Identification and Field Skills

The National Biodiversity Data Centre is hosting a programme of workshops to improve identification and field skills of biological groups and raise standards of data collection and management.

Please see the link below for further information.

Biodiversity Ireland

Best Uses of Seaweed from Marie

Using Seaweed

Cooking
Seaweed must be dried within a day or two of harvesting. Drip dry over a covered clothesline out of sunlight. Or over stove. Or in hot press. Not necessary to rinse in fresh water, unless you are avoiding salt. Except in the case of Slouchan – purple laver / sea lettuce, which needs lots of rinsing to remove sand etc.

Stock
Briefly rinse, then soak kelp (2 x 6 inch pieces) overnight. Add to 3L water with parsley stalks, bouquet garni, few porcini mushrooms. Boil for 15 - 40 mins or longer. Strain. Use in combination with your normal stock initially at least.

Kelp (Oarweed / Kombu) can be used again e.g. for tendersing beans. Compost it when finished.

Condiment
Briefly toast and grind in pestle and mortar: Dilisk, Alaria, Bladderwrack, Channelwrack, Sugar Kelp, Sloughan (Purple laver/Nori). Mix all or some of these and use sprinkled on poached eggs, soup, salsa, salad. This will give you full spectrum of trace elements, minerals and vitamins. Add Alaria to rice like this for a “chickeny” flavour.

Crisps

Put 1-2 inch pieces of Sugar Kelp, Kelp or Dilisk in a hot oven until they crisp –3-5 mins. Sugar kelp and kelp are very high in iodine, and should only be eaten very occasionally.

Salads: Sea spaghetti (Thong weed) and Alaria (Winged Kelp/Wakame) can be marinated and added to salads.

• Sea spaghetti. First soak in water for an hour. Rinse, then marinate in lemon juice and balsamic vinegar for a few hours of overnight. Chop and add to salads – especially nice with grated carrot salad, dressed with a lemon/mustard/olive oil/garlic dressing

• Alaria (winged kelp) Soak 1 cupful / or 2 * 6 inch pieces dried) in tepid water for 20 mins. Saute for 1 min : 1 tbsp soy sauce; 3 garlic cloves; 2 tsp honey; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp grated ginger. Add the Alaria and little soak water, bring to the boil and simmer for 40 mins, until the mid-rib is soft.. Add soak water if needed. Remove from heat and add a dash of sesame oil and more honey if needed. Serve mixed gently through salads or as a side dish with grains.

You can make pesto, salsa, pate, pasta, breads, scones, mousse, carrot cake and even ice cream with seaweeds. Watch out for a new Seaweed Cookery book by Dr. Prannie Rhatigan with recipes for these and more.
In the meantime, to get you started here are 2 of yesterday’s recipes. The soup was Butternut squash, but you could use the stock for any soup.

Cheese and Dilisk Scones

(from Dr. Prannie Rhatigan, Sligo, with thanks)

Ingredients

Method

40g / 2 ozs dried dilisk, toasted and crumbled Olive oil for frying 2 onions 2 garlic cloves 1lb plain flour or white spelt ¼ tsp cream of tartar 1 level tsp baking powder 2 level tsp mustard powder ¼-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 85g/ 3 oz butter, softened 1 egg, beaten 227ml/ 8fl oz milk 85g/ 3 oz grated strong cheese or hard goats cheese 25g / 1 oz strong cheddar/ smoked cheese/ Parmesan for sprinkling

Dry dilisk in hot oven for 2-3 mins, or in a cool AGA overnight. Crumble into flakes when cool enough to handle Preheat oven to 210 c / 410 f/ Lightly grease 2 baking trays. Fry onions and garlic till soft, mix in crumbled dilisk towards end and allow to cool. Sift flour, BP and C of T into a bowl. Stir in mustard and cayenne. Dice and rub in butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add almost all egg/milk in a well in centre and mix gently. Stir in cheese along with cooled onion/dilisk mixture. (I prefer to add all these before the egg/milk). Turn dough onto floured surface and flatten or roll to just over 1” thick. Stamp out scones, brush with reserved milk/egg mixture and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 12- 15 mins.

Hilary’s Chocolate Carragheen with Irish Coffee Sauce

(Ask your diners to guess the ingredient AFTER they’ve tasted it!)

Ingredients

Method

600ml / 1pt. Milk 20g / ¾ oz carragheen moss 250g / 9 oz caster sugar 115 / 4 oz plain chocolate 2.5ml / ½ tsp groundnut oil (for oiling cups) 90 ml / 6 tbsp water 250 ml / 8 fl oz strong coffee 15ml / 1 tbsp Irish Whiskey grated chocolate and lightly whipped cream to serve

Put milk carragheen and 1oz/25g sugar in saucepan and bring to boil. Then simmer for 15 mins. Chop chocolate into small pieces or grate, remove milk etc. from heat and stir in chocloate until melted. Strain this mixture. Lightly oil 4 teacups, pour in choc. Carragheen and chill until set. Heat rest of sugar and water gently in heavy based saucepan until sugar dissolves and reaches pale syrup stage. Pour in coffee & stir over gentle heat until smooth. Remove from heat, cool and add whiskey. Leave to cool. Invert each mousse onto a plate and pour sauce around. Decorate with grated choc. And cream.

Skin Care
Use bunch of Fucus Serratus or Bladderwrack in your bath to soften and refresh skin.
Rinse seaweed in seawater and remove all living creatures. Place in bath and our very hot water over. Fill bath as normal, and soak for as long as you can! Compost seaweed afterwards

Gardening
Use Kelp (Oarweed) to improve soil condition and nutrients. October: Wash in fresh water, then shred and place on soil. Fork it in. Or lay on top of soil and cover with black plastic until ready for spring planting.
Use as “collar” / mulch around plants to keep slugs away. Add rinsed seaweed to your compost to activate.

Harvesting
Observe safety when collecting on rocks. Start one hour before low tide and keep facing the sea. Wear strong slip-proof and waterproof footwear. Only take what you need. Cut off a piece of the frond (“leaves”) rather than pulling the whole plant from the rocks. Remember, lots of other species need the seaweed to live on! Pick from areas you know to have clean water.

marpower@eircom.net www.iwt.ie

Oilspill Nears Coast?

Press Release

Feb 27th, 2009

Oil Spill - An Uncoordinated Approach Will Lead to Loss of Wildlife.

In light of the recent oil spill off the south coast of Ireland, the Irish Wildlife Trust have contacted various government departments and Local Authorities to find out what the plan of action is to deal with the oil spill if it reaches the Irish coast. Unfortunately after contacting various departments the lines of action are not clearly defined, a very worrying situation indeed.

The Coastguard in the Department of Communications Energy and Natural Resources believe the oil slick will not come ashore and currently they are monitoring the slick on a daily basis with helicopters. This is not an exact science and could change over time. A question that is harder to answer is; what happens if oil does come ashore? The oil might not come ashore immediately it might take weeks before the effects are seen. The Coastguard indicated Local Authorities are responsible for clean up operations and should have pollution plans in place. However, we know for instance Waterford County Council among others do not have a pollution plan, so what happens next?

The Coastguard have anti-pollution equipment, including bunds, to boom off oils slicks if it gets close to the shore but it is unclear if this is enough. The equipment is located in Dublin and at local sites and is under the charge of the Coastguard Pollution and Salvage manager but if the slick breaks up, it is not clear how many bays could be boomed off simultaneously as there is no published plan to consult.

In the event of oil reaching the shore the first signs of damage the public would see would be tar balls on beaches or oiled birds. In such circumstances we would advise the public report directly to the Coastguard. LoCall no. 1890 44 9900 and to the local County Council.

‘Our coastal region is invaluable for wildlife and humans alike, species such as seals, whales and dolphins, and coastal colonies of sea birds depend on a clean environment to survive,’ commented Padraic Fogarty (IWT Chairperson).

The south of Ireland holds many Special Areas of Conservation such as the Tramore Backstrand, Bannow Bay and Clonakilty Bay to name a few, not mention Special Protection areas for birds like the Saltee Islands 4 kilometres off the coast of Wexford. In this time of economic uncertainty the impact that this spill could have on our fisheries would be disastrous and have a serious impact on the livelihood of many involved in fisheries.

Even if the oil spill does not reach the Irish shores, there is still a serious need for relevant authorities to work together with a coordinated approach involving communities to help protect our beautiful coastal wildlife in the future.

Contact:

For further information please contact Joanne Pender

IWT Development Officer Ph: 01 860 2839 or E-mail: enquiries@iwt.ie

Rare Waterford Native Tree's Homecoming

Did you know that there is a rare type of oak that is native to Waterford? The Fennessy's Oak was first grown in Fennessy's Nursery in the town land of Grange in the 1820s.

Check out the Waterford Today newspaper website.

Just a random oak tree!

National Tree Week

National Tree Week
March 1st to March 7th 2009

It’s the time of the year again with Springtime on the horizon, that we think again about the leaves appearing on the trees, flowers blooming in the gardens and parks of Co. Waterford and the National Trees Council’s National Tree Week in association with Waterford County Council..

This year, Waterford County Council have been fortunate enough to receive an allocation of Trees for distribution to Schools, Community Groups and Residents Associations. As per previous years, a selection of species will be available including ash, rowan, common beech, copper beech, hazel, common birch and pedunculate oak

Trees are recognised as one of the essential parts of our environment for the role they play in cleaning air, preventing the build-up of greenhouse gases, providing renewable energy and materials for building, furniture and all the wooden items that form part of our everyday life, including the paper we read. Trees also play an essential role in providing habitats for thousands of plants and animals and are important for soil stabilisation. They are also a major contributor to our economy. This year the National Trees Council want to emphasize the role of trees in our culture whether in art, literature, poetry, history, legends, etc… the National Trees Council are compiling a guide of all the events taking place all over the country. The guide will be distributed to all primary schools and our members and will be available from sponsor outlets, O2 and Coillte. It will also be posted on their website, www.treecouncil.ie.

As supplies will be limited, Waterford Co. Co. will do its best to get as many trees to as many groups as possible. However, please be aware that you need to contact Kevin Moynihan at the details below to register your groups’ interest in receiving trees. Act now to avoid disappointment.

In his role as Waterford County Council’s Environment Education & Awareness Officer, Kevin Moynihan can offer advice of a practical nature in relation to Energy Conservation, Water Conservation, Litter/Waste and any other general Environment queries that you may have. Do not hesitate to contact him on the numbers and details below.

For further information please contact Kevin Moynihan, Environment Education & Awareness Officer on 058 22040 or email kmoynihan@waterfordcoco.ie alternatively contact The Environment Section, Waterford County Council, Civic Offices, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. Email: environmentinfo@waterfordcoco.ie Web: www.waterfordcoco.ie

Garrarus Resort Clears First Hurdle!

Waterford News and Star devotes page 3 not to skimpily clad girls but to the news that:

€150 million golf resort clears first planning hurdle

. On the same page,

Residents believe plan is screen for housing

.
P12 of the Munster Express also leads with

Council grants permission for Garrarus resort

.

For more information check out the website of Garrarus & District Concerned Residents (GDCR).

Cheekpoint Outing, 22nd February

The IWT February event will take place on the 22nd February at Cheekpoint/Faithlegg. The meeting place is at Faithlegg National School at 2.30pm. The walk will be led by Ray McGrath and will be approximately 2 hours. It will take in the seashore, woods, and SAC.
This is an easy walk and the event is family friendly.
Please note that the above map is not the actual route but just an idea of the area.