In many ways Dennis Shannon was ahead of his time and now his forward thinking is paying off, writes Mick Kelly.
One of Dennis Shannon's greatest bugbears is the notion that you need lots of land to survive in farming. For nearly three years the Wexford man has been making a living by supplying vegetables to farmers' markets in Enniscorthy and Wexford town while dedicating only four acres to this enterprise.
"If you ask farming organisations how many acres you need to be viable, they will tell you at least 100. But smallholders in Portugal make a living off a couple of acres. I think we are really bad at utilising land here."
Farmers' markets are becoming an increasingly important part of the avid environmentalist's lifestyle, but Shannon has embraced that lifestyle more completely, and for much longer than most.
He was a stay-at-home dad when such a thing was unheard of 20 years ago and built a Scandinavian home a decade ago despite being advised against it at the time. He and his wife have always grown vegetables and reared animals for the table even at a time in the 1980s and 1990s when society was more concerned with convenience and the joys of the 24/7 supermarket.
Shannon's father ran an intensive dairy farm in Wexford but encouraged his son to get an education rather than remain on the farm.
"I studied engineering in DIT Bolton Street for two years. My father died when I was 19 and it had a major impact - things were bad on the farm, there was a lot of debt and my mother had no income. We had a family meeting and we agreed that I would take over the debt and deal with the banks if I got the land while my mother kept the house."
These financial problems led him to look for work outside farming. "I was working shifts in Cow and Gate in Wexford. It was a terrible job. I had just got married and my wife was also working shifts as a midwife.
"When our first child arrived we sat down to discuss what to do next. We had this beautiful baby but with our shift-work he would be with a babysitter most of the time. When we did the figures we realised it made more sense for one of us to stay at home and while my wages were slightly better, my wife's job was full-time and pensionable. So we agreed that I would give up work."
Meanwhile, after years of wrangling they settled their debts with the banks and emerged with 10 of the original 40 acres farmed by his father.
He recalls some friends who broke off contact because of their strange domestic situation. "Some people didn't like the idea of the man being at home - it was a different time then, but we were determined and liked the freedom it gave us. I remember my son coming home from school upset because someone was slagging him that his daddy cooked dinner instead of his mammy."
Continued urban sprawl in Wexford was having an impact on their rural idyll. "When the new ring road was built, it effectively hemmed us in so we decided to sell up. We bought 20 acres near Mayglass about 20 minutes from the town. We were country people at heart so it suited us."
When it came to designing their new home, Shannon's engineering background enabled him to research alternative building methods and he happened on Lars Pettersson's Scandinavian home design.
"It was very cutting edge at the time and even though we built 10 years ago, we are still light years ahead of the building regulations."
He adds proudly that it costs €150 per annum to heat.
While their three children were growing up, Shannon had little time to indulge his passion for growing vegetables. "I grew just enough to feed ourselves. Looking after kids, cooking dinners and cleaning, there just wasn't time for much else."
As the children got older, however, he found he had time to spare and was looking for a fresh challenge.
"About four years ago, I met some women from the Irish Countrywomen's Association and they were giving out that they couldn't get any vegetables for their markets. I had a glut at the time and said I could sell them some. I started thinking that I could make a few bob from it."
Shannon became involved with newly established farmers' markets in Enniscorthy.
"The Irish Farmers' Association was approaching smallholders to see would they get onboard. Everyone said it wouldn't work and that you couldn't compete with the supermarkets but by the first Christmas we were selling enough to justify being there. It takes time to build markets up. People have to know they will be there every week and they have to be good enough to represent a genuine alternative to the supermarket."
The Enniscorthy market, widely praised as one of Ireland's best, will be open three years this summer.
Shannon now supplies the markets in Enniscorthy and Wexford each week as well as a number of restaurants in the town. "Things are improving all the time. If I could grow more, I could sell it. This year was the first time I was growing all winter. And I still make the dinner at home too."
There are farmers' markets in Enniscorthy, New Ross and Gorey on Saturday, 9am-2pm and in Wexford town on Fridays, 9am-2pm. For details of all markets, see www.irelandmarkets.com