On September 12th we are celebrating being in the business of growing and delivering sustainable food for 20 years. It has been an epic journey, only made possible by your support. There is no question, we would not be here today if it wasn’t for you, our customers.
So many memories, so many challenges, I clearly remember it must have been year 2 or 3 when we were moving into our “big field” and we were filled with trepidation, could we do it? It felt insurmountable, but somehow, we did, we got to planting and you know what we got through it.
It has been a crazy journey, and there have plenty of times when we really wanted to throw in the towel. But we had a certain determination and belief that what we were doing needed to be done, that it was important, that it was more than a way to earn a living it was a creed.
We started when many were getting out of the industry, we were advised not to, we were told we were mad, we were told we needed a touch of Roundup to make it work!
We were visited by the local Garda to check we weren’t growing strange plants if you get my meaning.
I distinctly remember going to Dublin to meet Darina Allen and going into the Dept of Agriculture to question the use of Glyphosate. I asked the official why was it ok to have twice as much glyphosate sprayed on oats compared to wheat. His response “We eat less porridge than toast,”. Imagine that, what a response, too bad if you are a voracious porridge eater I suppose. Today best practice is considered to reseed 10% of your land each year, best practice to spray with glyphosate, best practices? I don’t think so, depends on what you are practising I guess, intensification and short-term goals?
Farmers here in Ireland growing vegetables organic or otherwise are amazing and have survived despite the odds. Just this week one conventional horticultural grower in Dublin won the Young Farmer of the year award, he grows 3 million cucumber a year, imagine that, that is amazing.
It is a tough industry, but there are signs of hope, just here locally my neighbour is going back to his roots growing veg, that would not have happened 10 years ago.
There is so much good stuff, and oh we need it now more than ever. Our planet our land is crying out for help, the greed and the obsession with profit is old news, look where it has gotten us, we need change.
Just today I was chatting with my neighbour as were unloading straw bales for our celebration tomorrow, and we were thinking, times were simpler 30 years ago, we weren’t as stressed and rushed. In fact, there was more cooking from scratch, there was more homegrown produce. Maybe its time to come full circle and somehow get back to our roots.
Who knows what waits around the corner for any of us. Your support keeps us growing, keeps us supporting and shouting about healthy chemical free food, keeps us championing our land our planet and biodiversity and keeps us keeping on as they say.
Thank you it’s your celebration too, hope to see you tomorrow and if not please support us next week.
Thank you
Kenneth
PS It was noted in the Independent this week, that it has been a tough year for growers, and there has been a seismic connection finally between climate breakdown and the fact that our food systems are on the edge. We truly do need your support to keep going, so if you haven’t gotten back into a routine with an order from us yet, maybe next week is your week.