community

Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 November 2015


Now THIS is a night out! SpeakEATsy - winter words and nourishment (PeakEats?) will feed you, engage you, challenge you and, in the very end, make you move your body. A lot.

BOOK NOW!

 Here's the line up:

20.00 - 21.00 - Community Farm Meal
Sit down four course meal prepared with Cloughjordan Community Farm produce, Riot Rye bread and other Cloughjordan delicacies served in a convivial setting. Invite your friends book a table, make an evening of it. Bring your own beverage.

21.15 - 22.00 - In Conversation with Mark Boyle
Ecovillage resident and chirpy doomer Patrick O Connor leads a public interview with best selling author Mark Boyle on the themes of his third book, ‘Drinking Molotov Cocktails with Gandhi.’ A Sheelagh na Gig book stall with all of Mark's books and a selection of relevant titles will be open on the night.

22.15 -23.30 - Spoken Word
Showcasing some of Ireland’s most talented and outspoken slam poetry acts, many from scene of the rhyme, including Cormac Lally, Richard Brennan, David Mallaghan, Ras Tinny, Mel White, Stefan Barry and David Hynes.

23.30- late - DJs & Dancing
With DJ's Ben Whelan, Ollie Moore and Paul Ryan
footwork, twerk, twonk, dancehall, reggae, and stuff you might half recognise from time to time! All fun and for the floor thou :-)

Cost: Just €20 for the whole evening, including four meal! €10 for the conversation, poetry and music only.

All proceeds towards the farm's efforts to recoup €8000 of stolen farm kit. And, good news! As its a Friday night you can stay over in Django's - €40 for shared accommodation and event, €50 for private room and event.

BOOK NOW! 

NEW: Some of our spoken word acts

Breda Larkin - came out of Aughrim, Co. Galway both literally and figuratively. She chose a quiet life in Dublin working in insurance which she soon realised was a dreadful mistake and 'quiet' was the last thing she was qualified to be. So, taking a deep breath, she got in her Micra and left for Kinsale to study Drama. Having tackled everything from William Shakespeare to Ian Wild, she finished her course in 2012 and started forging her own path as a stand up comedian and performer. Her one person show about coming out in rural Ireland, 'The Word of Breda' was a roaring success at the 2013 Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and she has performed this and her show 'Other Womens Vaginas' across Ireland. Currently Breda is engaged on a new journey taking her updated show, 'Breda's Pilgrimage', to every county in Ireland
Richard Brennan- is young, bi, single, childless, part-time unemployed and completely devoid of talent. She’s also a pathological liar. Hobbies include driving prodigious distances to stand in dark basements, under bright spotlights, reciting rhyming couplets to complete strangers, on themes as diverse as spiders, nocturnal emissions and second hand LPs. Widely experienced at this stage, having performed at Sunflower Fest, Castlepalooza, Body & Soul, as well as The Scene of the Rhyme, The Monday Echo, Sunday Slam, A musing at Accents Café, D.U.B, among others. Clips can be viewed online at Balcony TV, and on YouTube. There’s also a slim volume of rhyme: “The Gathering Rush”, available for purchase at the gig
David Mallaghan -  is a member of the Tullamore Rhymers Club. He started writing poetry when he was eleven in Ballinamere National School with the encouragement of Larry Fleming, his teacher. His biggest influences  are William Blake and Spike Milligan. Milligan was a very funny man. Blake however believed that the problem with humanity was perception. His work has convinced him that if we can rid ourselves of perception humanity is infinite. He tries try to write using comedy and satire, however many of his poems are observational from his point of view. He has recently started doing stand up comedy.
Dave Hynes - was very popular with the ladies in the 80's .
He's also very popular with women in their 60's and 70's.
If you like his brand of humour he can be found in the usual places.
Back gardens alleyways and Facebook.
Cormac Lally- is a performance poet, writer and spoken word promoter from Tullamore now based in West Cork. He was the 2014-15 Leinster Slam Champion and came second in the All Ireland that year. 2015 saw him win the Munster Poetry Slam and he is the first poet to win titles in two different provinces.

His poetry is a mix of politics, parenthood and the everyday things. He was the curator of The Scene Of The Rhyme, a monthly spoken word showcase in Lee's bar in Tullamore, and has curated the event at the countries top festivals. This year he collaborated with the Global Green peeps to establish the Voices Rising spoken word show, two hours of gritty, humorous and out there performance poets from all corners of Ireland. His two collections Scribbles, Dribbles and Homegrown Nibbles and Too Busy Dancing are both in their second print. He writes wedding speeches to pay the bills and is happiest when hanging with his family.
Monday, 9 March 2015

Feeding Ourselves 2015: 11-12th April in #Cloughjordan


FEEDING OURSELVES
A NATIONAL GATHERING ON COOPERATIVE AND COMMUNITY FOOD SYSTEMS

Hosted by Cloughjordan Community Farm at the WeCreate Centre, Cloughjordan Ecovillage Tipperary, Ireland

Conference - Saturday 11th April  10.00 – 17.00
Side Events - Sunday 12th April  12.00 – 16.30

You are invited to a gathering for people involved, or getting involved, in community supported agriculture (CSA), food coops & buyers clubs, community gardens, and local food supply and distribution systems. Discover how a cooperative approach can strengthen and build more resilient and sustainable food systems, while at the same time supporting our communities and local economies.

If you want to create and support jobs in your area, help secure your food supply, are interested in food solidarity or sovereignty, part of a community that wants to strengthen its local economy, or are a grower looking for a rewarding and potentially profitable way of supplementing your income, this event is for you.

The conference will bring together growers, producers, and consumers who are finding new ways to produce and distribute food in our local areas. It will also explore the benefits and opportunities of developing an Irish network of cooperative/ community food initiatives, to interact more with others in Europe such as Urgenci (the European and International CSA network).

Conference ticket only €35 - Pre Booking Essential – (€20 for Cloughjordan Community Farm Members, and €25 for Cloughjordan Ecovillage members) Other side events are priced separately, or by donation. This is a much-needed Community Farm fundraiser. We have kept the fee for the event as low as we can but if that is still a barrier for you, come along and pay what you can.

For booking and further information contact davie@thevillage.ie

With the side events and opportunities for seeing the ecovillage and the community farm, do consider making a weekend of it. Limited accommodation is available at Djangos EcoHostel
Book through Pa Funucane at 087 2569348 or at <pafinucane@gmail.com> www.djangoshostel.com

Saturday 11th April

Feeding Ourselves Conference
2015  - 10.00 – 17.00
Details Below

Other Saturday Sessions and Side Events
12.30 – 13.30  - Farm Lunch €6 (Places are limited)
Soup and salad from the Cloughjordan Community Farm and bread from the award winning Riot Rye Bake House and Bread School, both based in the Ecovillage.

17.45 – 18.45  - Community Farm Tour €Part of the conference ticket
An opportunity to see what is growing down on the farm and how we do it, led by Kevin the producer.

19.00 – 20.30  - Eating Together (price to be announced, limited places booking essential)
A pop-up evening meal with delicious local food in a convivial setting, a perfect way to end the day.

Sunday 12th April

Sessions From Midday 
12.00 – 16.30 - Working with horses, beyond the tractor. A demonstration from the Irish Workhorse Association on the Community Farm.  €5.00 
With fab food from Eliza Ward's Country Choice on Tour!

15.00 – 16.00 – Tour of the Ecovillage € donation
A tour of the features of the Ecovillage and the story of its journey so far. Leaves from Sheelagh na Gig Bookshop on the Main Street of Cloughjordan. 

The Cloughjordan Community Farm is an example of community supported agriculture (CSA) that provides fresh vegetables to over sixty member households in Cloughjordan. WeCreate is a co-working with a Fablab, a digital fabrication workshop, which is an innovative way to bring prototyping capabilities to communities. WeCreate and the community farm are located in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, which features 55 high-performance green homes, over 20,000 newly planted trees and the country’s largest renewable energy district heating system.


Detailed programme for day 1

Feeding Ourselves
A Conference on Cooperative and Community Food Systems
Saturday 11th April 2015  - 10.00 – 17.00

At the WeCreate Centre, Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary, Ireland
Organised by Cloughjordan Community Farm

Schedule

10.00 – Opening - Welcome - General orientation - WeCreate, Ecovillage, Farm
History of Feeding Ourselves - lots of new community and cooperative food initiatives

10.20 – Voices from the Field. Short presentations/ case studies on different cooperative approaches to growing and distributing food. The aim of this session is to introduce ourselves and hear stories from local, national and international community and cooperative food initiatives.

Kevin Dudley – Cloughjordan Community Farm
Eliza Ward – Outsiders, curator of the Global Green Food Project
Fergal Anderson - A member of La Via Campesina.
John Brennan - Leitrim Organic farmer's Co-op
            
Be ready to tell your community food story.

11.15 - Break

11.30 - Discussion - This session will feature short observations from the panel and an open discussion with everyone in the room around the following two questions.

“What are the opportunities of a cooperative and community led approach to food production and distribution?”

“How do we best network and collaborate to progress cooperative and community led approaches?”

Judith Hitchman – Urgenci – The International CSA Network
Oliver Moore – Cloughjordan Community Farm, Arc2020
Noreen Byrne  - Centre for Co-operative Studies UCC
Plus others to be announced

12-30  -  Exploring the topics for the conversations after lunch.
An opportunity to propose topics of conversation for the session after lunch. There are three proposed strands and space for other conversations to emerge.

13.00 - Lunch

13.30 - Feeding Ourselves Conversations - Breakout Discussions

Strand 1 - Setting up and maintaining a CSA – The nuts and bolts - Held by Oliver Moore
Strand 2 - Solidarity and Sovereignty – A cooperative approach to food - Held by Fergal Anderson
Strand 3 - Community growing, seed saving and soil – A Producer Focus - Held by Kevin Dudley

It is expected that other emergent conversations will also take place.

15.30 - Networking Break

16.15 - Making Community Food Systems Work – Sharing the harvest from the breakout conversations and looking forward to more cooperative and community food initiatives.

17.00 - Close

Detailed info for day 2's work horse event


Upwards of 14 working draft horses will converge in Cloughjordan for a day of ploughing and practical demonstrations. The event will take place on Cloughjordan's Community owned farm, which takes up 10 acres of the 67 acre ecovillage site on the Step road, Cloughjordan. This event, run in conjunction with the Irish Work Horse Association (IWHA), runs for noon until 6PM, and costs just E5 to enter, with tickets available on the day. Fab hot food will be available on the day, thanks to Eliza and Evie Ward of Country Choice on Tour.

Cloughjordan has been chosen by the IWHA for this event because the Cloughjordan Community farm now works with its own draft horses, and is investigating the option of moving fully over to working with horses and away from tractors.

Participants have already committed to coming from Clare, Cork and Mayo, These include Harry and Mona Bartlink, Jim and Rebecca Cronin, and Eamon and Gereldine McDonagh. Local or regional participants are also welcome to get involved.

Pat Malone is one of the two farmer's contracted to produce food for the Community farm members. He has also begun to work with horses on the land in Cloughjordan.

William O Sullivan and his partner Emma, who will also be in attendance, have mentored Pat Malone over the winter, to guide him in the handling of the 15 hand cobs on the Community owned farm in Cloughjordan.

William and his family have up to 200 horses, a mix of heavy draft and sports horses. William will be bringing a pair of Percheron horses, Daisy and Paul. These are 12 year old trained to a very high level.

Currently, Cloughjordan Community farm has a pair of heavy cobs, 8 and 9 years old, which have progressed to harrowing and working as a pair over the winter period. They will be paired up with experienced horses on the day.

According to Pat Malone, on April 12th “ploughing will be done in unison on the 10 acres. A hitchcart with three point linkage capable of pulling and ploughing with a one or two sod plough, for example a Ferguson tractor plough, will feature” the Laois native adds. “This is a very innovative piece of equipment, which allows you to use existing tractor implements, but pulled by horses. As well as the 3 point linkage, it has 500 and 1000 RPM PTO - power take off – allowing for the use of a sprayer or spreader.”

A two sod Sulky reversible American plough will also be operational on the day.

The IWHA focuses on farms working with horses and what they call hybrid farms, which work with farms with tractor back up. “IWHA want to display what the work horse can do, and that's why they are coming” Malone concludes.

“We are investigating the viability of workhorses on an intensive market garden scale up to 10 or 20 acres” Pat Malone says. Horses are able to get out on the ground in bad weather, plus there is also a compaction issue with tractors. A tractor wheel leaves a line of compaction, whereas horses hooves break up the soil A challenge is finding work for them every day though.”

Evie Ward
In this revived area of farming interest, he points out that “a lot of innovation is coming from north America, with harnesses and equipment. Modern innovations with crumbling bars, potato hullers - as opposed to ridge ploughs – are performing in a more effective manner than the older equipment. This may be a way back in for the horse as a working animal on market gardens and possibly also on bigger acreage. Three pairs of work horses can do 3 jobs at once, a 140 hp tractor can only do one job at a time. This is especially an issue at hay making time. With horses, you can turn, bale and bring in hay all in one day.”

Cloughjordan Community farm feeds upwards of 40 families in Cloughjordan and environs. This event is part of a weekend of activities in the town, including a community food conference on the 11th April Feeding Ourselves (above).

Food on the day will be provided by Eliza and Evie Ward (pictured, left) of Country Choice on Tour. in tandem with Killian Boyle of Larkin's GarryKennedy. This team has worked with the Cloughjordan Community Farm at the Global Green area of the Electric Picnic, using farm produce to create a north Tipperary Terroir offering. This in turn was the judge's choice for best food at Electric Picnic 2014 - quite an accolade!

To participate in the IWHA event in Cloughjordan with a horse, contact Pat Malone on 087 1338139. Otherwise, just turn up on the day. Entry, E5.


Saturday, 16 August 2014

Cloughjordan Weekender 23rd and 24th August: do visit!

The farm which provides me and my family with most of our food is doing lots of really interesting, fun things in August and September. Have a look below and maybe see you at one of these events! 
Cloughjordan Community farm is gearing up for its  appearance in the Global Green area of the Electric Picnic with Resilience Skills Share weekender 23rd and 24th August. 
As part of this, the farm will host a community farm brunch and talk on Sunday 24th August.
This will be a fundraiser for the Cloughjordan Community Farm, one of Ireland’s only community owned and operated farms. Currently over 50 local families are supplied with fresh veg and milk weekly from a farm they themselves own. The bright big marque will be up, lots of little stalls will festoon the farm's land, while, as you'll see at the end of this post, a great range of fun things will be doable, from DIY pallet furniture making to pop up meals.

Beginning at 11.30AM, this event, part of 2 days of events in Cloughjordan called the Resilience Skills Share Weekender, will feature Eliza Ward's multi award winning Country Choice on Tour.

Eliza's brunch, to be held on the farm's land at the Knocknacree side of the ecovillage, will showcase the very best of what's available in Cloughjordan and the region. Modelled on her Electric Picnic offering “The Cure” this brunch experience will feature produce from the Cloughjordan Community farm, Cloughjordan Woodfired Bakery, and a range of regional producers. These will include Crowe's Farm pork (Dundrum), The Apple Farm juice (Cahir) and Sunny Meadow Farm salad (Portumna). Eliza and her team will make up all the chutneys and jams to accompany the mains, with ingredients sourced from these farms.

A lighter breakfast option, comprising Ballybrado organic oats, Tipperary yoghurt and a beetroot blush made from Cloughjordan Community farm produce will also be available.

Killian Boyle will do tea coffee, bakes and his own ice cream brand - Boyle & co – at the Community Farm Brunch on the 24th.

Following the Brunch, Eliza's father, the inimitable and incontrovertible Peter Ward of Country Choice itself, will take to the stage in the brightly coloured marque on the farm's land, and give us his vision for how food could be.

The Resilience Skills Share weekend in Cloughjordan will feature a host of events, with talks, pop-up meals, the launch of a new teaching bakery school and more.

The farm is also hosting events on 20th and 21st September. This will include a talk and with another superb orator John Feehan (20th September) accompanied by a glorious banquet, as well as forager Sharon Green (of Wild Irish Foragers) and BBQ with Barry Bryan of Low Carbon Catering. These events will also be on the farm's own land, and in and around the fab cultivate Marque! More on these events soon!

Great, affordable accommodation available at Djangos' Hostel! 

See below for all upcoming events on 23rd and 24th.

RESILIENCE SKILLSHARE WEEKEND
This is an innovative three-day event on the Farm and around WeCreate that is hosted by members of the community in preparation for the Cloughjordan tent at the Electric Picnic. Immerse yourself in activities such as, growing food in a crisis, pallet furniture making, DIY Fab Labs and exploring collaborative approaches to housing and food production. 
WeCreate, Cloughjordan Community Farm

23 August 11.00 - 13:00 €donation
TOUR OF THE RED GARDENS
Tour of the 5 small scale Research, Education and Demonstration Gardens in the EcoVillage, which are being used to explore diverse methods of growing vegetables, followed by discussion about growing food for yourself. 
Hosted by Bruce Darrell on the RED Gardens.


23 August 12.00 - 14:00 €donation
INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSTING
Stop Food Waste Regional Coordinator  Mike Holden hosts this open session on composting at the new Community Farm Composting Station. Cloughjordan Community Farm. For info contact Mike on <recyclemichael@gmail.co>

23 August 13.00-14.00 €free
KICKING THE CRAP OUT OF BREAD
The launch of Riot Rye Bakehouse & Bread School
Real bread baker and campaigner Joe Fitzmaurice will tell you the truth about industrial and chemical based breads in Ireland, including soda bread. He will also introduce his concept and recipe for ‘The Common Loaf’ - a simple sourdough for all.   
Riot Rye Bakehouse & Bread School.  Contact: Joe  085-182 2777 or <cloughwoodfiredbakery@gmail.com>


23 August 15.00 - 17:00 €Donation 
WE’RE FECKED, WHAT NOW?
FEASTA- The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability
What can a community do? A scenario planning discussion hosted by members of Feasta living in the EcoVillage, looking at the theme of collapse and possible community responses. Contact info@feasta.org
Hosted by FEASTA at the Resilience Centre


23 August 18.00 - 20.00 €TBA
WOODFIRED SOURDOUGH PIZZA NIGHT
Riot Rye Bakehouse & Bread School
Delicious pizza to take away, pre-book: <cloughwoodfiredbakery@gmail.com>
At the Riot Rye Bakehouse & Bread School.


24 August 11.30-15.30  €15 (€10 brunch €5 talk) CCF fundraiser
COMMUNITY FARM BRUNCH & TALK 
This CCF event, as part of the Resilience Camp Out and Skills Share weekend, will feature the father and daughter team Eliza and Peter Ward. Eliza of Country Choice. This will showcase in a, hands on and edible way, what she’ll be bringing from the region up to the Electric Picnic, from Riot Rye breads to chutneys made from Cloughjordan Community Farm ingredients. Indomitable orator and ‘good food’ practitioner Peter Ward who will discuss some of his and Country Choice’s food ethos. 
In the Marquee on Cloughjordan Community Farm (part of the Resilience Weekend)


24 August 19.00 - 22:00 €pay-what-you-want
POP UP SEASONAL FEAST - FROM SOIL TO PLATE
RED Gardens, Bruce Darrell
"Food grown by me in the RED Gardens, prepared and cooked by me, and eaten by you in my house in the Ecovillage". A casual, pay-what-you-want event, but space is limited so contact Bruce at 087 2270359 or @cjredgardens to reserve.

Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Full Programme & Info Feeding Ourselves

Full programme, useful info and biogs for Feeding Ourselves 2014 below; for more info on our participatory methods see previous blog post. Price: €30 (Unwaged, students and CCF members €25). Our Community Farm is recovering from the recent big storms which destroyed all of our polytunnels. We are resilient though and are in the process of replacing the polytunnels for this season. By attending this conference you will be helping us do this.



Saturday

10.00 - Opening - Oliver Moore and Majella O’Connor from Cloughjordan Community Farm welcome guests.
10.10 – Voices from the Field. Short presentations on different cooperative approaches to growing and distributing food. The aim of this session is to provoke conversation in the café discussion.
11.00 - Collective Wisdom - Small Group Conversations for Producers, Communities & Consumers
Producers: For farmers and growers interested in finding new markets, networking with other producers and finding out about best practice in agronomy.
Communities: How can cooperative food projects strengthen the resilience of our communities? How do we get started and maintain them?
Consumers: Or pro-sumers, civic food actors, bloggers, food writers, food solidarity activists
12.00 - Conversation Harvest - Sharing the ideas from the conversations and discussing in the whole group
13.00 - Lunch – A Taste of Cloughjordan.
14.30 - Networking Session
15.00 - Presentations from Duncan Stewart
15.45 - Break
16.00 - Feeding Ourselves Discussion
Featuring Noreen Byrne UCC, Duncan Stewart EcoEye, Claire O Connor , Manna, John Feehan and Aine ni Cheartigh Limerick Community Grocery and of course you. Hosted by Davie Philip from Cultivate
17.00 - Close
17.15 - Farm Walk

22.00 - Cloughjordan At Night - DJ Party in The Railway Bar (with me - see poster over there!)



Sunday

10.00 - Farm Meitheal
13.00 - Community Meal on The Farm
15.00 - Ecovillage Tour - Leaving from the bookshop
16.00 - Close

Accommodation

To Support the “Feeding Ourselves” conference, during the event, rooms in Django’s hostel will be on discount prices.
The hostel is right at the heart of the eco-village, and like all the other homes there it has been built to the very highest ecological standard. The design, building materials and energy systems used here are all state-of-the-art for green living.
For more information visit:



Lunch - Saturday 5th of April (Optional)

During the event a local catering company "Low Carbon Catering" will organize a lunch for the participants of the conference. All the produces that are used are organic and most of them are coming from our farm. The meal will cost 10 Euro including starter, main course and drinks (tea/coffee and biscuits)

Please book your meal at least two days before the conference on: lumakovska.ivana@gmail.com

To Book your place for the conference please fulfill this online form:

For any further information and questions please contact Ivana on: lumakovska.ivana@gmail.com

Biogs


Duncan Stewart is an architect & environmentalist  specialising in ecological design and energy. He has worked extensively in Europe and the USA before establishing his architectural practice in Dublin. Duncan is also well known for his work as a TV broadcaster & his environmental series on RTÉ, including “Eco Eye”, “The State We’re In”, “Wood From the Trees”, “Engine Earth” &“The Changing Face of Dublin”.


 Noreen Byrne is a Lecturer at the Department of Food Business & Development and a researcher at the  Centre for Co-operative Studies (www.ucc.ie/ccs). The Centre was founded in the early 1980s and is the only University research centre on the Island of Ireland which focuses on research and training on co-operatives. The centre is  involved in postgraduate programmes on co-operatives such as the MBS in Co-operative & Social Enterprise (E-Learning) and the Postgraduate Diploma/MSc in Co-operative Organisation, Food Marketing and Rural Development.


Claire O'Connor owns and runs Manna Organic Store in Tralee with her husband Thomas O’Connor. They live on their 25-acre organic mixed farm on the Dingle Peninsula where they grow vegetables, fruit and salads and raise chickens, ducks, geese and pigs. They are both actively involved in the greater community through Transition Kerry, The Organic Growers of Ireland, the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association and other local community groups.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Limerick Community Grocery: Connecting up Producers & Consumers


Its taken a long time for new routes to market for farmers and growers to develop in Ireland, but the Limerick Community Grocery hopes to be the start of something new. Member owned and operated, it is the first of what may be the next generation of outlets that put the civic back into the shopping experience.


Bill Kelly and a few others set up their unassuming spot on the Ballysimon road, in the old Esso garage, last Autumn.(See its fab new facelift in the pic above!)

Bill's Box at LCG 
“We invited the Mondragon coops from Spain to Limerick in 2011” Bill tells me. “We also spent a week out there in the Basque region with them. They put us in touch with coops in the US and UK. A lot of them started out simply as buying clubs, where 5-6 started buying produce together” 

He continues “we deal primarily in local produce, organic and non-organic. Its ordered on line up to 10 pm on a Wednesday night, picked on a Thursday, delivered Thursday evening or Friday morning, and then available for pick up and also for sale on Friday.”

Lisa's Box at LCG
In the Limerick Community Grocery, neat pre-made boxes await the customers each Friday. Others come in just to shop, while some both shop and pick up their pre orders.

“Our co-op colleagues in the US, UK and Europe have been extremely helpful, they have built up sustainable businesses over 20 and 30 years” he adds.

The membership growth rate is fast for the Limerick Community Grocery. “four or five join each week” Bill points out.

Recently, Saturday has been added too, as has a wider range of products again.
Organic Grower & LCG supplier Jim Cronin

As often is the case with these sorts of initiatives, organic producers are strongly represented. Both Jim Cronin and John Millane, organic growers from Clare, supply the Limerick Community Grocery. Cloughjordan wood fired bakery brings in their award winning breads, while local conventional veg is available from two suppliers also.

When I visited, Lisa Kennedy, an intern who works on Jim Cronin's farm, was there to met the customers. “orders are growing week on week” she enthused “its a very good sign for the co-op and for us”

Áine Nic Cháirthaigh is one of the regulars. “I joined a few months ago, I love the fact that its around. We have organic and more price sensitive produce, but I love having the organic produce available. I'm really interested in the fact that its a new way of shopping, that the members own it, and can make decisions about where their food is coming from. They know that they are getting good quality food,  its keeping employment in the local area, and building up the local economy. It's a great bunch of people really”

As well as being an organic grower, Jim Cronin teaches horticulture courses at his farm near Bridgetown in Kilaloe. “Every year there is something of a general theme, a motif, something that the growers attending the course have really honed in on. This year, a lot of them are very concerned about the multiples.”
One of Jim Cronin's Workhouses

Certainly the power expressed by the multiples over the horticulture sector last Christmas was noted. Maybe the Limerick Community Grocery is the start of another way for cities to engage positively with the growers around them.

“We should be talking to the IFA” Bill says pointedly, in a way that sounds like he intends to do so soon. “Having a grocery store that is owned by the community, retaining wealth in the community, and providing wholesome food at affordable prices. That's what we're about”

Moreover, they are ambitious with their plans and vision. “We're about providing ownership and participation to everyone. This is a practical expression on the high street of what we want to do. Ordinary individuals can become involved and have ownership. Ideally we'd like to see Limerick branded as a cooperative city. Today retail, tomorrow engineering, thereafter banking.”

Thursday, 22 August 2013

FARM CAMP CLOUGHJORDAN 6-8 SEPT!


EcoLearn - FARM CAMP A Taste of Building Community.

6th, 7th and 8th of September Cloughjordan Community Farm & Ecovillage, Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary 

This weekend event will give participants an opportunity to find out more about community supported agriculture, explore how we as communities can provide our food and build resilience.  The event will highlight the ecovillage, offer workshops, talks and opportunities to share our skills and stories, as well as celebrating the harvest and eating together.  

Full weekend pass €50 (excludes barbecue and accommodation) 

Friday 6th 
No Cost  
14.00 - 16.00 Farm Meitheal - Join our producers Pat Malone and Kevin Dudley on the field. 
19.00 - 22.00 Community Meal and Night Market - An opportunity to share, barter and gift. 

Saturday 7th 
Day pass €30 (Includes all events except barbeque) or each session is priced separately. 

€5 morning programme  
11.00 - 12.00 EcoLearn - Launch of new Ecovillage Trails Guide and Welcome Centre. Presentation on the ecovillage project from Sustainable Projects Ireland. 
12.00 - 13.30 Tours - See the Ecovillage, the Community Farm, the Cloughjordan Woodfired Bakery or take the biodiversity trail. 

‘Community Supported Everything’
€15 Saturday afternoon programme (Farm members €10) 

14.30 - 16.00 - Hear what is happening in the field of community resilience and sustainable agriculture with the ‘Voices from our Field’ session. There will be an introduction to the Community Farms plans for a GIY Community Food Hub; a facilitated discussion on new cooperative approaches to building community; and an exploration into how we creating livelihoods and strengthening the local economy.  
16.00 - 17.30 - Optional Sessions and Conversations 
· Farm Meitheal - Learning on the field with the farm producers
· Foraging 
· Nutritional Resilience - Bruce Darrell 
· FabLabs and Agriculture - WeCreate introduction digital fabrication
· Mixed farm systems-Learn how to evaluate your plot and get the best out of it in terms of fertility, productivity and cost effectiveness by integrating crops and livestock. Tour & walk with Lilly (Smallholding Ireland)
· Harmonica Recycling Workshop 

18.00 - 20.00 - The Farm Barbeque - A taste of the community farm out on the field. €7.50/8.50 (Separate cost, not included in day price)

Saturday Evening Programme
€10 for both sessions or (€7.00 for the talk only and €5 for the celebration. 
20.00 - 22.00 - The Gift of Community 
A conversation with Mark Boyle author of the Moneyless Manifesto. 

22.00 - late - The Harvest Celebration
Sharing tunes, songs and stories. 

Sunday 8th
Day Pass €20 (Includes all events)

10:00 - 12:00 A Makery Morning - Coffee  and cheese making workshop - €5 (suggested donation) morning programme

Farm Meitheal - Back out on the field harvesting 
€15  afternoon & evening programme 

15.00-17.00 Community & Agriculture - An ‘Outstanding in Our Field’ presentation and walk with John Feehan (€8.50 Standalone)

18.00-21.00 A Community Harvest Meal - Preparing and sharing the food we harvest from the community farm. (€8.50 Standalone)

Django’s Hostel in the ecovillage is fully booked already. Basic camping on the field is available for a maximum of 20 tents (€10 per night per tent). Informal B&B is available from some Ecovillage members (prices from €20 for single and €40 for double room per night.

Places are limited! Contact: Ivana for accommodation options and general enquires on:  lumakovska.ivana@gmail.com or tel. 085 249 6675

Cloughjordan Community Farm is one of Ireland’s leading CSA Community Supported Agriculture projects, which is based in Cloughjordan Ecovillage. Using biodynamic farming methods, Cloughjordan Community Farm supply fresh produce weekly for over 50 member households in the Cloughjordan area.

The Cloughjordan Ecovillage is being developed by Sustainable Projects Ireland, a registered educational charity and national NGO. Its purpose is to develop a sustainable community that can serve as an education, enterprise and research resource for all.

Mark Boyle also known as the moneyless man will share his experience and talk about his way of living. Mark is a writer and activist best known for the founding the online Freeconomy community, and for living without money for two years.

John Feehan is an Irish geologist, botanist, author and broadcaster. He is a renowned, award-winning environmental communicator whose work is driven by a deep commitment to the maintenance of rural biodiversity and cultural heritage, and the sustaining of rural community.




Friday, 25 January 2013

FEEDING OURSELVES : COMMUNITY FOOD

CHECK OUT THIS UPCOMING EVENT IN CLOUGHJORDAN

Bookings here

Feeding Ourselves - How communities can benefit from cooperative food systems. 

EXTRA: suprise gig Saturday night too....more details to follow, but twill be fab!

Discover how a cooperative approach can strengthen and build more resilient and sustainable food systems, while at the same time supporting our communities and local economies.

If you want to create and support jobs in your area, help secure your food supply, are part of a community that wants to strengthen its local economy, or are a grower looking for a rewarding and potentially profitable way of supplementing your income, this event is for you.

Weekend Ticket only € 50 - part booking also available.