The Apple Club Newsletter
Winter 2018
Welcome to our winter newsletter. What a summer we had (no need to
remind the farmers I am sure), after that icy spring. But it was a good
one for apples, and the trees, now that they are dormant, look very
pleased with themselves. So as usual, it is time to say Happy Christmas
to all our customers and friends, and many thanks for your support this
year and through the years. We look forward to seeing you in 2019.
David Attenborough and Climate Change
I have always had a great interest in nature. One of the key triggers
of that interest was my first teacher in junior infants at primary
school, Sr. Br d, who brought us on nature walks, which I always loved.
After that, the Life on Earth series by David Attenborough, which first
broadcast in 1979, increased my sense of wonder and made me want to
learn more. At that stage I was 11 years old, but I can still remember
parts of the series, especially the segment featuring the mountain
gorillas in Rwanda.
In the past few weeks, David Attenborough, who was always cautious
about making alarming statements, has issued a very stark warning that
we surely should not ignore. The essence of the warning is two-pronged:
Firstly, the climate models that scientists have thus far used have
under-estimated how quickly the World is warming.
Secondly, only immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can
avert outcomes which are likely to be as severe as the complete
breakdown of civilisation, with extinction of a huge proportion of the
species that we share the planet with.
As you would know from reading this newsletter for the best part of 20
years, I have regularly written about climate change, and events such
as droughts or storms that scientists believed were made more likely,
and more severe, by climate change.
While it would have been more effective if society had taken heed of
scientists thirty years ago when they were initially raising their
warnings, David Attenborough still believes that there is a chance to
avoid the worst excesses of climate change.
It is not easy though. Years of grappling with lowering my own climatic
footprint; the emissions associated with the way I live, have taught me
that for most people, making personal change, though helpful, is not
likely to be enough by itself. This is because there are many barriers
in place in society that prevent individual citizens from reducing
their ecological footprint.
For example, if an ordinary citizen decides to put solar electrical
panels (PV) on their roof, they are constrained by planning law to an
area too small to make a significant change to their emissions.
Similarly, parents in towns may be inclined to let their children cycle
to school rather than be driven, but are fearful because the traffic is
dangerous. Provision of properly segregated and well-maintained cycle
paths is a responsibility the government has failed in, despite the
clear advantages from a climatic, human health, and economic standpoint.
The list goes on and on, and in my opinion, the way Ireland has been
planned and developed in the past 30 years is structurally quite
unsuited to citizens who wish to live with a small environmental
impact. This is an indictment of the people in power in Ireland,
including the political class. It also needs to change as a matter of
urgency, not just because of the climate, but because of the immense
fines, we the citizens, will be paying in the very near future, for the
country missing its emissions targets. I would urge you, the reader, to
engage with the politicians and people in power in Ireland, to let them
know this is an issue that concerns you greatly. If we don’t, then we
should not be surprised when action is not forthcoming.
Grá apples
This year we had a really lovely crop of apples, and as we thought we
would have more than we need for our regular farm-shop customers, we
approached a company who supplies Dunnes Stores with a range of
exclusively Irish fruit and vegetables, sold under the name Grá, which
is the Irish word for love.
After some discussions, an agreement was made to give it a go, and we
made an extra effort to grow even more apples to the specification they
were looking for, including maximising the red colour, which always
helps sell apples in a context where people can’t taste before they
buy. The main variety used for the 1kg apple packs (paper sacks as Grá
call them) is Elstar, which is always one of our most popular.
So far the sales have been excellent, as has been the public response.
It leads me to believe that there is opportunity to plant more
orchards, and to reduce the huge annual importation of apples into
Ireland. If you are not able to call to our farm for your supply of
apples, perhaps pop into a Dunnes Stores near you, and pick up a pack
(or two) of our apples. Our name is on the pack, so you can’t mistake
them for anyone else’s.
A trip to New Zealand
Farmers in Ireland often look to New Zealand for innovative ideas that
can be applied here too. The big dairy industry there, as well as
plenty of sheep, and a climate which is not unlike ours (at least in
their Southern Island) mean that sometimes ideas from there translate
well here, and the other way around also.
New Zealand, as well as growing agricultural produce, also has a big
horticultural industry, famous for wines like Sauvignon Blanc, as well
as kiwifruit, and apples too. When I heard that the International Fruit
Tree Association were planning a 10-day educational tour there for
February 2018, I knew I had to take the opportunity.
When you get 100 apple growers together on two buses, a lot of
conversations begin, and when you make four or five orchard stops per
day, beginning as early as 7.30am, a lot is learned. (It would need to
be, to justify a trip half-way around the planet).
Among the immediate innovations I brought back and began using were
deployment of reflective ground cover mulches, which increase the
amount of light that gets to fruit on the lower part of the tree,
increasing productivity, and improving quality. The new planting
systems were also a step-forward in productivity, with anticipated
yields double what were being achieved 30 years ago, and all in a much
more environmentally conscious way. As well as leaving room for
wildlife in the orchards, yields of over 100 tonnes per hectare mean
less area is needed for orchards, allowing more space for wildlife and
nature.
As well as all the learning, I made many new friendships in New
Zealand, with people from there, and across many other countries also,
as they participated in the trip too. In particular I have to mention
Andy and Sandy McGrath, who have major interests in apple growing and
fruit tree nurseries in New Zealand, and trace their roots back to
Waterford. I hope they make it here someday on a return trip.
Conservation tillage and chairing a PhD viva.
Each year, as part of my work at University of Limerick, a field trip
to farmers doing innovative work is part of the agenda.
This year we visited the farm of Billy Coleman (former well-known rally
driver), which he runs with his family near Kanturk in Co. Cork.
Coleman’s farm is mostly tillage crops, with a little stock to assist
with the rotations and soil fertility. It differs from many other
tillage farms in that a number of years ago the plough was parked to
one side, and it is now rarely used.
Such systems were originally described as minimum tillage, because
instead of ploughing, the land was tilled (lightly harrowed instead of
ploughed) after one crop, to prepare the ground for the next. As time
and expertise have advanced, now it is also possible to drill crops
directly into the harvested field, without any tilling of the soil at
all, and this is the basis of conservation tillage
It is so-called because it conserves soil organic matter (which is
naturally broken down if the land is tilled), organic matter in turn
conserves soils structure which reduces compaction and improves
drainage. These in turn conserve the microscopic and macroscopic
organisms living in the soil, which then conserve nutrients (because
they are part of a living soil rather than just present in the soil as
fertilizer particles). Having spent a morning at the Coleman farm,
digging holes and admiring the beautiful soil, looking at the cover
crops that protect the ground in winter, counting worm-holes, and
looking at equipment for this type of farming, I must say this is one
of the most exciting innovations I have seen in farming in my lifetime.
I look forward to return visits there, and to other farms doing similar
work.
And so what does this have to do with a PhD viva (interview) I hear you
ask. Well, when somebody completes a PhD (the work that earns them the
title of Dr.), it needs to be examined by a subject matter expert, and
one of our recent PhD students (now Dr. Israel Ikoyi) in the Department
of Biological Sciences was completing his work on the availability of
sulphur and phosphorus in nutrient deficient soils, soils which by
happy coincidence he took from my farm for his three year study. So I
had the honour not just to read his thesis, but to Chair his interview,
where he was examined on his research by experts from the Netherlands
and Ireland.
To say I learned a lot in those three hours is an understatement. What
was most interesting was how the soil he took from me, though very low
in what would normally be termed “available nutrient”, had developed a
microbiology including viruses, fungi, bacteria, nematodes and larger
organisms, that allowed plants to thrive even though conventional
understandings would not make it seem likely. Israel was able to detect
many genes in the soil (by thorough genetic fingerprinting for example)
that are known to be involved in this work, and to link them to
specific organisms. He also measured numbers of these organisms using
various scientific techniques from counting under a microscope, to
culturing them in the lab, and so on. The movement of nutrients was
tracked by radioactive isotopes, and plant and root growth measured
during and at the end of the experiments. The sheer volume of work done
was staggering, and I had the benefit of seeing the results from soil
sourced on my farm. Israel’s PhD was accepted, and he will be
graduating soon. Though he is from Nigeria, he plans to stay in Ireland
for the present, to finish off some work related to his thesis, and to
publish in some international journals.
The link between what I was looking at when visiting Coleman’s farm
(admiring a thriving living soil, and wondering at how well it was
performing) and Israel’s work – the explanation as to how that works;
the complexity involved and the admission that there is still much to
do to understand it fully, is something I am grateful to have had
exposure to in the past few months.
I am very hopeful that Israel will stay in Ireland well into the
future. He is already a well-known international expert in this topic
of great importance to not just farms but also farmers, food and the
environment, and to lose somebody with his level of knowledge would be
a significant loss to Ireland.
Tipperary Food Producers Network
As a member of Tipperary Food Producers Network we get to participate
in programmes we devise each year. One interesting project we have been
working on is entitled the “Tipperary Breakfast Champions”.
According to F ilte Ireland, the majority of tourists coming to Ireland
expect to encounter genuine high-quality locally produced foods in the
meals they consume, and encountering these foods leads to holidays that
exceed expectations, in turn generating personal referrals and repeat
business.
In order to assist breakfast providers in Tipperary the Network will be
engaging in promoting locations that incorporate the produce of five
network members in their breakfast offerings.
There will be online and traditional promotions, and we envisage a
situation where the food producer and breakfast provider support
each-other in a mutually beneficial relationship. To participate see
www.tipperaryfoodproducers.ie
Loss of a friend
We lost a great friend of the farm during the summer of 2018. Siobhan
Martin (Siobhan Kehir from Cahir as her husband Mark says) began
working here as a young student in summer 2001, picking fruits and
looking after customers. Many of you will remember Siobhan because of
her wonderful personality, charming nature, and because she brought out
the best in people. She worked at the farm until 2013, and was a
regular caller here ever since, though her career as a teacher brought
her to Dublin and Templemore.
Siobhan died after a relatively short illness which she endured with
great character. She is sadly missed by all of us. May she rest in
peace.
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