Anne Neary (Ryeland Cookery School) Edward Hayden (TV3 Chef) and Breda McDonald (ICA) making preparations for the Bread, Butter and Jam workshops taking place in the cooking pit at the Harvest Picnic on Sunday 29th September at Highbank Organic Orchards – everything you’ll ever need to know about baking bread, making jam and churning butter!
There’ll be lots of other fun activities at Harvest Picnic including the National Onion Hanking Championship which takes place for the first time ever at the Harvest Picnic. Hanking is the practice of plaiting onions to hang and store them over the winter (still practiced on Irish farms but also commonplace in Normandy – Google it?!). A good hank is one where the lowest hanging onion can be taken from the plait without disturbing the rest; it should be substantial (lots of onions!), durable (doesn’t fall apart) and visually appealing ( extra points for creativity here!) .