Browse content similar to Episode 3. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Hello and welcome to Home Ground, | 0:00:29 | 0:00:31 | |
the programme that brings you a slice | 0:00:31 | 0:00:33 | |
of rural life from across | 0:00:33 | 0:00:34 | |
Northern Ireland. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
Yes, tonight, Jo and I have a feast | 0:00:36 | 0:00:37 | |
of stories from across the country. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:39 | |
We've been meeting lots of interesting people | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
in fascinating places, doing some pretty incredible stuff. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
And here's what's coming up on tonight's programme. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
With the triggering of Article 50, Ruth finds out why Brexit | 0:00:50 | 0:00:54 | |
could spell disaster for some of our farming businesses. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:58 | |
If everybody in this farm left or couldn't get back easily, | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
what would you do? | 0:01:01 | 0:01:02 | |
Er, close. | 0:01:02 | 0:01:04 | |
-Really? -Oh, yes. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:06 | |
We meet the man who turned his passion for birds of prey | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
into a business. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:12 | |
That's a girl. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:13 | |
And I help some of our native seals out of the nursery | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
and back into the wild. | 0:01:18 | 0:01:20 | |
Last week, the Government triggered Article 50, | 0:01:27 | 0:01:29 | |
marking the beginning of our exit from Europe, | 0:01:29 | 0:01:32 | |
leaving a lot of farmers here in a state of flux. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
Well, Ruth Sanderson has been to the Moy to see how changes | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
in migration policy could have potentially devastating effects. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:43 | |
It's nearly 7.00am and I'm here to spend the day picking mushrooms. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:53 | |
I'm about to start the early shift, | 0:01:53 | 0:01:55 | |
so I'd better go and find the boss and clock in. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:57 | |
-Hi, Frank. Morning! -Good morning, Ruth. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
Could you do with an extra one today? | 0:02:00 | 0:02:02 | |
'Frank Donnelly has been growing mushrooms | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
'near the Moy in County Tyrone for the past 30 years.' | 0:02:04 | 0:02:08 | |
-For every crate that you pick, you'll put a picking letter. -Gosh! | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
So every single punnet of mushrooms that you buy in the supermarket, | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
you can trace it back to the exact person who picked it? | 0:02:15 | 0:02:17 | |
The exact house and the picker. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:19 | |
Wow! No pressure, then! | 0:02:19 | 0:02:21 | |
No pressure. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:22 | |
So it's on with the hairnet, apron and gloves. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:27 | |
Everyone gets their own knife and weighing scales - | 0:02:27 | 0:02:30 | |
the essentials of this business. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:32 | |
Today, it's brown chestnut mushrooms, | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
and there are a lot of them. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:39 | |
There's 27 tonne of mushroom compost, | 0:02:41 | 0:02:44 | |
and there's a layer of peat put on, and what you can see here, | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
this is the first flush, and this flush is starting today, | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
-and is ready to pick. -Right. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:52 | |
And how long would it have taken this to grow? | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
It has taken three weeks from when I put this compost in | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
until there's mushrooms. | 0:02:58 | 0:02:59 | |
A mushroom will grow one millimetre in an hour, | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
so literally overnight it has doubled in size. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
And when they reach their size, | 0:03:05 | 0:03:06 | |
they must be picked within four hours, so the pressure's on. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:09 | |
-Or they otherwise get too big? -They get too big. | 0:03:09 | 0:03:11 | |
Frank's mushrooms go to some of the big supermarkets, | 0:03:13 | 0:03:17 | |
but the margins are slim and precision is key. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
If you choose the wrong mushroom and you pick it too small, | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
I can lose up to 20% of my crop from poor picking, | 0:03:25 | 0:03:29 | |
so picking the right mushroom at the right time is crucial. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:33 | |
Treat them like an egg. Very delicately. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:38 | |
Touch them on the side and a slight twist | 0:03:38 | 0:03:42 | |
and it will come away. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:43 | |
-And you want to trim the peat - a nice straight cut. -Gosh! | 0:03:43 | 0:03:47 | |
And they're set carefully into the punnet. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
Like that? No! I've completely ruined that. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
That's OK. That happens. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:54 | |
-Aww. -That's OK. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:55 | |
That's actually a lot harder than it looks. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
When I came in here I though this would be a piece of cake - easy. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:00 | |
It's actually... It's a proper skill. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:04 | |
-It is a highly skilled job. -Yeah. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:06 | |
And that's why the pickers are key to it all. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:09 | |
Ah-ha! | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
Hallelujah! | 0:04:14 | 0:04:15 | |
I'm going to cut it about here? | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
The more you pick, the more you get paid, so you need a tempo. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:23 | |
There's a tempo that a good picker will have. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:26 | |
They sort of glide along the bed. Their eye is... | 0:04:26 | 0:04:30 | |
Everybody else is doing, except for me. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
So, now that I have, ahem, mastered the picking technique, | 0:04:36 | 0:04:40 | |
it's time to get to work. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:41 | |
There are thousands of mushrooms and only a few hours to pick them. | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
I'm on shift with 12 other pickers today, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
mainly from Lithuania, and a few from Bulgaria, | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
and I'm going significantly slower than them. | 0:04:57 | 0:04:59 | |
I took a little bit of a break to have a chat with Kamile, | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
who's been here for three years. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:04 | |
And in Lithuania, among your friends, | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
do many people leave the country? | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
Yes. A lot of people leave. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
In England, in Norway, in Sweden, | 0:05:11 | 0:05:15 | |
a lot of people in other countries. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:17 | |
Why do you not stay in Lithuania? | 0:05:17 | 0:05:19 | |
Because it's very hard to live in Lithuania. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:21 | |
It's not jobs, and small monies. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
-Yeah. -It's not good for us. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
-Do you miss home? -Yeah, of course. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:30 | |
We've had Brexit, so how do you feel about that? | 0:05:30 | 0:05:35 | |
I don't feel now a difference. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:38 | |
I don't know, after one year we will see. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:42 | |
We are working here legal. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:43 | |
-I think it's not bad for legal people. -Yeah. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:47 | |
We pay tax, for insurance, I think it's OK for us. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:52 | |
I hope! I hope. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:53 | |
Well, I guess that's the thing, | 0:05:53 | 0:05:55 | |
-no-one's really sure what's going to happen. -Yeah. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
It's strange to think that, this time next year, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
some of these workers might not be allowed back here to work. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
As yet, there is no certainty around the free movement | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
of people in Europe, however one thing is for sure - | 0:06:07 | 0:06:11 | |
the key role these workers play. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:13 | |
If everybody on this farm left, or couldn't get back easily, | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
what would you do? | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
-Er... Close. -Really? | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
Oh, yes. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:21 | |
-Really? -If... Yeah. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:25 | |
You would downsize... | 0:06:25 | 0:06:26 | |
You'd have to get smaller, produce less, | 0:06:26 | 0:06:30 | |
and then you wouldn't be efficient, and then you'd have to close. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
What about local workers? | 0:06:33 | 0:06:35 | |
I would love local workers to come, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
but the living wage is £7.20, | 0:06:38 | 0:06:43 | |
and locals would struggle to keep a family and keep a house | 0:06:43 | 0:06:48 | |
on £7.20 an hour. | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
Everyone who works here gets paid minimum wage, | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
but depending on how much they pick, have the chance to add a bit extra. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:59 | |
Do you think the Government really needs to prioritise | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
the issue of migrant work, | 0:07:04 | 0:07:06 | |
especially within the agri-food sector, | 0:07:06 | 0:07:08 | |
so that people like you don't go under? | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
I hope they do. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
I hope they really take it seriously, and they look at how | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
crucial migrant workers are to all the food sectors, | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
and all food processing. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
I do, I hope they do. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:24 | |
Because, like, you won't be here without them. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:27 | |
I wouldn't be here without them, no. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
That's the truth. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:31 | |
Now, traditionally, birds of prey were used by humans | 0:07:35 | 0:07:37 | |
for hunting and sport, but I've met one man who's putting | 0:07:37 | 0:07:41 | |
these magnificent birds to work in the big city. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
BIRDS CALL | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
Falconry has been practised for thousands of years, | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
but today, birds of prey are used as a form of pest control. | 0:07:56 | 0:08:00 | |
A humane option to some alternatives. | 0:08:00 | 0:08:02 | |
-Morning, Terry. -Morning, Kevin. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:04 | |
Thanks for having us down. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:05 | |
You're very welcome. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:07 | |
A beautiful specimen. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:08 | |
-That's Rosie. -Rosie? | 0:08:08 | 0:08:11 | |
She's a female Lanner falcon. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
So tell us what's happening today, here. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:15 | |
Well, first of all, I'm going to take her | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
into the weighing room there and I'm going to weigh her. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
I have to make sure she's at the right weight. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
So it's very precise? You need her at the exact weight? | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
Why is that? | 0:08:26 | 0:08:27 | |
If she's too heavy, she might not come back just as quick, | 0:08:27 | 0:08:32 | |
but if she was too light, she might fly away off after something | 0:08:32 | 0:08:36 | |
and try and kill it. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
-So she's a finely tuned athlete? -Yes. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
-On we go. -How's she looking? | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
One pound, eight ounces. That's a good weight for her. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
And Terry's latest project is a Eurasian eagle owl, | 0:08:48 | 0:08:52 | |
one of the largest owl species in the world. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:54 | |
What weight have we got now? Oh! four pounds. | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
It's important to get him weighed. What's he looking like? | 0:08:59 | 0:09:02 | |
He's four pound. He's OK. He'll be OK at four pound. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:07 | |
So he'll be OK to go out and do a bit of hunting today? | 0:09:07 | 0:09:09 | |
He will, hopefully. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:11 | |
He's only eight months old, so if he was in the wild, | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
he'd just be leaving his parents now, so he would. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
-Well, you're his daddy! -I'm his daddy now, yes. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
So he's only starting to learn this daily routine now. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
Very slow, but steady, you need plenty of patience | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
for these boys, so you do. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
And why's that? Why is it difficult with him? | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
The likes of the Harris hawks and the falcons are a lot sharper. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:36 | |
They are more intelligent, so they're easier to train. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:40 | |
Time to get these birds loaded up and off to our first job of the day. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:45 | |
Oh, aye, he likes the car. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:47 | |
He knows he's going out whenever he's in the box. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
Oh! | 0:09:57 | 0:09:59 | |
Massive. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:00 | |
So this is one of your regular haunts, is it, Terry? | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
This would be a regular job for me in here, so it would. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
There's a load of pigeons back there, now most of them are gone. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:10 | |
This is Serena. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:11 | |
She's my number one hawk. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
I'll put the light up, and I'm going to let her go, | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
and we'll find out soon if there's anything in here now. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:20 | |
-Go on, girl. -Ready for action. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
Right, so if we come down to here, and we'll get her | 0:10:23 | 0:10:27 | |
to go on down that way and have a wee look down there. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
TERRY WHISTLES | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
Nearly took our heads off there! | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
It certainly looks like the work's paid off in here. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
Would you like to fly her? | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
I'd love to. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:46 | |
It's a good look! | 0:10:48 | 0:10:50 | |
-Now, what I want you to do is turn your back to the bird. -Uh-huh. | 0:10:51 | 0:10:55 | |
And put your hand out like that, so that if she flies down in... | 0:10:55 | 0:10:59 | |
Oh. You didn't need the chicken! | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
Just like that! | 0:11:01 | 0:11:02 | |
-You didn't need the chicken. -Must like the taste of my pinkies! | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
OK, Serena, last chance. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:07 | |
That's a well-fed lady. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:11 | |
Look! Looking down the camera. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:13 | |
TV presenter! | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
-Right, Terry. -Right. -It's all clear here. -Yes. | 0:11:16 | 0:11:18 | |
Will we go and find somewhere where there's definitely some birds? | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
-Aye, we'll go somewhere where we'll get a chase. -OK. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
-Come on, Serena. -OK, I'll bring her down. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
Come on, sweetheart. That's a girl. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:29 | |
Last year, Belfast City Council collected almost 170,000 tonnes | 0:11:31 | 0:11:36 | |
of municipal waste. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:37 | |
Some of that rubbish ends up here, and attracts some unwanted diners. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
The plan is, I'm going to fly her over on to them skips up there | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
and if anything's about, she'll chase it. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
Go on. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
There she goes. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:54 | |
So how often do you have to come here, Terry? | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
I'd be here five days a week, so I would. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:59 | |
Because there's so much food with the waste for the gulls, | 0:11:59 | 0:12:04 | |
it's a problem. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:06 | |
So is she doing her job here? The skies are pretty clear now. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
Yeah, well, two minutes ago, there was loads of seagulls on that roof, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
now she's up there and they're all clearing off. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:18 | |
-Where's she going now? -That's not good. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:21 | |
She's away after something, look. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:22 | |
-So she's gone into full-scale action mode. -Full-scale action. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
She's away over there after something. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:27 | |
How are you going to get her back? | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
We'll have to go out the gate to where she can see us | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
and then, hopefully, if I put a bit of chicken up here, | 0:12:31 | 0:12:34 | |
she'll come back. | 0:12:34 | 0:12:35 | |
After a bit of searching, Terry has spotted Serena. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
OK, crisis averted, we think. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:47 | |
TERRY WHISTLES | 0:12:47 | 0:12:48 | |
Serena in the tree. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
Terry in the undergrowth. We'll see how we go. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
Drama over. | 0:12:56 | 0:12:57 | |
-She's seen a squirrel from up there. -A squirrel? | 0:12:57 | 0:13:00 | |
She's been away after the squirrel. | 0:13:00 | 0:13:01 | |
-That was unnecessarily dramatic, wasn't it? -Yeah. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
Does that normally happen? | 0:13:05 | 0:13:06 | |
If there's grey squirrels about, not that they're a nuisance, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:10 | |
she'll go after them. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:11 | |
'Now Serena has had her fun, it's the turn of Rosie, | 0:13:11 | 0:13:15 | |
'the Lanner falcon.' | 0:13:15 | 0:13:17 | |
TERRY WHISTLES | 0:13:18 | 0:13:19 | |
There we go. There she's away. See the gulls all flying over there? | 0:13:19 | 0:13:22 | |
She's on the lamppost up there now. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:24 | |
Yeah, the other birds are starting to move again now. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:27 | |
The other birds are all worried now, so they are. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:29 | |
It really is a full-time pursuit, even as a hobby, | 0:13:29 | 0:13:32 | |
but you've turned it into you job, as well. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:34 | |
I've turned it into a full-time job. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:37 | |
I work all sorts of hours now, so I do. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:39 | |
When did the light bulb go off and did you come up with that idea? | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
Oh, whenever the building business went bust, | 0:13:42 | 0:13:48 | |
I had already started with my first Harris hawk, 20 years ago. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:55 | |
I was doing it in the evenings after work, | 0:13:55 | 0:13:58 | |
and then once the work went bust, | 0:13:58 | 0:14:00 | |
I says, "I want to have a go at this full time." | 0:14:00 | 0:14:02 | |
Well, everyone says, you know, if you can mix your hobby, | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
or something you love, with work, that's ideal. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:09 | |
-It is. That's perfect, so it is. -Livin' the dream! | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
There's so many people think I have the best job in the world. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
Foraging is back in fashion | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
and I'm here in County Tyrone to find out why | 0:14:23 | 0:14:26 | |
this ancient art form of gathering food from nature is back on the menu. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:32 | |
The ruins of the old Victorian manor dominate the estate here | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
at Drum Manor Forest Park, just outside Cookstown. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
But it's not the house I'm interested in today. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:48 | |
I'm here to join a foraging expedition | 0:14:48 | 0:14:51 | |
to learn what plants and herbs are available to pick and eat. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:54 | |
Dermot Hughes is our guide today and he's been running | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
foraging events like this one for over ten years. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:04 | |
At this time of the year we've got a wonderful climate for foraging | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
because we have this damp weather and that's when everything | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
is at its most delicious. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:12 | |
This is definitely the best time of year for leafy things. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
We don't have to go far before Dermot has found something. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
It is actually the bane of a gardener's life. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
It's this stuff here called ground elder. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
It's a member of the carrot family | 0:15:26 | 0:15:29 | |
and there's quite a lot of foragable plants in this carrot family. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
It's called ground elder because the leaves look like an elder tree. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
It was brought in by the Romans to Britain as a pot herb, | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
so it's actually quite like celery. | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
Taste a bit of that. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:42 | |
It's actually quite good if you chop it up and have it in your salad. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
But, I might pick some of that and have it as my salsa verde, as well. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
It's actually quite strong. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
It is. | 0:15:52 | 0:15:53 | |
And if you look at the stem of the leaf, it looks a bit like celery. | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
-It does. -It's got that sort of groove on it, you know. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
There's a whole sea of nettles here and I did bring gloves, | 0:16:00 | 0:16:05 | |
but I'll try and hold one up. | 0:16:05 | 0:16:06 | |
If you grasp the nettle, you can see that you can hold it hard | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
and it doesn't sting you. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
It's really the top bit of the nettle is what you want. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
So they're absolutely packed full of minerals and vitamins | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
and all sorts of stuff. | 0:16:17 | 0:16:19 | |
They have a really extensive root system so they hoover up | 0:16:19 | 0:16:22 | |
all the nutrients and minerals from the soil | 0:16:22 | 0:16:25 | |
and it all ends up in here. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
The way I tend to eat this would be to just make a light vegetable soup | 0:16:27 | 0:16:32 | |
and throw these in at the end and call it nettle soup. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:35 | |
And it's a lovely green colour. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
I'm more than happy to leave the nettles behind. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
Next up, Dermot has found some bitter cress. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:46 | |
You will find this growing all year round | 0:16:46 | 0:16:48 | |
so you can eat it all the times of the year, | 0:16:48 | 0:16:50 | |
but obviously now it is doing well, | 0:16:50 | 0:16:52 | |
it's spring and it's nice and tasty. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:54 | |
But all you need is just a wee leaf like in that, | 0:16:54 | 0:16:58 | |
have a taste and you can get this incredible | 0:16:58 | 0:17:01 | |
sort of rocket-like flavour. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:03 | |
Do you not need to give it a wash? | 0:17:03 | 0:17:05 | |
It's been raining! | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
Well, it has! Ha-ha! | 0:17:07 | 0:17:09 | |
What better way to clean it, eh? | 0:17:09 | 0:17:10 | |
Have a taste. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:11 | |
-There's also a plant... -Wow! | 0:17:11 | 0:17:13 | |
Yeah, isn't it... | 0:17:13 | 0:17:15 | |
Isn't that such a lovely flavour? | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
It's like a wee hit, you know? It just gets you after a while. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
You've such a good knowledge of all of this. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
Well, I've always been interested in plants and nature and everything. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
I remember the first time I looked at food for free | 0:17:26 | 0:17:30 | |
and I was interested in things like sloe gin, you know? | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
"Oh, sloe gin, free booze!", you know? | 0:17:33 | 0:17:36 | |
I didn't realise you actually had to buy the gin! | 0:17:36 | 0:17:38 | |
GROUP LAUGHS | 0:17:38 | 0:17:40 | |
Well, thankfully, our guide is very knowledgeable. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:45 | |
It's worth remembering, though, that not everything is safe to eat. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:49 | |
I've just picked this plant here and I was looking for sorrel | 0:17:49 | 0:17:53 | |
but I realised that this isn't sorrel. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:55 | |
This is lords-and-ladies, which is actually a poisonous plant | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
and it's a member of the lily family. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
It comes up and it has a lovely white flower | 0:18:02 | 0:18:06 | |
and in the autumn it has red berries, which are poisonous. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
But actually, I think there is some sorrel here as well, | 0:18:09 | 0:18:13 | |
and when you can see them together, | 0:18:13 | 0:18:15 | |
you can see that they're actually quite different. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:19 | |
The sorrel is sort of thinner. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
So this one here, which is the poisonous one, | 0:18:21 | 0:18:23 | |
has these two large spines coming down, or points coming down, | 0:18:23 | 0:18:27 | |
like this, | 0:18:27 | 0:18:28 | |
whereas the sorrel has a narrower leaf | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
and it has a little spike at the end of each bit at the bottom, | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
so it's quite a distinctive shape. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
Do taste it, because it's a remarkable taste, you know. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
-It's good. -Oh, my goodness. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
-I have tasted it. -Yeah. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
Wow. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
But what is that like? | 0:18:50 | 0:18:52 | |
It's very lemony, it's... | 0:18:52 | 0:18:54 | |
It's really lemony, but it's...it's very tart. | 0:18:54 | 0:18:58 | |
This is called ground ivy, | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
and the leaves can be dried for a tea. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
I make a lot of home-made liqueurs, but particularly I love my nettles | 0:19:07 | 0:19:12 | |
because of their nutritional value. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:14 | |
And do you make soup with them? | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
-Yeah, soup or meatloaf or anything. -Meatloaf! -Meatloaf. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
-With nettles? -Yeah. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:21 | |
Yeah, I saute them in butter, | 0:19:21 | 0:19:24 | |
and then you can mix it in with your breadcrumbs. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
-I have my own hens, so I put white eggs into it as well. -Right! | 0:19:27 | 0:19:33 | |
And it's lovely. One wee slice is a complete feed. | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
How did you get into foraging? | 0:19:37 | 0:19:38 | |
When I was a child my mum and my aunt would have taken us | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
foraging for blackberries, because my aunt's mother-in-law | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
-would have made the tarts. -Right, yes. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:45 | |
I always enjoyed that. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:46 | |
But particularly, it's sort of getting away | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
from the stresses of life. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:51 | |
It's very good, you know, it's good for your heart | 0:19:51 | 0:19:53 | |
and your head and everything. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
I certainly second that. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:57 | |
And there's another benefit - eating! | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
It's time to sample the goods. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:03 | |
There's this dandelion, we didn't talk about dandelion on the walk, | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
but that's a dandelion leaf. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
Very distinctive and it has the white sap | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
and everything comes out of it. | 0:20:12 | 0:20:14 | |
You don't want to have too much of that because it's quite bitter. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
We also have the sorrel. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:18 | |
Then we have the ground elder, | 0:20:18 | 0:20:21 | |
to give you a sort of celery-like little hit. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:26 | |
And we've also some of the lovely bitter cress, | 0:20:26 | 0:20:30 | |
it just gives that sort of rockety hit. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
The whole idea is to use stuff that's in season. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
Salt, some oil. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
-I've got some pepper. -Lovely. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
This is a man you want to have on a picnic, isn't it? | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
There you are. And a bit of mustard. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:45 | |
It just looks very attractive because it's just so green. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:51 | |
-You can't be too delicate about these things, sure you can't? -No, no. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:56 | |
-You've got to just plop it on and shove it in. -That's it. | 0:20:56 | 0:21:00 | |
Bon appetit. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:02 | |
It's when it gets stuck in your teeth, that's the scary bit. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:08 | |
That's right, yeah! | 0:21:08 | 0:21:09 | |
Just look in the mirror before you go home. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
Deee-licious! | 0:21:11 | 0:21:13 | |
Strangford Lough is an important home to our seal population, | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
but how much do we really know about them in their natural environment? | 0:21:21 | 0:21:25 | |
In the first study of its kind, | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
rescued seals being returned to the wild are being monitored | 0:21:27 | 0:21:30 | |
in an attempt to find out more about their behaviour | 0:21:30 | 0:21:33 | |
and I went along to give a hand. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
Strangford Lough is one of the most important breeding locations | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
for seals across the British Isles, | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
but sometimes these animals can get into difficulty | 0:21:45 | 0:21:48 | |
and end up here, | 0:21:48 | 0:21:49 | |
at Northern Ireland's only dedicated seal sanctuary. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:52 | |
SEAL HOWLS | 0:21:53 | 0:21:56 | |
Well, Victoria, not the quietest hospital ward I've ever been on! | 0:22:00 | 0:22:03 | |
No, definitely not! | 0:22:03 | 0:22:04 | |
The seals do have quite loud vocalisations | 0:22:04 | 0:22:06 | |
and they know it's coming close to breakfast time, | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
so that's what that noise is all about. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
Tell us about some of the different seals you have here today. | 0:22:11 | 0:22:13 | |
Most of these seal have come to us through the recent pupping season, | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
so throughout the sanctuary here | 0:22:16 | 0:22:18 | |
we have mainly weaned grey seal pups, except one common seal. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
What's the difference? | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
The main difference is the grey seals have a larger head, | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
whereas if you have a look at the common seals their heads | 0:22:26 | 0:22:29 | |
are a lot smaller and their nostrils are more of a V shape, | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
whereas in the grey seals the nostrils are almost parallel. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:34 | |
-They're the handsome ones, are they? -They're the good-looking ones, yeah! | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
They come to us through the whole coast of Northern Ireland, | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
so from County Down, up the North Coast right the way through, | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
and we rehabilitate them here. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:45 | |
These are our hospital pens, so whenever they're in this area, | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
this is where they learn to feed independently for themselves | 0:22:48 | 0:22:52 | |
and they start to put on the blubber weight that they need before we can | 0:22:52 | 0:22:55 | |
release them back into the wild. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:57 | |
They are very cute and I suppose the natural instinct | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
is you want to pet them, but that is not a good idea. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
Definitely not a good idea! | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
They're very beautiful animals, but again, they are wild. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
They do have a very nasty bite and they carry a range of diseases | 0:23:06 | 0:23:08 | |
that we as humans can get as well, so you can end up with a pretty | 0:23:08 | 0:23:12 | |
infected finger or hand if you do decide to give them a little pet, | 0:23:12 | 0:23:16 | |
so definitely avoid it at every cost. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:18 | |
And you've given them all names, so you've, I presume, | 0:23:18 | 0:23:21 | |
different personalities across the ward here. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:23 | |
They are indeed. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:24 | |
Our theme this year is cakes and buns, so we've got Biscotti here, | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
we've got Chocolate, Pannetone, Snowball | 0:23:28 | 0:23:30 | |
and some of our arrivals were over Christmas, | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
we have Mince Pie, as well. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:34 | |
So there's a good range of personalities to match those names. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:38 | |
Injuries from boats, | 0:23:38 | 0:23:40 | |
respiratory problems and abandonment due to human interaction | 0:23:40 | 0:23:44 | |
are among the main reasons seals end up here, | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
where they're treated and taught to feed. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
Once they get around the 20kg mark and they're feeding | 0:23:50 | 0:23:53 | |
independently and with confidence we move them outside so they start | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
to learn some more wild behaviours. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
OK, so we're going to get them fed shortly? | 0:23:59 | 0:24:01 | |
We're going to get them fed, get breakfast under way. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:03 | |
So if you just put two in. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
There you go, right at the back. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:12 | |
Snowball is nearly at the end of her stint in rehabilitation, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
so she'll be going back to the wild in the next few weeks. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
Snowball's your favourite. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:24 | |
She is. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:26 | |
This is the difficulty. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:27 | |
You've rehabilitated them and they're your babies, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:30 | |
but you've got to let them go. Is that tough? | 0:24:30 | 0:24:32 | |
Yeah, it is tough, but it's beautiful to see them being released | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
and that they've done so well and that they're going off to start | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
their lives as healthy seals. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:40 | |
After the seals have recovered in the hospital, they're moved | 0:24:41 | 0:24:44 | |
outside to the pools to get them ready again for life in the wild. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:49 | |
Now in its 30th year, Exploris is partnering with Queen's University | 0:24:50 | 0:24:55 | |
to tag common seals in a first-of-its-kind study | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
in the British Isles. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:00 | |
And tell us about this little headgear that he's wearing. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:09 | |
This telemetry tag, as we call it. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:11 | |
This is basically going to relay data to us | 0:25:11 | 0:25:14 | |
through the same system that your mobile phone uses, really. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:18 | |
And this will tell us a little bit about where the animal is going | 0:25:18 | 0:25:20 | |
and we'll also we will get some information on | 0:25:20 | 0:25:23 | |
dive profiles of the animals, so how deep it is diving, for example. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:27 | |
I'm not sure it's the most fashionable, | 0:25:27 | 0:25:29 | |
but it's not causing them any harm, is it? | 0:25:29 | 0:25:31 | |
No. I mean, of course these activities are licensed. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
We need several licences to do this work, and part of that licence | 0:25:35 | 0:25:40 | |
is to observe the animal's behaviour for 24 hours minimum | 0:25:40 | 0:25:43 | |
before we release it into the wild. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
So we've been doing that and, yeah, as you've noted, | 0:25:45 | 0:25:48 | |
we've had the animal swimming in the pool. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
He's been feeding normally and, as you say, maybe not too fashionable, | 0:25:50 | 0:25:55 | |
but he's not being bullied by the other seals as a result, | 0:25:55 | 0:25:58 | |
so we're very happy with the way that the tag has gone on | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
and the way that the animal has behaved. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:04 | |
So in the past these animals were rehabilitated | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
here and they were released and that was it, the knowledge stopped. | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
Yeah. And I think that's quite common | 0:26:09 | 0:26:11 | |
for rehabilitation programmes. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:13 | |
Really, this is another step forward to maybe get a bit more | 0:26:13 | 0:26:15 | |
of an interesting angle on learning a bit more about what happens | 0:26:15 | 0:26:19 | |
to these seals when they're released back to sea. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
Will we get him out into the lough now and see how we go? | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
Yeah, absolutely. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:25 | |
Very excited to see what data we get from that. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
I still feel the urge to pet. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:40 | |
Don't do that! | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
She's got her head up here. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
-I think she wants to dive out of this, so shall we tip her out? -Yep. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
Off you go, girl. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:50 | |
She came in to us underweight and dehydrated. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
Now she's fully healthy and ready to go back, so it's really nice to see. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:02 | |
But it's going to be a fast learning curve, isn't it, | 0:27:02 | 0:27:05 | |
out there in the wild? | 0:27:05 | 0:27:06 | |
Yes, very much. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:07 | |
Obviously she's feeding very competitively and independently | 0:27:07 | 0:27:10 | |
on her own and she has a really good blubber layer, | 0:27:10 | 0:27:13 | |
so that should see her through until she starts finding food sources | 0:27:13 | 0:27:17 | |
and trying out different types of prey. | 0:27:17 | 0:27:20 | |
Once they go now, how they integrate with the natural seal populations | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
remains relatively unknown, and again how we can feed | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
that information back into our rehabilitation process | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
is really important for us as well, to improve the facility. | 0:27:31 | 0:27:35 | |
That's her now. She's blending into the seaweed beautifully there. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
Very much so, yeah. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:40 | |
-Apart from, of course, that tag in the middle of her back. -Yeah! | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
Good work, Gaz! | 0:27:46 | 0:27:48 | |
Yeah, it was a great day out and since we've been filming, | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
they've found some really useful information | 0:27:50 | 0:27:52 | |
-about the seals' behaviour. So all good! -Well done. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
Well, that's it for this episode of Home Ground. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:57 | |
We're back at the same time next week. | 0:27:57 | 0:27:59 | |
We'll see you then. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 |