Kitchen Garden Open Day

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News & Upcoming Events @ No.1

DATE: Saturday 24th September, 2011

One Pery Square Hotel opens it's kitchen garden to the public Sept 24th 3pm

The award winning boutique hotel One Pery Square has been busy this
summer developing it's newest project, a kitchen garden. Nestled in
the courtyard of this cosy stylish hotel in the heart of Limerick's
Georgian quarter, the garden has been developed since an idea hatched
last winter with local food writer and horticulturalist Valerie
O'Connor. Chef Alan Burns and the hotels proprietor Patricia Roberts
contacted Valerie due to her skills in the area and her campaigning at
a local level for the city to have more green spaces.

Valerie writes for many prominent food publications and magazines,
focusing on trends like growing your own food and organics. Having
recently completed a two year diploma in Organic Horticulture at An
t'Ionad Glas in Co.Limerick she is keen to highlight the possibilities
of growing your own food in the urban environment. "This is a really
exciting project as it brings elements of rural and urban together in
a small space like a hotel garden. Working with the chef has been
great as we chose varieties of vegetables that he really wanted for
the kitchen but couldn't find from any suppliers. We set potatoes in a
raised bed and had a bumper crop of Anyas, Jersey Royals and Nicolas.
The tomatoes are still green due to a lack of sun this year but the
peas, runner beans and cabbages have done really well. The bar staff
can't get enough mint for the much-loved mojitos, how many bars can
say that they make their cocktails form herbs that they grow in their
own garden? "

All the crops are grown organically and the waste from the kitchen is
composted in the gardens own composter. There has been a great
response from diners when they get a steak sandwich with rocket that
we've just picked from our own plot", says chef Alan Burns. "For it's
first year the project has been a great success, and a learning
experience".

Visitors can pop in any time and enjoy a coffee in the garden or a
bite of lunch. On the open day Valerie will set two fruit trees to
grow along the south facing wall, which will mature over time and
create an attractive feature for years to come.

Valerie O'Connor writes the popular www.valskitchen and is a
contributing editor to the Bridgestone Irish Food Guides.