Features
Green Earth Organics
Moving from being a research scientist to organic horticultural production might not be the most obvious career choice for most people but it was a natural progression for Kenneth Keavey. Kenneth and his wife Jenny moved back to Galway from the UK in 2004 and immediately put the family farm into organic certification and Green Earth Organics was born. With no experience in commercial production, it was an ambitious move and one which has been marked by success and failure along the way. “However, after seven years of production I feel we are now in a stable place. The farm is progressing well and we are starting to get the hang of it. We are moving towards a nice balance on the farm between crop rotations, fertility management, pests and disease control and we have a great variety of crops growing,” said Kenneth when I visited his farm in July. “The season has been challenging as the cold temperatures meant we had to sow crops twice and even three times. Our outdoor courgettes were sown three times this year as they were wiped out by the cold weather. Normally we would be harvesting them at this time of the year not planting them”. Kenneth takes it all in his stride as he sees it as just another learning curve and part of working with nature.
Rapid Expansion
The farm went into conversion initially with one acre of vegetable production. Now there are thirty acres of organic land comprising of fourteen acres of vegetables, a native woodland area, a wildlife/biodiversity area and a red clover grassland area which rotates with the vegetable production. The core area of business for Green Earth Organics is a box scheme which grew rapidly in the first six months of operation.
“This coincided with the boom and we really were overwhelmed with the growth rate. It has tapered off since then but now is far more sustainable,” said Kenneth. “It is important to have diversity in markets when you are a small organic operator, so for us the box scheme is the centre of our business. We have a dedicated customer base. The majority get a box weekly with some people getting a box delivered less frequently”.
Green Earth Organics also has a stall at the Moycullen farmers market on Fridays. They supply restaurants in the greater Galway area with salad, potatoes, cucumbers, scallions, beetroot, cherry tomatoes, basil and herbs in the summer time when they can compete favourably with conventional produce.
In the winter time they supply restaurants with root vegetables. A range of basil, rocket, scallions, cucumbers and tomatoes are also wholesaled to Just Foods who make a great range of organic products.
Good Partnerships
Kenneth currently supplies three Super Valu stores in Westport, Castlebar and Clifden. He started supplying into Super Valu last year and it went really well. “It has been a good experience for us and the returns have been very good to date. We are lucky that we work with stores where the Fresh Produce Managers are interested in organic produce and give us a prominent location in the store and they are keen to work with us. For us this is a crucial issue as it is the key to a successful partnership and ensuring that it continues. For example when our new potatoes were delivered to the Westport store, the manager placed them in lovely baskets with good signage and they flew out the door”.
As a firm believer in having seasonal local organic produce available in Ireland, Kenneth welcomes the Super Valu Local Organic Programme. “It works great for us and people are also delighted to have local organic produce”. Green Earth Organics have spent the last five years reducing the level of imports by scaling up the level of production on their own farm. This has taken a considerable amount of financial investment but they are happy with the results.
Learning Co-operatively
At the moment there are six polytunnels on the farm, one of which is for propagation only. The rest of the vegetables are grown on field scale. Red clover combined with farm yard manure is the main fertility source on the farm with additional fertilisers such as pelleted chicken manure and seaweed being added periodically.
When asked about the future challenges for organic horticultural production Kenneth mentions the weather and environmental changes, the economic situation, and the lack of technical expertise for commercial growers.
“This year a group of growers gathered together to get some specialist advice from John Hogan and it has worked out really well. It is always good to have someone come in and take a look at what you are doing and make some suggestions. As growers, we also welcomed input and exchange from each other and hopefully we will keep this initiative going and work together in this way”.
Sustainable Future
When probed about the sustainability of his business Kenneth feels that it is on the cusp of viability. There has been a lot of investment and Green Earth Organics employ a part time office worker, two full time and two part time people. “For us it is important to employ people rather than rely on volunteers. We have three excellent WOOFERS two days a week. However, we don’t feel it is sustainable to rely on WOOFERS or volunteers long term. The economic downturn had a dramatic impact on us but we are quietly optimistic about the future. We have had to advertise and actively market for the first time ever. Sales are up 15 – 20% on this time last year which is encouraging”.
Green Earth Organics is a joy to visit. The farm is well managed and maintained and it harmonises beautifully with the surrounding landscape. The intense productivity on the farm, engineered excellently by Kenneth, is a glowing example of sustainable food production, I am not sure what kind of a research scientist he was but he is a great organic horticulturist!
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