06/05/2026
Why our lettuce is different. And better 😏
Non organic lettuce typically involves a lot of chemicals over a very short space of time First spraying the ground with a pre-emergent herbicide, then following up over the 6-8 week growing cycle with between 1-3 applications of both a fungicide AND an insectide, depending on "pressure". This is why lettuce is commonly found on the infamous "Dirty Dozen" list of vegetables most contaminated with pesticides.
There is no regulation requiring producers to list the synthetic chemicals that have been applied to a product or indeed the frequency of that application. Despite the claims, every year a handful of pesticides are removed or banned from the market due to safety or environmental concerns. It seems they are always 100% safe up until the moment they're not!
One might argue that if you don't like or agree with these farming practices you can just buy organic and shut up. That's unfortunately easier said than done. Agrichemicals are now ubiquitous in our environment. They are in the air, the water and the soil. They are killing the wildlife and destroying the ecosystems that are the common inheritance of all of us 😥
On a brighter note, some of the most interesting, successful and productive vegetable farms in Ireland today are small organic producers like us, focused on growing and selling salad into their local communities. A typical lettuce crop on this farm involves, raising the plants from seed ourselves, applying a liquid seaweed before planting to give the plants immune system a boost, enriching the soil with rich, living compost, planting the crop, and then leaving nature take it's course...as it's meant to. The results speak for themselves.
We're harvesting fresh lettuce this morning. It will be on the shop shelves in Cork City this afternoon at The Quay Co Op, The Good Food Shop (English Market) and Fitzpatrick's Foodstore in Glouthane.
Be the change you want to see in the world. Find your local organic growers, whoever they are, and support them. Thanks 🙏
