Brown Envelope Seeds

For the Best Politician Award, there is no standout winner, writes Miriam Lord

But the Social Democrats leader delivered a very impressive result with Daniel Ennis in the Dublin Central byelection, hot on the heels of the party’s solid support for Catherine Connolly for president last year.

Her party is now the second-largest Opposition grouping behind Sinn Féin while, under Holly Cairns’s leadership, the Soc Dems continue to eclipse Labour in the opinion polls with a definite purple wave in evidence, especially among younger voters.

And that she continually gets under the Taoiseach’s skin during Leaders’ Questions – where she is also improving – will also go down well with supporters.

We are having a Farming for Nature walk here, on the 1st of June
Hope we will see you there:

Farm Walks - Farming for Nature Farm Walks Schedule 2026 Our 2026 Farm Walk series is now live. Check out the different walks taking place across the country between May - September 2026. We will possibly add to this schedule throughout the season so keep an eye here or on our social media channels for updates.…

A good natter with GIY MIck Kelly

S3 Ep30: Saving Seeds, Securing the Future, with Madeline McKeever Podcast Episode · Food Matters · 10/09/2025 · 56m

Looking forward to talking about heritage cereals on Saturday, in Ballydehob. There are still a few places left.

Please support this project.

Donate to Film documentary The Seeds of Time, organized by Clare O'Grady Walshe Dear friends. Clare here wishing you all well and wanted to share news of an i… Clare O'Grady Walshe needs your support for Film documentary The Seeds of Time

Brown Envelope Seeds January News Letter

Wishing Happy Healthy New Year!

Hi

Hannah here from the Brown Envelope gang.

Bring on spring time! Still bit early to be sowing but you can be dreaming of all those tasty fresh vegetables you’re going to grow this summer… there will be a summer right?!

The lucky amongst us will have a poly tunnel… out of the wind (ours survived storm Daragh, did yours? It was a miracle our ground cover didn’t end up out on cape clear however!

We’re delighted to see the lemon tree ripening up beautifully in there and Madeline just discovered a few love apple peppers! ‘Can you imagine.. peppers…in January!?’

We were pleased with ourselves for having completed the catalogue by December last year, so its a good time to order yours now, to thumb through by the fire! This year we decided we might try throw some good out into the world by attributing it to our heroes of sustainable agriculture.

Orders have started zooming in for tomatoes of which we have 70 varieties (that’s a serious collection to choose from, maybe we didn’t need that many but here we are! My favourites last year were the Striped Romans (so juicy!) and the Hillbillys, big beautiful gold and pink beefy tomatoes from thought to be an heirloom variety from West Virginia! I could go on and on.. when you get into fresh tomatoes it hard to go back to supermarket bought! ..Ok I also loved the dark galaxies and the Holly Roses.

Onions would be the next thing to get planning for!

We’re trying to produce Cavalo Nero Kale Seed at the moment, we planted it last year and have been on bolt watch, snapping its heads of vigilantly trying to stop it flowering before spring . It thinks it’ll have a beautiful warm Mediterranean spring its in for a shock! If it flowers before the spring we will likely loose the seed through rot, frost you name it, it’ll be done for!

Thankfully our man Jason Horner grew a beautiful crop of Dazzling blue Kale for us which is similar to the Nero and the seeds are up on the website to order.

We’re just in the process of going through our seed banks, to make the plan for this year; we’ll grow out varieties that have been the most popular, things that are running low and things that we haven’t grown for a while and need to be kept fresh and alive! We would also like to hear from you what your favourites are.

Madeline sent the cows away last year before the winter… to the freezer.. So Niki (named after our hero Vavilov) and Ben the PR donkeys have had full roam of the farm, choosing to spend most of their time being nosey in the yard, on the hunt for celery and cardboard (why do they love card board?) They are most unimpressed by this fierce wet and cold spell and also can’t wait for spring.

We’ve been plotting and scheming away for this years events and openings at the farm so keep your eyes peeled, we’re hoping to get the schedule together soon!

Hoping you had a peaceful holiday season

Stay warm and cozy

Hannah and Madeline

The elves have been busy in the office this year packing up gift boxes! Check out our range of Gift Boxes available now on our website with the option of especially christmasy packaging!
https://brownenvelopeseeds.ie/collections/gifts

https://brownenvelopeseeds.ie/products/babys-first-dinner-box

Baby's First Dinner Gift Box Four packets of Seeds: Beetroot, Pea, carrot and spinach It is very exciting when babies first start to eat solid food. They love the sensation of putting novel foods in their mouths and are delighted with new flavours and textures. There is a lot of controversy about whether a baby’s first meal s...

You have been invited to the farm and forest for the 13th of July for a very special workshop with Kate Manning, check it out. We can't wait!

'Mind-full of Nature' at Brown Envelope Seeds 13th July The Brown Envelope Gang want to invite you back to the farm for another workshop hosted by Kate Manning. In this busy world it's important that we stop sometimes, take a breath, and a minute to look at natures beauty all around, to feel the benefit of the wild. The news is in: Mindfulness is good fo...