Author name: Elmgrove Irish Flower Farm

Why don’t more Irish farmers host open days? This was the question I was asking myself after throwing our own gates open to the public last spring. Admittedly, I was anxious about how things would work until the day itself. The public’s expectations can be daunting, especially in an era when farmers are questioned on

When I was in my teens I was mad about showing cattle. We had pedigree Holsteins and the herd had a registered prefix called after the farm itself, Elmgrove. When I started dabbling in buying a few fancy calves and embryos of my own I dreamed of setting up my own world renowned prefix. I

It took a while for the penny to drop over the last couple of months. As soon as I started construction on my farm shop, people were asking if we’d be serving coffee. I would nod enthusiastically and mutter something inane about us heading that direction. But all the while knowing that I was really

Over the last century, the McCullough family have combined innovation and hard work to create a thriving business at Elmgrove Farm. Pat McCullough (pictured above) was the first generation of McCulloughs to take up residence on the farm.  “Grandad first turned to milking cows during the Economic War in the 1930s, when Dev refused to

The advent of silage making was an unheralded revolution of sorts in Irish agriculture. The concept that you could pickle grass in its own acids suddenly opened up the prospect of a reliable source of quality feed for all farmers. This was a game-changer in that it allowed farmers to consider increasing their milk output

While Elmgrove Farm is a mixed farm enterprise, it’s core focus is growing flowers.  But it wasn’t always that way.  “My grandad grew gladiola back in the 1960s or 1970s, probably because he was so innovative and always looking for new ways to earn a living from the farm,” says Darragh.  Elmgrove Farm, by virtue

On the last day of March, 2020, Darragh McCullough dragged himself out of bed heavy with the knowledge that he had tulips and daffodils and all kinds of other lovely flowers piling up in his tunnels and fridges with no prospect of sale. COVID had hit. The previous 25 years had been spent slowly building