Castleruddery, an early Victorian farmhouse sheltered in a fold of the Wicklow mountains near the Glen of Imaal, is both home and business for Hilda Crampton and Dominic Quinn, whose organic vegetables and herbs sell on supermarket shelves around the country. It's a tough but idyllic life, say the couple, whose three children have never needed antibiotics. Dominic grew up at Castleruddery. His father was a building contractor who had leased out the land for a period of 25 years. "This wasn't always a working farm. My father gave up on it years ago because, with just 27 acres, it wasn't an economic proposition. I don't consider myself a farmer, I'm a grower."
Hilda and Dominic are keen to get the message across that they are decidedly not "sandals and dreadlocks" types, though Dominic does roll his own cigarettes. They live and work like any ordinary farming family. And they make ends meet. "This is our eleventh year at Castleruddery. Hilda and I met in secondary school. Even when we were going out we were messing around with growing things. I was going to be an architect and Hilda studied physics, so we'd no training in farming whatsoever. At the start, we had a notion of self-sufficiency, but we also wanted a decent standard of living."
The couple have put their own stamp on the interior of the farmhouse. The sittingroom and adjoining kitchen/diningroom have been given a Mediterranean look with vivid blue and yellow walls. There are benches either side of a deep inglenook fireplace which was hidden behind plaster for years. Colourful abstract paintings by local artist Bob Lynn hang on the walls.
"They were swapped for produce. If I had some money I'd love to invest in art," says Dominic. Stained glass by another local artist depicting the hills which surround the house has been set into the bathroom door on the half landing. From the kitchen window, one of the hills is striped with drilled rows ready for early spring planting. Hens pottering about the garden wander up to the French doors, where the couple plan to lay a slate terrace, when they have the time. Farm assistant Geraldine is out in the barn sowing leek seeds in compost, while co-worker Pauline hoses down a consignment of carrots and parsnips. Dominic and Hilda agree they couldn't manage without the help of their local workforce.
"It's a labour-intensive business. The two girls work all year round. They drive tractors and do everything except the really heavy work. They hate being indoors now. We deliver daily from June 'till December. Local people come to buy our vegetables, not because they're organic, but because they taste really good.
Hilda, who gave birth to three-month-old Ella at home, believes that their sons Jack and Daniel have benefited from growing up on a farm with two pigs, hens and a couple of Kerry cows. "I've never managed to fatten a chicken enough so we can eat it," she says laughing. "All the food waste from the house goes to the animals. What the dog doesn't eat the hens get and what the hens don't want, the pigs get. The pigs are really tactile and love to play. They're such intelligent animals - you can relate to a pig. The children know the facts of life already because birth and death are so related here."
Six years ago, Hilda and Dominic planted seven acres of woodland, mostly oak with groves of birch and cherry, close to an Anglo-Norman motte on their land. "We put that in when Jack was born, with the help of a Government grant scheme. It will look beautiful in about 10 years' time. Somebody, sometime will get the benefit of them," says Hilda. In February, outside work is confined to sowing seeds and tidying the yard in preparation for another hectic growing season. "We plough in April, plant two weeks later and sowing and planting continues through 'till the end of June. Then we harvest, weed, sow and plant all at once. Weeding is the single biggest problem for organic growers, not pests or disease. The bane of my life was rabbits until I put up a rabbit fence. We've got three weeding machines and hope this year to afford a fourth, a weeding bed to take the backbreaking stooping out of handweeding."
With three hungry children and a crop in the fields, it's hard to imagine Hilda and Dominic having any time to themselves. "The kids forced us to have spare time," says Dominic. "Though I sometimes resent the time out because you're squeezing the work in anyway. We've started to be good to ourselves and take a week away, but never a summer holiday. A lovely Sunday for us is lunch in the National Gallery and a wander around Temple Bar afterwards. The kids love the buzz of the city.
"The weather shapes everything here. Your moods are even connected with it. We really appreciate the business we are in. I had to start a network of local farmers so I could borrow things and get advice. This has re-established my roots within the community. The Government is getting it very wrong with organic farming. They're trying to weaken the standards, which is against EU law. They want to create their own Irish Organic symbol and then lump all the organic organisations together under this lower standard. We won't be able to export the produce."
Last year, Castleruddery became the first organic farm to be awarded the Quality mark by An Bord Glas. Dominic's father, who lives in the cottage next door, is delighted the couple have made such a go of the small family farm. The success of the enterprise has made an impression on some of the more conventional farmers in the area, say Hilda and Dominic. "We're hoping one of our neighbours will turn organic. Then we could lease their land and rest ours."
