Eat local

Food as Medicine column by Lynda McFarland

Right now in our little shop we have local, seasonal vegetables coming out of our ears! We have cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, spuds, salad, garlic, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes (so many courgettes!), lots of herbs...and soon there will be apples, berries, pumpkins and squash.

It is the best time of year to support local and revolve your meals around nature's bounty. It is also a great time to preserve fruits and veg in jams, chutneys and sauces to enjoy all winter. Make hay (or kimchi!) while the sun shines!

Seven years ago when we opened our shop we found it hard to source local produce, now we have some amazing suppliers right on our door-step. There are also some exciting communities popping up, people coming together to grow and learn.

There is a young girl living near us who is growing her own cut flowers and veg, she is only 22 and her business is thriving (check out Blooms & Greens by Chloe on Instagram & Facebook). It is great to see so many people making a living from doing what they love!

When we started off we were importing a lot of organic produce from Europe and we still need to import a lot of dried goods, but we have Irish organic meats from Coolanowle in Carlow, dairy from Mossfield in Birr & Gleann Bui in Mayo, eggs from Greenfield (my mum's cousin in Monaghan) and our own from the farm, veg from Red Shed in Portarlington, Coole Eco Community in Ferbane, Beechlawn in Ballinasloe, Mary-Ellen's Farm in Abbeyshrule, our own farm and lots of others dropping in produce when they have a glut of something to barter with.

We get honey from The Farmhouse in Abbeyshrule, Uisneach in Ballymore and the Hanleys in Kiltoom. A lot of our fermented foods come from 4 Hands Food Studio near Ballymahon and our organic sourdough comes from Tartine in Dublin. We reckon if our European supply was cut off we would survive! We're always looking for more local producers too, we could definitely do with organic butter!

A few things to make with local, seasonal produce at the moment:

Cucumber pickle

Fresh herb pesto

Gazpacho (a cold Spanish soup using tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, herbs)

Sauerkraut and kimchi using the lovely pointed cabbages and fresh garlic

Lovely colourful salads with fresh herbs & edible flowers

Tomato sauces

Gratins - potato/veg

Quiches

Jams and chutneys to brighten up the winter months!

Lynda McFarland is a local nutritional therapist, cheft and co-owner of Lowe. & Co Organic Grocery on O'Connell Street, Athlone along with her partner Eddie Lowe. Lowe & Co. opened in 2016 to provide nourishing chemical free food that Lynda's nutrition clients were finding it difficult to source locally, such as sourdough breads and other fermented foods, organic vegetables, meat and dairy. Lynda manages the shop and Eddie manages their small-holding where they grow vegetables and keep chickens and pigs, and hopefully this year, bees for honey. Lowe & Co. is open Thursday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5.30pm.