Ómós Digest #5: Unearthing the No-Dig
Thrive Farm and a walk through regenerative organic farming.
Let’s begin with the news that we’ve started a farm! This may be old news if you follow us on Instagram or Twitter. Nevertheless, we thought we’d give you the rundown on what’s up our sleeves and why we are taking the regenerative organic farming route.
Anyone who knows me knows that over the past couple of years, I have spent most of my time walking along bushes, collecting herbs, flowers, and quite frankly anything that, with a little love and knowledge, can transform the most unlikely of dishes. My interest grew to the point that knowing about wild food wasn’t enough. I had a good grasp on what could be found above soil in Ireland, but little knowledge about what was going on below it, and this readers is where it really gets interesting.
A random message of appreciation slid into my DM’s (as it does nowadays) in response to a photo I posted to my Instagram story. After a quick scan of my admirer’s profile, it turned out to be a farm in Wicklow - not the multimillionaire restaurant tycoon I was hoping for. However, what I saw on this profile was interesting. I wrote back and what followed were weeks of exciting messages, which swiftly evolved into shared spreadsheets for growing weird and wonderful products, outlining plans and exchanging daft ideas that would stretch into a late night discussion, with the occasional voice recording offset by the sound of a TM 135 tractor. This has now materialised into a 3 acre farm that myself and Niall Whelan of Thrive Farm are building together.
An organic connection
I feel lucky to have encountered more than a few open-minded growers, but from the very first instance, there was something unique about Niall Whelan. Bubbling with what can only be too much fresh air, his personality exudes an infectious energy. He speaks rapidly, swiftly moving from one ambitious thought to the next, operating on an agenda different to most. From my first day spent weeding organic strawberries opposite Niall, it was apparent that this excitable personality was matched with the astute work ethic only those with a deep sense of purpose possess. We are both fueled by one another's enthusiasm and wishful thinking.
Thrive Farm is 168 acres of predominantly green pasture, the land I am told his grandfather’s horse once ploughed. Over the last 3 years, Niall has sown over 5 acres of organic agriculture, including 1600 organic strawberry plants which we are currently weeding (Niall’s strawberries are the best you will taste, and while he supplies to local grocers, he is very open to offering his produce to new, passionate customers). With the harvest of organic produce, comes the less than sublime inevitability of weeds, who like an uninvited member to a party, can take over if not managed accordingly. On all fours, we creep up and down the trenches, plant by plant, weed by weed. I try my best to keep up with Niall, who makes light work of seemingly endless rows of strawberries. Within 1 hour, my city-boy-back is in agony. Niall’s nurturing personality reassures me that the work doesn’t get any harder than this, and I believed him until we had to move a 100ft polytunnel from Malahide to Wicklow a week later. For those outside of the emerald isle, that’s a hefty 80km trek.
With organic strawberries, however, it very much results in both flavour and yield, and for that, the brutal work is worth the pain. Although working on the farm may seem like one big idealistic educational journey, led by an enthusiastic teacher in Niall, it must be noted how difficult farming is. Each day presents a new task that tests our resilience. Unpredictable weather brings forth unforeseeable results, while time seems to always be against us. This to me, is Mother Nature's way of communicating with us that we operate on her terms. Nevertheless, ask anyone who has experienced it, the time spent working her borrowed land, perched in the soil next to a worthy comrade with enough chat to see the sun go down, develops a bond no match for even the most resilient dandelion.
Food for thought
I can unapologetically announce that as a glutton, one of the best things about working at Thrive Farm is the packed lunches. After a morning's work, each day is broken by the unveiling of an alfresco lunch prepared by Niall’s family. Niall’s sisters run Thrive Café in Tullow and produce the food you would expect a more health-conscious Julia Child to whip up. A typical menu reads: sardines from Killybegs in Donegal tossed in good olive oil and fresh organic herbs, baked trout and a salad of organic mustard cress and land cress full of delicate additions like scallions, picked parsley, chive, and a whack of oozy brie. But lunch at Thrive Farm is not lunch without soup. Soup that Niall’s Mum has made, which we pour from a soup maker (this appliance is new to me), paired with freshly baked slices of buttered brown bread and sourdough, wrapped in small brown paper bags. As we eat on the bonnet of the farm’s Mitsubishi Pajero, I’m in disbelief. Of course, everything is incredibly wholesome and nourishing, but it is the exceeding care and thoughtfulness behind the preparation of each meal that makes everything so wonderful. Through mouthfuls of tomato soup, Niall almost regretfully reveals that some of the tomatoes in the soup are fresh. While this might sound like a good thing, it means that they have been grown out of season. He ashamedly states that they were probably grown in polytunnels in Holland, using fossil fuels to get them to this degree of ripeness (this is what causes greenhouse emissions). He talks about a desire to preserve his own tomatoes, enough for an entire year. We speculate about how many tins of tomatoes each household annually consumes on average and how many jars of preserved tomatoes would be sufficient? Perhaps there is a Faviken style cellar on the horizon.
From a personal point of view, I felt a moral responsibility to help bring people and product closer together. My desire is to develop a way in which we can be better collectively: operating responsibly and showing respect to people, processes, and the planet. Through a number of creative outlets, Ómós aims to connect communities through food. From the very beginning, myself and Niall shared an ambition to shorten the supply chain however possible. In aligning our vision with regenerative farming, we will do whatever it takes to support the preservation of the soil and develop our learning.
Our aim is to grow what cannot be easily found, experiment with new crops, as well as planting and preserving native heirloom crops. We plan to experiment with unique varieties of Japanese carrots, Patisson squash and heirloom okra to name a few. This week we are planting a variety of fruit trees along the avenue of the farm. They include mulberry trees, types of quince, and hazelnut. Fruits that are tricky to source are an important fixture for us. Not to mention, the planting of underappreciated shrubs such as whitecurrant and blackcurrant. We’ll try our hand at cape gooseberries, which just like mulberry and fig, may benefit from a little more heat provided by our south facing polytunnel. If the figs don’t fruit, sure we can use the leaves. They are beautifully aromatic and an ideal replacement for vanilla in recipes.
So what is regenerative agriculture and why is it important?
I became interested in regenerative agriculture farming after I began to think about what impact my behaviour will have had on the planet after I’ve left it. Regenerative organic farming aims to rehabilitate soil, respect animal welfare and improve the lives of farmers. It is a system that increases the diversity within our soil. The healthier the soil, the healthier the crop.
Soil health is incredibly important in helping us to sustain feeding the world. Therefore it’s vital that the public are educated about the importance of soil health and what it consists of. Up until a couple of years ago, this wasn’t something I understood, despite working in some of the best restaurants in the world, I doubt it was high on any of the chef’s agendas. The fact is that we all have to eat and that isn’t going to change. However, our current system of industrialised agriculture is diminishing our soil health at a rate that will destroy our ability to grow enough food for the planet’s growing population. In the next 60 years, we will need to produce more food than we produced in the past 500 years, and if we do not alternate how we farm, we face global consequences.
Regenerative farming focuses on restoring and building healthy soil, a practice which helps to draw carbon down into the soil from the atmosphere. Soil is a living organism. Put healthy soil in a microscope and you will see living matter: tiny little moving particles called microorganisms which are responsible for helping plants grow. This relationship between soil and plants is known as the microbiome. Within the microbiome lives a community of bacteria, archaea, and fungi both beneficial and harmful to plant health, microbes (the good bunch) and pathogens (the bad lot). In order to look after the security of the soil, which results in the security of our food chain, we need to focus on preserving this microbiome. Just as we would with our own gut microbiome.
How do we do that?
Soil needs carbon. It helps give the soil water retention, structure, and fertility. As we all know there is lots of it in the atmosphere, in fact far too much. On the other hand, in order for plants to grow, they need a source of nitrogen, which is available in healthy soil. During the process of growth, the plant exchanges carbon in the atmosphere for nitrogen in the soil. The healthier the soil, the more nitrogen, which results in greater yields of plant crops, less carbon and more profit for the farmer.
On track? So, how do we increase soil health?
One answer is ‘cover crops’. Cover crops are planted to cover the soil, creating a layer of protection and shielding the soil from erosion. There are many ways in which we have eroded our soil, including deforestation, the use of pesticides, and tilling, all of which destroy the microbes within the soil. Think about it like bread: if the microbes in your yeast are dead, your bread won't grow. While pesticides are a short term fix for killing unwanted pests, they also destroy everything below the soil. Kill the microbes, kill your future.
When soil is exposed, it burns carbon which is leaked into the atmosphere. Having cover crops all year round ensures great amounts of carbon are rooted within the soil and prevents any erosion. Examples of cover crops are beans, vetch peas, rye and oilseed rape. The aim is not to harvest them but to plant between seasons in order to give the soil cover. Simply put, we need to feed our soil as we feed ourselves. The following year after the crop has ended and you are ready to plant your ‘cash crop’ (the plant you harvest), what you have created following a no-till process is soil that is rich in organic matter and will offer greater yield.
For small farms that do not have the luxury of designating a whole field into a cover crop, you can do an intercrop. This involves planting a cover crop in and around the cash crops to boost biodiversity in the soil. I recently read about a farmer in Missouri, USA who intercropped buckwheat plants around some brassicas (cabbage) in the autumn. Aphid bugs, the cabbage’s nemesis, are capable of chewing through the entire plant. However, buckwheat naturally attracts parasitic wasps which feed on these aphids. Intercropping not only tackled this problem, it eliminated the need to spray and boosted the surrounding soil. It’s a natural pest control and cover crop all in one: a form of permaculture in itself. But that’s for another day.
Another option is to add a layer of straw and mulch in between beds, which equally provides the soil with the protective layer it needs. Thus, boosting the overall soil health. Regenerative farming is key to the much needed transformation of not only agriculture, but also the entire food supply chain. There are many aspects of regenerative agriculture, which if I went in-depth now, would result in newsletters part 2, 3 and 4. So, here’s a brief overview of regenerative farming techniques and how they can help put hope in the soil:
Regenerative agriculture practices:
Cattle grazing, which naturally stimulates plant growth.
Curtailing the use of fertilisers and pesticides.
No (or limited) GMOs to promote biodiversity.
Cover cropping or planting year-round so the land isn’t fallow during off-seasons. This helps prevent soil erosion.
Crop rotation or successively farming more than one plant on the same land.
Conservative tillage or less plowing of fields.
In writing this, I think it’s important to stress that my intention is not for people to feel marginalised or ostracised. This is not about alienating people through what we are doing or being elitist in our approach. It’s about getting others around us to feel interested in the steps we dare to make, and to feel comfortable in reaching out and being a part of it.
I must thank landscape designer and long-standing friend Marion Keogh for looking over this article with me. She states that an appreciation for food sovereignty is achieved through the tending of crops (a sentiment I firmly believe in too). The ownership of such crops can be empowering and encourages us to look at food as a rare commodity. Soil is our starting point for everything.
As always, thank you for reading the Ómós Digest. This is newsletter #5, so if you missed our previous editions, you’ve got plenty to catch up on, including our Something Saucy offering. You can also check out omos.co if you’re curious about our story.
Brilliant read and so informative
...ethics, sustainability, and the maintenance of valuable communities of practice (CoPs)....simply the best (and right) thing to do!!