A big bowlful of trifle has always been synonymise with Christmas. It looks so impressive, yet isn’t time-consuming to make. The spiced berry chia jam is filled with festive flavours, and can be prepared with fresh or frozen berries – if you happen to have a stash saved in the freezer. The base and custard layer of this trifle can be prepared and assembled the day before it’s needed, so on the big day it will only take minutes to add the cream and a few toppings. If you haven’t a large trifle bowl to hand, the mixture can easily be divided into individual serving bowls, or even glasses.
Enjoy!
Happy Christmas.
Nessa x
Christmas Trifle
Ingredients
Serves 8
Spiced Berry Chia Jam
500g raspberries & strawberries, fresh or frozen
2tbsp water
2tbsp honey
¼ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
2tbsp chia seeds
Zest of 1 orange
Trifle Layers
350g Madeira cake, homemade or shop-bought, thinly sliced
250g fresh raspberries & strawberries, sliced or cut in half
500ml good quality vanilla custard
500ml cream, lightly whipped
Toppings
50g hazelnuts, chopped
Zest of ½ orange
Method
To prepare the chia jam, place the berries, water, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg into a medium-sized saucepan, and place over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, mashing the fruit intermittently. Remove from the heat and stir through the chia seeds and orange zest. Allow to cool fully before making the trifle.
To assemble the trifle, place a layer of the cooled chia jam on the base of the trifle bowl. Top with the thin slices of Madeira cake. Add some more of the jam and continue layering the cake and berries until all have been used up.
Top with a layer of fresh berries, before adding an even layer of custard, if not serving immediately the trifle can now be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
Before serving, add the layer of whipped cream and sprinkle the hazelnuts and orange zest around the edges. Serve and enjoy!
For me, Christmas dinner is one of my favourite meals of the year. There are so many different elements on the plate, which merge so deliciously together, and a good-quality gravy always elevates every mouthful. The gravy recipe I’m sharing is packed with wholesome Irish vegetables and herbs, with plenty of fresh sage, as a nod to the traditional Christmas flavours. I’m using a roasting tray which is also suitable for the stovetop, but after roasting the vegetables you could transfer this mixture to a large saucepan either. It may be a little time-consuming to make on Christmas morning, so it’s probably best to make it in the run-up to Christmas, freeze flat in an airtight freezer bag, and then heat completely through just before serving dinner.
Brussels sprouts are rich in fibre and packed with nutrients. They are delicious served in so many ways, but when serving sprouts, I still prepare them the way I remember my mother preparing them. The sprouts are cut in half, and added to a saucepan of boiling salted water, and simmered for no more than five minutes, when a tiny bite will remain. They are then drained, added to a warmed bowl, and topped with butter – dairy or plant-based – and a sprinkling of sea salt. Simple and delicious!
Enjoy!
Nessa x
Christmas Gravy
Ingredients
2 onions
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
10 sage leaves
1 sprig rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1tbsp plain flour
1 vacuum packed bag (180g) chestnuts
1lt vegetable stock
Method
Once the vegetables are soft, take the rosemary sauce from the pan and blitz the gravy. Carefully pass it through a sieve, into a clean saucepan, which gives the gravy a smooth consistency. Place back on the heat and fully heat through before serving.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C /Gas Mark 6.
Place the onions, carrot, celery, sage and rosemary into a large roasting tray. Drizzle over the oil and season with some salt and pepper. Place in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, stirring regularly.
Take from the oven and place on a low heat on the stove. Sprinkle over the flour, stir through the chestnuts and add the stock. Turn the heat up a little under the tray.
Stir to combine and bring to a boil, before simmering on low for 30 minutes.
If you are looking for a show-stopping main, packed with Irish vegetables, we’ve got you covered. This Vegetable Wellington not only looks the part at a Christmas feast, it tastes scrumptious too. It can even be prepared in advance of the big day and popped into the freezer, only to defrost in the fridge the night before. Serve it alongside all the trimmings and lashings of gravy.
Enjoy!
Nessa x
Vegetable Wellington
Ingredients
2 rolls of puff pastry, taken from the fridge 20 minutes before using
Add the mushrooms, carrot, celery and onion to a processor and blitz for a few seconds until finely chopped.
Add the oil to a large pan, over a medium heat. Once hot, add the vegetables and cook for about ten minutes, stirring regularly.
Next, add the wine, soy sauce, tomato puree and herbs. Stir to combine. Add the lentils and blitzed chestnuts. Season with a little salt and pepper. Simmer on low for another 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Take from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Place one sheet of puff pastry on a greaseproof-lined baking tray. Evenly, add the cooked mixture to the centre of the pastry, leaving a few centimetres all around the mixture. Place the other sheet of pastry on top and using your hands, mould the pastry around the filling.
Cut away any excess pastry – this can be used to make festive shapes to place on top. Secure the edges with a fork, score a criss-cross pattern across the top using the tip of a sharp knife. Brush with a little milk, and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Slice and serve immediately with all the trimmings. Enjoy!
It would certainly be much easier to farm with chemicals, apply some herbicides for the weeds, a pesticide or two to deal with the aphids and other mealy bugs, and a fungicide here and there to deal with the different fungal diseases. For good measure maybe throw in a growth inhibitor and a chemical wax coating to literally seal the deal and we have our food system all sown up.
This unfortunately is the reality of our modern-day food system. There is little doubt that the illusion of healthy food fostering great happy farmers, and a vibrant diverse landscape is very neatly packed in shiny plastic packaging on supermarket shelves. It looks lovely and shiny and clean and perfect.It is more challenging to grow food organically, you cannot reach for a bottle of chemicals to deal with every problem
When an inspector came to our farm and took a sample of kale to test for chemicals, they tested for 870 chemicals to be exact, the kale came back completely clean, but it was shocking that they tested for this many active pesticides.That is a lot of chemicals that are floating around that could potentially be used on our food. Farming with nature, protecting biodiversity, producing good clean healthy food is important to us. As I was walking up from creating this video I saw a black bird eating a worm. It struck me that if we were using chemicals on our farm then that worm would have consumed chemicals in the soil and the blackbird would then also be consuming chemicals and the cycle would go on. The lovely picture-perfect produce wrapped in plastic on the supermarket shelves is hiding so much. It is hiding how that food was produced; what chemicals were applied to the food, whether nature was harmed, whether the people producing the food were treated with respect. We can’t think about all of that, the world is too crazy, and we are too busy. The question is how did we arrive at a place where these are questions we must associate with our food? They shouldn’t be. Of course there are MRLs, (maximum residue limits) these are limits that restrict the amount of chemical allowed in a food. But not all foods are tested and when they are a scary 54% of conventional food have chemicals in them (read the report here). Now I think it would be preferable if we didn’t have to consume any toxic chemicals with our food, especially chemicals we are getting without our knowledge.
But our journey is not about fear; it’s about empowerment. By choosing organic farming methods and supporting others who do the same, we are cultivating a relationship with the land that prioritizes health and sustainability. Our commitment to nurture the earth and provide nourishing food for you our community, can only continue through your support. After a tough year, now more than ever we could do with your support
.Thank you.
Kenneth
PS thank you to everybody who has placed a Christmas order already, we are very grateful for your support, and we hope you will be delighted with the produce and groceries that you receive for Christmas. If you haven’t done so already, please have a look now on our website and remember of course you can order a Christmas box, but also you can choose whatever you need for Christmas and we will deliver that too!
Its funny how some memories stay with us. We all have flashes that we remember, or think we remember. I have some memories of my early years and of my grandad, he was a gardener and a farmer. He brought some of the benefits he learned as head gardener at Cregg Castle to his home garden where he grew so much lovely food. I remember his little seat in the garden where he would take a break and sharpen is always with him knife and smoke his pipe. He used to make raised beds for the carrots and potatoes. When I came back from England and started out in 2004 exactly 20 years ago, I made the same raised beds in that same garden.
He gardened and farmed, and I don’t know if he was happy, but I have happy memories, so I assume he was. I have very little doubt that the work was hard and so much more of my grandparents’ time was devoted to work. He worked on his farm and grew as much food as he could. There was a strong sense of community back then and a connection to the food, it was essential, that connection to food and community. It was a means of survival, they needed that food, and I imagine those first new season potatoes were appreciated back then in a way we cannot imagine today.
There is little doubt that the convenience of the modern-day food system is something that would have inspired awe in my grandparents, to them it would have been a miracle. But I wonder whether they would have enjoyed the food? The variety and diversity: yes, but how about the taste and the freshness? Would they have traded their fresh carrots for the supermarket wrapped chemically sprayed, not so fresh supermarket carrots? Maybe not.
But we have traded something fundamental, something very important for our convenient food system, something that is in danger of disappearing from our way of life here in Ireland for ever. Something that has swiftly been side lined to move with the modernisation of our food system. We have traded part of our heritage, and our love for food and our connection to the land for convenience, and in so doing we risk losing something very valuable. The race to the bottom, to the cheapest food possible at all costs has a very real price. Apart from what we pay at the automated tills (These machines would have sent my grandad running back to the fields). These costs loom large, the loss of our native growers here in Ireland, the degradation of the land by polluting our soil and rivers, and the destruction of biodiversity to maximise every inch of productive land. The short-term gain of cheap food today, will not be any good to us in even half a generations time. I loved my grandad, and the turnip juice I used to drink from a tin cup on his knee in his kitchen. My grandparents didn’t have much but they had healthy food that nourished them and the land they farmed.
Your support gives us the courage we need to continue, thank you.
Kenneth
PS please support local organic farms this Christmas, our Christmas boxes are jam packed full of the best local Irish organic ingredients on offer from organic farms including ours across the country. Get your order in now to ensure delivery on the 23rd of December.
If you are searching for a show-stopping dessert which can be made in advance and basically served straight from your freezer we have you covered. This pie is indulgent but also surprisingly light in texture. For the pie to be removed from the tin with ease, it’s best to use a springform/loose bottom tin. Also, take from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving and when cutting, use a large knife, which has been dipped in hot water and wiped dry, to help cut through the cake quickly and evenly.
With a festive feel, thanks to the mulled berry topping, and wreath-like decorating, this pie would make for a welcome addition at any gathering this Christmas.
1. In a food processor, blitz the biscuits until they’re like a fine dust. Gently melt the butter either in a pan or in the microwave and add to the crushed biscuits.
2. Stir to combine and pour into a 17cm springform tin. Press it down firmly and evenly, and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.
3. To prepare the mulled berries, add the berries to a small saucepan with the port, caster sugar, and cinnamon, and set over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about five minutes, stirring regularly. Take from the heat and allow to cool completely before blitzing until smooth.
4. In a large bowl, or using a mixer, whisk the cream until it is lightly whisked. Add the condensed milk and vanilla extract. Continue to whisk for a couple of minutes until combined and thick but be careful not to over whisk. Reserve a few tablespoons of the cream mixture into a piping bag with a large nozzle attached and place in the fridge.
5. Evenly spread the cream mixture over the biscuit base. Add dollops of the cooled, blitzed berry mixture and using a skewer gently swirl to combine. Reserve some of the berry mixture to serve on the side of the pie – it will keep well in the fridge for up to three days, or pop into a bag in the freezer and defrost when needed.
6. Pipe the reserved cream mixture on outer layer of the pie, and top with a few raspberries, and blueberries.
7. Place in the freezer, uncovered for an hour, before loosely covering in cling film. Place in a freezer-proof container and return to the freezer for at least 4 hours, or until ready to serve.
8. Take from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving, add some sprigs of rosemary, dust with icing sugar and enjoy!
When it comes to growing food we need water, and not too much but certainly not too little, between May and September 2018 we had the direst summer ever. We had a water deficit here on our farm. We had parched ground that went down 18 inches, never in my lifetime or in my dad’s lifetime had we seen such a thing.
Our planet is burning, it seems like we are walking in an alternate universe, there is so little talk about the climate crisis, as today COP29 finishes. Three weeks ago, Spain was devastated by the worst flooding on record, did you see it? A year’s worth of rain fell in less than half a day in some regions, killing at least 205 people.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We have seen Europe burn in two successive summers. The impact that this changing climate will have and is having on our food supply will be immense.
The science is clear, and it makes sense, warming oceans mean more water and energy in the air, hence bigger wind and more rain. Last year I remember swimming in the sea off Galway and the water was hot! Another once off. An unheard-of marine heatwave caused an increase of 5C in sea water temperature. These “once off” events are happening more often, the extremes are becoming normalised.
We are not immune here in Ireland either, thankfully we have been spared the worst, or maybe better to say we have been spared the extremes. But how about the relentless rain? I know there will be many who smile and say of course it rains this is Ireland, but this is on a whole new level. It started raining in June 2023 and it didn’t stop here until the end of August 2024. It prevented us getting into the fields to plant, It delayed harvest, it reduced yields, increased disease, it has had a very serious impact. July 2023 was the wettest July ever recorded here in Ireland, EVER!
Why is all of this change happening so fast? We all know the answer to this, we are putting too much greenhouse gases at too fast a rate into the atmosphere. Of course, there are natural variations in the climate but over the last 11700 years we have been blessed to live in a relatively stable climate. This is all on the cusp of changing, but why? Why must we destabilise a planetary system that has allowed us to prosper, to have such abundance like never before?
There is only one reason when clean energy solutions are staring us in the face: GREED. The fossil fuel companies are determined to keep us on this path of planetary overheating. 57 fossil fuel producers have been responsible for 80% of all global CO2 emissions. Of course we need energy, but we can change to clean energy, and we are.
There is such hope in renewable energy, we have these amazing natural resources that are clean and do not pour warming gases into an already overheated atmosphere, why wouldn’t we do it? What is the downside? There is none that I can see.
In 2018 with the help of a crowd funding campaign we got enough money together to install a 10KW solar panel array. Two years ago, we borrowed to increase this and finally with the aid of a grant from the Department of agriculture we installed a further 20KW array this week. I am so excited to have finally taken this step, which brings us one step closer to creating our energy here locally from the sun and becoming carbon neutral. There are so many sheds on farms all over Ireland, and there is good support from the government, if you are in agriculture, surely it is worth a look?
Producing our food locally and harvesting and being able to store it in fridges that are being run by the sun makes me feel very happy. What makes me feel even happier is that there are people like you who believe that taking these steps are critical to protecting our planet.
I can only say, at this time of great change in the world, you are needed now more than ever.
We can only ever take these steps because you support us.
Once you make these carrot fries for the first time, they will soon become a part of your recipe repertoire as they are totally addictive and so easy-to-make. Of course, they are also bursting with goodness. Carrots are rich in beta carotene, which is converted into Vitamin A by the body. Vitamin A supports our immune system and vision, while promoting healthy skin, bones, and teeth. These carrot fries are scrumptious as a snack but are also perfect to serve as a side. The coriander dip serves perfectly with the fries, but if you’re not a fan of coriander, basil can be used in its place.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C /Gas Mark 7, or the air fryer to 200°C.
Prepare the carrots by peeling them and cutting into strips or batons.
Add to a large bowl along with the olive oil, cornflour, smoked paprika, onion granules, and garlic powder. Season with a little salt and pepper. Toss to combine and fully coat the carrots.
Cook in the air fryer for 18- 20 minutes or the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning twice during cooking.
While the carrots are cooking, make the dip by adding the ingredients to a high-powered processor and blitz for a few seconds until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
Serve the carrots while hot with the dip on the side. Enjoy!
Over €400 million worth of vegetables were imported into Ireland in 2023, that is an increase of 17% in value and 6% in volume since 2022.
Last week we reviewed our farm accounts, and the picture painted was not one that brought joy to the heart, it rarely is unfortunately. The fundamentals of growing vegetables means that the price paid does not cover the costs of production, so far this year we are carrying a significant loss on our farm.
Whilst we as a nation seem to be importing more and more fresh produce we are losing more and more of our growers. There is no escaping the fact that as the industry has been left vulnerable and right on the edge by the price paid by supermarket buyers. Smaller growers have exited the industry, and this has been compensated for by the larger grower here in Ireland.
However, this is no longer the case as we all have heard the familiar story at this stage as the cost of inputs has risen over the last number of years and the decline of people wanting to work in the industry is critical. A number of bigger growers have also closed their doors for good. It is not an unreasonable path to take as why would you stay in business when you are losing money, and you have very little control over your income as prices are set by external buyers. These import figures come at the same time as our minister for agriculture states “it is important to consider agrifood imports in the context of corresponding exports.
Ireland recorded a total agri-food trade surplus of more than €5 billion in 2023”. This means we exported lots and lots of meat and dairy and imported lots of vegetables and fruit, but interestingly we also imported lots of cereal based animal feed to generate this trade surplus.
But our high reliance on imports when it come to our vegetable supply means that when there are shortages as a result of drought or other climate shocks which are getting more and more likely due to climate change then we will not be at the top of the priority list when it comes to supply. Right now, we are starting our farm planning for next year. We will also be talking to other Irish growers that supply us with produce and agreeing volumes and prices, for next year, prices that are always fair.
Since 2006 when we sold our first locally grown organic vegetable the planning of our farm has always been something that has been very close to my heart, but after 19 years of growing vegetables with only a handful of those years break even, it does leave you scratching your head when you just can’t make the numbers add up. We have always persevered and will continue to do so, but we can only ever do this and support the nearly 40 people that currently work in our farm and business with your support.
You have heard the story about the frog in the pot of boiling water? He didn’t even notice, did he? and then it was too late, well it seems at least for now we are not that frog.
Minister of State, Pippa Hackett, Jim O’Toole, CEO Bord Bia and Kenneth Keavey, Green Earth Organics withat Bord Bia’s National Organic Awards which took place today at an awards ceremony this morning in the Bord Bia Global Hub, Dublin. Green Earth Organics was announced as the winner of the Direct to Consumer Excellence Award. For more information visit bordbia.ie
There are few wins in agriculture, it is a tough job, and retail as a small business selling fresh produce, is probably just about as challenging as it gets. But last week we won, and we won on the national level, making us one of only seven companies to receive a national organic award and we are delighted, over the moon in fact. It was amazing to receive the recognition that we are indeed getting some bits right.
It is only through the sheer determination, hard work and dedication of the people that work and support Green Earth Organics that we were able to come top of our category and receive such a prestigious accolade. To be in the same room with some of the big powerhouses of retail and agriculture such as Flahavans and Dunnes Stores and to come away with an award for best in category “Direct to Consumer” was overwhelming. It was a double win. Coming off the back of the two worst growing years in at least our 18-year history, and a retail environment where it is next to impossible to compete and succeed with the backdrop that the supermarkets paint, that we won. It is encouragement that couldn’t have come at a better time. I will forego modesty for this moment, it was an amazing achievement, and one that we are proud of and will relish. It is rare to know that you are not the frog in the boiling water, you know the story.
The awards showed us that we are not that frog. There have been plenty of times in the last 24 months, were we certainly felt like the water was heating, the increased costs of doing business and farming, the ravaging of our climate through man made emissions that is exacerbating our ability to grow crops. The difficulty in competing in a landscape where fresh produce is devalued and used as loss leaders. Throw into the mix six months of other challenges of our own making a new IT system that very nearly broke us, and you have the perfect storm.
For all of that, we have never been more committed to our mission of creating a more sustainable food system, one that respects biodiversity through the elimination of the use of chemicals and through the production of local food, to reduce our contribution to man-made climate breakdown.
It is through your support that we get to do this to stand up for the values: to protect our planet, and our land, and biodiversity, and to reduce plastic pollution and to ensure our food is free from chemicals.
As Margret Meade stated you are those citizens.“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
