If you are planning on making some tasty treats to gift this Easter, this mixture makes enough for two half dozen cartons of Easter Energy ‘Eggs’. You could use a combination of nuts in place of the pecans and cashews. Nuts and seeds are nutrient-dense foods that offer a variety of health benefits; they’re rich in healthy fats, high in protein and antioxidants, and packed with fibre. A plant-based milk and chocolate can be used to make these chocolatey treats plant-based.
You will need two empty egg cartons. Add six cupcake cases to each.
If the dates are dry, soak in warm water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry. Add the dates to the processor and blitz for a few seconds, until the pieces are very small.
Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz to combine but be careful not to over process.
Remove the blade from the bowl. Take a spoonful of mixture and careful mould into an egg shape. Repeat this with the remaining mixture, making twelve ‘eggs’. Place on a greaseproof paper-lined tray and place in the fridge for a few hours to set.
Once the ‘eggs’ have firmed, using a skewer, dunk each one into the melted chocolate and place back on the tray and into the fridge. Once fully set place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days.
The fine weather is a welcome blessing, and we are getting loads done of the farm, including, planting lettuce, spinach, rocket and beetroot. We have all our fields ready for planting now and have been working really hard to make the best use of the sunshine.
The downside of both the good weather and Easter is we will see a large drop off on orders, this affects us very much as nothing much changes for us from the cost side. So, if you can at all especially as we head into Easter, don’t forget about your sustainable food 😊 place an order if you can as it makes a massive difference to our small sustainable organic farm and business.
Monsanto spent millions on deceptive communications strategies to convince the public that the world’s most widely used herbicide, Roundup, is “as safe as table salt.” Yet its main ingredient, glyphosate, was flagged as having the potential to cause cancer as far back as 1984 by a scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
We deserve to know what is on our food. I don’t care that limits are set that are supposed to protect us, these are called MRLs (maximum residue limits). Bear in mind that these limits as with Glyphosate can change over time to allow for more of a chemical to be applied.
In 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had established the maximum residue limit (MRL), or tolerance, for glyphosate residues in or on soybeans at 6 parts per million (ppm). During the late 1990s, Monsanto lobbied to raise permitted glyphosate levels in soybeans, successfully convincing both the U.S. and UK governments to increase the MRL to 20 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), equivalent to 20 ppm. So 6mg/kg was the safe limit we could not exceed in the early 90s, but as the application of the chemical increased the limit was increased nearly 4-fold, and this new level was now the “safe” limit. Of course, this increased limit meant more of the chemical could be sprayed on the crops.
Glyphosate has increased exponentially since the early 90s and it is toxic, does damage our microbiome, and facilitates the production of masses of ultra processed food. The incidence of which would also have rocketed from the 1990s onwards.
But if nothing else, spraying a chemical that kills everything in its path, destroys biodiversity, damages our microbiome, and facilitates large corporations to make billions, whilst contributing to disease in the world, surely that must stop?
This chocolate ice-cream is packed with ingredients your gut is going to love. Potassium, magnesium, and fibre rich bananas are great for the digestive system. Ensure the bananas are fully frozen before you make this dessert, as the creaminess of the blitzed frozen banana is the secret to this ice-cream. Also, to keep the gut happy, ensure the yogurt you’re using has declared it includes ‘live active cultures’. The added cacao is full of antioxidants and gives a delicious chocolate hit.
1. Peel and slice the bananas. Place in a freezer-proof container and pop in the freezer for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
2. Once the bananas are fully frozen, add them with the yogurt, cacao powder and maple into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth.
3. Pour into a freezer-proof dish and place in the freezer for about two hours.
4. In the meantime, make the pecan crunch. Place a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pecans and dry fry for about two minutes, tossing regularly. Once the pecans start to brown a little, drizzle over the honey. Stir to combine. Take from the heat, and carefully transfer the sticky pecans to a plate to set. Once completely cooled, break the pecan crunch into pieces.
5. Scoop the chocolate banana ice-cream into bowls, scatter over some pecan crunch and serve.
Supermarkets won’t miss you, but we will! Our orders always drop off over Easter and school holidays, but we still have the same costs to bear for running the farm and the business. Your order means a lot to us and makes all the difference. It allows us to keep doing what we are doing and developing a more sustainable food network and farming approach to food in Ireland.
Please if you can at all support us over the next three weeks through the Easter break. To help you on this journey we have some very special and gorgeous hand-made organic chocolate to give away for free when you purchase and spend over €80. You will receive an email this Sunday 6th April with details of the offer.
Easter is without a doubt the biggest and most consistent downturn we see in the business each year and we need to do whatever we can to ensure we do try to mitigate it.
Thank you from all of us here at Green Earth Organics.
The hidden cost of our food
We are lucky living in Europe we have some of the best laws protecting our lands and our food from pesticide contamination. But it’s worth bearing in mind a couple of things, even though these laws are stronger than in many parts of the planet, chemicals and pesticides are still used regularly on our fresh food and veg. A report by the dept of Agriculture right here in Ireland showed that over 64% of 500 fruit samples tested in 2021 had pesticide residues in them.
But the thing that really gets me is the hidden contribution our food choices here in Ireland make to pesticide use all around the world. Just this March the environmental protection agency in Brazil banned the use of thiamethoxam, this is a pesticide of the class of neonicotinoid, and 1 teaspoon of this insidious chemical can kill over 1 billion bees. The bees are the sentinels, and if the bees are dying so are all the other insects. The companies that manufacture this, denied for years, that it was dangerous to pollinators, but they knew.
This chemical continues to be manufactured right here in the EU and shipped to other countries, making billions, knowing that these chemicals are wrecking destruction on our natural environment. Making profit is the only driver when it comes to large food companies and large Agri companies. Our health and the health of the planet are always secondary to the bottom line.
But an often-overlooked fact, the feed fed to Chickens, cows, and pigs that are processed for meat right here in this country will be partly fed on soya grown in Brazil. 100,000s of tonnes of GMO (Genetically modified) soya-based feed is imported into Ireland every year. (Read more here) Our massive agricultural industry is fed on a diet of Roundup drenched, neonicotinoid-soaked soya pellets that feed the animals.
If you would like to know more, please have a look at this video
This feed of course is also coming from massive monocultural food deserts that have been created by the relentless destruction of the most diverse and amazing part of our planet: the Amazon rainforest. This also contributes to the most defining catastrophe of our age: the climate crisis.
It’s estimated that over 20 million hectares of Brazil’s forest cover as a whole have been lost to soy production in the last three decades. Irish supermarkets have not ruled out using controversially sourced soy that is linked to activity driving forest loss in South America, including the Amazon.
But when it comes to our food we as consumers have power, real power and our decisions and choices can have a massive impact, and can send a real message and can effect real change.
Choosing organic will prohibit the use of these bee harming chemicals and it will also ensure we are not consuming GMOs.
Sweet treats are synonymous with Easter, so over the coming weeks we are going to share a selection of delicious, sweet recipes with you. These peanut butter brownie bars are a real favourite in our house. The brownie base is dense with a deep chocolate flavour, which is topped with a sweet, peanutty caramel layer, and finally a glossy layer of melted chocolate on top with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts for an extra crunch. These multi-textured treats are both sweet and salty, and a must-try for any peanut-fan. I’ve made these bars in a loaf tin, but for smaller bites use a brownie tray or swiss-roll tin.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C /Gas Mark 6. Line a 2lb loaf tin or a brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
To make the base layer, melt the dark chocolate with the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, take from the heat. In a large bowl combine the blitzed porridge oats, cater sugar and milk. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Stir to combine and transfer to the lined tin. Place in the pre-heated over for 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
To make the caramel layer, add the peanut butter, maple, and coconut oil to a small saucepan. Place over a low heat. Once the mixture starts to melt, stir to combine. Take from the heat and stir through the peanuts. Pour over the cooled based and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
To make the topping, add the milk chocolate and coconut oil to a microwavable bowl and melt together for about a minute in the microwave. Stir to combine and pour over the set slab. Leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to fully set.
Cut into slices or chunks and place in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to five days. Enjoy!
It has been a bright few days and we are thankful for that. We have ploughed the land and done our first pass tilling. We have our tunnels ready and, in a week, or so we will be filling them with the first amazing crops of spring, the season is in full flow now.
I saw my first bumble bee, or bee of any kind today, and this morning the buzzards that live in the local forest were being chased away from our fresh ploughing by some agitated seagulls.
The first buds on the hawthorn are opening up and are soon to be bursting into life. The first dandelions and daisies have miraculously appeared, and it is hard to know from one day to the next where they came from, they just suddenly appear.
This is nature, and it has its own ebb and flow and intelligence.
Then we come along with our harsh chemicals and try to exert control and power over these natural processes. Chemistry has its place but in the fields with our food and biodiversity is certainly not the place.
I certainly could not fill a tractor sprayer and go out into the fields and unleash these harsh chemicals. Roundup or glyphosate is still the first step for clearing fields, the extension of it’s licence in 2023 by the EU for a further 10 years was a lost opportunity, the reality is if that licence had been rescinded, by now farmers would have adapted to this new landscape and found alternative methods.
In the UK they have seen the first weed resistant to glyphosate and it is only a matter of time before nature adjusts and changes as it always does to render this chemical useless.
It may be a little more than a coincidence, but there have been some correlations drawn between the increased Glyphosate application: it has gone up by 1400% since the early 1990s, and last year alone $10.5 billion was sold and sprayed on our planet and the incidence of chronic disease.
The above graph shows the correlation between increased glyphosate application and increased incidence of coeliac disease. I am sure there is other factors at play here too, but at the same time this patented antibiotic is in our food and does disrupt our intestinal microbiome, so for sure it certainly is not doing us any good and should be avoided if possible.
The best way to avoid this probably carcinogen chemical, is to choose organic where possible.
There certainly will never be synthetic chemicals like this used on our farm or on any of the organic food we grow or supply. It’s back to the fields now, and the ploughing, tilling and planting!
In the past, potatoes were always an integral part of dinners in Ireland, and by the mid-18th century colcannon emerged as a staple meal. They mixed potatoes with garden greens, such as kale or cabbage, with the intention to produce a meal hearty enough to keep a working man full for the rest of the day. Colcannon is still a well-loved dish in Ireland, though it is now normally served as a side.
I’m using Irish-grown potatoes and cabbage from my vegetable box in this recipe, and I’m topping the colcannon with a wild garlic butter, but finely chopped scallions can be used in the wild garlic’s place. As wild garlic is only available for a few weeks each year, I normally make a batch of this butter and store it in the freezer to enjoy over the coming months. It pairs perfectly with the creamy mashed potato but works equally well with roasted vegetables.
With a host of wholesome, nutritious ingredients, this colcannon has the makings of the most delicious Irish dish to enjoy this St. Patrick’s Day.
Stir though the steamed cabbage and divide between 4 plates, making a well in the centre of each mound of colcannon. Add a slice of the wild garlic/scallion butter to the well and serve. Enjoy!
Place the peeled and diced potatoes into a metal steamer, with simmering water beneath, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until cooked through.
While the potatoes are cooking, steam the cabbage for about five minutes until a little tender.
To make the wild garlic butter, wash and fully dry the wild garlic leaves – a salad spinner is best for this. Then, finely chop the wild garlic. Add to a bowl with the softened butter and sea salt. Combine well using a wooden spoon. Transfer the butter to a square of greaseproof paper, before wrapping tightly and popping in the fridge until needed.
When the potatoes and cabbage are ready, add the milk and butter to a large saucepan with a little salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Place over a medium heat and once it begins to simmer, turn off the heat below and add the potatoes.
Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy.
We assume our food is safe and government regulators set limits on how much pesticides are allowed in our food. These limits are called MRLs, but here are two interesting points. 1 We as a society accept that there are pesticides in our food and 2. These limits for the same chemical on different crops can vary, for instance it is deemed safer to eat more glyphosate in your oats then in your wheat, how is that?
In 2021 there was 3 million kg of pesticides sprayed in Ireland. The department of agriculture in that same year tested just over 1000 fresh fruit and veg samples for a staggering 474 chemicals.
And here is what they found.
For fruit, of the 528 tested, 63.8% had pesticide residues detected, 5.5% had residues detected above the MRL.
3 fruits contained a cocktail of 9 different pesticides in them.
For veg, of the 511 tested, 43.6% had residues detected, 5.1% had residues detected above the MRL. A cocktail of 15 pesticides were found in one sample.
So, the reality is that most conventional vegetables have pesticide residues on/in them, that is just the world we live in unfortunately. It shouldn’t be that way and obviously we are strong advocates to have pesticides completely removed from our food chain.
But not everybody is lucky enough to have access to organic food, and the majority of fresh produce in supermarkets is conventional and therefore will contain pesticide residues.
We have this strange situation where we don’t really know and don’t have time to think about the reality of chemicals in our food, but they are there.
So here is a way that has been shown scientifically (published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2017) to work to remove some of these pesticides.
Take 1 teaspoon (about 5g) of baking soda in about 500ml of water, dissolve. Soak the produce for about 12–15 minutes After soaking, rinse thoroughly under running water.
The alkaline nature of the baking soda reacts with the pesticides and breaks them down and removes at least some of them. This method is especially effective for removing surface pesticides from fruits and vegetables with smooth skins (like apples and cucumbers). For more porous produce (like berries), a quick rinse is better to avoid absorption of the solution.
Systemic pesticides will not be removed by this means as they are absorbed into the plant. The EU are doing a good job at monitoring and reducing the limits of pesticides allowed in our food.
But why do we accept any pesticides in our food?
It would certainly be better if they were not there in the first place, better for our health, better for our planet and better for biodiversity. So, where you can, choose organic and of course please support our farm and business, we need your support to continue to practice sustainable farming and to support other farmers who also share our values. You get the very best pesticide free produce, and we get to continue championing the cause and protecting biodiversity.
There are certain sandwich fillers which have the ability to elevate and even transform an ordinary sandwich into something spectacular. Red onions are one of my favourite vegetables to pickle as they’re so versatile. They work well in a sandwich (plain, toasted, or open), on burgers, in salads, or as a chilli topping. They become a little sweeter the longer they sit, so it’s best to prepare them a couple of days before you plan on using them, and they keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks. Once all the onion slices are gone, the liquid can be re-used for another few red onions. Likewise, hummus makes for a great addition to any sandwich or wrap. I’ve used a gorgeous za’atar in this recipe which adds deep woody and floral flavours to the hummus. To assemble the sandwich, I’m frying off some Irish chestnut mushrooms in a mild-flavoured marinade, but you could replace these with roasted vegetables, strips of pan-fried courgettes, or summer salads, once they’re back in-season.
Enjoy!
Nessa x
Loaded Open Sandwich
Pickled onions
3 red onions (350g with skins), peeled & thinly sliced
Prepare the pickled onions by adding the vinegar, sugar, salt, and bay leaf, if using, to a small saucepan. Place over a medium heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the onion slices to a sieve and holding over the sink or a large bowl, pour over some recently boiled hot water. Place the onion slices in a large, sterilised jar and pour over the hot liquid. Seal and once cooled, refrigerate for up to two weeks.
For the hummus, add the ingredients to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
For the mushrooms, add the soy sauce, balsamic, olive oil, garlic and a little salt and pepper into a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir to combine with the sauce. Either use straightaway or cover and refrigerate for using later in the day. To cook the mushrooms, add a little olive oil to a hot pan, add the mushrooms and cook over a high heat, stirring well, for about 5 minutes.
When ready to enjoy the sandwich, brush a little olive oil on each side of the slice of bread and cook for a minute or so on each side on a hot griddle pan.
To assemble, add a layer of hummus to the griddled bread, top with the mushrooms, some pickled onions, and a scattering of microgreens. Enjoy straight away!
We have just finished ploughing our fields. This act truly symbolises the start of the season, the soil, freshly turned over, the lengthening days, the increased light, the presence of hope as a new season unfurls.
We have been busy clearing tunnels too and we are getting ready to transplant our first plants soon. The tunnels for the tomatoes are already getting prepared so that when our plants are ready for transplant, we can get them into the ground quickly and get the season off to a great start.
We have assembled an amazing team this year on the farm, with the most recent recruit being confirmed this week as part of an OGI (organic growers of Ireland) internship, we also have two other amazing individuals that are very experienced growers working under the guidance of our farm manager Emmanuel. Of course, we will be taking on several students over the summer holidays and we are taking applications now. (e-mail: farm@greenearthorganics.ie)
A couple of the fields we have ploughed had cover crops of clover and phacelia last year and it is clear without any doubt the difference these cover crops make to the soil. Of course, these cover crops provide an amazing biodiversity haven for pollinators (Gerry who keeps bees here tells us he has never seen the volume or the quality of the honey as he sees here on our farm) but the often overlooked benefit: they allow the soil microbiome to flourish.
They are a tonic; you can see it in the soil. The soil is fluffy and gorgeous, it is alive with earthworms and the millions of microbes you cannot see, who are instrumental in growing our food and cycling nutrients. This is where great food starts; you simply must start with healthy soil.
In our globalised extended food system, it is time to stop treating soil as if it was dirt. If you have ever put your hands in healthy soil, you will know it, it is soft, fluffy and malleable, a living soil. This is in stark contrast to the dead overworked medium, supplemented with chemistry that is used to produce most conventional food.
Did you know that Roundup, or its constituent glyphosate has been patented as an antimicrobial, i.e. a chemical that kills bacteria. That is very unfortunate since there are more microbes in a teaspoon of soil than there are people on the planet, and roundup is sprayed everywhere. We are spraying out most valuable natural resource with a chemical that damages the underlying life we need for healthy food.
Glyphosate disrupts microbial diversity: Long-term glyphosate use can lead to reduced microbial diversity, affecting soil health and fertility.
It has been shown to reduce beneficial bacteria: Studies suggest that glyphosate can suppress beneficial soil bacteria such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus, which play essential roles in nutrient cycling and disease suppression.
It also promotes harmful microbes: Some research indicates that glyphosate can create an imbalance by favouring pathogenic fungi (e.g., Fusarium) and harmful bacteria that are more resistant to its effects.
But not only does it disrupt the bacterial microbiome it also has been shown to upset our human microbiome unsurprisingly,
1. Studies suggest that glyphosate can reduce beneficial gut bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are essential for digestion, immunity, and mental health.
2. Allows Opportunistic Pathogens to Thrive: Glyphosate exposure has been linked to an increase in harmful bacteria like Clostridium and Salmonella, which may contribute to digestive issues and inflammatory conditions such as dysbiosis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Isn’t it time we stopped treating our soil like it was dirt and start treating it like the crucial beautiful resource that it is, without which we will have no food.
As always thank you for your support.
Kenneth
PS I have been asked to do a Ted talk which has stopped me in my tracks. I am delighted, humbled and honoured, excited and nervous, all rolled into one. We in the Irish language have a great word to describe this feeling: “sceitimíní” I will be talking with seven other excellent speakers for about 15 minutes on our broken food system and what we can do to fix it on the 21st of March at Trinity University auditorium my talk is at 4.30pm, if you can come you can get tickets here. GET TICKETS
I will also be doing a practice run through of the talk at our farm shop on Saturday the 15th and if you can come and help put a little pressure on me that would be appreciated………so please come along at 11am on Saturday 15th if you would like to help me out and hear the talk too!
