Harvest time is always the best time in the Kitchens of The Strawberry Tree, not alone have we got our Farmer Producers bringing in to us the fabulous bounty of their years labour…. but, also our Wild Food Pantry is bursting at the seams with harvested wild food goodies for The Menu. Exciting times for any Kitchen that has to be totally reliant on the seasons; this is the time that our chefs can flourish with Irelands natural harvest…can it get any better!

Well, yes it can and it has done so every winter since The Strawberry Tree opened its door for the first time. We always find ourselves watching the calendar in the Kitchen at this time of year, counting the days down to midnight on October 31^st, when for a brief period every year the Irish Game Season opens and our menu transforms totally into a celebration of the largest variety of Wild Game that any menu in Ireland has to offer.

From the heady scent of braised pheasant, the deep dark flavour of slow-cooked venison to the delicate taste of Woodcock and Snipe, a contented reliance on nature’s gifts is as Strawberry Tree as it gets.

And Natures Gifts they are, She gives us a bounty of Wild Foods every winter: Venison, Rabbit, Pheasant, Widgeon, Teal, Mallard, Woodcock, Snipe to name a few…but its Nature that decides when these will make star appearances on the menu of The Strawberry Tree, not us!

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This Sunday, October the 02nd, is not only our final monthly Food Market of 2011, but it’s also Euro-Toques Family Forage Day. It should all be great craic and you can get full details HERE. Why not spoil yourself a bit and stay overnight? B&B is available for €60 pps at BrookLodge Reservations

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I know I’m biased, but I thought the BrookLodge and Macreddin Village, looked absolutely stunning on MasterChef Ireland last night. Our Chefs, Tim, James and Jeff put in great performances too, and it was a genuinely fascinating challenge. Not only did it show Evan and Mary, and the contestants out foraging wild foods, but it also showed that we operate real kitchens, where we debone our own meats and fillet our own fish, There’s a repeat on RTE Two at 5.30pm, or you can catch it on the RTE Player now http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1113673

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If you want to get the real “Macreddin Experience”, why not visit or Village Food Market this Sunday from noon? The weather looks like it could be quite good, and you can chill out with an organic spit-roast pork bap, and a glass of prosecco with a dash of wild elderflower cordial. For some real indulgence, stay the night for just €60pp B&B.

It’s July, it’s the first weekend of a new month, and that means tomorrow is Market Sunday at Macreddin. The weather is looking cracking, so it should be a perfect day for lazing around with a glass of Bubbly and a dash of our very own Wild Elderflower Cordial. And of course, we’ll have our usual unique collection of artisan and organic foods and goodies and an organic pig-on-the-spit

STRAWBERRY TREE RECEIVES ITS FIRST WILD SALMON IN 8 YEARS. With stocks dwindling, The Strawberry Tree stopped purchasing wild Salmon in 2003, and subsequently, the Government instigated a complete ban in 2006. In the interim period, under careful monitoring and control, stocks have risen and this year for the first time…this fabulous seasonal wild food is available once again, to our customers. The photo shows the chefs celebrating with the first delivery of Salmon, caught on the River Nore by Mick Nolan – our licensed ’snap net salmon fisherman’.

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