The great thing about the work we do is that when every season comes to an end, the next one fills you with hope and the challenge to do things better… Get the correct fertility, keep the birds away, put the seeds in at the correct spacing, and grow healthy tasty and nutritious vegetables for you!

We are now on Facebook!  Check us out: Beechlawn Organic Farm.

PORK FOR SALE
Our pigs are leaving the farm this week and we will have sides of pork ready for December 18th Included in the side of pork (half a pig) will be sausages, ham, chops and roasts. Customers will need a large freezer to store it. Get in touch asap with your order. If you are looking for a turkey phone John Larkin at (087) 9735799 to place your order. He has an organic farm in Eyrecourt with Organic Turkeys.

AN NOLLAIG
If you want to make your Christmas veg box ordering simple you can order a €50 or €30 Christmas box. It will contain potatoes, carrots, parsnip, celery, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, leeks, turnip, kale, peppers, courgette, and melon (if melons are available), blood orange, apples, grapes, pears, and cooking apples.  You can add or take away items from the list to suit your preferences. We also expect to have a selection of fresh herbs in the weeks before Christmas. If you wish to gift a friend with one of our Fruit and/or Vegetable Baskets over the Christmas, we will be happy to deliver it.

CHRISTMAS PRIZE VOUCHER
Again this year we will have a customers draw for a €50 voucher.  The winner will be notified on December 18th. We are also having a separate draw for all customers who return the Customer Survey.

SIOPA FEIRME DON NOLLAG
Farm shop as usual: Tuesdays, 9am-5pm (we are always open Monday to Friday but on Tuesday our veg is out on display)

Christmas EXTRA Opening Times.

Friday 21st  9am-5pm
Saturday  9am-5pm
Sunday   9am- 5pm

Our stall will be at the Loughrea Market as usual on Thursday 20th December.

Box Scheme Deliveries
We will be delivering as usual on Tuesday December 18th and Wednesday December 19th.
EXTRA Christmas boxes will be delivered on Sunday 23rd. We will email out product lists for the Christmas box on Thursday 20th December.

We will be closed from 24th December until 3rd January and will return to our regular Box Scheme deliveries on 8th and 9th January.

Nollaig Shona agus ath bhliain faoi mhaise is faoi shéin. We hope you and yours enjoy the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Kicking off at 6.12pm on 12.12.12 in the hotel’s popular Pins Bar, guests are in for a night to remember with a superb line-up of home grown live musical acts, an assortment of delicious party food using the very best of local produce and a long list of fantastic spot prizes to be won. For those in need of a little time out amidst all the fun and festivities, there will also be a pamper station in operation providing guests with mini Voya treatments to help them party on into the wee small hours.

Download the Press Reslease.
View the event on Facebook.

CEARDLANN
Padraig is giving a WORKSHOP on setting up an organic garden/allotment this coming Saturday 26th May at the farm (Beechlawn, Ballinasloe) at 2pm as part of the Ballinasloe weekend festival. All are welcome, NO CHARGE. Text us for directions: 086 1799007

BARRAÍ
Seed sowing and planting is in full swing at the farm. We have sown three and a half million seeds so far to produce seventeen acres of veg. Thank you to all who gave us some pointers in how to improve our veg growing this year. Our Setanta Potato crop was a disappointment last year and we still have twenty tons in cold storage in Dublin so this year we are growing other potato varieties. The cold weather slowed growth in April and May but has improved this week. Our biggest challenge in growing organically is pests and diseases which love to eat our tasty crops. We use nets, good varieties, a rich soil to promote good health in the crops and companion planting which introduces friendly aphids who eat the “baddies”, and some organic natural repellants to keep them at bay. Come to the workshop on Saturday to hear more!

TOGÁIL FEIRME
We recently did some work on our driveway and parking facilities and with some help from the Organic unit at the Dept. of Agriculture renovated a farm building to create our new wash shed. Come and see it on a Tuesday, or at our farm tour in July! See below

MARGADH
We continue to sell at Loughrea market on Thursday mornings 9.30am-12.30pm.
APPRENTICESHIP SCHEME: We are offering a 9 month apprenticeship in organic horticulture and veg sales for a person who is currently unemployed; together with FÁS and Jobsbridge.ie Contact us or FÁS for further details.

BREITHLÁ
We were ten years in Business in Spring 2012. We are organising a celebration in the summer. A farm tour and refreshments on Saturday July 21st 2-6pm. Let us know if you are coming so we can prepare for numbers.

FAILTE ROIMH CÁCH AG AN FEIRM
The farm shop is always open on Tuesdays 9am -5pm as we pack our veg boxes. We are applying for planning permission to put up some signs indicating where we are exactly from the main roads.

DÍOLACHÁIN
We now deliver about 60 veg boxes every week, sell to 17 shops in Galway Westmeath and Clare and to 4 restaurants. THYME Restaurant in Athlone has been buying from us since last November and was awarded the BORD BIA Irish restaurant of the month in May. We sell to a box scheme in Dublin- Frank Comiskey, a healthfood shop in Tralee- “Manna” and market traders in Cork “Organic Republic” during our busy summer season. Last Autumn saw our 1st experience working with “Simply Organic Ltd” who supply Dunnes Stores amongst others, and to “Donnellys Vegetables” in Dublin who supply Superquinn amongst other shops.

LEANBH NUA
Úna is expecting a baby in August and will be taking some time off from the farm. Please bear with us as we re-adjust!

Le mór mheas,
Úna Ní Bhroin & Padraig Fahy

It is a 9 month internship whereby the successful candidate will spend 30 hours per week working with us learning how to grow and sell organic vegetables.

Application form

The candidate must be on unemployment assistance or benefit for at least the last 3 months to qualify. Please send an email to Úna at  info@beechlawnfarm.org and ask for an application form. The candidate should also inquire in their social welfare/Fás office if they are eligible to take part in the Fás Jobsbridge internship scheme.

We are also hoping to attract some new work experience students from Horticulture Colleges with a keen interest in Organic horticulture and farming.

Please contact Úna  info@beechlawnfarm.org for further information.

Application form

BARRAÍ
Our Brussels sprouts, red cabbage. leeks and broccoli grew very successfully for us this year along with the first crop of carrots, beetroot and cabbage. Kale is growing and selling well for us too with lots of people now aware of the importance of leafy green vegetables. We grew a very large crop of leeks and secured a sale of leeks to Superquinn nationwide. 2011 was a good planting year with the exception of the delicate crops such as tomatoes courgette and French beans. The lack of direct sunlight delayed their maturity and ripening. We hope for a sunnier 2012!
We employed an agricultural advisor this year, a man who has worked with growers in North Dublin and Co. Meath. This has helped us a lot especially around the area of machinery and sowing, planting and harvesting schedules. We harvested 20 tons of Setanta potato in November and sent most of them to a storage company in Dublin with a controlled temperature warehouse in case the frost comes.

OIBRITHEOIRÍ FEIRME
We are very happy with our farm staff this year. Padraig along with Gregor, Dave and Christopher are doing the outdoor farm work and have put in a good years work. We had many volunteers on work placement and on working holidays from abroad who helped us in 2011. We are very grateful for their help. Darren Kelly is head of veg packing in the farm shed. Michael Harrington is our delivery driver and Marie Downey runs the office and is the box scheme co-ordinator. Without their commitment and hard work we wouldn’t be here today!

BORD BIA ORGANIC AWARDS
We were highly commended this year for our rocket 80g bag and our curly Kale 250g shop shelf bag. Bord Bia are also giving us funding to rebrand and design a flyer to advertise our box scheme.

MARGADH: We continue to sell at Loughrea market on Thursday mornings 9.30am-12.30pm and Oranmore market on Thursday afternoons 2pm -5pm. The weather is challenging at the moment but that’s Winter!

GEIMHRIDH: During the quieter Winter months we are focusing on reviewing our crop growing year. Any comments are welcome. We are also focusing on printing our new veg box flyer and selling our veg to new shops, including Supervalu Monksland, Athlone, Queallys Supervalu Killaloe, Londis Kilcolgan and Centra Athenry. Also buying from us are Irelands Raw Kitchen in Galway. Check out www.irelandsrawkitchen.ie

AN NOLLAIG: If you want to make your Christmas veg box ordering simple you can order a €20 or €30 Christmas box. It will contain potatoes, carrots, parsnip, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts for the traditional dinner, red pepper, yellow pepper, courgette, onion for stuffing and a stir fry/roast, and melon, blood orange, apples, pears, and cooking apples for starter/dessert. You can add or take away items from the list to suit your preferences.

CHRISTMAS PRIZE VOUCHER
Our €50 box scheme voucher winner is Phil Fagan. Darren, while blindfolded picked Phil’s name from a total of 94 customers. Congratulations Phil! You have won €50 euros worth of veg and fruit.

BREITHLÁ: We will be ten years in Business in Spring 2012. We hope to organise a celebration in the summer. We will keep you posted.

SIOPA FEIRME DON NOLLAG
The farm shop is always open on Tuesdays as we pack our veg boxes. For Christmas it is also open on Thursday 22nd from 9am to 5pm and Friday 23rd December from 9am to 5pm. The box scheme deliveries return at the later times of Wednesday the 4th Jan for Athlone and Ballinasloe boxes and Thursday 5th Jan for Aughrim and Galway boxes.

Nollaig Shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise is faoi shéin. We hope you and yours enjoy the Christmas and new year celebrations!

Le mór mheas,
Úna Ní Bhroin & Padraig Fahy

Beechlawn Organic Farm Christmas Staff photo 2011 (taken by Úna)

From left: Christopher Coppinger – Teagasc work placement student, Gregor Gajecki horticultural worker, Dave Walsh – Teagasc work placement student, Michael Harrington – delivery driver, Darren Kell y- Veg packing supervisor, Marie Downey, office administrator and box scheme co-ordinator, Padraig Fahy, co-owner and Manager

We are waiting to hear from our rhubarb supplier in Athenry ( Athenry Organics) she won’t know until Monday if she has rhubarb for us. We also were missing our mushrooms last Tuesday and Wednesday week. Apologies to anyone who was disappointed with this.

Next week we will have our mushrooms as usual again, along with our new Irish small onion bunches from an organic farm in Williamstown Co. Galway.

BARRAÍ
We are harvesting our scallions and red and green lettuce this week along with Spinach, rocket and salad leaf. By July we hope to have our own tomatoes, cucumbers and many other summer vegetables. Sowing and planting is going well, with plenty of welcome sunshine. We need some rain for our outdoor crops to grow however! We have started irrigating some, but we need a lot of water pipes to cover all. We ran out of space at the farm this year and have rented two fields on an organic Farm in Kilconnell where we are growing onions and potatoes.

TREIMHSE OCRACH
We are in the HUNGRY GAP period of the Irish veg year. From March to May is the leanest time as this year’s Spring sowings are not yet big enough to eat and last year’s harvest is coming to an end.

LÁ OSCAILTE
Our annual Teagasc Farm tour for growers is on Wednesday evening the 7th of September. Our Customers & friends Farm tour is on the following Saturday the 10th of September from 11am-5pm. Let us know if you want to come on a tour earlier in the Summer and we will organise it.

GEIMHREADH DONA
The big freeze seems like a distant memory now but we lost two tons of carrots, a crop of overwintering cabbages and lots of our turnips last November, December and January. Our potatoes were also affected as we were getting them into storage in the last few days of October, as we later discovered. We aim to get everything out of the fields by the middle of October this year. Wish us luck!

MARGADAH
We are back trading at the Market in Croffys Yard, Ballinasloe on Friday mornings from 9am to 1pm. We are also in Oranmore from 2pm to 6pm on Thursdays. We have a stall at the Loughrea market on Barrack St on Thursdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm and at the Moycullen Country market on Fridays from 1pm -6pm

SIOPAÍ
Our produce is for sale in Morton’s of Salthill, Joyces Knocknacarra, Mc Cambridge’s on Shop Street, Supervalu Barna Supervalu Moycullen, Supervalu Oranmore, Supervalu Fr. Griffin Rd, Supervalu Gort, Joyces Athenry and the Twelve Hotel in Barna, the Wineport Restaurant in Athlone and Oscars Bistro, Galway. Suíomh Idirlín: Our website has been re-designed- www.beechlawnfarm.org –

DUAIS-GNÓ LE GAEILGE
Corn Uí Cheithearnaigh: We have won the Conradh na Gaeilge; Béal Atha na Slua 2011 award for doing business through the medium of Irish.
Buíochas arís don tacaíocht.

Úna Ní Bhroin & Padraig Fahy

Our customers have asked us to use less paper and plastic packaging in their box at times. Others would prefer more packaging especially around fruit.

We endeavour to use as little packaging with our produce for environmental and other reasons. However we are advised that earthy veg should not be packed with fresh fruit for hygienic reasons.

We also find it hard to keep cauliflowers spotless without putting in a bag. Let us know your thoughts on this?

So we are happy with the planting and sowing done so far this year. The tomato plants are about 5 inches high now in the poly-tunnels and growing well in pots until we plant them out next month.

Please send your orders by 12 noon on Monday by text, email or phone.
Please specify pc (piece) or kg (kilogram) or g (gram) on your order. Enjoy the sunshine!