Thank you so much and an inconvenient truth……….

by Kenneth Keavey

Thank you so much to everybody who ordered from us last week, we were blown away by the level of support, it made a massive difference. When you buy with us, we notice, supermarkets don’t, but we do. So, thank you so much from everybody here.

We had three little remarkable surprises this week (not counting all your amazing orders), we received Irish organic cherries (Can you believe that!) from Darragh Donnelly in Dublin. Emmanuel our farm manager found a small robin’s nest in our farm shed and finally after 18 years of picking stones we found a solution to our stone problem! The cherries are amazing, and I guarantee that you will not find their like in any supermarket shelf, so thank you Darragh.

As to the robin, he or she, I certainly can’t tell, (can you tell?) chose a very inconvenient location to build (I will go with a she) her nest: right in the middle of where we are coming and going all the time. But we are going to be careful and the three little eggs that are in the nest will not be disturbed.

The stones have been, and I have to go a little further here than calling them an inconvenience, they have been a devastation for so, so long. But completely by chance this week I got the number of a contractor that has a stone crushing machine for farms, yes there is such a thing, and it is quite remarkable. So, in the space of 12 hours, this very nice fella and his tractor crushed all our stones, releasing vital nutrients back into the soil.

Afterwards we tried making some vegetable beds, this usually can be quite a fraught process, shaking the machine, destroying tines, and frequently lifting the whole machine out of the ground when you hit a big stone leaving the bed in less than an ideal shape. But the bed forming in our “new, stoneless” farm was quiet and smooth, and just nothing short of amazing.

Watch a little video from our fields here.

So, stones and robins making nests in odd places, two inconveniences, can we live with them? The robin yes, but the stones, they just had to go! This is the issue with our approach to agriculture these days, we aim to eliminate anything that is inconvenient, and there is a long list of these inconveniences. Weeds, eliminate them with a quick spray of roundup, aphids reach for the next can of spray and so on and so forth, it doesn’t stop; hedgerows, take them out if they are taking up valuable space, trees cut them down make way for production. What is this madness? The shortsightedness, the relentless focus on extracting the last cent from the land to the detriment of all the other aspects of our living world that we need. WE NEED BIODIVERSITY it is not and optional extra!

Maybe there is no other way, while the cost of produce continues to be so devalued, maybe that is the true price that must be paid. The price you or I pay at the till for the plastic clad supermarket produce absolutely does not reflect these sacrifices the natural world makes for our convenience.

So, the question is: can we afford these inconvenient truths? Is it worth it to get the very cheapest price possible? Well, I will leave you to decide, and judging by your support for us last week and hopefully in the week and weeks ahead again you have already made your decision.

As always thank you for your support

Kenneth

4 ingredient – Energy Oat Bars – Vegan

by Lou Robbie

These are so quick and easy to make and bake. Once baked and sliced you can make up a snack plate with the fruit from your weekly box! If you make these as often as I do you’ll soon memorise the recipe like me.

We love snacks like this because they have few nutritious ingredients, taste great, they are a quick bake, they are cheaper than shop bought snacks, we can make them with organic ingredients and they can be fully plant based if thats what you like.

I served mine up with apple and orange slices. It makes a super nutritious snack, great for kids too.

Lou x

Ingredients: makes 12 servings

  • 200g oats
  • 100g smooth runny peanut butter (or any nut or seed butter)
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 70g chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

Method:

Step 1: Preheat the oven 180ºc. Line an 8in square tin with parchment paper.

Step 2: Mash the bananas and add them to a mixing bowl along with the peanut butter and oats. Mix well and transfer into the baking tray. Scatter the chocolate chips evenly on top.

Step 3: Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. leave to cool then slice into 12 squares.

Organic Beetroot ‘Overnight’ Focaccia – Vegan

by Lou Robbie

This is a fabulous way to celebrate bread and Irish organic beets! I made this a few times last summer to share with visitors to the Green Earth Organics farm walks and it was a huge hit.

The focaccia is a super simple no knead recipe – the dough develops and slowly proves in the fridge overnight. The next day, smear it in beetroot puree and bake. It looks amazing and has heaps of sweet and savoury flavour.

Make sure you save the recipe and serve it alongside our gorgeous green lettuce this summer.

Lou x

Tips:

Tips for getting this right:
✨This bread needs time in the fridge to prove.
✨Use strong/bread flour.
✨Make sure the dried yeast is in date.
✨Use a neutral olive oil, or rapeseed oil not extra virgin
✨Try not to knock too much air out of the dough when you add the beetroot puree and make the dimples.

Ingredients:

Makes one focaccia
-500g strong flour/bread flour
-2 teaspoon salt
-1 (7g) sachet dried yeast
-430ml lukewarm water – made up by mixing 130ml boiling water with 300ml cold water (it should be body temperature, 36ºC)
butter for greasing
-4 tablespoons olive oil

For the beetroot puree:

  • 3 cooked beetroots approx 200g
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

*Steam or boil and peel the beetroots. Cool and keep in the fridge ready to make this bread.

Step 1: Pour the dried yeast into the lukewarm water and let it sit for 15 minutes then stir.
Measure the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour in the yeast and water and mix with a wooden spoon to form a sticky ball. Oil a second mixing bowl and transfer the dough into it. Using your hand lightly oil the top of the dough – the oil is important to stop it drying out. Cover the bowl to make it airtight with a lid, cling film or a damp tea towel and put the bowl in the FRIDGE for at least 12 hours (ideally overnight).

Step 2: Prepare the baking tin 9inc x 13inc. Line with parchment paper or grease really well with butter, this is really important to stop the focaccia from sticking to the tin. I recommend using parchment paper.
Now oil the baking tin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Oil your hands and scoop the dough out of the bowl and put the dough straight onto the baking tray. Rub the oil over the dough and smooth and push it into the corners of the baking tray. Cover the tray with a clean plastic bag, or cling film and let the dough rest for 3 to 4 hours to warm up and double in size

Step 3: Make the beetroot puree, add the beetroot, chopped garlic, salt and oil in a small powerful blender. Blend until smooth.

Step 4: Preheat the oven 220ºc. Pour the beetroot puree over the dough and rub lightly with your hands, using your fingers press straight down to create deep dimples.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through and the bottom is golden brown.
Transfer to a cooling rack. Brush with some olive oil. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Storage: This will keep in an airtight box for 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

It just won’t work or will it? ……

by Kenneth Keavey

This week there has been plenty of room at times for few choice expletives and having a bit of a tantrum, especially when it comes to machines. Each year when certain machines leave our farm shed they illicit a sense of foreboding. They put whatever patience we may have remaining, in this business of growing vegetables, to the test.

This was to be the case this week, we have three or four machines that “should” work but often “decide not to comply” with our ideas of what they should do. This week the machine that lays our compostable biolayer took us to the brink of giving up, but right at our breaking point we managed to bend it’s will to our way of doing things!

There is also our planter, it is temperamental, old and cranky and every year there is a requirement to find mutual common ground between farmer and machine, this year that ground has been hard to find and has led to moments of promising our faithful machine that its days are truly numbered. (Of course, we didn’t really mean it, all was said in the heat of the moment!)Nevertheless, if farming has thought us anything and it teaches a lot, is that perseverance is an absolute requirement to succeed no matter what happens. In the end we know we will produce beautiful healthy sustainable food.

But there are some who say organic farming will not feed the world, that it is an idealistic pursuit and just won’t work.I imagine that the same people who say these things are busy buying up the world’s seed bank and patenting the seeds they genetically modify. The same people who make quite a lot of money from selling an idea of how our food system should be and on the back of that selling the chemicals and making quite a lot of money, and in the end gaining control of our food system.

Once a diversified market, Corteva, BASF, Syngenta, and Bayer four enormous corporations now dominate the seeds sector. These industry giants have seized power quickly and currently hold more than half of the seed market. Furthermore, they control almost 67% of the world market for agrochemicals.Did you know four firms or fewer control at least 50% of the market for 79% of the groceries. For almost a third of shopping items, the top firms controlled at least 75% of the market share.Couple that with the fact that four corporations’ control 75% of the worlds global grain supply, and we see that the future of our food, our health and our planet lie in the hands of a few.

We think our food system should not be controlled by the few, and in our own little way we have been doing what we can to make that happen. We have been very busy planting and sowing and supporting other Irish organic farmers that are doing the same. For the last number of weeks we have been planting kale, cabbage, Romanesco, broccoli, lettuce, and celery. We have been sowing, salad, beetroot, spinach, chard, carrots, and parsnips, not to mention the nearly 1000 tomato plants that are finally starting to make some headway.

There is no way to rush nature, we need to have patience and get our timings right, take good care of our crops and the nature around as the crops grow, and the harvest will come.

So, we work, we wait, and we harvest, and we know that sustainable food is our future.As always thank you for your support.

Kenneth

PS Thank you to everybody who took the time to login and place an order last week. Every week with our new system, we are improving and again this week we will have offers and as usual the very best of Irish organic produce anywhere, so please if you haven’t yet do login and place an order. We think you will be pleasantly surprised. Keep an eye on your inbox over the weekend for extra special offers! Thank you so much without you we would not be here.

Blueberry and Apple Upside Down Pudding

by Lou Robbie

Such a simple but delicious summer pudding. Perfect for a family gathering or to finish a delicious meal. I made the only apple version last summer and this year I’ve added tasty organic blueberries. Our Irish eating apples are crisp and delicious and are great to bake with too.

We’re looking forward to all the seasonal Irish summer fruit. We like to keep it simple and effortless to make the most of its natural goodness and flavour.

We hope you SAVE this and give it a try.

Lou x

Ingredients:

  • 3 Irish apples
  • 1 punnet (125g) blueberries (use some for the filling and some to serve)
  • 45g white sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry – 375g
  • To serve:
  • toasted almonds
  • 250ml fresh cream – whipped
  • fresh blueberries

Method:

Step1: Preheat the oven 180ºc. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper – you may need two baking trays.

Step 2: Peel the 3 apples in half and scoop out the core, fill the hole with blueberries.

Step 3: Mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl.

Step 4: Divide the pastry into 6 equal squares.

Step 5: Spoon the cinnamon sugar onto the tray, you want 6 mounds of sugar. Carefully place the apple, with the blueberries, flat side down on each of the sugar mounds. Put the pastry over each apple half and use your hands to cup the pastry around the apple half.

Step 6: Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Let the pastries cool for 15 minutes, use a wide spatula to slide under the caramelised apple and lift it off carefully. Serve warm with toasted almonds, fresh whipped cream and fresh blueberries.

“Roast and Serve Salad” – Sweet Potato & Halloumi

by Lou Robbie

This is such a great way to make and serve salad this summer. Your choice of roast veggies, chickpeas, halloumi and seeds on a tray then on the same tray toss through green leaves and dressing and serve into a big salad bowl! I think these roast and serve salads will be very popular this summer.

You can roast up any root veg you have in your veg box, parsnip, carrot, beets, even potatoes, cauliflower or broccoli, add some cheese if you wish and a delicious dressing to finish.

Will you try it? Let us know.

Lou x

Ingredients

  • 1 large or 3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, washed and diced
  • 1 red onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
  • salt, pepper, oil
  • 1 pack halloumi (225g), diced
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (70g)
  • 50g spinach/rocket or lettuce leaves

For the dressing

  • juice 1/2 orange
  • juice 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 heaped teaspoon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • small pinch salt

Method:

  • Step 1: Preheat the oven 180ºC fan. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Put the sweet potato, chickpeas, red onion and diced pepper on the tray. Drizzle with salt, pepper and oil, shake or rub to coat everything. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, checking half way through. After this time add the diced halloumi and roast for a further 15-20 minutes.
  • Step 2: Put the pumpkin seeds on a separate tray and toast in the oven, along with the veg, for about 10 minutes, check half way through- they may need more or less time.
  • Step 3:Make the dressing, add all the ingredients except the oil to a bowl, whisk well, then slowly pour the oil in while whisking to emulsify the dressing. Taste it and adjust if needed.
  • Step 4: Let the veg cool for 20 minutes then top with the green leaves, pour over the dressing, gently toss together. Lift the parchment paper and tip into a serving dish.
  • Enjoy!

Crispy Chickpea Patties – for Summer Eating – (VG)

by Lou Robbie

Jam packed full of goodness and flavour! These chickpea patties are delicious and so easy to put together.. we know you’ll love them. This week I got some organic pointed cabbage, cucumber and onions fresh from the farm in my veg box. I ordered tinned chickpeas and some spices and whipped these up for our mid week dinner and the whole family tucked in.

Summer eating should be fresh and tasty with added goodness. We really hope you give these a go!

Lou x

Ingredients: makes 10 approx

For the Chickpea Patties:

  • 1 x 400 g tin of chickpeas – drained and the liquid (aquafaba) reserved
  • ½ medium onion – chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh coriander – roughly chopped
  • 2 ½ tablespoon chia seeds 
  • 6 teaspoon (30 ml) aquafaba – liquid from tin of chickpeas
  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt 
  • ⅛ teaspoon chilli powder or flakes
  • 1 small carrot – grated 
  • 5 tablespoons oats (50g)
  • zest of half a lemon
  • 1-2 tablespoon olive oil to cook with

Lemon Garlic Yoghurt Sauce:

  • ½ cup (120 ml) plain yoghurt of your choice
  • 1 small garlic clove – finely grated or chopped
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • a pinch of salt and pepper

Cabbage slaw and sides :

  • 1 small pointed cabbage – finely chopped
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1/2 red onion finely shaved
  • 10 mini tortilla wraps

Method:

  • Step 1: Begin by adding the chickpeas, red onion, coriander, spices, carrot and salt to a food processor. Process until the mixture is combined, but still has some texture. Transfer into a bowl and mix through the oats, chia seeds, aquafaba and lemon zest. Take a small amount of mixture in your hand to check that it will form a patty.
  • Step 2: Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scoop to evenly measure the patties. Add the scoops of the mixture to the tray, if you have a cookie cutter use it to shape the patties into rounds about 2 inches wide, push the mix down with the back of a spoon, this will make the patties compact. Place the patties into the freezer or fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
  • Step 3: In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking.Add the patties and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown, then carefully turn and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes.The patties are fragile, so it is best not to move them too much – let them firm up from cooking before turning them. Ideally, turn them once only.
  • If cooking in batches, drain on a plate lined with paper towel. To keep the patties warm while cooking the remainder, place the plate in a 100ºc oven.Repeat with the remaining patties, adding extra oil if needed.

For the Herbed Garlic Yoghurt Sauce and cabbage slaw:

  • Step 4: In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Check that the seasoning is to your liking. Stir through the finely chopped cabbage. Chill until you are ready to serve.

Plate up: on a small tortilla wrap add a spoon of the cabbage slaw, top with a chickpea pattie, some cucumber ribbons, shaved red onion.

NO BAKE – Oat Raspberry Cups (VG)

by Lou Robbie

I’ve been on a mission to get my fussy eater (he’s 5) to eat more peanut butter and these have that perfect balance, disguised slightly by the banana. I make raspberry and chia jam all the time for extra protein so its the perfect filler for these too.

The chocolate is optional but delicious. Lots of yummy organic ingredients in these sweet cups! We love a no bake snack thats tasty and nutritious. Just perfect for that mid morning or late afternoon slump and super for kids after school too!

Find almost all the lovely organic ingredients you need to make these in our groceries.

Lou x

Ingredients: makes 6


  • 1 ripe organic banana, mashed
    100g (1 cup) oats
  • 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  • 100g (1 cup) raspberries (fresh or frozen)
    2 tbsp chia seeds
    2 tbsp maple syrup
    100g melted dark chocolate chopped

Method:

1. Begin by mixing the oats, mashed banana and peanut butter. Spoon into silicone muffin moulds or a muffin tin lined with 6 muffin cases. Use a spoon to shape them into muffin cups.
2. In a pan heat the raspberries, chia seeds and maple syrup and let it cool for 10 mins. Pop 1 tbsp of your jam into each cup.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over simmering water. Spoon on top of the cups and place in the fridge to let the chocolate set.

Enjoy!

Fabulous : Spinach & Cheese Rolls

by Lou Robbie

Summer is well on the way, soon we’ll be reaching for the picnic blanket. These tasty little rolls are just perfect to pack for a beach day or a day out in the fields. Spinach is the hero vegetable in these. We’ve chopped and sautéed it and mixed through some cheese including cashew cheese for more nutty protein!

Pop some of our organic Irish spinach in your basket this week and make sure to try these. Eat them warm with a salad or cold from your hand either way they are a delight to eat.

Lou x

Ingredients: makes 10 or 12 small rolls

1 pack ready rolled puff pastry (395g approx)

Filling:
120g fresh spinach, washed and chopped stalks and all
1 red onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
salt & pepper to taste
30ml water

90g cashew cheese (or feta cheese)

110g cream cheese
50g grated mozzarella

To finish:

dash of milk or egg to glaze

Sesame seeds

Method:

Step 1: Begin by frying the onion and garlic for a few minutes till soft, add in the spinach, a small pinch of salt and pepper and the water and fry until the water has evaporated. Cool down, for quickest cooling spread on a large tray. Once cooled add in the cashew cheese, cream cheese and mozzarella and mix well.

Step 2: Preheat the oven 180ºC. Line a tray with parchment paper

Step 3: Spread the mixed filling over the pastry sheet and roll it up, once rolled press down to flatten slightly and slice into 10 or 12 even pieces. A serrated knife works best for slicing.

Step 4: Glaze with a beaten egg or milk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for approximately 40 minutes. They should be golden brown and cooked all the way through. Leave to cool for 5-10 min. They can be eaten warm or cold.

This is a longer one than usual I am afraid.

by Kenneth Keavey

During the week somebody raised a valid point, how can we speak about climate change with any conviction when we import food. I have been considering this since and felt it was a point worth addressing.

We do import food and especially now it is more prevalent than at other times during the year, this is the hungry gap and we simply do not have Irish produce in abundance.

We do import food during other times of the year also and yes that food arrives here on the island of Ireland by truck.  It is important to note that we never import food by plane as do many supermarkets. We also have other sourcing policies that some may find contentious such as never buying produce from Israel.

There is in fact no other option if we want to eat tomatoes or peppers or carrots at present but to import, there simply is no commercial Irish supply. This has been particularly exacerbated by the horrendous growing season last year and the equally disastrous start to spring. We are not a market garden, and we need to grow in scale to have the necessary produce to fill our boxes each week, we are commercial organic vegetable farm. I think it is equally important to point out that there are very few of our type of farm at our scale in the country, a handful maybe.

Right now we are preparing fields we have planted some of our polytunnels and have just put our first plants in the ground this week. This will mean if the weather plays ball and these days that is a big if, we will be harvesting the first kale say in July.

Can we as a result of the issues above talk about climate breakdown and how it effects our farming? Can we voice our opinions on why we think large scale factory farming is horrendous and wrong? Can we say we disagree with deforestation in the amazon to feed the animal industries voracious appetite for GM soya? Can we offer an opinion on the fact that we think trees and hedgerows should be an integral part of the farming landscape in Ireland? Can we state the fact that if there was less meat consumed and more plants that less land would be required for agriculture, irrespective whether you eat meat or not, this is simply a fact?

Our intention is to shine a light on these issues whilst being mindful of people’s preferences for food, which is deeply personal, it is a delicate balance. Whilst also acknowledging that there are phenomenal hardworking farmers of all types in Ireland. Farming is a tremendously precarious industry and that government led encouragement to intensification means many farmers have few choices to change the way they farm.

The idea of the “Green Deal” in Europe being abandoned deeply upsets me and I feel it is a sad day in European evolution, the basic principle that we look after the land and set aside more for nature is exactly what we need to do. But how can farmers who to an extent have been encouraged by certain political parties be expected to foot the bill for these changes at least to a degree, when the price of food is so remarkably low, it is not the farmers and it never is that win from inflation led food price increases or indeed the smaller retailers. It is the large corporates and giant retailers they are the only winners, and they always win. 

The bottom line again of course comes back to the system that we now function within, our food system is inherently broken, and it needs to change.

So, whilst we import produce, we also grow 11 acres of vegetables plus 7 polytunnels worth on a farm of nearly 20 acres, some of which is left to forestry, hedgerows and general rewilding. We have agreements with several organic vegetable growers across Ireland to supply crops that we do not grow, such as potatoes, and carrots, and scallions and cucumbers and many more. All grown organically and in Ireland when in season.

I started this business because my fundamental belief to change our food system and protect our planet are dear to me. We are a small farm by any one’s reckoning but we absolutely do what we can.

We will continue to talk about things that will be disagreeable to some, to many maybe, we hope too to encourage others to think that maybe there is another way, that may provide a small ray of light and that leads to a path of change, after all, we all have power and choices to make change real.

And of course, as I say each week and it is something I mean wholeheartedly, without you spending your money with us and buying the produce we sell whether it is grown by us, or some other Irish organic farmer, or an organic farmer in Spain, we would not  be able to run our farm here, and support the other sustainable ethical farmers we buy produce from and we would not have this forum to say what we believe and what we hope some of you believe too.

So, I hope to that person that raised the issue that this has helped address some of your points.

Thank you for your support you make all this possible.

Kenneth