Maria’s drivethru spud shack goes national!
SHE was featured a few months ago in the Drogheda Independent, and now Maria Flynn, and her drive-thru Spud Shack are hitting the national airwaves!
Ballymakenny Farm Potatoes will be the special feature in the next episode of Cook-in with Mark Moriarty, sponsored by Bord Bia which airs every Wednesday night at 8.30pm.
This Wednesday, Maria, who runs the farm with her husband David, will appear in a video call with presenter Mark to chat about their innovative spud drive-thru set up in the face of Covid-19.
When Covid-19 restrictions hit, Ballymakenny Farm Potatoes moved from supplying chefs to thinking outside the box and creating a drivethrough spud shack and sending potatoes by post to individual customers.
“It has been a whirlwind and I haven’t really had time to come up for air to be honest,” says Maria. “Maybe when this is all over, we will be able to take stock but for now, we are focusing on our crops”
The couple took over Ballymakenny Farm in 2007, and they now specialise in special varieties of potato including Purple Violetta, Pink Fir Apple, and Red Emmalie’s, as well as the “classics” including the Roosters that Mark Moriarty uses in this episode six of Cookin. In the last five years, Maria’s “passion project” of selling speciality potatoes at farmers markets to a wholly sustainable business.
Maria, who formerly worked in finance, admits that she focuses on the business side of things and “I just do what I’m told when I’m in a field”. “From the year David took over things went into decline for us,” she adds. “Most of it was out of our control. The weather has got really weird in the last few years. The seasons aren’t defined anymore.”
Maria could see them heading into debt with lower prices and mounting rent bills, diesel and wages. “To manage my anxiety and stress I needed something positive to focus on.”
She asked David to buy some Purple Violetta potato seed after a vegetable grower asked her “why don’t you grow for chefs instead of shops?” At first, Davis wasn’t convinced that this would work and Maria even remembers the neighbouring farmers coming around and shaking their heads. However, Maria persevered and remembers the first crop they dug from the ground where she feels it was all worthwhile. Maria began selling potatoes in farmers markets to supplement her income until selling to restaurants really kicked off. Maria says her Violetta Potatoes have been on the best menus in the country, used in the best kitchens and worked with by the best chefs in the world.