Stumbling on a recipe for success with edible flowers and rare herbs
Denise Rocks and her husband Stephane were growing food for their own consumption in Co Galway when they unwittingly activated a wild seed bank — and now they are supplying top restaurants and bars with exotic ingredients
Ayoung husband-and-wife duo discovered the makings of a tasty new business when they unknowingly reactivated a wild seed bank on their small horticulture farm.
Now Little Green Growers supplies edible flowers and rare herbs to top restaurants in the west, and sells organic plug plants across the country.
Denise Rocks, originally from Co Clare, took a Masters in Development at University Limerick and decided to put it to good use by working in Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake.
While leading entrepreneurship and educational projects in Haiti, she met her husband, Stephane.
In 2016, they moved to Ireland and bought a cottage by the sea in Spiddal, Co Galway. It came with a small holding which had been used by the previous owners for grazing cattle but had been left overgrown with brambles and bracken.
“Stephane had trained with USAID (United States Agency for International Development) on environmental compliance and had also consulted on farm projects in Haiti so he had a background in farming and horticulture,” says Denise.
“We decided to transform the land into a horticulture farm for our own use, to grow food for ourselves.”
Both being ecologically minded, the couple cultivated the land by hand, using traditional handtools. They then planted an acre of vegetables from seed.
“We got our farm up and running and it was supplying us with our own food, which was great,” says Denise.
They continued to improve the land by hand and in 2018, a wild seed bank reactivated.
“Several varieties of edible flowers started to grow, such as fuschia, elderflower and wild roses,” says Denise. “There were also wild herbs and rare foods such as wood sorrel and wild garlic. We had to do some research to confirm that these were the types of food that were growing on the land.”
The discovery of these rare plants prompted the idea for Denise and Stephane’s new business.
“We knew these plants were uncommon but we also knew that finding the right market could be complex,” she says.
The couple started by approaching restaurants and cafes in the west and got a positive response, with many agreeing to buy their produce. Local mixologists also began buying their produce for use in cocktails.
“It was clear that there was a market for what we had growing so we decided to expand the range and began planting more varieties of edible flowers and wild herbs from seed,” says Denise.
To allow wildlife to flourish, Denise and Stephane have kept the farm relatively small and only use one acre for their own planted produce. They became members of the Galway Food Charter and of the Galway Gastronomy movement. They have also participated in consultations for Failte Ireland’s Taste the Island campaign and are official business supporters of the All Ireland Pollinator Plan.
They now grow an assortment of unusual wild, organic plants, many of which are edible.
“We supply 12 award-winning and innovative restaurants weekly across Galway, with produce grown to
Variety: