A Plea, can you help?

by Kenneth Keavey

We have had the best spring and start to summer that I remember in our 20 years of growing organic vegetables, it has been exceptional and I think we are in for a bumper harvest. I certainly feel we were due a break after the two dismal and depressing years just gone.

It is with some depression then that we face into mid July with the all too familiar vista of loads of produce and so few orders. We rely completely on individual orders each week and when our orders drop dramatically as they have done in the last couple of weeks it leaves us struggling.   

It is completely understandable, the weather has been good and we all deserve a break from our routines, couple that with many people taking a well deserved holiday and we have the perfect storm.

We have all the same costs week in week out, from packing to harvest -and the crops simply must be harvested when they are ready. We also have commitments to other Irish organic growers and when we don’t have orders this leaves us with difficult decisions.

The worst case is that our crops simply are left in the field to rot and this can be a very sad and real reality. This year we took a different approach to avoid this, in the hope that it might stimulate orders, we have given away over one thousand free freshly harvested farm harvested items over the last three week but it seems it has done very little, and the sad fact is we cannot afford to continue doing this.

There is the double depressing fact that we have spent the last six months working so hard to produce this amazing local Irish organic food that now we can’t sell it.

The farm this year so far is operating at a loss, the first six months of the year we incur most of the costs, and the latter six months are when you need to recoup the costs to keep the farm rolling. Last year we never recovered the costs, it was the worst year we have had, one bad year you can just about take, but two, that’s too much of a stretch.   

So this year, is the year to steady the ship to make enough to reinvest back in the farm to keep it running, and maybe if we are very lucky cover some of the losses from last year, it really is as simple as that.

With only 60 commercial vegetable farmers left in Ireland and against the continued loss leading of fresh produce by supermarkets you start to question whether after all the hard work it is worth it?

From my perspective this has always been a resounding yes because I believe in local food and growing food without chemicals and protecting biodiversity and paying people fairly, so it is a double depression to be facing this struggle of having the produce but not having the orders. Year by year it erodes my sense of commitment that earlier on was buffered by the endless energy of youth. I am tired.

We have I believe a decent business that promotes a positive and vital link to our food and our land.  I would ask you now if you can at all to support us and crucially over the next few weeks of the summer holidays as our pivotal harvest rolls in from our fields and the fields of other farmers to place an order and maybe avoid that odd supermarket purchase in favour of buying from us.

If you can I thank you. If you cannot I thank you for reading, engaging and spreading the word to others that may be able to support and help us, and I thank you for your good wishes and words and energy of encouragement which keeps us going through the tough and lean times.

Thank you.

Kenneth

After many weeks of planning, we are finally ready to start

by Kenneth Keavey

Rumi said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears” Clarity doesn’t come before action, it comes from action. After many weeks of planning, we are finally ready to start.

This business that we find ourselves in, seems to always be grinding away at one’s soul, it is hard.

Growing vegetables commercially is hard, growing vegetables without chemicals is harder, and selling produce as a small business might even be harder still. But at other times like the week just gone when the sun shines and the birds sing and the bees finally wake up from their winter slumber, it gives back.

Sometimes it is hard to get perspective especially when you are in the thick of things and we all make mistakes. Anyway, amidst the usual weekly turmoil something stuck me, you can’t do it on your own, life, business, relationships, you need help and support.

I am grateful for the team of individuals (and this includes you our customers) that have chosen to pitch in with us, without them it would be a very different affair, but because of them and their dedication we have an amazing, vibrant, sustainable business.

Collaboration is key, it has always been something we have stuck by, and I am not saying I or we are perfect, far from it, and there is plenty of times when stress or general goings on means we miss the boat, we say or do things which would have been better not said or not done. But fair collaboration is what in an ideal world we strive for, whether that be with our customers or suppliers or anybody who touches on our business, collaboration I’d go so far as to say it is the only way.

During the past number of months, I have had the fortunate experience to begin a conversation with Liam Gavin from Drumanilra farm, he also runs Carraig Rua bakery. The aim of our conversations was to get the best most amazing, sustainable, organic, slow fermented over 48 hours bread to you, our customers. There has been much back and forth and trials and finally we have arrived at a place where we are happy and are ready to start.

It is something I have wanted to do for years, but getting fresh bread to you our customers in our business is difficult, but we think we have cracked the art of getting bakery fresh bread delivered to your home. The bread is par-baked and 15 minutes in your oven will finish the bread and give you the most amazing experience of fresh bread right in your own home.

There are all the other amazing bits, it is baked by an expert baker Michael, in Carrick on Shannon, by Liam’s ethical organic business, and it uses only certified organic flour. It has, as bread should have only 4 ingredients and critically the wheat has obviously been grown without pesticides or herbicides and especially without glyphosate.

Our aim has always been to partner and support other small amazing Irish organic farms and businesses, and I think with Carraig Rua we have definitely done that.

As always thanks for your support and joining us in creating a new better sustainable food system.

Kenneth

Storm Eowyn, and please read to the end for important info

by Kenneth Keavey

Wow, it’s hard to know what way is up at the moment. The last two months have been crazy. We have been bouncing around from one calamity to another and last week was off the scales, storm Éowyn left us reeling as it did most people across the country, a once in a lifetime climate event (They seem to be happening an awful lot recently…). I hope wherever you are that you are safe and that you have the power back on and a bit of heat.

In the aftermath on Friday morning last week I went to have a look around at about 10am as I tried to survey the landscape. I found myself wandering around not really sure what to do (as a friend recently said) “it was like being in the zombie apocalypse”, nobody was really sure what just happened or what to do and everything seemed to have changed. The road into our farm was blocked, a massive tree had come down and there was a huge crater in another part, caused by an equally massive tree falling. There were trees down everywhere. Old trees that were majestic and beautiful around Galway there were thousands gone over night.

We had lost one of our tunnels, and several doors. Power was gone but through some sheer miracle we still had broadband. I know this may not be the top of the priority list, but for us it meant we wouldn’t have to close the farm and the business for the week which was a giant worry lifted.

But as we came to grips with the carnage, a funny thing happened. People happened. On Friday several of us pitched in together and spent several hours clearing trees and filling holes, neighbours you may only ever say hello to, you were now working side by side with. Strangely or maybe not strangely at all, it felt good.

Apart from Ophelia in 2017 followed by the beast from the East followed by one of the most intense droughts ever in the summer of 2018, the last 2 months have given the climate related disaster calendar a good run for its money. Storm Darragh was powerful and caused carnage including the closure of one our main trading routes with the UK and Europe, with the damage and closure of Holyhead. Then there was the ice and snow warning in early January, followed by the most powerful storm to hit our coasts ever, all in less than 2 month.

We now have more extreme weather events climate change is afoot and at a pace never seen before here are some very recent facts just released by the Irish CSO (central statistics office)

2023 was the wettest year ever recorded here in Ireland.

2023 was the warmest year ever recorded here in Ireland, ever.

Globally 9 of the 10 warmest years since 1850 occurred in the decade since 2014.

Many small organic producers had their whole operation wiped out in a few short hours last week, tunnels blown, down, sheds destroyed, so many. The extreme weather is now something we must adapt to, and it is only going to get worse.

With this backdrop, we have been busy with the farm planning and I am wondering what lies ahead for us in the season to come. I would like to think we are due a reasonable summer that is not a replica of the last two. For the sake of our farm, our food and many other farmers and food producers we are hoping for a break. Time will tell I guess.

As always thank you for your support.

Kenneth

PS It seems small businesses are contending with a lot of increased costs, and we are certainly feeling that pain in an industry that is highly labour intensive, and low margin. We have had a substantial increase in our wage bill over the last few weeks, and there are many extra financial pressures being put on businesses and farms. I am sure the bigger companies can take these cost increases on the chin, but for us, we just cannot. Unfortunately, we must put up our prices a little, it will only be on our boxes and fruit bags that will increase a little. We hope you can understand why we need to do this, we would rather not, but at the same time we find ourselves with very little choice.

This is a longer one than usual I am afraid.

by Kenneth Keavey

During the week somebody raised a valid point, how can we speak about climate change with any conviction when we import food. I have been considering this since and felt it was a point worth addressing.

We do import food and especially now it is more prevalent than at other times during the year, this is the hungry gap and we simply do not have Irish produce in abundance.

We do import food during other times of the year also and yes that food arrives here on the island of Ireland by truck.  It is important to note that we never import food by plane as do many supermarkets. We also have other sourcing policies that some may find contentious such as never buying produce from Israel.

There is in fact no other option if we want to eat tomatoes or peppers or carrots at present but to import, there simply is no commercial Irish supply. This has been particularly exacerbated by the horrendous growing season last year and the equally disastrous start to spring. We are not a market garden, and we need to grow in scale to have the necessary produce to fill our boxes each week, we are commercial organic vegetable farm. I think it is equally important to point out that there are very few of our type of farm at our scale in the country, a handful maybe.

Right now we are preparing fields we have planted some of our polytunnels and have just put our first plants in the ground this week. This will mean if the weather plays ball and these days that is a big if, we will be harvesting the first kale say in July.

Can we as a result of the issues above talk about climate breakdown and how it effects our farming? Can we voice our opinions on why we think large scale factory farming is horrendous and wrong? Can we say we disagree with deforestation in the amazon to feed the animal industries voracious appetite for GM soya? Can we offer an opinion on the fact that we think trees and hedgerows should be an integral part of the farming landscape in Ireland? Can we state the fact that if there was less meat consumed and more plants that less land would be required for agriculture, irrespective whether you eat meat or not, this is simply a fact?

Our intention is to shine a light on these issues whilst being mindful of people’s preferences for food, which is deeply personal, it is a delicate balance. Whilst also acknowledging that there are phenomenal hardworking farmers of all types in Ireland. Farming is a tremendously precarious industry and that government led encouragement to intensification means many farmers have few choices to change the way they farm.

The idea of the “Green Deal” in Europe being abandoned deeply upsets me and I feel it is a sad day in European evolution, the basic principle that we look after the land and set aside more for nature is exactly what we need to do. But how can farmers who to an extent have been encouraged by certain political parties be expected to foot the bill for these changes at least to a degree, when the price of food is so remarkably low, it is not the farmers and it never is that win from inflation led food price increases or indeed the smaller retailers. It is the large corporates and giant retailers they are the only winners, and they always win. 

The bottom line again of course comes back to the system that we now function within, our food system is inherently broken, and it needs to change.

So, whilst we import produce, we also grow 11 acres of vegetables plus 7 polytunnels worth on a farm of nearly 20 acres, some of which is left to forestry, hedgerows and general rewilding. We have agreements with several organic vegetable growers across Ireland to supply crops that we do not grow, such as potatoes, and carrots, and scallions and cucumbers and many more. All grown organically and in Ireland when in season.

I started this business because my fundamental belief to change our food system and protect our planet are dear to me. We are a small farm by any one’s reckoning but we absolutely do what we can.

We will continue to talk about things that will be disagreeable to some, to many maybe, we hope too to encourage others to think that maybe there is another way, that may provide a small ray of light and that leads to a path of change, after all, we all have power and choices to make change real.

And of course, as I say each week and it is something I mean wholeheartedly, without you spending your money with us and buying the produce we sell whether it is grown by us, or some other Irish organic farmer, or an organic farmer in Spain, we would not  be able to run our farm here, and support the other sustainable ethical farmers we buy produce from and we would not have this forum to say what we believe and what we hope some of you believe too.

So, I hope to that person that raised the issue that this has helped address some of your points.

Thank you for your support you make all this possible.

Kenneth

a million tonnes, that is a lot…

by Kenneth Keavey

Just under 1 million tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables are imported into Ireland every year. Right now, we are in the hungry gap the period between the end of old crops and the start of the first new season crops.

We are lucky and still have a fair supply of Irish vegetables but it’s a tough time to source Irish produce. We have a clear sourcing policy from our own farm, from other local organic farms, from Irish organic farms, from European organic farms and finally from further afield but never airfreighted and generally plastic free.Even so the figure above is shocking because it wasn’t always the case there has been a 42% increase in the amount of fresh produce imported since 1992 as Irish production has collapsed. It’s a tough industry to be in and farmers are opting out with good reason.

This represents the loss of a valuable craft, once it is gone it is gone for good, because even though growing food requires a modern scientific approach it also requires understanding for what will and will not work, this comes with time and experience. It is very difficult to bring back a farming industry like commercial veg growing once it is gone. It is sad then that now mostly we grow grass to feed an export led intensive meat and dairy industry. There is little time given to the humble veg grower be it organic or otherwise, given that government and lobbying bodies are focused on beef and dairy. Couple that with weather which makes the complex nature of veg growing even more challenging and loss leading by supermarkets, and you have a perfect storm for the decimation of our veg industry.

It is interesting and not really any surprise then, that organic carrots and even organic potatoes from a well-known large supermarket chain may hail from Israel, check out their website.

We openly acknowledge that we import where necessary and as we have just finished our Irish organic carrot crop from our amazing Irish organic carrot grower, Philip Dreaper from Coolnagrower organic produce in county Offaly our organic carrots are now coming from Spain. We have a partnership with Cameron in Battlemountain organic farm who grows organic potatoes for us and will keep us supplied for the year. So, whatever you think about the madness that has beset the world right now, it seems unreasonable and unjust to me that we can’t have more veg grown right here in Ireland and not only that but more sustainable organic vegetables. Our grandparents did it that’s one generation maybe two ago and it was clearly possible.

On that note I am delighted that Emmanuel and his farm team have started the real and rewarding work of planting the first new season crops in our Polytunnel and that we are still harvesting crops from our own farm.

As always thank you for your support

Kenneth

Pumpkin Brownie

by Lou Robbie

These pumpkin brownies are incredible….I even surprised myself with this one! The bitterness from the chocolate works so well with the earthy sweetness of the pumpkin and the warming spices too. Make sure to have a nice warm drink, tea or coffee or a spiced latte, if thats your preference, and get cosy with this sweet autumn treat!

Liz on a previous post laid the foundations for this recipe and gave instructions on how to make your Autumn Flavour Kit with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice mix, check it out and come back here to make these brownies. I’m a little bit obsessed with the pumpkin (aka Kuri squash) at the moment, I’ll be cooking them for all things sweet and savoury over the next few months.

Once you have your pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice at hand, there is an endless amount of autumn baking recipes to sift through and experiment with. My first thoughts were cake, cookies, bread and then this brownie. I did extend my research to the US where many bakers have a whole catalogue of spiced pumpkin recipes. I did a bit of tweaking with this recipe and the result was much better that I could have hoped for!

I really hope you make them and enjoy them,

Lou

Ingredients – makes 16 squares

For the brownie batter

For the pumpkin batter

  • 225g granulated sugar
  • 180g pumpkin puree 
  • 170g butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs , at room temperature
  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice** (follow the link Autumn Flavour Kit to make your own or add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon mixed spice)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter and line with parchment a 9×13-inch (23×33- cm) baking tray.

For the brownie batter

  1. In a mixing bowl beat (with an electric mixer) or whisk together the melted butter and sugar. 
  2. Then crack in the eggs and beat for a few minutes until pale in colour.
  3. Using a sieve, sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Gently mix with a spatula to combine. 
  4. Finally, fold in the chopped chocolate and spread evenly in the prepared pan.

For the pumpkin batter

  1. In a mixing bowl beat or whisk together the melted butter and sugar. 
  2. Then crack in the eggs and beat for a few minutes until pale in colour. 
  3. Gently stir in the pumpkin puree. 
  4. Using a sieve, sift in the flour, baking powder and pumpkin spice. Gently mix with a spatula to combine. 
  5. Pour the pumpkin batter on top of the brownie batter.
  6. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. You want the brownie to be a bit gooey so don’t over bake.

Sowing the Seeds of Love

by Kenneth Keavey

These lyrics from ‘Tears for Fears’ may not have been talking about plants, but they do describe activities on the farm this week.

The last seven days have been a stretch on the farm for all sorts of reasons. We are very lucky to have, in every area of our business, strong teams and the farm is no exception.

When you don’t need to ask and yet the lads put in 12-hour days to get the sowing done before the rain you know you have special people. 

In vegetable farming it is about a great many things but right at the top of the list is timing.

Getting the timing right is powerful stuff and the race against the rain in the West of Ireland is always a close call and fraught with uncertainty.

I am relieved that the carrots, parsnips, beetroot, and spinach are all now in the ground. There is more to sow, but the first batches are sown and that has for now stilled the vague buzz of concern at the back of my mind that we will not win the race against the weather.

The first tomatoes, cucumbers and a host of broccolis, cabbages, kales, romanescos and more are all planted and making good progress.

So, we march on, the first weeding is happening the first harvest of new season crops too, our own gorgeous lettuce and spinach, chard, radish parsley and more.

‘Feel the pain, talk about it’ another lyric from the same great song. There has been hard work certainly, pain a little, satisfaction at a job well done for sure. But there is pain in the modern world of food production and we in our own little way we are attempting to set that right.

Although we have been very busy with the work of growing food our care for the land has certainly not been forgotten, the wildflowers, the hedges and wildlife, the trees, the birds and beehives, the pigs and the foxes, the work on those long term valuable investments has already been done in quieter days.

The fruits and benefits of which now we can see.

Every day I am so grateful to be able to do this, I am grateful to you for giving us and our farm the opportunity to thrive.

Your choice to get a box from us is an amazingly positive thing and you should know it is making a difference for you and your families health, and for the health of the planet.

Thank you.

Kenneth

PS: Have you tried our new repeat order system yet? You can set up an order for delivery every week and you can pause it or change it at any time.  So if you need certain things each week why not add them to your regular fruit and veg order and never miss your order deadline again?