A huge Announcement

by Kenneth Keavey

Even after 20 years in business, no two days are ever the same and we keep on experiencing new things for the first time, new challenges, but also new opportunities. 

I have been bursting at the seems trying to contain my excitement at this announcement, which truly is a first for us. Something we have been working very hard on over the last 2 months and finally we can tell you about it, and the scale of this event is a first for us.

We are having our very first sustainability festival on the 12th Sept this year.  

We have an amazing selection of speakers, demos, suppliers, tastings, farmers, growers, beekeepers, music, speakers, speciality food trucks, artisan ice creams, and sustainable coffee, and of course farm tours planned, it will be a day to celebrate the diversity of Irish local food (from a vegetable perspective!) and the importance now more than ever of using the power of our food choices to drive change that impacts our health and the health of this planet in a positive way.

You can get your tickets here, there are a limited number of early bird tickets available, and then the full price tickets are €40, and these will be strictly limited too.

Generally, we have never charged (or charged a nominal fee) for our annual events on the farm, but we soon discovered that just to attempt to cover the costs of an event of this magnitude we needed to charge €40 per ticket just to aim to break even. If there is anything left over from the sales after costs are deducted the proceeds will be donated to our two chosen charities “Hometree” and “Friends of the Earth Ireland” both of whom will be speaking at the event. 

We are also charging for children’s tickets, this is something we would not normally ever do, but we have limited capacity in our speakers tent and so we feel we had to limit the numbers somehow. The entirety of children’s ticket fees will also be donated to our two charity partners.

We have always felt strongly that educating and inspiring children through connecting them with nature (and our two pet rescue pigs, George and Florence of course) is a very important part of our journey and we thought very hard about how we could make up to you as parents for having to charge. So, we have decided to put on an extra annual farm walk/tour this year, we will be running this on the 18th of July and there will only be a nominal charge (€10/car) to reserve your place. Tickets for this event will go on sale soon too so keep your eyes peeled, and we will let you our customers know first.

I always need to pinch myself to make sure it is real; that in fact we have made it to this pivotal milestone. It is hard to think that when myself my dad and my wife Jenny started packing our first veg boxes on pallets and empty Guiness kegs 20 years ago that we would be still here 20 years later. 

I think we are here too against all the odds, and there were plenty of times when I seriously considered throwing in the towel, it has been and continues to be a tough journey. I know some of you our customers have been with us right from the start, and that is something that makes me feel very emotional you are the reason that we are still here, and the reason when times were tough, we didn’t quit.

Now more than ever it is vital that businesses such as ours exist and thrive and grow. Our world is crying out for compassion, fairness, support, inclusion, sustainability, healthy food and somebody to standup for the health of our planet. You are that person, and you are facilitating us in helping deliver that message. 

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for keeping us growing (in every way).

Kenneth

PS In another first we have just launched a brand-new delivery day, we can now deliver to you on Mondays. This delivery day is much more difficult to achieve operationally, and the cost of delivery will be at the higher charge of €8/delivery. This is here to facilitate times when you need an additional delivery or an early delivery, we would ask that you stick to your normal delivery day and only use this facility if you really need to. In order to be offered this choice you will need to place your order as a guest rather than using your registered account.  

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

by Nessa Robins

At last week’s farm walk, I set-up a beautiful display in the middle of the farm shop, using the best of fresh produce. Tucked in-between the prepared fruit and vegetables, I included a tray of mini energy balls, and some scrumptious dips. This sun-dried tomato pesto was by far the most requested recipe, and for good reason. It’s rich and flavoursome, and makes for the perfect accompaniment to crudites, but it can also be served with pasta, roasted vegetables, or as a delicious sandwich filler. 

To ensure this dish is as tasty as possible, use a good quality jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Some tend to be quite salty and will ruin the overall taste of the pesto. Also, organic garlic will always taste superior too, so seek it out when you can.

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Ingredients

Method

  1. Whizz the tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, and basil for a few seconds in a food processor. 
  2. Add the oil and blitz again.
  3. Add the parmesan, and pulse for a few seconds.
  4. Store in a covered sterilised jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.

National Organic Award, and rain…

by Kenneth Keavey

This week we got the news that our business and farm has been shortlisted for a national
organic award, and we are grateful and humbled by the acknowledgment.


I’m afraid Jenny my wife will stop talking to me if I don’t stop going on about the weather.
But I just can’t help it, maybe I have a condition, but it has been so bad. And to be fair to
me, I need to talk about the weather, I really do. I feel traumatised by the relentless
darkness and rain, I am sure I must not be alone, and somehow getting the knowing nods
that you are right and, in a group, (and for farmers there is nothing more conversation
worthy than the weather) that feel the same way is comforting, it changes nothing though.
True enough, I suppose there is little we can do about it, as the weather will be the weather,
the same cannot be said for what we mankind are doing to our climate…


The last time we had a summer this bad was last year! Two in a row. And before that I
remember 2012 being a summer where we saw virtually no sun, temperatures were low,
and it rained nearly every single day. We should be lucky I guess there are many that have
no water and here we are in the West of Ireland with enough for half of Europe. But luck
will not help our already late harvest of tomatoes ripen.


It has been 13 months now, in my slightly twisted view, it started raining last June and
hasn’t really stopped, has it? We have struggled recently and certain crops that love the sun
are not loving Galway weather at moment.


There is muck stuck to everything, the land is wet, saturated, we could give the “Tough
Mudder” race a good run for its money. Now, it is not all bad news, the leeks, celeriac,
parsnips, swede and brassicas are doing quite well, and we are certainly grateful for that. In
fact, Emmanuel is harvesting the very first of our parsnip crop this week, which is quite
frankly amazing! But the increasing unpredictability of our weather is another challenge in
an already challenging industry.


So it is with this backdrop that it is lovely to be acknowledged that we are doing some things right. To have external validation, that it is worth persevering, despite being a very small cog in a massive and unforgiving food machine.


To that end Simone and Lilly will both be in Dublin this weekend at Merrion square
for the national organic food festival, and I will be there for a few hours from about 12 on
Saturday if you would like to come along.


Not only that but we are having our first and only farm walk next Saturday the 7 th of
September starting at 11am, and all are welcome, you can book a free ticket here.
Hopefully see you over the next couple of weeks!
Thanks as always for your support.
Kenneth