Day One...

Well, I'm officially in the country; I was awoken this morning at 6:30am to the sound of the rooster crowing and there I was worried I might sleep in and miss the morning tour of the gardens- no fear of that.

Today was the last of the introductions as the fun in the kitchen starts tomorrow. We met for breakfast which was fresh porridge with milk from the farm; warm brown bread and delicious homemade butter. We were told to have a hearty breakfast as we had a two hour tour of the farm and gardens coming up. Where possible, all the schools produce is sourced from the organic farm and gardens otherwise from local producers- it's the schools ethos. I stuck my wellies on and we met outside to be given a talk from Darina.

From here, we went down and toured the Fruit Garden which had everything from peaches to strawberries. Then we took a tour down to The Herb Garden, which was amazing and then onto the Celtic Maze where we tried not to get lost! From here we went onto The Shell House, which is a small little hide away which is filled with shells, it's simply amazing. We then went for a stroll to the glasshouses where were planted our own geraniums and lettuces. This is where we will take turns going to every morning to pick the produce for the day's cooking.

Finally, the end of the tour we were shown how to make compost where Darina explained how to reuse all aspects of kitchen waste. We then took a visit to the pigs and the dairy cows, before wrapping up the tour visiting the vegetable garden. Next to the vegetable garden was the solar panels for the school, this is yet another unique aspect to the school. The school recently invested a great deal in a Photovoltaic Solar Array system and at any given time, the school is generating energy from the lights natural resources- if you're geeky you might find this to be your cup of tea:

Solar Power Ballymaloe

We then sat for lunch where Darina gave us another talk about the origins of our lunch before heading into an afternoon of demonstrations with Darina. In one afternoon, Darina taught us the very basics from cutting and chopping to beginners bread and biscuits.

I ended the long day by signing up for stints in the local Farmers Market, Ballymaloe House, Crawford Art Gallery Cafe, Saturday Pizzas, and oh yeah, milking a cow- now there's a pic in that! So folks, tomorrow I'm hoping to get the camera out and start showing you around the school.

Tomorrow, it's down to business, chefs whites on and away I go.

Chat to you then,

D