Pan-Fried Mixed Veg Wraps

by Nessa Robins

We’ve asked by many for advice on what to do when you’re faced with an abundance of seasonal vegetables. Pickling is a great way to preserve a harvest, or you could turn a bounty into a stash of jams or chutneys. Cake or muffin recipes, using carrot, beetroot, or courgette, such as the recipe we shared last week, can be baked, cooled, and popped in the freezer to enjoy at a later stage. While a tray of roasted vegetables can be enjoyed fresh or added to stock to make a soup, which could then be cooled and refrigerated or saved in the freezer for another time.

This mixed vegetable stir-fry can be enjoyed with rice or pasta but is particularly tasty when served in a wrap with the addition of pesto and cheese. Either assemble on the cold pan, before turning on the heat under, or assemble on a plate and transfer to the hot pan. Serve alongside a green salad for a delicious seasonal lunch.

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Pan-Fried Mixed Veg Wraps

For the stir-fry

  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • 2 courgettes, thinly sliced
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 150g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed 
  • Salt and pepper
  • Handful baby spinach
  • Basil leaves

For the wraps

  • 4 wholemeal wraps
  • 4tsp basil pesto
  • Hard cheese, of choice, grated
  • ½ tbsp olive oil

Method

  1. Start by preparing all the vegetables. Add the olive oil to a large frying pan or wok and stir fry the courgette, pepper, and onion for about 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add the tomatoes and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and continue to cook for another few minutes, until the tomatoes have started to break down. Add the spinach and the roughly torn basil leaves. Stir through and after about a minute take from the heat. 
  3. To make the wrap, add a teaspoon of pesto evenly to a wrap, top with a layer of grated cheese and a good serving of the stir-fried vegetables. Fold in the side of the wrap over the filling and roll, tucking in the edges.
  4. Add a little olive oil to a clean pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the wrap and cook on each side for about 3 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy immediately.  

You can have double the helping of Roundup in your porridge than in your toast.

by Kenneth Keavey

I remember many years ago meeting two brothers who were growing oats for Flahavans for their porridge. One brother was growing it organically and one was growing it conventionally (With chemicals) The organic farmer tilled the ground, sowed the oats, did some mechanical weed control, and essentially left the oat crop to its own devices.

The other brother was in and out with his sprayer at regular intervals to control, weeds, and fungal infections, using chemicals such as Inatreq ™ (fenpicoxamid) another systemic chemical, Prothioconazole, azoles, and folpet.

Next time you drive past a field of cereal, have a look for tractor wheelings called tramlines up and down the field. This is where the farmer drives up and down spraying the field, and will use the same wheelings for multiple applications to reduce damage to the crop.

At the end of the day although the organic farmer may have had a slightly lesser yield they came out with the same profit due to the cost of the chemicals. Of course, what was not factored in was the cost of the chemicals to our environment and our health, so the question remains why even bother?

While the EU extended the licence for Glyphosate for a further 10 years in 2023, it banned its use as a crop desiccant.

This is the use of a chemical to “dry out a crop”, it is used to reduce the moisture level in cereal crops like wheat. Drier kernals are required by the processors for milling. Even though there is a ban on the use of Glyphosate for desiccation, farmers can still use Roundup for late control of weeds in wheat, so it seems it is still possible to use this toxic systemic chemical for control of weeds in wheat, meaning of course it ends up in our food and in our bread.

I wonder how many farmers are using this loophole to effectively continue to apply roundup prior to harvest?

Roundup is systemic, it gets absorbed into the plant and stays there, classified as a probable carcinogen by the WHO, it is the most used herbicide in the world ever, sales in 2023 reached $10.3 billion.

The funny fact when it comes to roundup is we are allowed to have twice the amount of roundup in our porridge that we are in our wheat. It makes no sense you can’t possibly say the same chemical is twice as safe in a different crop and essentially tell people it is safe to consume twice as much, this of course is rubbish.

But that is the way it is, let me frame this for you, you can have double the helping of roundup in your porridge than you can have in your toast, does that make sense to you? Well, it doesn’t make any sense to me.

I’ll be going with the organic porridge and toast thank you very much.

As always thank you for your support

Kenneth

PS Please remember supermarkets wont miss your custom, but we are completely dependent on your custom to keep our farm running, and every order makes a massive difference, there has never been a better time to get the most amazing seasonal local Irish organic produce as now, thank you.

Chocolate Courgette Muffins

by Nessa Robins

These rich, fudgy chocolate muffins have a secret ingredient—courgette! Baking with seasonal vegetables isn’t just tasty, it’s better for the planet. When you eat what’s in season, you cut down on long-distance transport and reduce your carbon footprint. While choosing pesticide-free produce, helps to protect pollinators, soil health, and our water sources.

So next time courgettes are in abundance, skip the waste and bake something delicious. Small choices, like this, make a big difference.

Enjoy!

Nessa x 

Chocolate Courgette Muffins

Ingredients 

Makes 12

  • 225g self raising flour
  • 200g light muscovado sugar
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 2tsp ground mixed spice
  • 200g grated courgette 
  • 3 medium-sized free-range eggs
  • 200ml coconut oil, melted & cooled
  • 50g dark chocolate chips

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/ fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases. 
  2. Sieve the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and mixed spice into a large bowl.
  3. Add the courgette and stir well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined with the dry ingredients.
  4. In a jug, lightly whisk together the eggs with the oil. Add to the dry ingredients and stir well until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir through the chocolate chips. 
  5. Divide the mixture between the prepared muffin cases. 
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden. To test if the muffins are cooked insert a metal skewer and if it comes out clean the muffins are ready. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire tray.
  7. Store in an airtight container for up to three days. These muffins also freeze well – on the day they are baked, once fully cooled, store in the freezer in a freezer-proof container for up to three months. 

Why is kale on the dirty dozen every single time?

by Kenneth Keavey

We were out spraying our crops this week, we were having problems with our sprayer, so I was out there with Brenda fixing the machine and ensuring it was working well. It struck me as I was down near the crops checking to ensure we were getting good leaf coverage with our spray that this is exactly what happens with toxic chemical sprays, they are applied, and they are sprayed directly onto the crops and are in some cases absorbed into the plants.

It was visually striking and although I have known this for years, it really hit me there in the field. We sprayed all our brassica plants that day with a mix of seaweed, boron, Epsoms salts and an herbal tonic.

At the time we were spraying black kale, funny thing is kale is a regular feature on the dirty dozen list, mindful that this is an American compiled list and there are so many more chemicals applied there compared to here in the EU, that doesn’t give us Europeans a free pass though.

Even so, for the life of me, why? Why spray kale? It used to be grown for cattle and is as hardy as vegetables come. We have been growing kale for 20 years and never had a disease problem. The only time we have an issue is with aphids, and that is after we leave the plants to go to flower, and they are exhausted at the end of a long season.

Chemicals that are absorbed into the food are called systemic, that means they penetrate the skin of the plant and get into its circulatory system, washing or rinsing does nothing to remove these chemicals.

You may note from the video that there are plenty of weeds in our fields, one of the most notable differences between organic and conventional agriculture is the absence of weeds. Weeds in conventional systems are managed generally starting with the ubiquitous spray of roundup followed by herbicides applied once the plants are in the ground. Then there is the fungicide and insecticide applications. All in all, whilst it is better in Ireland, the best way to avoid ingesting synthetic chemicals is to choose organic.

If you would like to know the chemical concoction you might find on your kale read on. Fungicides like, Difenoconazole, Boscalid, and Fludioxonil, insecticides such as Lamda-cyhalothrin, herbicides such as metazahlor, pendimethalin may be used, if you are in the US I am sure you can add a whole batch of more toxic chemicals to that list.

As the day went on, we got all our brassicas sprayed, I can only imagine the good the mix we applied is doing the plants, and I hope you can taste it in the flavour, freshness and richness of the produce coming off our fields and the fields of the other farmers that supply us.

Not only that, but I Saw a few bees fly though the spray and of course they flew on, no issue there, maybe it even did them some good, don’t think you could say the same for any synthetic chemical that might be sprayed.

As always thank you for your support.

Kenneth

PS Don’t forget to support our organic farm at this time of the year it makes all the difference to us and all the other organic farms and farmers that supply into us. Thank you. Kenneth

Potato Tortilla 

by Nessa Robins

Potatoes are so versatile to cook with and they’re a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Irish new potatoes are now in season. New potatoes are packed with flavour and are waxy, perfect for potato salads and tortillas, as opposed to the floury winter variety which we associate more with mash. 

This potato tortilla, or Tortilla Española as it is more commonly known, can take a little time to prepare, but few ingredients are needed and the result is something truly delicious. It makes for a tasty and nutritious lunch, and serves well alongside some of your favourite salads. 

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Potato tortilla 

Ingredients

Serves 4

Method

  1. Place the potatoes in a steamer and cook for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size
  2. While the potatoes are cooking, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a deep sided, ovenproof frying pan. Place over a medium heat. Add the onion and turn the heat down low, and sauté the onions for about 15 minutes, until they are soft and golden in colour. Stir occasionally. Once cooked remove to a plate and wipe the pan clean
  3. Add the eggs to a jug. Season with a little salt and pepper and gently whisk together.Peel and thickly slice the cooked potatoes. Season well with salt.
  4. Add the remaining oil to the frying pan and using a pastry brush evenly brush the oil along the side and base of the pan.Place the frying pan back over a medium heat on the stove. Once hot, add a layer of potatoes, about half, followed by an even layer of the onion. Pour over half of the egg mixture, then add the remaining layer of potato. Finish by pouring over the rest of the egg mixture.
  5. Cook the tortilla over a low-medium heat until the top is starting to set, which will take about 15 minutes, Preheat the grill and then transfer the pan to under the grill to cook the top. 
  6. Turn out onto a plate or wooden board and cut into four or six slices. The tortilla can be served hot or cold, with a salad on the side. 

we are out spraying again, but not what you think…

by Kenneth Keavey


Have you ever seen those lovely luscious green verges along the roadside, full of life and biodiversity and doing no harm to anyone? In fact, they are a link in the chain that keeps biodiversity alive, they also have the double function of hiding all the rubbish that people still throw out of their car windows.


Then you are happily driving, cycling, walking along and suddenly it all ends and is replaced by an area of devastation, yellow and dead. The good people of the world have been out spraying Roundup again.


So, I ask you this, why?


Why would you do that? It is public ground, it’s one thing if you wish to spray your own fields and your own garden with this probable carcinogen, but public property, surely not. That’s for all of us to decide, is it not?


The ‘Why’ I struggle with, because I just don’t understand it, even from an aesthetic point of view, surely it is better to be looking at a bright alive piece of ground rather than a dead piece of land, if nothing else, it is depressing.


Then there is the double negative, that in this case definitely do not make a positive. Once the vegetation is gone two things happen,

  1. The rubbish that has been dumped there is clear to see.
  2. The most noxious weeds make the first return and usually end up colonising the area.
    Then you must redo the whole thing again next year. Meanwhile Bayer are rubbing their greasy little hands together as they tot up another sale in their €10.3 billion dollar sales of Roundup business.
    So here we are today, out in the field with a tractor sprayer, why you may ask? I have to say I am always a little self-conscious when we bring this out, as it is associated with one thing, and one thing only and that is the application of pesticides and herbicides to food.
    The funny thing is, for us, it is an amazing tool that allows us to feed the crops with what essentially constitutes an herbal multivitamin feed. So, when we take our sprayer out it is to apply, seaweed, and magnesium, and boron, and herbal mixes that strengthen the plants and help them be so much more resilient. This reduces disease and the need to apply “Synthetic Chemicals”.
    Today though I found it thought provoking. When you actually see the spray hit the food and you imagine that this is not a tonic that is being applied but a toxic concoction of herbicides, or pesticides, or fungicides it really paints a different picture. You can actually visualise the chemical landing on your food.

So, in the end, I wonder which is worse then? The rubbish that is dumped on the side of the road or the spraying of this horrible chemical that kills everything in its wake?


What do you think?


As always thanks for your support.


Kenneth


PS We continue to struggle to keep the orders up so we can avoid wasting food we have spent 6 months growing, so if you can help us and place an order it makes a huge difference.

Fresh Tomato Pasta

by Nessa Robins

I guarantee this will be the quickest dinner you will make this week and once you use local tomatoes it will be the most delicious too. It is now Irish tomato season and there are many ways to enjoy tomatoes at their best. Simply sliced with a sprinkling of salt has always been a favourite, but fresh in-season tomatoes are fantastic when lightly cooked and have the ability to instantly elevate a simple pasta dish. 

Most fruit and vegetables are more nutritionally beneficial to us in their raw form. However, research has revealed that cooking tomatoes not only increases the level of lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant in the tomatoes, but it also makes it easier for the body to absorb. 

This delicious dish takes minutes to prepare and is packed with nutrients.

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Fresh Tomato Pasta

Ingredients

Serves 3

  • 750g cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
  • Handful fresh basil, ripped into pieces
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes
  • Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • 275g dried spaghetti 
  • 25g butter

To serve

  • Grating of cheese, such as parmesan, grand padano, or a dairy-free alternative
  • Basil leaves 
  • Black pepper
  • Garlic bread, optional 

Method

  1. To a large bowl, add the chopped tomatoes, basil, olive oil, sugar, chilli flakes, and a little salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Cover and leave for about 2 hours to allow the flavours to mingle together. 
  2. Cook the spaghetti according to the pack’s instructions, in a large saucepan of salted boiling water.
  3. Add the butter to a large frying pan, over a high heat. Once melted pour in the marinaded tomatoes. Stirring all the time, cook for about ten minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked and have become sticky. 
  4. Drain the spaghetti, saving about 4 tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the water to the pan. Stir well to combine. Allow to bubble for about a minute before adding the spaghetti. Stir well to completely coat the spaghetti in the sauce.
  5. Serve immediately with a good grating of cheese, a few basil leaves and some freshly grated black pepper. 

what a week!

by Kenneth Keavey

What a week, we went from having one of our lowest weeks in terms of customers to the highest ever, it was amazing, we couldn’t believe it, and to be completely honest it nearly broke us.

But the team that are working here pulled out all the stops, they were amazing, every single person.It is hard to know where to start to say thank you, for the kind wishes, and thoughts, the orders, the words and energy, every single one meant a great deal.

I can tell you honestly that unless you get big and specialise in one particular crop or two or are really small and it is just you (and neither of those scenarios when it comes to food production are easy either) then it is nigh impossible to make the farming of multiple crops on 20 acres work, and we are not new to this.

So, this year when all the stars aligned and the weather and the farm team and the fertility and the machines and everything worked as will happen every once in a rare while it is fantastic. But then to finally have the crops in the field and to not have a way to sell them it is demoralising. July and August are our toughest months to try and keep sales coming in to keep the farm and the business going.

Thank you for all the suggestions of what to do, we have tried most over the years and our experience with say supply to supermarkets has not been a positive one and I would prefer to close up shop that to go back to that. They do say “never say never” but for me it’s a no.

Ultimately if I have to blame somebody or something for why it is so difficult, it is the supermarkets (Now I know throwing blame around is never a very progressive or useful way to live, I also know we all need and use supermarkets), but our food has ultimately been devalued and fresh produce is classed as something that must be ultra cheap (and I get it that it is hard and the cost of living is real).

But here is the thing, we have the most amazing heads of broccoli grown organically and I am not 100% sure how much each head cost to grow but I do know with all our crops in fine fettle and with the farm in full flow, and with everything aligned and with us charging the prices we are, we find it very difficult to make the proverbial ends meet on the farm. But after the week we have just had and with the farm harvest at least for now looking so promising, I am cautiously hopefully that there is light at the end of the 20-year-old tunnel.

So if you can continue to help us, July and August are the months that we struggle for all the reasons I have said last week, they are the two key months for harvest and it is so important that we have homes for all the lovely veg we and the other Irish organic growers we buy from have in abundance at this time of the year.

So, thank you again, thank you from everybody here, you have made a massive difference, and as always, we would not be able to do what we do without your support.

Kenneth

Raspberry Chia Pudding

by Nessa Robins

This raspberry chia pudding feels like you’re having a dessert for breakfast, as it’s so deliciously creamy and luscious. However, this pudding is packed with nutrients. Raspberries are now in season and they’re a fantastic source of fibre and vitamin C, while being rich in antioxidants. Chia seeds are a powerful source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are especially beneficial for our heart health, making them a great addition to our daily diet. While yogurt and milk provide us with protein and bone-supporting calcium. For a little crunch, some granola or chopped nuts would also make for a delicious and nutritious topping.

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Raspberry Chia Pudding

Ingredients

Serves 3

For the pudding layer

For the pink yogurt layer

  • 75g vanilla yogurt
  • 50g raspberries
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

To serve and to layer

  • 100g vanilla yogurt 
  • Handful raspberries 

Method

  1. To make the pudding, add the milk, raspberries, yogurt, and maple to a blender. Blitz until smooth and transfer to a large bowl. Stir though the chia seeds. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.
  2. To make the pink yogurt layer, add the yogurt, raspberries, and maple to a blender and blitz until smooth.
  3. To assemble, layer the pudding with the pink yogurt, and some plain yogurt and raspberries, between three bowls or containers. Top with another spoonful of yogurt and raspberries. Enjoy straightaway or cover and refrigerate to enjoy within 3 days.

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