Croghan Organic Gardens:  Vision, dedication, passion and a lot of hard work

Croghan Organic Gardens produces salad leaves all year round.

Croghan Organic Gardens produces salad leaves all year round.

Local, fresh and organic vegetables are often the hidden gems on our Sligo Food Tours and many tasters in Lyons Cafe, Osta Cafe and Sweat Beat Cafe feature produce from Croghan Organic Gardens. First established in 1998 as a centre for Education in Organic Horticulture Croghan Organic Gardens started out with one small site and one tunnel in Croghan. Now they have 11 polytunnels between the two sites in Croghan plus a propagation tunnel and seed sowing tunnel and 7 polytunnels in Elphin. Certified with IOA, the community service programme of IOFGA (Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association) they have become a major player of organic horticultural production in the Northwest supplying shops, cafes and restaurants in Sligo,Leitrim and Roscommon.

Bill, the manager (top left, pic 1) and Tim, the garden supervisor (top right, pic 4) have been working with the company for the past 19 or 20 years and are very passionate and dedicated organic growers often working a 7 day week at the busiest of times. They lead a team of two full time garden staff Emba and Colm and 3 part time garden staff Jim, Niamh, Marie. Gill is head of sales, manages the office and is part-time gardener when needed.

The gardeners and growers at Croghan produce wonderful organic salad leaves all year round and a wide range of vegetables throughout the season (kale, spinach, onion,leeks, herbs, new season potatoes, courgettes tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, broccoli, onions, scallionsgreen and runner beans, peas, and beetroot).

Without food producers like the team at Croghan Organic Gardens who supply the raw material not only for chefs, but for all their customers, the emerging Irish food culture could not happen. So here are three cheers for the team, who in the middle of a crisis do what they always do: sow, plant, grow, harvest and deliver. We are very grateful!

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Tim Hester, one of the gardeners, answered our questionaire Sligo Food Tours - Producers Uncovered

  • What is your favourite food? I don’t have a favourite food. I don’t eat meat but apart from that I like most things. I suppose my answer would be that when I’m hungry, whatever is my next meal is my favourite food. As the saying goes “hunger is always the best sauce”.

  • Finish the sentence: A producer/grower is someone who is in touch with the seasons. With the Irish climate being so variable, I am always watching the weather as it shapes my day and my plans for the week ahead.

  • The country you travel for food: Apart from the obvious answer of France, I would definitely say Ireland. We have growers,producers and chefs who are inspirational. I love to eat out and take ideas away with me to try at home.

  • Three things you always have in your larder/fridge? Oil, vinegar and mustard. The perfect ingredients to make a dressing for a freshly picked organic salad.

  • What is your most used gadget? My plant spacer. A long strip of wood with regularly spaced dowels that make the holes into which I then put the young plants.

  • Do you read gardening books and which one do you come back to? “Vegetables for the Irish Garden” by Klaus Laitenberger because its specific to this country. Other than that my “go to” books would be for plant and insect identification when I come across something I don’t recognise.

  • Who is your inspiration (not necessarily from the food/garden world): My friends and family. It’s these people that make my life interesting and keep me motivated.

  • What are you currently listening to? Lyric FM, my favourite station whilst I’m gardening.

  • Something people don’t know about you? In my late 20’s I spent a year in Norway working on a biodynamic farm. This type of agriculture is based on the ideas of Rudolph Steiner. It was this experience that lead me to work in organic production. Prior to that I had worked in non-organic horticulture.

  • What will be hot in 2022? Growing your own at home. What better way to get fit and enjoy nature, then reap the rewards at your table after a hard day’s work.

Croghan Organic Gardens supplies: Glancy's Supervalu Carrick on Shannon - Gannons Farm Shop, Croghan Road, Carrick on Shannon - The Farm Shop, The Square, Roscommon - Mullaney's Supervalu, Grange, Sligo - Dawn Fresh, Sligo - Sweet Beat Cafe Sligo - Gourmet Parlour Sligo - Kate's Kitchen, Sligo
- Osta Cafe Sligo - Lyons Cafe, Sligo - The Little Cottage Cafe, Rosses Point - The Oarsman Bar & Restaurant, Carrick on Shannon - Phoenix Park Tearooms - King House Tearooms, Boyle.

Croghan Organic Gardens is a Community Service managed by Pobal and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

E-mail: croghanorganicgarden@eircom.net Website: www.croghanorganicgardens.com

Fb: https://www.facebook.com/croghanorganicgarden/

 

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