Gallivanting.ie

Did you know Courtown Woods is the only Irish woodlands that turn into golden sands. It makes for some wonderful plant diversity! Mugwort and Mallow growing next to Wild Garlic and Bluebells! Its a wonderful woodland pantry, but you can also find an abundance of 99s and strawberries and cream!

Ah Wexford, its the best!

Have you ever written your name in the Ogham script using a Willow Quill and Elderberry or Aldercone ink? While sitting under the shade of the Mother Tree, down in the forest? While enjoying a sparkling nettle drink?
Well what sort of a woodland fairy are you!?

Come for a walk like no other and discover the magic of Irelands woodlands! Come Gallivanting every Saturday morning, dogs welcome too!

I'll never not be grateful that this is what I see when I come to work....even if on some days its so wet even the Park Rangers tease me!

Just back from another amazing weekend at for the Bealtaine Fire Festival.
I never miss it, its fast becoming a huge event in the family calendar with my girls travelling home from France and Scotland to attend. Its not often we get to honour Eirù in such a loud, joyous way!

If you want to learn more about Eirù and some of the other wonderful Goddesses worshipped here in Ireland, come gallivanting! But for now... Bealtaine blessings, may the summer be good to us all!

Here's a good one for you! This wee plant has been popping up all over the place recently, and I have spent a fair bit of time talking about how it hides among the Wild Garlic and it must be avoided as its poisonous. But its actually a really interesting wee plant with its own stories!
Its latin name is Arum maculatum but it has simply loads of nicknames, the most common here being "Lords and Ladies" or the "Cuckoo PInt" and this is where I get curious!

Its said to get its name Lords and Ladies, because of its really starchy roots. These were boiled and used to starch those ridiculous lace collars worn in the Elizabethan and Tudor periods. But because the plant is so poisonous, the poor Laundry women would often end up with painful blisters on their hands from processing the plant.

The name Cuckoo Pint is not a typo either, Pint is a shortened version of Pintile an old English word for p***s! some people believe the Lords and Ladies name may be derived from the same thinking, as the flower can look a little like a woman's genitalia!

Either way, its a fascinating plant thats been used for more than the above over the years, treating things like ringworm, skin tags and warts in the past.

But it is quite poisonous, enough to kill if eaten and there is no antidote so if this gets into your pesto, you may find yourself in trouble! So do ensure no leaves find their way into your basket! And don't pick it to add to a flower display either, it gives off a rather nasty smell to attract flies! Not something you want in the kitchen!

Want to know more, come gallivanting!