Pumpkins and butternut squash are from the same plant family and are both currently in season. They can easily be interchangeable in recipes and make for a nutritious addition to any curry or casserole. They are packed full of vitamins and minerals and are also a rich source of fibre, which is essential for optimal gut health. Preparing the pumpkin or butternut squash is the most time-consuming part of this recipe, so to aid with the preparation of an otherwise speedy curry dish, I normally peel and cube the squash ahead of time and store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to use. It will keep perfectly when stored this way for up to three days. This curry tastes just as good the day after it is made, so keep a bowl aside in the fridge for the next day’s lunch.
To serve – fresh coriander leaves, boiled brown rice and coconut yogurt
Method
Over a medium heat, add the olive oil to a large saucepan. Once it has heated through add the onion and turn down the heat. Sauté over a low heat, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and stir through, before adding the curry paste and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine.
Next, add all the remaining ingredients to the pot. Place the lid on the pot. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes, stirring regularly.
To serve, ladle into bowls, serve alongside some boiled brown rice, scatter over some fresh coriander leaves, and add a dollop of coconut yogurt.
I remember distinctly our first year of growing, which was 20 years ago, it was before we officially started our business, it was my first year back in Ireland after spending 11 years in the UK, it was on a small vegetable patch in my grandads back garden, it was amazingly rewarding and to get food at the end of it was a bonus.
We have been growing organic vegetables here on our farm in Galway for nearly 20 years.
We have seen many changes over that time, but something that has never changed has been our commitment to sustainable local food. We are Irish and grow Irish and support Irish and always have since we started delivering our first boxes in 2004.
Something that has changed since then is the price that the supermarket pays for and charges for fresh produce in the supermarket, which has decreased. Since 2007 the average price paid for 1kg of fresh vegetables has decreased from €1.87/kg in December 2007 to €1.46 in August 2020. This represents a 21% decrease in price paid for fresh produce over 13 years when everything else has been going up.
Back in 2007 the minimum wage was €8.65, that has since risen to €13.50 in 2025, representing a 56% increase in the cost of labour alone. This is one cost of many that has increased, fertiliser, energy, packaging, general farm inputs have all increased dramatically over that time, and yet the retailers have consistently and unrelentingly driven down the price paid for produce.
It is also a fallacy to state that the retailer takes the hit on the price promotions in stores, there and it is the added impact of driving down the price a farmer can get for his or her produce elsewhere.
There is a glimmer of change driven by consumer demand for Irish produce, where Irish producers can now demand a little more for what they are producing. The reality when you walk into any of these large supermarket stores is that they are promoting supporting Irish when mostly the produce is imported, have a look at our video or check it out for yourself when you are next in a supermarket.
The pressure and race to the bottom have driven a lot of good growers out of business, and now as the supermarkets feel the pressure from the consumer and sense the marketing opportunities to show themselves as the saviour of the industry, they are promoting with all their vigour the support for the Irish vegetable farmer.
It’s the sad reality that after 20 years of hollowing out the industry they now want to turn the other cheek, but only ever so slightly, not too much, and not enough in many cases. Any increase in price paid must still be fought for tooth and nail, and after years of devaluing the produce it looks like a very poor effort indeed.
But any change in mindset is being driven by one thing and that is completely down to you,
you the consumer demanding more local Irish produce.
We have growers all over the country of Ireland, from Joe Kelly in Mayo, To Padraigh Fahy and Una Ni Bhroin in Beechlawn in Galway, to Enda Hoban and Orla Burke in Galway, Audrey and Mick in Millhouse organic farm, Cameron in Battlemountain organic farm, Philip in Coolnagrower organic farm in Offally, Richard Galvin with his Irish organic apples in Waterford. Banner berries with their amazing blueberries in Clare, Donnelly with his organic cherries in Dublin, then there is Garynahinch mushrooms, McArdles mushrooms, and leeks from Roy Lyttle in Antrim, plus Joachim and Jeanette in Galway also. And of course, our own amazing organic farm where Emmanuel and his team grow a whole range of fresh Irish organic produce. All of these growers are Irish, all are organic, and all are committed to growing sustainable produce. With your support we get to bypass the juggernaut of the supermarket buying machine, and all the damage it leaves in its wake, and we get to support ourselves and all these amazing other growers, but only and very much because of your support.
It’s now peak mushroom season in Ireland, and we’ve a great variety of them available to pick up in our online store. When preparing mushrooms for cooking they should never be washed, as they are porous and will retain this water which will interfere with their texture and flavour when cooked. However, their ability to retain fluids works perfectly for this recipe as the mushrooms are marinated in a flavoursome mixture which adds an extra level of deliciousness to these burgers. I’ve made a simple plant-based burger sauce, which works nicely with the cooked mushrooms, along with a layer of lettuce and slices of our juicy tomatoes.
Prepare the mushrooms by removing the stems and lightly brushing away any dirt. In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic, along with a little salt and pepper. Whisk to combine, before adding to a bag along with the mushrooms. This allows the mushrooms to better soak up the marinade. Place in the fridge for about an hour.
Make the sauce by combining the mayonnaise, gherkin liquid, gherkin, mustard, and garlic in a small bowl. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
Place an oven-proof griddle pan over a medium heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil, once hot add the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side.
Preheat the grill. With the mushrooms underside up, place a slice of plant-based cheese on top. Place the pan under the grill for about two minutes, until the cheese starts to bubble.
Remove straight away and layer into the toasted bun with the burger sauce, lettuce, and slices of tomato.
We all get sick sometimes, but when something serious comes along how we define what is important to us can change significantly. There is little doubt that without our health we have very little. All it takes is to be laid up in bed with a serious dose of the flu to know that being sick can be serious. The prevalence of chronic disease in our current age is frightening, it is unfortunately a reflection on how we as a society have evolved. Our eating habits, working habits, exercising habits, have steadily changed and not for the better over the last 50 years.
But what has happened to our food is very concerning. Obviously, the ultra-processed rubbish that is designed to be irresistible is very unhealthy, and we would in all seriousness be better off eating cardboard. But it is often said that it is not what we do occasionally that is the problem it is what we do every day that causes the benefit or the damage. Those things we eat everyday are one of the keys to our health. Our bodies are amazing machines and when we are young, we can cope at least for a while with just about anything, but as we grow older things start to take a greater tole on our health. So it is with our food, at least in my opinion the chemicals on conventional food must over time do damage, they hurt us on the inside and they do it gradually over years. I remember years ago my biology teacher telling me if you irritate something for long enough you will cause cancer. I know I am fortunate and can afford to consume organic food as I have it all around me, I don’t take that for granted. Ironically, for health reasons I have a restricted diet and one of the things I can eat are blueberries. Over the last couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to source organic blueberries as we do not buy airfreighted produce. So, I bought some conventional blueberries in a shop. I think they tasted a little odd, I ate them anyway. But I decided to investigate this a little and here is what I found: In 2024 Pesticides were found on 90 percent of conventional blueberry samples, compared to 81 percent in 2014. 80 percent of samples had two or more pesticides, versus 70 percent in 2014. A single sample of blueberries could have up to 17 different pesticide residues, compared to 13 in 2014. Reference here.
This information is relevant to the US, but many of the blueberries on Irish supermarket shelves come from all over the world and could have the same residues. The most troubling pesticides found on blueberries were phosmet and malathion, chemicals known as organophosphate insecticides. They kill many types of insects and are toxic to the human nervous system.
Not only are conventional blueberries on the list of items to source organically if you can, but green beans, peppers, and kale were also singled out. We have sourced organic blueberries again, the first new European harvest from Spain. I write this piece to once again highlight the difference between conventional food production and organic. Don’t we deserve to known about these unseen extras? So anyway, I am looking forward to getting the first new season organic non airfreighted blueberries next week. They won’t be as good as the Irish ones we had a few weeks ago, but they will be pretty good.
These spicy peanut noodles are so delicious and packed full of nutritious ingredients. I’ve used udon noodles in the recipe, but any noodles of choice can be used. This dish only takes minutes to assemble, and even though it is best enjoyed on the day it is made, it will keep well in the fridge for up to two days.
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the pack. Once cooked, add to a colander and rinse well under cold running water.
Roughly grate the carrot and courgette into a bowl. Using a paper towel, press down on the grated vegetables to soak up any excess water.
Add the grated carrot and courgette to a large bowl along with the cooled noodles, kale, coriander leaves, peanuts, and sesame seeds.
To make the sauce, add the peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, sriracha, and a dash of boiling water to a bowl. Whisk together using a fork. Pour over the noodles and vegetables and stir well to combine.
To serve, top with the sliced scallion and chilli. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
Don’t take this the wrong way but I love chemicals.
So much so that I dedicated nearly 15 years of my life to studying and working with them, I worked for years on trying to figure how to make a new antibiotic, imagine life without antibiotics?
Without chemicals our life would be so much different and not for the better. But here is one other thing I learned whilst trying to develop a selective drug, a drug that would not have any side effects, and it was this: A 100% selective drug was impossible. Impossible as all chemicals taken into the body interact with different receptors in different ways and have side effects. This silver bullet is the holy grail of pharmaceutical research and is still some way off.
Have you heard of polyphenols? If you are interested in your health, you will certainly have heard this term. They are powerful antioxidants found in plants and may have a very positive effect on our health. More on these later.
So, in the super controlled environment of pharmaceutical development a drug that does not have side effects is impossible to produce. So, who in their right mind decided that we should take toxic chemicals and start spraying them indiscriminately on our food?
In the conventional food world now, we have farmers spraying nonselective chemicals on our food to kill insects and other plants. These chemicals kill both the target (ie the aphid) but also other insects flying around, devasting biodiversity.
Then there is the issue of these chemical being that toxic that they harm life, what do they do to us when we consume them on our food? Nothing good for sure, and there is plenty of literature out there on the damage they do.
So, let’s keep going down the rabbit hole now. Take this a step further, as some of these chemicals are “systemic” that means they are absorbed into the plant, brought inside and there they reside until harvest and eventual consumption on our dinner plates. Washing will do little to remove these as they are inside the produce.
So, we have these non-selective, systemic toxic chemicals being sprayed on our food and they are hurting us and destroying biodiversity. But there is an often-overlooked further issue here, and that brings us back to polyphenols.
These amazing compounds are produced by plants to defend themselves against disease and pests, these powerful antioxidants protect the plants, and guess what? They protect us too, when we consume them. But here’s the issue, when plants are sprayed to remove pests then the plants have little need to produce polyphenols so not only are we getting chemically contaminated food, but the actual composition of the food is also being changed by the application of these chemicals, isn’t that just crazy?
It is so easy to ignore all of the above, as when we see produce on the supermarket shelf it looks amazing (and it is without doubt better to eat fresh produce than not), but if there is an option at all, and I understand for some this is not possible (But you can always try our rescue box, which is always sold at a greatly reduced price) then choosing organic is just always, always going to be better for you, if you can choose local organic then there are all the other benefits also of supporting a local food economy.
So please for your own sake and the sake of our fragile planet, if you can at all choose organic.
Tomatoes are naturally high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant. Cooking tomatoes not only increases the level of lycopene in the tomato but also makes it easier for the body to absorb. This is also a great dish to make if you’ve young chefs in the kitchen who’d like to help-out as it is so easy to prepare. It’s packed full of nutrients and serves well by the bowlful with chunks of bread on the side, or it transports well in a thermos flask for a lunch on-the-go. Enjoy!
Method 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 5.
2. Place the chopped tomatoes, garlic cloves and onion in an ovenproof dish. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle over the smoked paprika and sugar, and season with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper.
3. Using a wooden spoon, combine all the ingredients together.
4. Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
5. While everything is roasting, make the pasta according to the pack’s instructions.
6. In a large saucepan heat the stock, stir in the cooked roasted tomato mixture and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes.
7. Add the basil, saving a few leaves for serving. Using a liquidiser or hand blender, blend the soup until smooth.
8. Divide the pasta between four bowls, pour over the soup and top with a few basil leaves.
This roasted sweet potato and broccoli bake is so tasty and only takes minutes to prepare. The sweet potatoes are coating in cornflour and seasoning which makes them deliciously crispy, while our broccoli needs little encouragement to shine as it is already so flavoursome and packed full of freshness. The toppings are another opportunity to add more goodness to the dish along with an added layer of tastiness.
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7. Cut the sweet potatoes into slices and place in a large bowl. Drizzle over two tablespoons of olive oil plus the cornflour, smoked paprika and season with a little salt and pepper. Stir well to combine and transfer to a large baking tray, placing the slices evenly on the tray. Drizzle over any remaining oil in the bowl. Place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Take the tray from the oven. Add the florets of broccoli. Drizzle with a little olive oil and place back in the oven 15-20 minutes, stirring once during this cooking time.
While the vegetables are baking, make the sauce by stirring together the yogurt, lime, nutritional yeast, garlic and a little salt and pepper, in a small bowl.
Once the sweet potato and broccoli are cooked, transfer to a platter. Squeeze over the juice of half a lime and serve the other half on the side. Top with dollops of the sauce, chunks of avocado, a scattering of scallion, red chilli and coriander, plus a drizzle of hot sauce. Enjoy straight away.
Something that really upsets me is the fact that supermarkets not only sell fresh produce for next to nothing, but they also reject perfectly good produce, leading to increased food waste.
Have you ever seen a head of broccoli like the one in this video that weighs close to a kilogram and looks a bit wonky on a supermarket shelf? You will not, I think. They will never allow something like that for sale. More than likely the broccoli you get in supermarkets will be imported, will always be 400g, probably won’t be that fresh and will be wrapped in plastic and will usually be sprayed with chemicals and be very cheap. Did you know that a broccoli plant is quite big and will produce just one head in its lifespan? It takes quite a bit to bring a broccoli plant to harvest.
During the week I had a conversation with our potato grower, Cameron from Battlemountain Organic Farm. We needed to discuss potato pricing, we had a frank discussion and came to a fair agreement for him and for us, one we were both happy with.
If that conversation had went differently and it could have, then that would have been the end of our relationship and would have caused hardship for his farm. It would not have been fair, and it is certainly not our way. We are growers and we know a little about the costs and the challenges involved in producing and selling fresh organic produce and believe in paying fairly.
Supermarket buyers take a different approach to paying for their produce and this has led to the decimation of the Irish horticultural industry. Only 2% of farms in Ireland now grow vegetables.
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%.
But supermarkets want it all their own way, there is few countries where fresh produce is as devalued as it is here in Ireland. It really bothers me, obviously it bothers me because it makes it so difficult to stay in business with this backdrop, but it also bothers me because it undermines our food security and has caused untold damage to our indigenous vegetable industry.
Supermarkets demand the cheapest possible price and the most rigorous specifications leading to hardship for growers.
It is a broken food system. The funny thing is it would take very little to fix it, what if for example the specification on broccoli was relaxed to be above a certain weight, and if there was a slight increase in the price of the product and that went back to the grower and not to the supermarket, then that would fix a lot.
Your support keeps us in business and supports not only our own organic farm but many other Irish organic producers too.
Only five store cupboard ingredients are needed for this delicious, gluten-free, plant-based treat. Peanut butter can be used in place of the tahini, however when making for school lunchboxes, peanut butter should never be included as most schools have a no-nut policy in place. These bars are packed with fibre and slow-releasing carbohydrates, making them a good addition to any lunchbox.
In a small saucepan, over a low heat, melt the tahini, maple and coconut oil together, while stirring all the time. Once the mixture is fully combined, take from the heat.
Place the oats in a large bowl, pour over the wet mixture and stir well to combine.
Transfer to a parchment paper lined 20cm x 20cm tin. Place some parchment paper on top of the mixture and firmly press into place using the palm of your hand.
In another small saucepan, make the topping by melting together the coconut oil, cocoa powder and maple syrup. Stir well and once fully melted and combined pour over the oat base. Swirl the tin to evenly distribute the topping.
Place in the fridge for a few hours before cutting into squares. Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Enjoy!
*Note – Even though oats are naturally gluten-free, some can be contaminated with gluten due to where they’re processed etc. so ensure the oats you’re using say ‘gluten free’ to make this a gluten-free treat.
