We're so excited to have won the Retail Shop of The Year Ireland award from the McKenna's Guides!

Hello everyone! Sorry we totally forgot to post about our Opening times this holiday season. So here goes: Our Shop re-opening on Wednesday the 28th; and is open until 6pm Saturday the 31st. We won't have fresh bread on the 28th but we will on the 29th, 20th and 31st. On Tuesday the 3rd we re-open for 2017. Fresh veg...

Shakespeare is known for saying our eyes are the windows to our soul. I was squinting recently to watch an escaped helium balloon disappear into the blue sky when it struck me just how precious my vision is. It’s a cliche but our vision is one of the things we can easily take for granted until it starts to desert us, and at the same time it is something that many of us simply assume will degenerate as we get older. But if you do some reading you realise that much of what happens to our eye health is under our control, despite what we have been led to believe. When I was first prescribed glasses I was told to wear them as little as possible. My Optician was also very reluctant to give in to my pleas for contact lenses, only prescribing them when I promised to wear them for only the occasional wedding or festival, when I wanted more freedom. He explained that where I might take off my glasses and give my eyes a break, with contacts this wasn’t possible and my eye muscles would weaken through lack of use if I wore contacts constantly. I think this is pretty sound advice, and now 20+ years on my vision has actually improved slightly (my prescription has decreased). While researching this article I have been reminded of another eye specialist from the 1860’s called Dr Bates who routinely smashed his patient’s eyeglasses and instead taught various exercises to strengthen eye muscles which he claimed would make glasses unnecessary. His methods made him hugely unpopular - perhaps because he challenged a large industry - but his methods are still being practiced today and while I’m not advising you throw away your driving glasses it certainly seems to makes sense to try some exercises out - especially if it costs nothing and causes no harm. Read More...

Soup is one of the simplest, most satisfying and economical meals to make. If you can make a good soup you can always feed your family and friends whatever you have in the cupboard. Unlike salads which need to be made from the brightest, most vibrant vegetables, soup can be made using up all the veg you have left at the end of the week, which means they will always be slightly different - but if you get the base right they will always be tasty. A good bowl of soup is like a hug from an old friend, something that brightens up even the dullest of days! This recipe will easily serve 2-4 people depending on hunger levels. Continue reading →

[caption id="attachment_4512" align="alignleft" width="996"]     Heart warming peppers and almonds[/caption] Our father used to love the catchphrases “Eat Well, Live Well” and “You are what you Eat”. We often see Hippocrates quote “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food’ but what guidance do we take from these pearls of wisdom? My understanding of these phrases is that our diet can be either very healing or it can kill us too early - and unfortunately too many of us eat the cheapest, most convenient ‘food’ we see rather than paying attention to what our body actually needs. We are overwhelmed by confusing advertising, tempted by easily available treats and unhealthy snacks, and the result is that many people in Western ‘developed’ nations are getting sicker and sicker. And more and more dependant on pharmaceutical drugs to keep us upright. Continue reading →

[caption id="attachment_4506" align="alignleft" width="1200"]     Hannah Goggin[/caption]   I had just come back from a year of working and travelling around Australia when I was offered a job at Organico as a temporary dishwasher. At that time the café had just been renovated and extended and after a very busy and successful summer to my surprise Hannah and Rachel asked me if I would like to stay on. I immediately said I would love to! Since then I’ve learnt such a lot and have a whole new sense of pride in all the responsibilities that come with my job. I have the unusual situation that my lovely mother Santhé also works at Organico and yes, we have our days when it can get a bit stressful but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love my mother very much and being able to work with each other is rewarding in itself. Continue reading →

     Robbie Murphy at Organcio, and exhibition invite We're so lucky to have a new exhibition of these fabulous photos of Sherkin by island fisherman Robbie Murphy. They are all beautifully framed and not at all expensive, so any of them would make a fantastic Christmas present! Robbie Murphy has lived on Sherkin Island, West Cork, since he...

  Allison at Clonakilty Chocoate says: "We are delighted to have our bars stocked in Organico as Hannah and Rachel have built their shop around the same ethos that we have built our business around.  You can tell from the moment you walk in the door that they really care about what they are doing and that they are trying...

We are proud to stock a range of sauerkrauts and kimchi made by West Cork's The Cultured Food Company, which is owned and run by Hayley Milthorpe... "I started the business in 2014, as through studying as a nutritional therapist I was well aware of the health benefits of live fermented foods and saw an opening in the Irish market for...

  One of our new and exciting range of local Irish producers, David Andrews and his team at the Laughing Oyster Seaweed Company use traditional methods to sustainably harvest, dry and prepare a variety of Irish seaweeds as seasonings for the kitchen and table. Gathering seaweed has always been an honoured ancient Gaelic tradition, and this seaweed is grown...