- 1 minute ago
Our Farm: A GIY Story - Season 1 - Episode 05: Finding a Way Through
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01just trying to work out how to get my tickets for tomorrow for all together now because me and
00:07make our going to be performing I've always wanted to perform at a rock festival but I'd
00:13never really imagined it'd be a talking gardener but you have to start somewhere anyway that's
00:18enough of that crap anyway I'll get on with some work it's been a tough few weeks for the team
00:28here
00:28in Waterford and with the dust only just settling we're back at GIY HQ to check in with Mick to
00:34see
00:35how things are holding up and what happens next it's been you know a really bruising month to be
00:42honest like it's been pretty brutal for everybody and you know we were really focused I think on
00:50thinking about what's the highest impact work that we do what's the core of what we do and trying to
00:54save as much of it as we could I think going forward GIY is going to be much kind of
01:00leaner
01:01completely focused on our work in schools on that side of the house you know the the farm and the
01:07veg box all that is it's all heading in the right direction and feels really positive so it's like
01:12it's just a question of kind of pushing on now for the next couple of months and making it work
01:16I might not be here anymore but my my work in food advocacy will continue that that is who I
01:23am that
01:24is that is what I do that is my passion and I'm excited for for here I'm excited for for
01:31them to to
01:32continue their work and and to hopefully see what they can do and and and I'd love to you know
01:37make
01:37sure that that they are you know surviving and and doing well Irish Richard and the team the the best
01:42of luck you know and and like I said I just hope that they'll continue that mindset and it's not
01:47just for this year it's for next year and for the years to come you know you can't just fix
01:52something
01:52just to just to you know scrape by it's got to be changed that's implemented you know for for the
01:58future
01:58I think if we can get through this we can get through anything
02:03meanwhile Claude is feeling the pressure too but for the first time this season
02:07the veg boxes are full with produce grown entirely on the farm so it's Claude's job to boost veg box
02:13sign-ups try sell more veg over the counter and keep these tills ringing ching ching I feel like all
02:21I've ever heard the last ages is hungry gap hungry gap hungry gap in the kitchen they're using preserves
02:26or there's blank stuff in now it's all our own stuff which is really really good if we're not getting
02:30the numbers for veg box we need to find other ways to sell it I think they've kind of forgotten
02:35that
02:35the shop is there and they're trying to get other places and other companies and other people to buy
02:40it when we need to sell it from our own shop we have our own customer base here who know
02:44what we do
02:45so we should sell it from here yeah I think me and Richard need to have a talk and try
02:49see what we
02:50can do with the veg here at the shop and try and big it up between the two of us
02:54maybe it'd be a really
02:54good idea Richard hi Richard and what can I do for you um so I'm looking to talk uh veg
03:05sales in the
03:05shop what in a silly voice yeah I'm nervous that's why you could be in what way do you want
03:14to talk
03:14so I'm thinking about maybe lowering some of the prices of the veg so I can sell more of them
03:19instead
03:20of like the veg going to waste or having to bring it into the kitchen yeah great are you going
03:23to put
03:23the whole lot uh down or are you going to just things are in surplus or um I don't know
03:28well
03:29that's why I'm coming to you you because you had your old market stall I thought you might be able
03:33to help me I would go down to the supermarket conventional prices um but I do think the grab
03:40and go thing that sounds good for people who don't like getting their hands dirty that's what people
03:44are used to in supermarkets but a bit of communication like woohoo tomatoes straight
03:49off the farm and you're going to have the grapes uh oh the grapes did well last year actually
03:55do you want a trial bunch to see what they're like so you can tell people how delicious they are
03:59100 there you go thank you
04:07do you think I need like more space like more boxes more maybe spread them out like the grapes
04:13rather than in the trays if you had them like on your counter but like I could put more crates
04:19down
04:19below maybe with more stuff in it and more stuff on the camera that sounds like your expertise not
04:23mine but um I think I'm here to learn from you not really for marketing in a shop
04:30a few weeks back we watched Richard and Katie herd the pigs into a new patch of land
04:35yeah I don't know about this now Richard come on oh did you hear Richard I'm struggling here
04:41come on come on why aren't they eating my food
04:48their mission clear the area the natural way well the pigs have done their job and now it's Richard's
04:53turn he's heading back to see what's left behind and maybe uncover what's been hiding beneath the
04:59brambles all this time a few weeks of clearing and I really can see what I've got as a garden
05:09it's uh as I say it's an orchard and the old maps indicated it probably was and it definitely is
05:16restoring an old orchard is one of those things you like to be able to do as a grower debating
05:21when
05:22I should tell Mick about our findings down here really I'm a little bit worried we could end up
05:27with glamping pods or something down here but we'll work towards an orchard at all
05:35with a plan forming in his head Richard needs to call in the big guns he's managed to get Mick
05:40to
05:40the farm but this won't just be a friendly catch-up can he convince Mick to invest in this passion
05:45project
05:46time for Richard to make the pitch and hope for the best they've done some job of clearing in here
05:50haven't they there's a pig path there to follow a pig path following following in the trotters
05:57of greatness that was like practically shakespearean there Richard yeah it's one of my many talents
06:04really and have a look at this it's the largest apple tree I've genuinely ever seen we see they're
06:13clearing away and look at that for an apple tree oh my god absolutely huge wow more apples over there
06:21there are yes and they have blossoms which means they're going to produce they're going to fruit
06:26right yeah so explain that make you start with the blossoms and then the bees come along and then
06:32you get the apples at the end of the season you've you've got the nail on the head yeah you
06:36got it again
06:37so we could we could restore this for I'll make only a couple of grand
06:44a couple of grand yeah how high on the priority list is is this do you think I know you're
06:50going to ask me
06:50about money and the return is something like 10 years down the road a bit I mean this is a
06:58garden
06:58you can't think in terms of money mate it'd be amazing to have this restored but like is it priority
07:03is what I'm I think we need more information before we can call that I suppose so you'd be grand
07:11a bit more information then we can call it
07:15at the moment it's not yet and I'm a bit afraid to tell Richard he's saying you know it'll only
07:21cost
07:22a couple of grand it's a couple of grand like how many feckin veg boxes do you have to sell
07:26to make
07:26back a couple of grand and I and I I just know from previous experience it's a couple of grand
07:30is
07:31just the beginning of it and to turn this into what he wants to turn it into it's going to
07:35cost could
07:36cost like five grand and we just don't have that to spend at the minute when we're still struggling to
07:40get the numbers up right come on pig pig pig let's go somewhere where you're not finding other
07:47projects for me to do come on pig pig pig pig pig I just can stay there then
07:56with the orchard pitch wrapped and Mick not willing to part with money we're heading back to Waterford
08:01because while the growing happens on the farm the selling well some of that happens right here at the
08:06GIY cafe Alan and the front of house team aren't just serving food they're showcasing the produce
08:12every day on the plates they know they've got a role to play too with this project because we see
08:17ourselves here in grow HQ has been that ability to showcase and we can explain to our customers that
08:25look everything we we put on the plate we grow ourselves so you can also grow that at home so
08:31we
08:31we're trouble we're here to try and I suppose not so much educate people but inform them that this is
08:36what you can do and you don't need a big space to be able to to grow you don't need
08:41a big space to be
08:41able to cook we are more than a cafe that we are a social enterprise it's not about making profits
08:47it's
08:47more about trying to educate inform customers and of what we do the veg boxes is a big part of
08:55that you
08:55put me on a flat white in the cappuccino for 13 please Zoe yeah I suppose it's it's hard to
09:00quantify
09:01the the amount of veg boxes we've I suppose contributed to selling and I'm sure that the
09:07there should be a certain number that contributed to us because in fairness to the guys they're always
09:12trying to to chat to people and letting people know that that that this is an option available for
09:17them to buy but yeah I'm sure that they might not but that there's there's a good portion of them
09:23should be contributed to us back on the farm the team are knee-deep in the harvest for this week's
09:37veg boxes but not everything's going to plan there's trouble in the cabbage patch and it's
09:42serious enough for Gary to call him back up Richard is on his way we can probably throw it up
09:49there what
09:49you reckon yeah look at that that was beautiful uh 10 days ago big food now we're going to be
09:58pushed
09:59to find 25 good ones you see this one's just starting to split um but even that's gone beyond
10:06there no one's gonna buy that and there's no no disease nothing wrong with them purely nowhere to sell
10:13them uh we'll call it a day yeah all right i mean i can't uh if we don't have the
10:1825 for the box and
10:19we don't the shop isn't going to sell more than 10 over the weekends all right okay yeah yeah i'm
10:24sure
10:24mick's aware of this he'd like to sell more but uh we're not going to pay the rent if we're
10:31leaving
10:31crops in the field a lot of labor goes into it they can't harvest it
10:40yeah the warning signs have been there for weeks too much veg not enough customers and for Richard
10:45it's the final straw he's called mick to the farm not for a chat but to see the problem with
10:50his own
10:50eyes because if they don't start shifting this veg fast it won't be going into boxes it'll be going
10:55to the pigs yeah have a look mate these don't look oh wait yeah i see what you mean yeah
11:01they've
11:02split so they were beautiful a week or two ago and like how much how much are we getting for
11:06each one
11:07of these when they're when they're good like retail we're getting 150 so like we value them in
11:11the box there's a lot of lost money here in this a lot and uh yeah i mean it's you
11:16consider all of
11:17the time gone into propagating them transplanting them weeding them and then we get nothing for
11:24them and we can't have this crap happening again i mean it's demoralizing for the staff
11:29it makes me think of retraining as an accountant uh you know it's it's heartbreaking seeing it i mean i
11:35i like obviously i'm thinking about the figures obviously the money that's been lost but on a
11:41level there's such beautiful food going to waste or being fed to the pigs it's like it's kind of
11:46heartbreaking right yeah on many levels so uh let's sell them yeah okay
11:54while mick's facing the harsh reality of cabbages turning to compost elsewhere on the farm things are
12:00no less chaotic on is chasing hens again because some of them have escaped and they've made a run
12:05for it yeah go on i'm caught now that's it go on there you go now you're captured again they
12:14like to take
12:14their chances don't you now in you go
12:21gotcha gotcha in you go
12:26come here now there you go these were the worst ones for escaping aren't you
12:35yes hey bob bob's a good boy good boy bob
12:47with staffing already stretched thin clodagh who's been holding the fort in the shop
12:51is heading off on maternity leave the other thing that's in the back of my mind is when are you
12:56going
12:56on mat leave because like obviously that's an extra layer of so i leave in like seven weeks i think
13:02it
13:02is okay so we've got seven weeks to learn how to do these things yeah find someone train them up
13:09yeah and get them comfortable to do it as well we need to talk to alan about that as well
13:14just to
13:15to see how we can get that moving so that's really important too um we need to get that up
13:21in the next
13:22week yeah definitely if this slipped through the cracks what else might he be missing
13:28i'm just kind of really really terrified that we're going to miss something and that there's
13:33some kind of piece of the puzzle that we're we're just not covering so if anything else comes to mind
13:38just let me know and and hopefully um between the three of us we can kind of keep all the
13:42balls in
13:43the air for the next one hopefully i'll text you if you think of anything yeah we've become apparent
13:47as we have to do things yeah exactly yeah it's step by step yeah it's one foot in front of
13:52the other for
13:52now yeah all right thanks a million lads see you later it's a few weeks on and we head back
14:02out to
14:03the farm where the team are busy pulling vegetables out of the ground things are starting to shift and
14:08for once it's not more problems and richard has some good news this might just be the break we've
14:14all been waiting for box scheme numbers have been ticking up shop sales are improving the wastage is
14:21slowing down and we are getting a fair bit coming in to cover costs i mean we're not for profit
14:29so
14:29it's not profit we're going for it's uh covering costs and that's um starting to happen now so it's uh
14:37yeah it's it's a relief is the feeling really it's amazing that we're harvesting for a purpose um
14:43and we're not wasting it and the fact that i've been involved from start to finish it's um it's an
14:49achievement for everybody here involved and it's great to see what we can grow and sell and produce
14:58i have a good feeling now that the garden has turned a corner i suppose to be a bit basic
15:04about it that
15:05uh we're going to survive uh you know um things are going out being sold and looking at the figures
15:13for last month we're paying away now in the in the garden so good with the garden finally turning a
15:21corner and the veg flying out the door it's a small win that the team so desperately needed
15:26and just as things are settling mick gets to call he's been waiting for
15:30soil expert mike walsh is ready to show him behind the scenes at setu in waterford where
15:36the soil samples from currimore are being tested it's time to swap the wellies for a lab coat
15:40and find out if the soil really is as good as richard says it is this is very fancy for
15:46a bit a bit
15:46of soil test and i just thought i was going to you know a bit of an old mpk test
15:50but look all this gear
15:52this is great they're very privileged let's do it hi patty how are you nice to see you again
15:57yep welcome to the lab thank you very much wow look at this this is our our soil yeah this
16:01is
16:01your soil so the cores we took out the day in the field yeah and we took them in and
16:05we're looking
16:05at the soil structure with this equipment this is called a high prop and it basically measures the
16:09porosity of the soil and we can use that to assess the soil structure so the next thing i done
16:14was
16:15um soil textural analysis okay which is over on the desk here all right basically if you see these
16:20these are like the sand fractions in in um soil so we divide it into wow um yeah basically different
16:26sieve sizes so that's amazing this comes from yeah so once the um organic matter has been dissolved off
16:32okay so mike is it fair to say the more the more dna we find means there's more life in
16:38the soil and
16:38the more life in the soil the better it is is that over simplifying it no well generally higher the
16:45organic matter content yeah the more life you have inside so we're more likely to find a bigger
16:51population of microbial life yeah like your bacteria and your fungi yeah this will bring everything down
16:59to the bottom and oh yeah it'll separate the solution from the solids basically um so i can take out
17:06the dna part now so see how the solution has come through here yeah so the dna is currently here
17:14okay and we'll add water okay um and leave it sit for um five minutes and then we'll spin it
17:23again
17:23in the centrifuge and we'll end up having um the dna in the bottom of this container okay
17:30so patty has some dna extracted in the vial and the next step is crucial
17:35yeah they need to find out if the sample is viable so while mick steps back patty gets to work
17:40analyzing filtering and checking the results it's delicate detailed science but it could be the key
17:45to proving just how alive the soil is at the farm this is my soil we've got a sample that's
17:53viable yeah
17:54we need to send that off to tell us like is it full of life is it or is it
17:58not exactly and we'll hear
17:59back in about six weeks six weeks time yeah usually okay it gives you a sense of how deep mike
18:06is kind
18:06of is going with this testing and that's going to be super exciting to get those results back and see
18:11what we're actually dealing with like incredibly complex stuff and patty like knows her stuff like
18:16amazing mick rushes back to giy hq they need to keep the pressure on now that the veg box numbers
18:23are on
18:23the rise and he's got a favor to ask richard he needs social media content about the veg box this
18:29week
18:30and richard is the obvious choice to talk i wonder how this is going to go no you love your
18:35uh camera
18:36appearances so my 30 seconds of fame yeah have you anything interesting you can say about these um
18:43yeah i uh please don't hold them up there it looks like you're commenting on something come on we go
18:51outside or down here maybe yeah definitely not down there i know you like to kind of be passionate
18:57for a long time about stuff so you'll want to talk literally you'll want to talk so i need you
19:04to keep
19:04this tight like 30 seconds max all right are you ready one two three all right there's a new um
19:14thing in
19:14the box this week it's a squash they've come on a couple of weeks early with the hot summer i
19:19think
19:20probably my favorite veg in the garden so these are in the box this week they are one in every
19:24box
19:24fantastic thanks a million see that wasn't actually too bad
19:30i know that's perfect right edgy it's grungy a bit like yourself yeah absolutely thanks for doing that
19:38it's a lot of work with the social media video finally in the bag it's time to switch gears because
19:52this afternoon mick and richard aren't just growers they're performers i've made it they give me a free
19:58beer they're heading over to all together now the huge music festival happening literally on the other
20:03side of the garden wall at carlmore really amazing and while mick's trying to play cool richard he's
20:08very excited i have to try and find mick though i won't be too upset if i don't but uh
20:15you know
20:15i'm performing with mick uh but um you know i suppose i'm the star myself and mick want to uh
20:27sell the
20:28idea i suppose of sustainable food production and how what we're doing here and trying to make a
20:34success of is food production which doesn't take the planet out i've got the job of making gardening
20:42rock and roll so uh uh yeah
20:49are you excited to give this talk well as excited as i ever am sorry i'm excited as i ever
20:57am
20:59jesus christ i hope you're going to bring a bit more enthusiasm than that
21:04i could take to this peace gardening please give a round of applause to mick and richard
21:15the next step for us was we we started a veg box scheme so this is one of the boxes
21:20you can see in
21:21front of us it looked a lot fresher when it was harvested this morning but uh everything's gone a bit
21:27flaccid and my age you know the feeling but uh uh it's um it could be a bit more i
21:33apologize for his
21:35for those that innuendo the most nutritious the most nutrient dense food that you can eat
21:41is in that box is in that box it's whatever is in season in your in your local area at
21:47any
21:47particular time of the year i really would urge anybody i mean you live locally please buy some of
21:54hey yeah phil have made it now i've got a purple wristband i got free beer um you know okay
22:02there's
22:02no underwear thrown on stage but i was prepared for that if it happened uh but uh yeah i think
22:08finally after all these years i'm not just a gardener i'm also a rock star
22:15on the more fun side i'm looking forward to seeing my colleague katie
22:19who's uh performing in her band i might even get my dad dancing out
22:27kind of nervous for her actually because it's a big second stage and uh but they're amazing
22:32go on let's see you dancing yeah come on they're going to start now any minute
22:35i'm looking forward to seeing you dancing oh you'll be amazed mate
23:12oh
23:17Well, Richard, what did you think of that?
23:19Excellent. Loved it. Loved it.
23:22You were right up the front in the moss pit there.
23:25My hearing's not so good these days.
23:27I want to hear the band. Let's get right up there.
23:31Next week, it's the final chapter of the season.
23:34The team pushes on, determined to finish strong.
23:37Richard calls in an apple expert
23:39as he quietly hatches a plan for the orchard's future.
23:42Clodagh expands the shop one last time before maternity leave.
23:45And the garden finally hits its stride,
23:48just in time for G.I.Y. to cater the biggest banquet of the year.
23:52Nick chases soil test results that could change everything.
23:55And he looks to the future with some possible conservation projects.
23:59As the team gathers for one final celebration,
24:02they look back on a season of chaos, graft, heartbreak and plenty of growth.
24:06It's all coming up in the finale of the series.
Comments