Escape the drudgery with some tasty ideas; three food entrepreneurs share their experiences on running cooking classes, making cheese wedding cakes and writing a food newsletter from home
Ciara Fennessy is reluctant to describe herself as a chef. The word comes loaded with bossiness and stern authority which simply does not match her character. Also, she has spent very little of her life working in restaurant kitchens. Her cuisine is rooted more in home meal-making than in the pursuit of Michelin stars. Ciara has knowledge and skills to match many a chef but she affects none of the machismo which sometimes accompanies the title.
Bloom time If you dream of filling your home with your own cut flowers, gifting website and flower farm Bell Meadow has introduced a flower seed collection that will help you realise that ambition. It contains 11 seed packets (each with detailed growing instructions on a card to keep for reference) including sweet peas, cornflowers and marigolds. These are all suitable for beginner growers and will attract pollinators to your garden. Bell Meadow’s Maria Ryan suggests starting the sweet peas now indoors if you want earlier blooms; the others can be started in early spring inside, or planted directly into the garden or a raised bed later in spring, once the danger of frost has passed.