Host Farm Profiles

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Host Farms 2024

 

The following are the host farms involved in the OGI Work Placement Programme 2024:

You can find out more detailed information on our host farms below and by downloading the Host Farm Detailed Profiles document.

 

Download Host Farms Detailed Profiles

Beechlawn Organic Farm – Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Established in 2002 we started with one acre and in 2021 grew 50 acres of organic vegetables including over 40 different varieties. We employ 25 full time people including a field work team, packhouse team, office and sales team and delivery driver team. We have 20,000 square foot of polytunnels for protected cropping and propagation of seeds. We started selling through a box scheme in 2002, moved into farmers markets and then gradually into wholesaling which makes up most of our sales now. We supply farmers market traders, restaurants and other food businesses as well as our own veg box scheme. We use tractors and machinery for precision  seed sowing, and some of the weeding. Doing an internship here will show you the logistical work as well as the physical work involved in large scale commercial organic horticultural production. beechlawnorganicfarm.ie

Carrowgarry Farm – Beltra, Co. Sligo

Carrowgarry farm is located in Beltra, about 20 minutes drive from Sligo town and just beside the Atlantic Ocean. We have two polytunnels and a walled garden where we grow vegetable in an organic way (organic pest control, soil preparation, compost making etc.). We sell our vegetables to a local and award winning cafes and through a small box scheme. We are looking for an extra motivated and enthusiastic vegetable grower who enjoys working outdoor and in the polytunnels, in a fast-paced environment and who’s interested in potentially having a full time position at the farm if it all works well. carrowgarryfarm.ie

CaSTLERUDDERY ORGANIC FARM – DONARD, CO. WICKLOW

We are located in West Wicklow, approximately 1 hour’s drive from Dublin city. The 10Ha farm is divided into habitat areas, forestry, old pasture, a small orchard and the vegetable plots. The cropping area consists of 1500 m² of polytunnels, 50 x 20m permanent no dig beds and the rest of the vegetable area is currently in overwintering green manure crops. The land first entered conversion 1989. We are in the process of converting more of our growing areas to the no dig system which we started trialling in 2020 and are now ‘hooked’. We are very impressed with how well the crops grow and have seen huge improvement in quality and yields over the past 3 years. We plan to increase the area devoted to no dig this year.

We sell our produce through our farm shop and to restaurants both locally and in Dublin. We also wholesale vegetables to other organic growers. We love to grow many types of vegetables and are not afraid to try unusual varieties and try new crops each year.

There is an excellent selection of hand and tractor tools on the farm and plenty of shed storage facilities. There is a fine pack house with cold room and vegetable washing area. The farm is currently worked by owners Peter and Hilda and Olly who has worked part time with us for a few years.

CLONMORE FARM – CO. TIPPERARY

At Clonmore Farm we sow, grow and handpick organic leaves and vegetables and deliver them to the retailers. Quality and hygiene are of utmost importance on our farm, and we strive for perfection within every bag. This has been reflected in our triple award-winning mixed salad leaves. Our leaves are picked early, chilled quickly, rinsed, bagged and ready for dispatch all in one day.

We farm using traditional methods – no pesticides or artificial fertilisers. Soil regeneration is also very important to us, and it enhances the natural flavours of our products. From an agri-food background we understand the role food plays in your health, so we want to create nutrient-rich, traditional products for our customers. We are looking for an enthusiastic, efficient and hardworking candidate who is a good communicator, as well as quality and customer focused. clonmorefarm.ie

GIY IRELAND – waterford city

Grow It Yourself is a not-for-profit social enterprise that encourages people, in Ireland and abroad, to grow some of their own food. One aspect of this is the growing of our own organic vegetables and fruit to supply our on-site restaurant. The garden has had organic status for a number of years and is becoming established as a visitor garden and is used for training and group tours.

We are now expanding our production area with a walled garden of c.10 acres that will be used to supply organic produce to our shop and a proposed box scheme. giy.ie

Green Earth Organics – CO. Galway

The Join our team and learn to grow. You will be exposed to a diverse range of production, from polytunnel growing to cutting edge machinery use. Help us grow over 20 different crops in a sustainable and ethical way, from leeks to tomatoes and everything in between. 10 acres, 7 polytunnels, 2 tractors an array of fantastic machines and great people, that’s our set up. 

We need people who are willing to work hard, love the West of Ireland climate for all its diversity. You will also need grit, determination, physical well-being, and we can promise you will be lean and fit at the end of the summer and will have accrued a healthy respect for what it takes to grow food.  These are full-time well-paid internships, and you can work up to 48 hours, but a minimum of 40 hours per week. 

We are the biggest online retailer of organic produce and products in the country, and we deliver to every corner. We employ over 35 people, from farmers, to drivers, to marketeers, to packers, to administrators and so many more. You will meet these people; you will get a flavour of how challenging and rewarding this work is.

You can expect depending on your level of experience to earn from €13 upwards depending on experience. We want the right best people. To know more about us follow us on Instagram, and check out our website. Looking forward to meeting you. greenearthorganics.ie

Irish Seed Savers Association – Scariff, Co. Clare

The Irish Seed Savers Association is situated in east Clare on a hilly 20-acre site. This site includes the gardens, the orchards, and the buildings used for workshops and seed processing/storage. The gardens are where the apprentice will mainly be working, and these consist of approximately one acre of outdoor and protected cropping, with a small glasshouse and six polytunnels of various sizes located across the site. We grow organic crops for their seeds, which are harvested, processed and packaged on site. The work of the garden team is to sow, plant and maintain these crops (mainly vegetables with some flower and dye plants) until the seed is ready to be harvested. We are looking for an apprentice who would assist in the hands-on side of this work, including ground prep, sowing, weeding, and other practical gardening tasks, as well as engage with our values of food sovereignty, conservation and sustainability. irishseedsavers.ie

Larkins Hill Farm – outside nenagh, co. tipperary

Larkin’s Hill Farm is a 100-acre mixed farm enterprise of beef, tillage, and vegetable production. Our full farm is in conversion with IOA. Our aim is to have a closed system if possible with each of the enterprises feeding into each other.

The farm itself is situated on the shores of Lough Derg in North Tipperary. The nearest village is Puckane and the nearest town is Nenagh.

The horticulture unit is being run by Dan and Una and Dan’s brother Charlie does a lot of work with the livestock. We are all trained and very experienced farmers and growers.
The veg unit comprises of three commercial tunnels and six acres of field scale crops ranging from potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, and the tunnels are mainly focused on tomatoes and tender crops like salad leaves. We use a variety of tools, equipment, and machinery to tend to the crops and cultivate the soil. Everything is done on the farm – seeding and propagating to harvesting, packing and delivery. Our current outlets are shops, SuperValu, we supply a veg box scheme, restaurants and we are building a wholesale market. We have a beautiful farm and our experience, and the range of activities makes it a dynamic and ever-changing enterprise. larkinshillfarm.ie

McNally Family Farm – North county dublin

We are a family farm based in North Co.Dublin with 14 employees working on the farm. We’ve been growing organically for over 25 years, we grow all our produce and sell directly at farmers markets and at our farm shop. Throughout the year we grow over 50 lines of salads and vegetables over cirica 100,000 sq ft of protected cropping and 30 acres of field veg. Our protected crops throughout the year include a range of salads, tomatoes, a range of chillies, shishito peppers, padron peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, gherkins and this year we’ve tried a new crop, Oca/Oka. Our outdoor crops include a range of brassicas(cabbages, kale, flower sprouts), root veg, culinary pumpkins and potatoes.

We started selling directly to customers with one market day in Temple Bar Food Market. Over the years we’ve built up a wide customer base and now attend 3 farmers markets weekly along with our farm shop opening 4 days a week and a restaurant wholesale business. Day to day activities include sowing, planting out, weeding, preparing & clearing tunnels, harvesting & packing. Most of the work in the tunnels is hand labour and while we have a lot of specialised machinery for outdoor use, hand labour is still needed for some tasks. On the farm you’ll get experience in growing a wide variety of outdoor and indoor crops in the Irish climate using a range of growing methods. mcnallyfamilyfarm.ie

MILLHOUSE FARM – williamstown, co. galway

Mill House Farm is a 2.75 HA Farm specializing in salad crop production. We will soon be extending our tunnel cover to 5,000sq m. Our mixed leaves sell to the finest food service outlets and into several Super Valu and independent retailers throughout the West and beyond.

We produce salad crops right through the year raising all our crops from seed. The farm is a hive of activity with a constant cycle of sowing, harvesting, packing and delivering. We have invested in machinery best suited to our needs enabling us to produce crops efficiently on a relatively large scale.

We are keen to find an apprentice (or maybe 2) interested in working with us to take our business to the next level and realize the full potential of organic salad growing in the Mid West of Ireland. There is definitely a full time career opportunity here for the right candidate following the internship. millhousefarm.ie

Moyleabbey Organic Farm – Athy, co. kildare

The farm is approx. 13.5 acres.  We actively farm about 5 acres at a time with the rest in green manure ley.  We grow approximately 18 different crops outside and in tunnels.  The farm is owned and run by Liam with the support of two other employees (both former interns), and we host volunteers through wwoof.ie all year round.  We sell direct at our home farm shop on Fridays and at Carlow Farmers Market every Saturday and do a small amount of wholesaling.  There are no farmed animals on the holding. We are certified by the IOA and have had full organic status since 2006.

PLANT PREPARATIONS – gorey, co. wexford

We produce and process herbs for medicinal purposes. Up to 30 different species are grown, mainly perennials. These crops are propagated on site and grown to harvest on the holding.

We grow organically in a diverse a manner as possible, with an understory of cover-crops and beetle-banks interspersed. We treat the land with respect and leave it in better condition at the end of each and every growing season.

Tinctures, drying, hot water extraction and freeze drying of the harvested herbal material is carried out on the farm.

RIVERSFIELD ORGANIC FARM – Callan, Co. kilkenny

Our farm is based outside Callan in Co.Kilkenny. We grow approximately 5 acres of field vegetables. We also have three tunnels which are used for propagation while in the summer we grow tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, french beans and basil indoors and spinach and salad leaves during the winter months. We grow a wide variety of vegetables outdoors. Our main market is a weekly veg box delivery service and we also supply a number of restaurants . Work on the farm is varied and tasks change as the season progresses. We carry out most of our own propagation so work on the farm involves seed sowing, planting, weeding, harvesting and packing vegetables for sale. Work is carried out with a combination of hand tools and tractor driven machinery. riversfieldorganicfarm.com

SHANBALLY FARM – nenagh, co. tipperary

Shanbally farm is located near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary and it was acquired by the Duggan Family in 2013 with a view to restoring the Georgian House, courtyards, gardens & estate. In total the 200 acre farm is partly certified organic & partly in conversion.
Since 2015 we have been growing, harvesting & processing medicinal plants & herbs for the herbal medicinal market, mainly in Ireland. Our propagation incudes sowing, planting, weeding, harvesting & packing.

Shanbally Farm also grows a range of organic vegetables & supplies its own Café (Steeples, Nenagh) and other culinary outlets. We also grow 50 acres of organic oats. Under the Shanbally brand it is intended to develop education, tourism, café and accommodation for people attending events. shanbally.ie

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