I found myself the other day sitting in one of our fields on a box, as you do, contemplating what to say in this weekly update.
To watch this post from a box in a field click here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8L39NDs9qi/?igsh=MmZxZ3lkdHAyejRn!
A couple of days earlier I had been attaching a slightly modified version of my grandad’s old stone roller to our tractor. He used this roller 2 generations ago to roll the land, pulled behind two fine workhorses he used to own, one of which I remember was called Snowball, because he had a white snout that looked like a “snowball”! I was rolling the land because we had just sown two and a half acres of wild-flowers, a mix of organic clover varieties, phacelia and flowers for the bees and for our soil. All that seed was certified organic which means even in raising the plants to produce the seed the land was treated organically.
So, As I was sitting there on my box, I was thinking about all your support over the last couple of weeks and I just wanted to say a huge ‘thank you’. I also thought that maybe it might be nice to explain the impact or the reality of what that support actually means. So that 2.5 acres of wildflowers, which are doing so much for local biodiversity would not have been sown without your orders. Just behind the box I was sitting on, I had just sown a bed of wildflowers to allow a proper bee corridor to run the length of our farm.
Emmanuel and his team were out the other day, and they planted several thousand brassica and celeriac plants, all of this was done without the use of artificial fertilisers, which are highly water soluble and when it rains they end up in our waterways and lakes, leading to eutrophication and pollution. Of course, everything here is planted without the use of herbicides and pesticides, these chemicals cause cumulative damage to our biodiversity and our health. Your support means these chemicals do not touch our soil and do not interfere with all the biodiversity on our land.
The trees that we have planted over the years, and there are thousands of them would not have been planted, the hedgerows that house a myriad of life would not be thriving, the two pigs Florence and George would not have been rescued, without your support. The 8 polytunnels would not have been constructed, the 700-800 tomato plants would not have been sown, fresh Irish organic tomatoes (if we ever get any proper heat this year) are only 5-6 weeks away, none of these things would have happened without your support.
All of these things are happening because you are buying from us and placing an order each week. Whilst you are supporting a new system of food production, you are also getting the best, freshest and chemical free produce in Ireland.
Your patience with our new IT system is so much appreciated and I can only again apologise if your experience has been less than positive. We are nearly there on this journey, and we hope in the next couple of weeks to have ironed out many of the issues and glitches and we hope then we can finally look to really introduce you to all the amazing features this new website provides. This is our portal to connect our produce and the produce of other Irish organic growers and so many amazing sustainable groceries direct to you, our customers.
As always thank you so much for your support and now I feel it is time to pack up my box, my seeds and go home.
Kenneth.
PS We have amazing Irish organic produce now, just use the little filter on each page to see what is Irish.