using Ultan and Lucy's recipes in his latest book). The table was bending under the weight of the food, quiches, homemade sourdough bread, salads etc - and that was followed by cakes and muffins. The food was made with their own produce - even the jam was homemade for the sponge and I was not the only one with a big smile on my face.

We only left the farm and the hospitality of Gort Na Nain with great hesitation as we were made so welcome.

Lucy and Ultan are great hosts and their generosity was only surpassed by the warmth and humour they showed us on a perfect sunny day. Our thanks goes out to Lucy and Ultan.

Half the proceedings of the day will be donated to the charity KOST (Knocknamanagh Old School Tracton) which is supported by Ultan and Lucy. The website of KOST is currently unavailable but if you would like to support this charity, they have an account with AIB Carrigaline, Knocknamanagh Ltd account name.