Our Farm
Our farm is situated within the grounds of Cloughjordan Eco-village, in Co Tipperary. On our land we have fields, a market gardening area, a soft fruit area, apple trees, hedges, polytunnels, storage sheds and outbuildings. In the area to the front of our farm, called Cuan Beo (Harbour of Life), there is a beautiful garden and space for community events.
Our farm has the use of a distribution point called the “Coach House” on Main Street Cloughjordan, and one room within the North Tipperary Green Enterprise Centre, which we use as a food hub.
Our vision is communities feeding ourselves using regenerative agriculture, in harmony with nature, cultivating biodiversity and with connection to land, to nature and to each other.
Network
As well as working locally in Cloughjordan and North Tipperary, Cloughjordan Community Farm also participates in networks to support other community supported agriculture and food hub initiatives in Ireland and further afield. We are members of the following organisations:
The annual Feeding Ourselves gathering in March/April has been run in Cloughjordan, in association with our farm, for a number of years.
Vision & Values
- to grow, distribute and consume food from a local member owned farm
- to provide a wide variety of seasonal vegetables, salads, herbs and fruits to farm members at a local distribution point
- to grow using regenerative practices, without the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or artificial fertilisers.
- to grow heritage varieties, to save our own seeds and to enrich the soil using agroecological methods
- to provide local employment and include a variety of volunteer effort
- to be an educational and social resource for the local and wider community
- to support local food systems in the North Tipperary / Offaly area
We aim to embrace, promote and embed the following principles in our policies and everyday practice.
We respect the soil, water and air through organic and regenerative methods of growing, by conserving water, by reducing fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions and by cultivating biodiversity. The farm operates according to organic regenerative and permaculture principles with a primary goal to provide nutritionally complete produce, grown in healthy, nutrient rich soil via methods which enrich the soil and protect the land for future use, minimizing environmental impact. Our approach to sustainability is not just adhering to a subscribed set of practices. Rather, our producers consider the long-term implications of these practices within the context of the broad interactions and dynamics of regenerative agriculture and eco systems. We provide nutritious, locally produced food for the community, where the journey from soil to plate is as direct as it can be, with minimal waste, devoid of air miles, with minimal transport, and free from packaging. We grow to organic farming standards, without the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, hormones or artificial fertilizers.
Care for our workers: Our workers’ health and wellbeing are at the centre of our values. The Community Farm aims to cultivate a workplace culture and environment which promotes, encourages and supports equality and diversity, based on fairness, inclusion and mutual respect for all. We endeavour to ensure that that no one is discriminated against or treated unfairly due to age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender or sexual orientation and that all workers and volunteers on our Farm are also protected from exposure to harm- from harmful materials or unsafe methods. We aim to create a positive, collaborative and healthy working environment.
Stakeholder participation and good governance: We aim to ensure that all stakeholders including workers, members and the wider community are encouraged and supported to be involved with the farm in alignment with our values. The Community Farm aims to establish a welcoming culture of participation, connection and mutual respect among our membership, where members have opportunities to participate and be involved in the governance and running of the farm, with active listening to membership and to all stakeholders, and where differences and concerns are resolved through reference back to our core values and objectives. We aim to provide an open, welcoming atmosphere and governance structure for new and existing members in alignment with this vision, and support wide participation and involvement of the membership in the activities of the farm. We aim to create positive, collaborative and healthy ways of working together.
Governance
Our farm is set up as a social enterprise CLG. We are not-for-profit, with any financial surpluses being reinvested in the farm. We organise ourselves using sociocracy principles. We have a coordination group which meets monthly, consisting of people who do paid and voluntary work for the various domains of the farm. Although it is optional, about half of our membership choose to support the farm with their time and skills, in addition to their membership fees.
As well as the core farm production, membership and distribution domains/circles, we also have circles which focus on running the European Volunteer programme, on managing infrastructure, on community outreach and our Cuan Beo area, on our Food hub activities including community food events and running an online farmers’ market, and on administration (board) and communications.