An Irish family from County Tipperary who closed its mushroom business in 2016 as a result of Brexit has just completed the conversion period for organic cultivation and is now waiting for the organic recognition of its leafy vegetables and other vegetables it grows at Clonmore Farm in Cahir municipality.
Barbara Quinn and her husband James run the farm. Their daughter has also joined them and is responsible for food safety and the marketing of fresh products.
“We founded our first mushroom farm in Monaghan in 1992. There was a lot of unemployment in Ireland back then. From there we moved to Tipperary in 1999, where we established a new mushroom growing company. after countless expansions and years of hard work, we employed 55 employees and sold 35,000 kg of mushrooms every week. In the autumn of 2016 we were forced to close the business as a result of Brexit.
But that could not stop the family’s entrepreneurial spirit: “we registered our growing company with the Organic Trust in 2019 and so we started the conversion period towards organic horticulture. We have recently completed this and we expect to receive our organic certification next weekend. All our products are free of chemicals and plant protection products, ” Barbara said. “We currently grow in four poly tunnels and we also have half a hectare of open-field cultivation. But we will continue to increase production and adapt our range to market demand.”
This year’s crop in the company of lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, beetroot, garlic, red onions, white onions, spring onions, shallots, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, leeks, snow peas, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, big tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes.