To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves

by Kenneth Keavey

We had the final farm walk of the season last Saturday. Thank you to all who came, we were blown away by the turn out. The day smiled on us too it was dry and warm and even George and Florence played their part well!

This year has been as all years are when it comes to growing and selling food in the current climate: a challenging one. Saturday helped me remember why it is we do what we do. I heard first hand, some honest and deep levels of appreciation, stories of customers that have been ordering from us for over 10 years of others who value the ethos of the business, others who were delighted to discover our farm shop tucked away here in the Galway countryside and others who just truly enjoyed the lovely organic tomatoes they got to pick in our tunnels.

I heard too  an appreciation for how our planet, our environment and how we produce our food are interlinked,  and how now more than ever our food system needs to change for the sake of our planet. We don’t have the deep pockets of the supermarkets and it is hard to compete in a landscape dominated by these corporations that control the gates to our food system.

As gatekeepers they control how much producers are paid, and they continue to devalue and ‘loss lead’ with fresh produce.  We do the best we can, but growing, packing, and delivering food (all done as sustainably as is possible) to people’s doors is an expensive business. We cannot compete with celery for 49c. But critically as consumers we need to have the option to choose food that is grown sustainably, now more than ever before, and we as growers and sellers need the breathing space to be able to survive and dare I say it, thrive, to develop truly sustainable farms and food businesses.  Here are 5 reasons why:

  1. Healthy sustainable food nourishes our bodies, naturally: Organic food supercharges our health. Unlike conventionally grown food, it’s free from synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
  2. Preserving our planet: Organic farming practices are a breath of fresh air for our planet. By avoiding synthetic chemicals, we protect soil health, promote biodiversity, and reduce water pollution.
  3. Tasting the difference: Take one bite of a local organic carrot, and you’ll understand.
  4. Supporting local communities: Organic farming often prioritizes small-scale, family-owned operations, which helps create jobs and strengthens local economies. By choosing organic, we’re investing in a greener, fairer future for everyone.
  5. Protecting future generations: Organic farming practices help preserve fertile soil and protect biodiversity, ensuring that future generations can continue to enjoy our planet. 

Indeed as Gandhi said ‘To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves’

The feedback from you our customers brought me back to my roots and reminded me that maybe we are on the right track and that we must continue to fight for our health and the health of the planet. Thank you so much to those of you who said thank you, it is appreciated and makes a difference. It also reaffirmed my belief that we are not alone and there are many out there who care about how our food is grown and the affect it has on our planet.

You are the very ones that are changing the world.

Thank you.

Kenneth

PS A big thank you to the two ladies from St Vincent De Paul who came to the farm walk to say thank you for all the food donations. They told me how the fresh food that we deliver to them each week is making a massive difference to families who otherwise would not be able to afford fresh local food. So a massive thank you to all our customers who have chosen a “Charity box” you can rest assured that it is being put to very good use.

Homemade Roast Tomato Sauce – Preserve for the winter

by Lou Robbie

Need an incredible tomato sauce? Just 4 ingredients needed for this deep, sweet, intense sauce. We grow the sweetest cherry tomatoes in the summertime. During peak season the vines are heaving with juicy fruit just waiting to be picked, packed and delivered to homes all over Ireland. And while we can’t grow them in the colder Irish months we can find ways to preserve them just like this simple recipe that only requires a few ingredients.

The joy of pulling your own organic tomato sauce from the freezer is truly satisfying. And the sweetness remains to add to your stews, soups and sauces all through the winter.

This recipe could not be easier, we hope you try it.

Lou 🙂

Ingredients: makes 1kg of sauce (1 big jar or 4 small jars)

Method:

Step 1: Preheat the oven 200ºC. Have 2 large baking trays ready to go.

Step 2: Wash the cherry tomatoes and discard the green stems. cut in half, place them on the trays cut side up.

Step 3: Drizzle with a small bit of oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, until they are soft and char around the edges.

Step 4: Scoop into a blender and blend until the desired consistency. Keep it chunky or smooth if you prefer.

Step 5: While warm pour into freezer safe jars or containers. Date and label for the freezer.

Defrost your preserved homemade organic roast tomato sauce in the winter months, when fresh ones are not available. Use it for soups, sauces, stews and more.

Turnip Juice… do you remember it?

by Kenneth Keavey

I remember as a child picking peas in my grandad’s garden.  He had apple trees, he grew his own veg. I remember sitting on his lap drinking a mug of turnip juice, (I can’t imagine trying to get my kids to do that today!) most of the food was grown on his farm. (Photo: backfired, me trying to feed my daughter broccoli many moons ago!)

Things have changed so much in a generation.

When was the last time you tasted a freshly harvested carrot, can you remember what it should taste like?  There can be such pleasure in the simple foods, and there are of course remarkable ways to cook these amazing seasonal gems.

September is a month of local seasonal plenty. The tomato season is still in full swing still, and there is a myriad of great Irish vegetables available, courgettes, leeks, swedes, cabbage, scallions, kales, beetroot, broccoli and so much more.  

As an organic farmer, the arrival of September allows a sigh of relief. The relentless pressure of the summer is finally winding down and we are settling into a routine of harvest.

The trees are starting to turn, the wild-flowers have gone to seed, the hedgerows are full of berries, the bees are slowing down too, even the birds are relaxing a little, everything seems to slow down. Something we could all do a little bit more of.

September too can be a time for reflection.  As a farmer the simple things like tree planting, growing hedgerows and leaving wild patches can give immense pleasure. This is easy stuff that pays the most amazing dividends for the person and the planet, but in modern food systems it is often dismissed as non sensical and left to one side in favour of production. The irony of course is that food production is facilitated and improved by all these positive things.

Cheap food has a price and a story. The real stories are hidden behind the glitzy shiny wrappers, there is always a story, a story of environmental or human exploitation.

The truth ironically can be hard to swallow, but it doesn’t have to be like this.

There are amazing and positive alternatives. Our parents chose well, they ate seasonally and locally, they ate less meat. Who doesn’t remember cabbage and turnip and the endless ways to cook potatoes!

We have more power than we realise.  

We choose our phones, our clothes, our cars, our jobs, and yet our food and our planet can be relegated to the bottom of the decision pile if they are thought about at all.  Time is short we are all busy but maybe just maybe they deserve a little more consideration because our choices matter a lot and when it comes to our food positive choices will improve our health and the health of our planet.   

What we eat and how our food is produced can literally change the world.

Kenneth

Smashed “New Season” Potatoes w/ Quick Kale Pesto

by Lou Robbie

Crispy, crunchy and so moorish!!

Smashed potatoes were a huge viral hit recently and we were just dying to try it out with our delicious new potatoes. Needless to say they did not disappoint, they turned out so wonderfully golden and crispy right round the jagged edges. They are amazing to eat as they are but we thought we’d whip up a quick pesto to celebrate our spuds even more!

Grab the kale in your veg box for this tasty pesto. Blend it and taste it and add extra salt and lemon juice if needed.

Lou 🙂

Ingredients: Serves 2

For the potatoes:

  • 1 kg new season potatoes, washed (this works best with small waxy potatoes)
  • oil, salt and pepper

Kale pesto:

  • 100g kale, 2 cups – finely chopped
  • 15g basil ½ cup, finely chopped
  • 50g chopped cashews 
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime
  • pinch salt and pepper
  • 200ml olive oil, more if needed
  • 50 ml water

Method:

  • Step 1: Wash the potatoes but no need to peel them. Steam or boil them for roughly 30 minutes, until they are cooked through. Let them cool for 15 minutes.
  • Step 2: Preheat the oven 200ºC, line a large baking tray with parchment paper (or 2 smaller trays) Once cooled place one potato on the baking tray, use a shape knife to mark an X on top. Then use a glass with a wide flat bottom and push down on the potato to smash it. Carefully lift the glass off. Repeat with the other potatoes.
  • Step 3: Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden and crisp around the edges.
  • Step 4: In the meantime add all the pesto ingredients to a powerful blender. Blend until combined, if it’s very thick add more oil. Taste and add more salt if needed.
  • Step 5: Dip the smashed potatoes in the pesto, enjoy!!

5 “Back to School” Handy Wholesome Dinners

by Lou Robbie

Back to school and back to busy schedules for the whole house! September can be a great time to reset your eating habits, its a bit like new year. We love to pull out the recipe books and plan some wholesome hearty meals, using lots of vegetables from the farm, to make September run smoothly and enjoy the cosy autumn evenings.

We’ve put 5 of our favourite recipes together for you. Most of them just need one pot and some need an extra one for the rice or pasta, so minimal fuss. The vegetables from the farm make each dish sing, cauliflower, courgettes, cherry tomatoes, squash, spuds and kale. Theres something for everyone.

We like to get back to having family meals together in the evening, talking about the school day, new friends, new subjects and all the time taking enjoyment in the food we eat.

We hope you enjoy these recipes, please let us know if you try them in the comments below.

Lou 🙂

Click on the recipe below to bring you to each recipe:

  1. 3 Bean Chilli – slow cooker

2. Veggie Thai Green Curry – slow cooker

3. Creamy Courgette Orzo Pasta– one pot

4. Cauliflower & Potato Satay Curry – one pot

5. Cherry Tomato Pasta – quick meal

5 “Back to School” Lunchbox Snacks

by Lou Robbie

The summer months seem to fly by in a flash! The kids will be back to school really soon and that means the return of the lunch boxes too! We will be making lots of yummy homemade snacks to help fill them. We love using wholesome organic ingredients to keep little tummies fuller for longer and help add some much needed nutrition for their growing bodies and minds.

Theres a few reasons why love to make homemade snacks for the lunchbox. They are cheaper to make than buying pre-made shop bought snacks. We know exactly whats gone into them, we can make them mostly organic and they are not individually wrapped in plastic. We can get our kids to help make them and thats pretty special too!

Here’s 5 recipes for you to save and try. They include healthy oats, dates, seeds, fruit and veggies, our online shop stocks most of the ingredients you need. We hope you give them a go, please let us know if you do, we love to hear from you.

Lou 🙂

Just click on the link below to bring you to each recipe:

  1. Blueberry Crumble Bars
  2. Energy Balls – Nut Free
  3. Carrot Cake Bliss Balls – swap the walnuts or pumpkin or sunflower seeds to make them nut free
  4. Sugar Free Flapjacks
  5. Carrot & Courgette Muffins

Chocolate & Coconut Milk – 3 ways

by Lou Robbie

This is a wonderful recipe. It can be dairy free, vegan, gf and its so simple and delicious. You can enjoy it in 3 different ways, hot to drink, cold to eat or whipped to decorate a cake or cupcake.

My kids love hot chocolate so we had our first batch warm with marshmallows and sweet waffle soldiers for dipping. The second batch was made into a set mousse and some was whipped and used as a delicious icing for our chocolate cupcakes.

We have some fabulous organic products that make this recipe extra special such as Amaizin Coconut Milk and Happy Chocolate, check them out in the shop.

Which way will be your favourite? Let us know in the comments.

Lou 🙂

Ingredients: makes 2 hot chocolates or 2 small mousses or frosting for 4 buns

Method:

Step 1: Open the tin of coconut milk and scoop out the thick creamy part put it in a small pot, use the liquid for smoothies and to thin out the hot chocolate.

Step 2: Chop the chocolate and add it to the pot too along with the maple syrup. Gently heat on the lowest setting until the mix is melted and silky smooth. Sprinkle in the sea salt and stir. 

Step 3: Decide how you want to serve it: Hot/Chilled/Frosting

For the hot chocolate, if its a bit thick thin with the coconut liquid, whisk well and pour into mugs and serve straight away.

For the mousse let the mix cool and pour into glasses or mugs. Cool completely and chill in the fridge for at 2 hours. Serve with fresh seasonal berries.

For the frosting, let the mix cool and set just like the mousse. Then whip it with an electric beater to loosen and smooth onto a cake or cupcake. If it is hard to spread, dip a pallet knife in boiling water, dry it off and smooth on the frosting.

Three times the amount of honey – Why?

by Kenneth Keavey

I met Gerry who looks after the beehives on our farm a couple of weeks back. He comes onto the farm once or so a week and checks on the bees. On the day we met there was two acres of phacelia (a beautiful purple flower) swaying in the wind behind us and it was covered in bees. Gerry looks after 6 apiaries and of the 6 the one on our farm produces three times more honey than any of the others. The bees are vibrant and strong, and they are in amazing health.

The reasons are not complex, they have an abundance of food, the phacelia being one major food source, but not only that, the early apple blossoms, the courgette flowers, the tomato flowers, the cucumber flowers and all the flowering weeds (good and not so good) that spring up between the plants. The bees are thriving.

The bees have little reason to roam further than our farm and as result they never encounter agrochemicals routinely used in conventional agriculture that can damage our pollinators. One class of chemical that is thankfully now banned were the neonicotinoids, these chemicals when used damaged bee health by affecting their immune system, navigation skills, capacity to forage and communicate, and ability to reproduce.

Without the bees and the other hosts of pollinators we rely on for our modern-day food system we would not be living such a life of food luxury. Our always on food system, the year-round availability is only possible due to a complex and precarious food system and a logistics chain that spans the planet. It is a system dependent on large scale production of crops, heavily dependent on agrochemicals and cheap labour in other parts of the world. We have seen this year that as the climate crisis deepens, climate shocks to our food system can be sudden and deep, the future effects of the climate crisis on our relatively fragile food system will be large.

Nature is a complex web of interactions, it is strong and resilient and can recover from manmade interference, but when we continuously damage nature, or change the climate that local ecosystems work in then we risk damaging nature and our ability to grow food immeasurably.

But, as with the bees on our farm, when we get it right and give a little back then the results can be startling, amazing and larger than anything we expect, and we reap the benefits too: as food producers we have a bumper courgette and tomato crop. The phacelia adds organic matter back to the soil when we cut it, and it allows us to grow something for nature while resting the land.

Something so simple as growing a strip of wildflowers or planting a small area of trees makes a massive positive difference to nature, surely instead of focusing purely on intensification of farming activities, it would not be so hard to weave this into our current agriculture policy as a critical requirement of all farms.

The bees are one of our constant companions here on the farm, but there is a myriad of other unsung heroes that quietly go about their business and never get the recognition they deserve. The flies and beetles, the butterflies and birds, the bacteria and fungi, this whole beautiful complex web of nature all working together help produce better food and make up a rich and vibrant local ecosystem.

Whilst there is much to be done, there is much that is within our power too. Removing chemicals from this chain of life is one clear step we can take to make an instant and recognisable difference to the diversity of nature we share this world with.  Choosing more local food strengthens our local food system and crucially reduces our carbon foot print too.

As always it is your support that makes it possible here on our farm and the farms of our other supporting farmers to do the right thing.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Kenneth

Lavender Shortbread Biscuits – Vegan version

by Lou Robbie

Beautiful calming lavender, the scent is so distinctive, even the bees can’t resist it. I have a huge lavender bush in my small front garden. It has grown so much in the last 3 years. I just love how natural it is and how much the bees adore it. This is my first time baking with its pretty purple buds and it won’t be my last.

These shortbread biscuits are delicious, yes they taste floral but thats the point. If you are not swayed by the lavender just use the zest of a full lemon or orange in its place.

We hope you try them, they are the perfect tea time sweet treat. Browse our baking aisle for the organic dry ingredients.

Lou 🙂

Ingredients: Makes 18

  • 175g soft vegan butter
  • 2 tbsp fresh, unsprayed, finely chopped lavender flowers (pick them off the stems to measure)
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • Sprinkle of brown sugar

Method:

Step 1: Line an 8in x 8in baking tin with parchment paper. 

Step 2: Beat the butter and lavender together first to get the best flavour from the lavender. Beat in the sugar then mix in the flour to form a dough ball. 

Step 3: Gently press the dough into the prepared tin, use an extra square of parchment paper to smooth out the dough with your hands, get it right into the corners.  Remove the extra parchment paper and discard.

Step 4: Use a butter knife to mark the dough into 18 biscuits, cutting right to the bottom of the tin, see the photos.  Prick with a fork and sprinkle with brown sugar. Put the tin in the fridge to firm up for 1 hour. 

Step 5: Preheat the oven 170ºC. Bake the shortbread for 20-25 minutes until pale brown.

Let them cool completely then cut again along the lines to separate and enjoy with big mugs of tea. 

The climate crisis, our health and our food choices are interlinked…

by Kenneth Keavey

“We live in a remarkable world. Planet Earth is full of diverse wonders that nourish us in many ways. It is the place where we live out our lives, work, eat, love, play; in short, it is the place we call home. And it is our only home.”

The food we eat and how it is produced can improve our health, increase biodiversity and reduce carbon emissions. However, the food industry today and vested interests would have us thread an increasingly well-worn path to ill health, environmental damage, increased carbon emissions and pollution of our planet and bodies.

These are some of the thoughts of Dr Sean Ownes, a member of Irish Doctors for the Environment and the chair of “The Climate and Health Alliance” who earlier this year launched a new and ground-breaking report examining in detail the connection between our food health and the health of our planet, he was kind enough to provide his thoughts below:

There is currently a syndemic of unhealthy poor diets and related chronic disease paired with climate change and critical biodiversity loss. The problems with the Irish healthcare system can be summed up in one word: capacity. The problems with Ireland’s food system might also be summed up in one word: sustainability.

This report is unique it is the first time that multiple healthcare institutions, such as UCD, RCSI, ICGP, RCPI, the Irish Heart Foundation and many more have all arrived at a consensus that the current Irish diet is causing great harm to people and planet, while also recognising planetary boundaries and the need to live within them.

Our shared food environment has completely changed in a single generation secondary to unfettered market forces and weak public health policies. The standard Irish diet now exceeds planetary boundaries by over 200%. This report highlights how our dietary habits of today are taking food off the plates of the next generation, while also undermining our planet’s fragile and rapidly declining ecosystems.

The food system touches all of us, be it consumers, primary food producers who work the land, those in retail or healthcare professionals who work at the distal end of the system i.e., chronic disease, and as a multi-level system it requires multi-level action. There has been a lack of joined up thinking to date, as well as a lack of any urgency commensurate with the threat of the climate crisis. Given that our AgriFood strategy is an export growth model, while there is now more awareness and urgency, it is unlikely that Ireland will make the necessary changes to meet our emissions obligations. 

The report seeks to highlight how sustainable diets are critical for not only our climate targets, but also a viable healthcare system going forward. Adding plants to your plate isn’t just a favour to the planet, it is a heath gain for your heart, your gut and your future self. It isn’t about the usual tired debate of vegan vs farmer, rather it is about rethinking our own diet as a health pension, and everyday there are many opportunities to pay in. As pensions go, there can’t be one of better value. The report wants our policy makers to know that we can’t ask people to swim upstream and chose to eat healthy foods when they are too expensive, inaccessible, competing with cheaper junk foods and more. We urge them to engage with healthcare professionals, especially dietitian’s, but also marketing experts, public health experts, policy experts and look towards other jurisdictions that have implemented meaningful changes with Just transition at their heart. The report also asks that all farmers be given the support they need to make a transition to meet our emissions targets.

The greatest challenge will be making forward progress free from the undue influence of vested interests and powerful lobby groups. We need to see this transition as a generational opportunity for not only health and a viable healthcare system, but also for the Irish economy and for rural Ireland now and in the future. Healthy and sustainable diets don’t need to be invented; we only need the policies to make choosing them the best option.

The report is a well-researched detailed document, and you can check it out here. Thanks Sean to you and your colleagues for the great work and for trail blazing the link between diet health and planet.

Kenneth

Link to report : https://climateandhealthalliance.wordpress.com/resources/