People are the Essence of all Activity

by Kenneth Keavey

On our farm and in our business without the people there would be nothing, just quiet empty buildings, offices, and fields. Community is a gathering of people, and it is only when people come together that things happen for good or for ill. My favourite quote of all time involves people:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has” Margaret Mead. 

Last week we had the opening of our farm shop and the first public farm tour in well over two years, and we had people, many people. Thank you to all who came. 

It was truly amazing to see so many interested in sustainability and local food. The sun shone and there was music and laughter. There was interesting questions and conversations, there were young children and those somewhat older in years.

There was a question from a young child about snails, there were questions about vertical farming, and soil pH and fertility and trees and biodiversity and the climate crisis and so much more. 

We had an amazing talk from Gerry the beekeeper (whose passion for bees was unmistakable), the bees on our farm are native Irish black bees and they can fly at just over 9C which makes them a hardier Irish bee. It seems as I listened that I knew very little about bees.  They have a harsh life, the poor drone bee has his wings eaten off and he is thrown out of the hive to die at the end of the season!   

But through it all there was a common thread, an idea that united everybody there: that there is a better way to produce our food, a way that helps our planet instead of destroying it, a way that enhances the land instead of laying it to waste. A way that gives nature a fair chance.

We all have the ability three times a day to vote for the future we want.  Ultimately the food we choose to eat and how it is grown contribute greatly to how our planet will fare. 

If you are reading this on a screen or at home after receiving your order, know that you are making a difference. Your purchase and support of our farm does make a difference to the planet and the environment and what you put into your body will impact your health for years to come. 

If you visited the farm, then you would have seen our first kale crop. That kale was transplanted by Emmanuel and his team 6 weeks ago, it will be harvested by hand by the same farm team this week.  It will then be packed into compostable bags by Barry and the packing team. Every part of its journey right up to its delivery onto your doorstep wherever you maybe, we have overseen.

Right beside that kale crop is a 120metre strip of wildflowers. Last night our resident fox sauntered by that kale, the pigeons in the forest at the bottom of the field eye that kale hungrily (they will be getting very little!).

That kale is the essence of vitality it is harvested for you and could only be fresher if you picked it yourself from your own garden.

But that kale and our packing team and our farm team would not be here if it were not for you. So, thank you. Thank you for your support.

Kenneth

Farm Shop Re-Opening!

by Kenneth Keavey

We closed our farm shop just over two years ago. 

We always meant to reopen it, but there never seemed to be enough time or energy, we never quite got back into anything that resembled routine, and so it remained closed, that is until this coming Saturday at 10am.

On many occasion over the past two years we came close to being ready to reopen then another lock down or another wave would raise its head and bang off we went again tumbling and rolling with all that was thrown at us.

The first lockdown for us was not too unlike being hit by a bus and over and over again, up and down it went for the last two years. 

It is funny though that now life seems normal again. I can never quite grasp how everything moves on. You think at the time you will be in the middle of the pain forever and then just like that, it is gone, over and we move on. Life is funny.

Anyway, philosophical ramblings aside we are finally reopening our farm shop and this time it is going to be so much different, better, brighter and on a Saturday which is what you all asked for! 

We have two amazing people that will be serving you Thiago and Anna, both lovely bubbly and helpful individuals. 

We have opened up our whole packing shed with all the hundreds of grocery, plastic free, sustainable and 100% organic products, plus of course the very best range of fresh organic produce in the country and nearly all plastic free. 

We will have a modern till system, and accept all cards for payment, in fact that would be our preference and going forward the shop will be cashless.

It all kicks off this Saturday at 10am and we have some amazing things happening. The line-up will go something like this.

Parking on site

10am shop open

12pm-2pm farm tour. (I’ll bring you on a tour of the farm, show you the polytunnels, and the fields walk down to one of our forestry areas see the bee hives and hopefully meet and feed Florence and George (our two rescue pigs). All the time you will be learning about sustainability, growing and biodiversity. )

1-2pm see the tractors and some machine demonstrations (get up on one if you are feeling brave!)

2-4pm live music, including classical flute music!

3-4pm kids natural art workshops run by Jenny.

There will be a pizza truck and a smoothie/juice stall and coffee too!  There will be even some home baked fresh cakes.

The event is FREE, so come along bring your friends and family and please let others know. The current weather forecast for Saturday looks amazing and hopefully it stays that way!

Thanks for all your support and looking forward to finally meeting people here again on our farm.

Kenneth

PS – our eircode is H91F9C5

Who We Are

by Kenneth Keavey

We (Jenny & Kenneth Keavey) started Green Earth Organics in 2006. Our organic farm is situated 8 miles from Galway City. Originally the land was Kenneth’s grand-father’s and then his father’s and finally we took over the farm 14 years ago. We put the farm into conversion for organic status in 2004.

Currently we are farming on 40 acres of organically certified land. Another 10 acres is split between a wild life biodiversity area, native woodland forestry (7000 trees) and red clover/grassland. We are certified organic by the IOA (Irish Organic Association) – please note that EVERYTHING we sell is organic.


You can order online direct from us. We deliver to every county in Ireland – click here for more details about the ordering deadline and delivery days. 

Our Commitment to Sustainability 

Our aim at Green Earth Organics is to minimize the impact of our farm on the environment. We do this by growing our produce in an organic and sustainable way, by generating our own electricity using solar panels, and by harvesting the West of Ireland rainwater to wash the freshly picked veg and to water the plants in our tunnels.

As a business, we are striving to be carbon neutral and we’re actively looking for ways to reduce and eliminate the small amount of plastic packaging remaining in some of our boxes (this is mostly from grocery items – we are always looking to expand our plastic free grocery options so keep checking back on those).

All our set boxes are PLASTIC FREE, we use compostable bags for salads and greens.
All of our other fresh produce is packed either loose or in brown paper bags which we take back and re-use every week. 

We also have a box that contains 100% Irish Veg which you can order here. Thank you for your support – we really appreciate it. 

Currently there are 45 employees in total across the farm, packing team and administration team. We also take on students and interns and employ seasonal workers at certain times of the year. You can check out our vacancies here.


We have 6 polytunnels and grow a wide range of crops both indoors and in the field. Over the course of a year, a typical seasonal box will contain 80% local, organic produce.
We buy produce from other Irish suppliers and we also import organically certified veg and fruit in order to be able to offer a full selection of produce year round. We never use airfreight!

At Green Earth Organics, we care deeply about the environment and believe that people should be able to choose foods that are grown as nature intended, taste fantastic and add to their wellbeing.

Sustainability and health is at the centre of all business decisions we take.