These cheesy veggie rolls are best enjoyed straight from the oven, when the cheese is oozing, and the pastry is deliciously crumbly and crisp. They are, however, also very tasty as a cold snack, and would be well placed at a picnic or outdoor get-together. When transporting these rolls for a picnic, ensure you pack them into a container alongside some icepacks to keep them properly cool while travelling.
Take the puff pastry from the fridge 30 minutes before using. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6.
Add the mushrooms, red onion, and garlic to a processor and blitz until fine.
Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add the butter. Once melted add the blitzed vegetable mixture and cook for about ten minutes, stirring regularly.
Stir through the spinach and chives. Season with a little salt and pepper. Once the spinach has wilted a little take from the heat and allow to cool.
Cut the pastry into three strips. Spoon a third of the vegetable mixture along the long edge of the pastry. Sprinkle over a light layer of the grated cheese.
Fold over the pastry to cover the mixture and press down the sides using a fork. Repeat for the other two strips of pastry.
Using a sharp knife, cut each strip into five and place on a greaseproof paper-lined baking tray.
Whisk the egg gently and brush over the top of the rolls before sprinkling over the sesame seeds.
Place in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden in colour and cooked through. These rolls are best enjoyed on the day they are made or refrigerate in a sealed container to enjoy cold the next day.
There must be more to business and farming than the bottom line? If we pursue profit above all else where will this lead us? I often feel a little discouraged and depressed with the state of the world, the cruelty and destruction we as human being are inflicting on our planet seems endless and unrelenting, it can at times feel overwhelming.
Factory farms, chemical destruction of biodiversity, plastic pollution, the unravelling of our food system and indeed our humanity, clearing the last of the earths forests to grow more food to feed yet more cows, all ultimately in the name of profit and chasing the cheapest product or ingredient. Is this all there is?
In one way there is no denying we all are complicit but how are we to act any differently? We operate within a loaded system supporting a model that is breaking us and our planet. The supermarkets and food companies and large retailers, chase the same goal: make money and keep investors or shareholders happy.
But as the native Americans used to say: “When all the trees have been cut down, the last fish caught, and the last stream poisoned, you will realise that you cannot eat money”
I’m not naïve enough though to think that profit is not important, having been on the hard edge of not being able to pay the bills over the years. We have struggled to reach profitability for many years and producing and selling food as a small retailer couples all the hard points of both industries and we are up against the fierce competition of the global retailer supermarket chains. But here is the thing: Our food choices matter a great deal! I wanted to take the time today to thank you for choosing to support us.
We know you can walk into a supermarket and generally buy produce cheaper than we can sell it at, in fact sometimes you can but this same produce cheaper than we can produce it at. It is funny though, what we consider is acceptable spending. Just today as a reward for completing her first junior cert exam, I bought my daughter her requested almond milk cappuccino, costing a shocking €5.40! Is this the norm now?
But carrots at less than a €1 are considered too expensive, it seems we may have mixed up our priorities here or have I missed something along the way? The convenient road of picking up a cheap plastic clad product from a supermarket is so easy and so habitual but YOU choose to take the more difficult road, the road less travelled even.
Spending a bit more and taking a delivery at a set time each week, we know this is a big commitment. I don’t know if you know, if you fully realise the difference you are making. You have given us the green light to buck the trend, to grow without chemicals, to invest in biodiversity, to focus on products and crops that mitigate climate change and produce and support other farmers than share common values are organic in practice and in spirit.
This is surely the better path? A path that focuses on caring for nature, and ourselves, and not putting profit before all else? To me it seems that this change is all that is needed to fix the world, maybe that is naive? It will take work on your part, the path of least resistance is not always the best way, in fact it is usually only when we put in some effort that we receive the very best rewards.
So, thank you for your time, money, patience and determination to help create a food system that protects our beautiful land and is ultimately a long-term investment in our own future health.
Rain at last. We never asked for it, we have definitely learned our lesson there. But we couldn’t have asked for a better run of it. Between the amazing sunshine and rain just when we needed it, it has been a miraculous start to the season and for once we are absolutely delighted with progress on the farm. We are so busy at the moment, as the three main tasks are starting to coalesce. We are planting, harvesting and the big one, weeding has just started too.
Our first sowing of carrots and parsnips have just poked their little heads through the soil, which was earlier than expected, but they look good. You know what we will do between now and harvest? We will weed with machines and by hand and we will cover them with nets to exclude the carrot root fly, and that’s it.
In my view, it would make a remarkable difference to how we perceive the value of food if we knew how it was produced, what if the list of chemicals used on the produce were mentioned on the pack, how would that influence our decisions I wonder? For conventional carrot production right here in Europe and in the UK, here are some of the lovely hidden extras you may be getting. Behind the bright orange crunch is a complex spraying programme involving herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides – some systemic, some not – all used to ensure a blemish-free, marketable crop. Carrots are sprayed with herbicides, usually starting with Glyphosate prior to planting, then a couple of other stars Pendimethalin and Aclonifen. They can be sprayed 2-3 times per season. Then it is over to insect control, expect possibly Cyantraniliprole (Benevia), which is systemic (goes into the plant) and Lambda-cyhalothrin (Karate Zeon) which is toxic to bees and aquatic organisms.
It wouldn’t be right to leave out a whole group of chemicals, so not be missed next it is the turn of the fungicides, the likes of Prothioconazole and Azoxystrobin + Difenoconazole (Amistar Top), both are systemic and the last one is an endocrine disruptor, not good for us. In 2023 the UK found chemicals in 43% of carrots tested, so nearly half.
It is so hard these days to connect how our food has been produced, what has been sprayed on it, and how those in our food system, humans and pollinators alike, have been treated, it seems to me that supermarket led cheap food comes at great cost. The best way to avoid chemicals and the damage they do to biodiversity is if possible, to choose organic.
Growing some of your own food is an amazing way to connect us with the miracle of nature and the true value of our food.
When you have good quality, fresh ingredients to hand, a recipe never needs to be overly complicated. A simple toastie with a plain green salad is instantly elevated by the quality of ingredients used. To start with, real bread, fresh and thickly cut. A good-quality Irish cheese, and while we wait for Irish tomatoes to return into season, some flavoursome sun-dried tomatoes can be used in their place. Plus a drizzle of a nice extra virgin olive oil is all that is needed for this sandwich to taste delicious. Irish, organic lettuce benefits from the quality of soil it is grown in, and this shines through in its flavour. A simple dressing with the addition of some nuts for extra flavour and a little crunch serves perfectly alongside the toastie.
When preparing a green salad in advance after washing the lettuce leaves it’s important to fully dry them. The best way to do this is with a salad spinner. Then add the dried leaves to a large salad bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or kitchen paper, and refrigerate until ready to use. To avoid the salad becoming soggy, only add a small amount of the dressing and toss through the leaves just before serving.
Wash the salad leaves and dry well using a salad spinner. If the leaves are large, tear into smaller pieces. Add the dried leaves to a large bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or kitchen paper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Drizzle one side of each slice of bread with a little olive oil. Take one slice, olive oil side down, and layer on the cheese and tomato, and top with the other slice of bread, olive oil side up.
Place the pan over a medium heat on a hob and add the toastie. Press down gently using a clean saucepan lid. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Once the toastie is golden and crisp, and the cheese has melted, take from the pan, and cut in half.
Enjoy straight away alongside the green salad, drizzled with the nutty dressing.
1 teaspoon of the neonicotinoid Thiamethoxam can kill 1.25 billion bees, that is more than all the bees in North America! The “Insect Apocalypse” is already underway, some areas, like German nature reserves, have seen insect biomass drop by 75% in 30 years.
“If all insects were to disappear it is thought that all life on earth would end within 50 years, if all human beings were to disappear within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.” – Jonas Salk.
It is impossible to picture our farm without insects, the bees, the flies and the butterflies, it would be empty, over the last couple of weeks with the amazing weather they have been out in abundance. Insects are crucial to life on earth, and pesticides and climate change are having a massively negative impact on them.
When a farmer or a gardener goes and sprays glyphosate on the land, they kill all plants. Have you ever seen a bright yellow field that has been sprayed with Roundup, it is not pleasant. This herbicide in one fell chemical swoop destroys all biodiversity that would have been home to millions of our little insect friends. Conventional agricultural nearly always starts with Roundup.
Have you ever noticed “tram lines” in cereal fields, these lines are there to allow the tractor to follow the same path to prevent damage to the crop. They are used so the conventional farmer can spray chemicals on his crop multiple times. These include, fungicides, growth promotors to prevent cereals from lodging (falling over), pesticides and herbicides and they can be sprayed several times in one season.
So, removing chemical from our food supply is critical to the health of our pollinators and we need our insect friends because if they disappeared, we would have a few very serious problems:
1. Pollination Collapse
About 75% of global crops depend at least in part on pollinators, Without insect pollination, yields of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and many oilseeds would plummet.
2. Food Web Disruption
Insects are the base of many food chains. Birds, amphibians, reptiles, and many mammals depend on insects for food. A collapse in insect populations would cause cascading extinctions, weakening ecosystems and agriculture alike.
3. Decomposition and Soil Fertility
Insects like beetles, ants, and flies are crucial decomposers. Without them, dead organic matter would accumulate, slowing nutrient cycling, degrading soil health, and impacting plant growth.
4. Pest Control
Many insects prey on crop pests. If all insects vanished, pest populations (like mites and some plant diseases) could explode without natural enemies, further devastating crops.Insects are not just pests—they’re fundamental to life on Earth. Their disappearance would trigger a slow-motion ecological and agricultural collapse.
Organic may not be a perfect system, but it at least give biodiversity a fighting chance and keeps chemicals out of our food chain.
As always thank you for your support, without it we would not be here.
Fibre-rich plants foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans, peas, and lentils are all packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre. Eating sufficient portions of these as part of our everyday diet will encourage a healthier digestive system. These nut clusters make for a tasty treat while still providing us with essential nutrients.
I’ve used a bag of mixed nuts, but any combination of plain, raw nuts can be used, and any chocolate of choice too; dark, milk, white, or plant based. They keep well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days; perfect to make today and enjoy as an afternoon pick-me-up for the week.
Preheat the oven to 190°C / fan 170°C / Gas Mark 5. Place the nuts on a baking tray and into the oven for about 7 minutes.
Take from the oven and once cool enough to touch, roughly chop the nuts and place in a bowl. Add the honey and sea salt. Stir well to combine.
Divide the mixture between a 12-case silicone bun case, or into a regular 12-case bun tray lined with bun cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool and set fully before removing from the tray.
Once the clusters are cold, remove from the tray and dunk in the melted chocolate. Sprinkle over a little sea salt and leave to set before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Summer salads have been catapulted back to the dinner table and I for one am glad they are here to stay, especially as the stunning sunshine we have been enjoying is set to remain in Ireland for the foreseeable. This salad is high in fibre and rich in protein. It’s packed with vibrant vegetables, and the creamy, zesty dressing brings everything together so perfectly. Serve it alongside any barbecue dishes, or simply with a nice bread, crackers, or tortilla chips. It’s best eaten on the day it is made but will store well for up to three days in a sealed container in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C /Gas Mark 7, or if using an airfryer set to 200°C.
Add the chickpeas to a bowl with the olive oil, maple, paprika and a little salt and pepper. Combine well and place on a baking tray and into the preheated oven for 20-22minutes, giving the tray a shake every so often. Leave to cool fully before adding to the other salad ingredients.
Add the finely prepared vegetables to a large bowl with the cold chickpeas.
Make the creamy dressing by adding the dressing ingredients to a mini chopper and blitzing gently for a few seconds to combine.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables and chickpeas. Stir well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
My feeling when it comes to pesticide residues in our food is that the only safe limit is a zero limit. If I were to tell you that 50% of the food you eat contains pesticide residues, how would you feel?
My Grandad farmed on this piece of land that we now farm organically. He had a mixed family farm and grew much of his own food as did many in the locality back then. This food was more nutritious, it tasted better, it was fresher than food today, it was free from chemicals, and it was local and seasonal.
Today our food system is a complex web of producers, processors and logistics. When we walk into a supermarket, we don’t have time to think too much about where our food comes from our how it was produced, the shiny plastic packs of produce give us the impression that our food system is limitless, vibrant and fair. Indeed, this very supermarket system and the global food corporations that supply it have disconnected us from our food and have been complicit in devaluing our most valuable commodity: food.
Since my grandad’s time in the early 1950’s agriculture and food have changed unrecognisably. It has undergone a green revolution. Ironically this “green revolution” has left our current food system broken. GMOs, giant monocultures, pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilisers and factory farms dominate our global food supply system, all hidden behind those shiny plastic packs on the supermarket shelves.
The term “green revolution” was always something that struck me as a bit odd, especially when you consider what green means today, this was a revolution that switched our agricultural system from a natural approach to a chemistry centred approach.
I am an organic farmer, but I wasn’t always. In fact, and again ironically, I was an organic chemist, I have a Ph. D in chemistry from Cambridge University. I spent nearly 15 years working with chemicals, pharmaceuticals and in the biotech industry, so I know a thing or two about chemicals.
Today chemicals are used to force nature to behave in the way they want, they have tried to impose factory type controls onto the natural environment that we rely on for our food. But nature is not a factory, and the same rules do not apply, you cannot indiscriminately apply chemicals to our food and not expect a fall out.
A report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that nearly half the food they tested from almost 81,000 food samples had pesticides in them. Strawberries and lettuce are the most likely to exceed safe limits, the agency found. They are especially sensitive to fungus and bugs and so undergo considerable spraying with pesticides.
More than one in four (27.3%) of the food samples contained traces of more than one pesticide.
The food we put into our bodies is one of the most valuable investments we can ever make. The simple fact is you can taste value, and if you have ever tasted a freshly harvested tomato, warm from the vine, free from chemicals, full of life and nutrition, then you will know what I am talking about here, that is real value. I think my grandad instinctively knew that, but then again that was all there was back then.
Here is to the best value food in the world.
As always thank you for your support.
Kenneth
Link to report below.
A new report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that more than 97% of foods contain pesticide residue levels that fall within legal limits. Strawberries are the most likely to exceed safe limits, the agency found.
About 55% of the samples evaluated by EFSA were free of detectable traces of these chemicals, the agency said.
This means nearly half of food products in Europe contain residues of pesticides.
The highest rate of exceeding safety limits was for strawberries (2.5% of the sample), followed by lettuce (2.3%). They are especially sensitive to fungus and bugs and so undergo considerable spraying with pesticides.
The late spring, early summer season brings with it the return of many Irish-grown vegetables. Irish mushrooms are a constant as they thrive in darkened conditions allowing them to grow year-round, but luscious salad leaves and herbs are always encouraged by the better weather. I’d happily serve a plain green salad alongside any meal, but when a little light balance is required on a plateful of indulgent bites Irish salad leaves, simply dressed with some lemon and olive oil, are always well placed.
These crispy garlic mushrooms make for a gorgeous starter or light supper. They can be prepared early in the day, and stored in the fridge, until ready to bake. I like to use the flatter, portobello mushrooms, but chestnut mushrooms can be used either in their place. To serve, I’ve mixed together some mayonnaise with a crushed garlic clove, a little lemon juice, black pepper and freshly chopped chives, as a flavoursome accompaniment.
Our food is probably one of the most valuable investments we can make, and our decisions affect us deeply, and over time they take their toll. Look at the rise of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic inflammatory disease.
The long-term impact of consuming too much sugar, or ultra processed foods is clear, but what is less clear is the cumulative impact of the pesticides and herbicides that are endemic in our food, the hidden extras that we never see.
What is the impact of the small amounts of pesticides we consume in our food daily, the cocktail effect of these chemicals over a period of years can be profound.
What if our organic kale was just kale, and the conventional chemical sprayed kale had to be called “chemical kale” ? Our impression of food would change our realisation that our food is grown with chemicals would be clear. We may then consider their impact on our health, or how our food choices impact biodiversity.
At the moment our kale fields are bursting with flowers, and bees and biodiversity. They are also covered in aphids, as the kale is at the end of the season they are doing little harm. These aphids in conventional systems only a few years ago would have been treated with neonicotinoid chemicals, these systemic chemicals were shown to kill bees. The chemical industry denied and lobbied against groups that wanted them banned, knowing full well they were killing the bees. Thankfully these chemicals are now banned.
We have just been designated as a conservation area for the native Irish honey bee, the bee hives that Gerry manages on our farm are native Irish honey bees and these bees are, as all bees are under threat from habitat destruction, the relentless intensification of agriculture, the loss of biodiversity and the overuse of chemicals in our food chain. The Irish honey bee is unique to Ireland and it needs to be protected. Our food choices directly impact Gerry’s honey bees, in this case in a very positive way, and they are thriving on our farm.
Not only do our food choices, impact our food, but it seems they also impact the quality of our drinking water. Irish water this week announced that they have found 66 exceedances of what they deem is the safe limit of pesticides in our water. I would argue that the only safe limit is a zero-tolerance limit. A senior manager said:
“We want to remind users to be mindful of water sources when using pesticides, as one drop of pesticide can be detected in a stream up to 30km away.”
Chemicals found included MCPA (used to kill rushes), 2,4-D (this was a chemical found in the notorious agent orange concoction sprayed to defoliate forests during the Vietnam war). And of course glyphosate, the main ingredient in all-purpose Roundup makes a star appearance, which is no surprise.
But as with Gerry’s bees, our food choices really do matter, they drive a different type of food production, they change the laws of the land, they get chemicals banned. So, the next time you are choosing food, if there is an organic option, maybe if you can choose that, it really matters.
