The First Swallows

by Kenneth Keavey

The first swallows arrived today on our farm, I don’t know if everybody feels it, but it lifted my spirits. These little creatures traverse half that world, arrive here on our shores against all the odds for the summer, to nest and reproduce. They symbolise hope, they are beautiful and graceful, and we are honoured to have them. 

That moment yesterday was a great one, the week I have to say has not been filled with swallows! But yesterday for at least a moment everything felt just right, it was fleeting but that’s life I suppose. 

I was out in the tractor tilling and preparing the land for the first plants. The hedgerows were bursting with life, the trees were unfurling their leaves, the birds were singing, and the kale and the wild flowers were blooming and swaying the in the warm wind, the bees were everywhere. For a moment all was right, it seemed to me that the universe was reminding me that we are on the right track.

All around on our farm was an abundance of happy healthy life, sustained on this patch of land, free from chemicals and covered in trees and flowers, and in this little area surrounded by all this life we grow your food. 

The moment was fleeting and life as it does closed in again. How to hang on to these moments of clarity has been the study of ages, and I guess I have quite a bit to learn yet. Nevertheless, it shows that unity is close and sometimes unexpectedly it enters and fills our souls with joy. If life on the land has taught me anything, it is to expect the unexpected and this moment was truly unexpected and thoroughly appreciated. 

These last two years have been that too. The business of growing food is challenging but very rewarding, it is the selling of the food that can provide the greatest challenges. It is in this arena that you have to go out and interact and compete in the real world and that can be tough. 

We certainly have learned our fair share of lessons over the years and continue to learn. Nothing it seems stands still. Life and business are very similar in that regard, they require continuously evolution and change to grow and survive, but maybe we need to aim a little higher than just surviving, have we not had this opportunity to thrive and do the rights things in the right way.

So, it begins, the start of the season is upon us once again, and philosophical musing aside, it is our 17th growing season, and this fills me with hope. We have the first tomato plants planted in the tunnels, we have the ground ready to plant the first broccoli and Romanesco. The first outdoor lettuce, salad, spinach, and beetroot will be sown very soon. 

We do the right things in the right way here, we definitely don’t always get it right, and we certainly have plenty to learn, but maybe little by little bit by bit, and with your support and help we can improve and grow and maybe the little swallows will continue year in year out to grace us with their presence.

Thank you, little swallows, for the moments of joy. 

Kenneth 

Order a box of organic fruit, vegetables and groceries to be delivered to your door, anywhere in Ireland.

Spinach Pici Pasta

by Liz Child

This is our new favourite way to eat spinach. Spinach is coming thick and fast out of our polytunnels now and we can’t get enough of this spring leafy green. Make your own easy pasta dough and marvel at the verdant green wriggly worms. It’s a fun recipe to make with kids over the Easter holidays too and if you have a fussy eater on your hands, this is a great way to get some greens into them. Serve with any pasta sauce you like – we love this with a simple buttery black pepper sauce, details below.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 4)

for the sauce:

Method

  1. Put the flour, salt and spinach in a food processor with the S blade attachment. Blend into a green powder. Once it is evenly blended, keep the machine running and drizzle in the olive oil then a small splash of water. After a minute of blending the dough should form into a ball, if it is too dry and doesn’t ball up, add another small splash of water and keep blending.
  2. Tip the ball of bright, green dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for a few minutes. If your dough is accidentally too wet, add another sprinkle of flour and keep kneading until you have a smooth, soft green dough.
  3. Cut the dough in half and roll out to around 4mm or so thick. Cut the dough into thin strips then roll each strip into wriggly worms. You can cut them to whatever size you prefer. As you go, place them on a floured plate or tray and lightly dust with more flour to prevent them from clumping.
  4. Get a large pot of salted water on to boil then drop into the pici pasta and boil for just 4 minutes or so until tender. Drain through a colander then make the sauce in the pot.
  5. Place the butter, oil, cheese, lemon juice and black pepper in the pot and allow it to melt over a medium heat. Then give it a quick stir and tip the pasta back into the pot. Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce and serve with extra black pepper and whatever sides you like eg protein, salads etc.

Where Would the World be Without Bees?

by Kenneth Keavey

We love our bees here on the farm, to the extent that we grow wildflowers for them and we leave nearly an acre of kale to go to flower just to feed them and we have beehives on our farm too, oh and of course we don’t use any chemicals on the food we produce.

It was many moons ago in a life that was never quite meant to be that I finally realised what it was we needed to do with my grandad’s farm.

You see 20 years ago I was very comfortable working away for the biotech industry in the UK, working in a laboratory researching different chemicals for this and that.

I am a research chemical scientist turned organic farmer and I have a very healthy respect for science. But there is one thing I do not agree with, it just does not make any sense to me, and that is the whole scale blanket application of chemicals on our food.

Chemicals that are meant for a laboratory should stay there, and if they are toxic to some life then generally speaking, they will be toxic to other life, it isn’t even that chemicals are ‘bad’ it is the prevalence and ubiquity of them in our food chain and our environment that is harmful.

They are in our food, and they are not good for us, but they are not good for life in the countryside either, they really aren’t. Take a family of chemicals called the neonicotinoids deemed safe for years but then it was found that they do irreparable damage to bees and other insects. How on any level can using a chemical like that as a blanket spray across our countryside be justified? 

Many of these chemicals too do not just sit on the outside of the plant they are systemic by nature. That simply means they are absorbed into the plant and do their damage from the inside out, washing veg and fruit doesn’t remove them.

Some produce are more heavily sprayed that others and two that regularly feature in the ‘dirty dozen’ are kale and spinach which is ironic as both grow very well in organic systems. Eating organic of course is one of the easiest and best ways to avoid this unhealthy exposure.

You see it is possible to grow great food without the use of chemicals, it is a little harder, it takes a little more attention and planning, it requires more labour but isn’t it worth it in the end?

Surely the production of food in a way that contributes to our health and the health of the planet, a way that enhances and protects biodiversity, a way that encourages working with nature rather than against it, a way that gives the bees on our planet a lifeline, surely this must be the best, no scratch that, the only, way to grow food? 

So maybe it is time to take good hard look at how we produce our food and embrace a better more positive way, because in the end we are what we eat.

Kenneth

Earth Day 2022

by Liz Child

The theme for Earth Day this year is ‘Invest in our Planet’ and we couldn’t be more on board with this. Money talks (unfortunately) so the incentive to make the changes necessary to combat climate change must be shown to be a good investment. It is, of course, mind-boggling to think that big corporations and governments will only take action if it benefits the bottom line, but here we are.

Luckily for all of us and for future generations, it is clear that a green future is a prosperous future. More and more investors are seeing the wisdom of investing in green business/technology. Although we live in an era of conspiracy theories and see so much misinformation being shared online, hopefully we can get people on board by showing them that a better world can be made even if they don’t ‘believe in’ climate change. This brilliant cartoon by Joel Pitt has been burned into my brain since the first time I saw it.

How are we Investing in the Planet?

We are in an incredibly fortunate situation where we can take out a bank loan and invest in more solar panels on the roof of our packing shed. We are keen to only use renewable energy and be a carbon neutral business. This investment in the future of our little green business will definitely pay off in the long term.

Another simple but effective way to invest in our planet is to plant trees. We have planted over 7000 so far on our farm and now that we have run out of space we will be donating a portion of our sales to a local tree planting charity. More to come on this once it has been organised. These are investments we are happy to make for the future health of our planet and all its inhabitants. Other ways we invest in our planet are by using compostable packaging, electric delivery vans and of course by farming organically.

How can you Invest in the Planet?

You are investing in our planet every time you choose to buy plastic free, organic fruit and veg and sustainably sourced groceries from us so thank you! Times are tough financially for everyone right now, so choosing to put your hard earned cash towards a greener choice is massively appreciated. We should all be working together towards a greener future – businesses, governments and citizens – so please write to your local authority or TD and ask for positive, environmental change in your area. Write to your favourite brands and businesses and ask for positive change. Could they use more sustainable packaging? Could they source products or ingredients from closer to home? Get together with your community to do litter picks, beach cleans, walk to school schemes, car shares etc. Tell us your ideas for investing in the planet in the comments below or over on our community facebook group. We would love to hear them.

Time For Action

by Kenneth Keavey

We spoke at our dinner table last night about the recent IPCC report on climate change, our three children went away from the table feeling worried and upset, that was not my intention, I should have held my emotions in check and thought through how I was going to approach the subject, but I was agitated and upset and angry and I guess that came across. There is hope of course, but there has been too much talk and not enough action. 

The time for talking is over and the time for action is here.

“A litany of broken climate promises, a file of shame, cataloguing the empty pledges that put us firmly on track towards an unliveable world, we are on a fast track to climate disaster.” 

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, stated this week. He does not mince his words and delivered a damning verdict on the actions of governments and businesses that are not only turning a blind eye, but are simply doing the opposite of what they promise. 

This is a climate emergency.

How many times have we heard this before as governments gather to discuss the climate emergency, the biggest single challenge facing us on this planet today. How many times have businesses and heads of state paid lip service to the actions required whilst heading off and doing the exact opposite of what they have promised.

This simply does not cut it, it is not good enough, it is as always, profit before all else, it is putting the interests of powerful lobbying groups and naysayers above the truth the urgency and the facts.

There is little doubt and no question that now is our last chance, and it is refreshing to see the increased news coverage of this most recent report and the fact that the language communicating the urgency has changed.

“It’s time to stop burning our planet and start investing in the abundant renewable energy all around us” 

There has never been a better time, with more pressing reasons and with more urgency to transition away from fossil fuels. 

“If we are to limit warming to 1.5C then net GHG (green house gases) emissions must peak by 2020 and at the latest by 2025” The latest IPCC report stated.

Rapid and deep CHG emission reductions must happen by 2030 to 2050. Currently we are on track to a median global warming of 3.2C, which will render much of our planet unliveable by 2100. 

There could not be greater urgency, or a better time to meet our commitments as a community, country and planet.

It was this Monday and hearing the results of this latest report that we have finally decided that the time for indecision is over, we have a 11KW supply of solar panels on our roof but we are going to add a further 17KW in the next 2 months, the loan has been approved to fund the system and we are ready to go. We have committed, we aim to produce as much of our electricity here on our farm from the sun as possible.  We are also in the next couple of weeks announce a partnership with a tree planting charity and donate a percentage of all our sales to planting more trees here in Ireland.

Kenneth

Easter Inspiration

by Liz Child

Go green this Easter with some veggie meals and treats from our archives. Just click on the photos or the words in bold to be taken to the recipes. Happy cooking! Liz x

To Start

Try this steamed asparagus and artichoke dish with wild garlic butter. Asparagus, artichokes and wild garlic are all really special perennial vegetables, perfect at this time of year and such a treat.

Or how about a soothing bowl of wild nettle soup? Use our organic vegetables as a base and add some locally foraged wild nettle tips from near you.

Or a platter of these vegan devilled eggs? A lightly pickled mushroom replaces the traditional egg white and the yolk is made from beautifully seasoned chickpea puree.

The Main Course

This easy, one-tray dish packs a lot of flavour. Try our portobello mushrooms steaks with roasted potatoes and asparagus, drizzle over some vibrant chimichurri to make the dish sing SPRING!

Try your hand at making a homemade pasta dish? Ravioli is easier to make than it looks and this beautiful beetroot ricotta is just what a spring lunch is calling for.

Rainbow chard parcels are so versatile and you can really make them your own with your favourite fillings. Here’s one way to enjoy this colourful leafy green.

Something Sweet?

Easter isn’t Easter without hot cross buns. Try this easy vegan version. Keep it dairy free by toasting and slathering with our new vegan butter.

Make your own little Easter eggs with these dates stuffed with nut butter and coated in chocolate.

With a nod to the Easter bunny, make this very carroty raw carrot cake. It’s naturally vegan and gluten free, refined sugar free too, but tastes so so good.

Leek & Lemon Orzotto with Hazelnuts

by Liz Child

Leeks are one of our favourite vegetables. They are so delicious, I like to make them the star of the show when I cook with them. This simple, one-pot, spring dish is all about those luscious, soft and sweet leeks offset by toasty, crunchy hazelnuts (we stock organic hazelnuts in compostable bags here) and tangy caramelised lemon. Orzo is just rice shaped pasta which I love to cook like risotto rice, we stock an organic bag from Irish company, Bunalun. We love their store cupboard staples so much. Top quality, organic and affordable. Add some Bunalun groceries to your next fruit and veg order with us here. We deliver nationwide.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 4 hungry people)

Method

  1. Find a large, deep, frying pan or pot. Start by toasting the hazelnuts in the dry pan. Just turn the heat to medium-high, tumble the hazelnuts into the pan and keep them moving around until they smell amazing and are deliciously toasty. Tip them into a bowl to cool a little then chop or crush into smaller pieces and save for finishing your dish at the end.
  2. Then, in the same pan, add the butter and oil. Place the lemons, cut side down, into the melted fat and let them cook until caramelised. Remove them to a bowl to finish your dish with later too. Caramelised lemon is so delicious. It makes the lemon softer, juicier and sweeter…and it looks pretty too.
  3. Tip the chopped leeks and garlic into the pan and season with salt and pepper. Stir fry until the leeks are starting to soften.
  4. Add the orzo and stock to the pan and simmer and stir until the pasta has absorbed the liquid and is cooked through. Taste and tweak the seasoning if needed with more salt and pepper.
  5. Stir the chopped parsley through, then serve in four bowls, each topped with a caramelised lemon half and a handful of chopped, toasted hazelnuts. Enjoy!

Is Cheap Food Undermining Our Food Security?

by Kenneth Keavey

This was a piece I was asked to write for the Sunday Times last weekend:

The start of a new growing season is upon us, and it always fills me with a sense of hope for the future. The plants will grow, and in a few short months we will be harvesting some of Ireland’s finest bounty. As with many growers, and food producers up and down the country this is a key time, but this year it feels different; the costs of producing food are skyrocketing, there is a sense of nervousness, the price of inputs are up and at the same time there is a squeeze on prices to meet the demands of the big retailers. And sometimes the sums just do not add up.

What does all this mean for a little country that is intensely reliant on food imports for its survival? As a food producing nation it seems we actually produce relatively little of what we eat, importing a staggering 77% of our food. We have been concentrating and focusing for many years now on developing an intensive and export driven meat and dairy industry, and as the intensification of the industry has accelerated, it has become more reliant on imported grain to sustain the national herd, with 60% of said grain imported. That equates to 3.47 million tonnes of grain feed imported into Ireland every year to feed our animals.

Our food security as a nation has been brought into the limelight as Charlie Mc Conalogue the minister for agriculture stated during the week.“Food security is really important over the next number of weeks and months and it is something we have to work together on.” Well Charlie, I think it is pretty important just about all the time, and it is unfortunate that the tragic events of the last month are required to bring what food we produce and how we produce it onto centre stage.

Irish farmers were asked last week to consider the idea of growing grain and fodder crops to help feed our population and our burgeoning dairy and beef herd. But the necessary skills cannot be magicked up over-night, it takes time, specialised machinery and experience to learn to grow crops on a reasonable scale.

It’s a pity then that Charlie does not turn his focus on the below cost selling practice by supermarkets which has weakened our non-export focused food industry and is causing more primary food producers to struggle to sustain their enterprises. The Jim Powers economics report published this week, states that retail prices compression threatens the viability of Irish horticulture which could lead to even more reliance on imports to feed our nation. The most recent national field vegetable census showed that the number of field vegetable growers fell from 377 in 1999 to 165 in 2014. That is a contraction of 56%

These skills are lost for ever, and once they are gone are difficult to replace.

If we don’t want to end up being a nation even more reliant on imports maybe we should shift our focus from an export dominated beef and dairy industry, to an industry that produces more crops destined for consumption at home and pay the farmer a fair price for the food. Surely that would allow us to invest and build a more secure and resilient food system.

Kenneth

Food Resilience

by Liz Child

A resilient food system is one with the ability to prepare for, withstand and recover from a crisis or disruption. This is important at any scale. If you are an allotment holder or have a veg patch in your garden, you want it to be resilient. You want to ensure your efforts can’t be completely destroyed by unexpected pests or weather so you plant a variety of crops in case some fail, you prepare for and prevent damage from pests and weather. The same goes if you have a large farm – it’s wise to plan with resilience in mind too. Planting huge mono-crops, or factory farming animals, although less work and more profitable in the short term, is terrible for the soil and the environment, and you need to use a lot of pesticides and antibiotics to ward off large scale pests and disease. It is a shortsighted, damaging way of farming.

Organic farms on the other hand, have resilience built into their roots. Organic agriculture doesn’t rely on external, artificial or chemical inputs, or genetic engineering to grow sufficient food. Organic vegetable farmers grow trees and hedges alongside a diverse range of crops and cover crops which mimics nature and prevents flooding, drought, pests, soil degradation, water pollution and more. All these protective and nourishing measures combat climate change and future-proof our agricultural land. We dream of a future where organic farming practises are the norm.

We like to think, if you run a country, food resilience and the ability to feed the nation when things go wrong should be one of your top priorities. Resilience-testing events like climate change and wars are no longer just on the horizon. So apart from voting for leaders who prioritise climate action, peace and fair trade with our neighbours, what can we do to ensure Ireland is a food resilient nation? We say, also vote with your money – buy local whenever it’s available and alway choose organic. What are your thoughts?

Below Cost Selling

by Kenneth Keavey

How many more horticultural enterprises organic or otherwise need to go to the wall before we realise it is too late?

A very significant report has been commissioned by the IFA and published this week: the Jim Power Economics’ report states ‘Retail Price Compression Threatens the Viability of Irish Horticulture’. In other words loss leading and below cost selling of fresh produce is putting Irish farmers out of business. 

The report’s findings are far from surprising and many primary producers up and down the country will tell you, the power that large retailers hold is enormous. They have hollowed out the horticulture industry here in Ireland and it is in real danger of closing it’s doors for good unless there is meaningful change. 

It states that farmers are the weakest link in the supply chain, they have the least say in what they get for the food they grow.

Imagine the food we eat, put into our bodies, the very stuff that makes us tick and to a large extent will dictate how long we will live, our fresh food as far as supermarkets are concerned should cost as close to zero as possible.  Are we all complicit in this race to the bottom though?

It is why in part that we ditched supply to the supermarkets all those years ago, in the famous words of Frank Sinatra we decided “to do it our own way”.  It isn’t all roses either here as we are constantly competing with the very idea that food should be cheap, and we cannot compete with the supermarkets. 

But it really is only through your support, by reading this, by supporting our business and farm week in week out that we are still here and have expanded our farm and continue to grow healthy happy food, whilst nurturing the land for 16 years.

The report goes on to say:

“A cheap food policy is not a sensible food policy”

It singles out the discounters as the main driver that have severely undercut the price given to Irish farmers, and as a result all other major retailer have had to follow suit to stay competitive. The end result is less for the farmer. This year the second biggest Brussel sprout farmer in Ireland closed his doors for good as the price he was getting for his food meant his business was unsustainable.

I really wonder how many of those farmers that adorn the walls of the supermarket aisles have forced smiles on their faces for fear of losing their contracts? 

As real costs increase and as the price the farmer gets paid for the produce decreases how does that equation end up? Yesterday we paid over €2000 for agri diesel for our tractors, last year it was less than half that.  It clearly is not sustainable.

Where will all this end, I wonder? Well maybe, just maybe, it will end with change, and with more and more people making the choice to support local food where possible, even if it costs more (and yes in these times that is a big ask). 

But the benefits are immense: Local food means better food, healthier food, local jobs, local enterprise in rural areas, higher nutritional content, better flavour.  If it is organic too then the health benefits and the benefits to the planet are surely worth something too?

Kenneth