Ailbhe Gerrard is presenting the Field Exchange Festival on the shores of Lough Derg in Co Tipper...

Ailbhe Gerrard, owner of Brookfield Farm speaks with Tipp FM about her diverse certified organic farm and her Field Exchange program which serves to bring local farmers together to share ideas and inspiration for transitioning from traditional to organic farming.

A creative agricultural festival on the shores of Lough Derg called Field Exchange is coming August 31st and September 1st.

Field Exchange 2024 showcases transformative art intertwining with agriculture with a new opening by renowned artists Ackroyd & Harvey on the Saturday at 6:00p.m.

We have many different strings to our bow here in Brookfield Farm and our brochure will give you a brief summary of what we are all about and what we strive for on the farm day to day. Click here to view our full Brookfield Farm brochure

Ailbhe Gerrard is a passionate organic farmer with a heart for bees and also co-tutor on IFOAM – Organics International Regenerative Agriculture course.

It’s the reverse fairytale - an increasing number of the fashion set are upping sticks to the countryside in search of the good life. PENNY McCORMICK ponders whether to join them.

Ailbhe Gerrard also enthuses about her change of direction from construction project management to farming as “a bit of a blast. There is quite a lot of mud but lots of fresh air.” 

Unless you are a quiz pro or one of the growing number of backyard apiarists, it would be hard to find a common denominator between actress Scarlett Johansson, poet Sylvia Plath and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. Johansson was given a hive as a wedding present by Samuel L Jackson on her marriage to Ryan Reynolds. For a similar idea Brookfield Farm in Co Tipperary offers hiveshare gifts ranging from “bee friends” to “bee champions” (from ¤85 – ¤320).

Meet Ailbhe Gerrard – an organic farmer from Ireland April 24, 2019 https://www.organicwithoutboundaries.bio/2019/04/24/organic-farmer/ Ailbhe Gerrard Organic Farmer & Co-Tutor Regenerative Agriculture Course Ailbhe Gerrard is a passionate organic farmer with a heart for bees and also co-tutor on IFOAM – Organics

Nestled on the serene shores of Lough Derg in county Tipperary, Brookfield Farm is an exciting and innovative mix of sanctuary, farm and enterprise.

In her monthly Eat Ireland column, Recipe Editor Jocelyn Doyle checks out Brookfield Farm, producer of raw Irish honey, and ponders bee-focused New Year’s resolutions.

For Tipperary woman, Ailbhe Gerrard, sustainable farming is about managing different projects. These include: forestry thinning; silage making; dry stone walling; hive keeping; candle making; and teaching.

“I have different contractors for different tasks, or do them myself,” Gerrard said. She is used to overseeing teams of workers as she previously worked as a project manager on Dublin building sites.

Ailbhe Gerrard jumped from building to artisan farming. She has never looked back, writes Louise McBride

Nine years ago, Tipperary woman Ailbhe Gerrard was working on Dublin building sites as a project manager. Little did she know that she would soon be far from the concrete and cranes of Dublin and instead running her own farm in her native county - where she would become an expert on bees and organic farming. Gerrard founded Brookfield Farm, which is based on the shores of Lough Derg and specialises in artisan food, about six years ago.

Ailbhe Gerrard took the leap from construction to farming six years ago and hasn’t looked back since, writes Laura Roddy. Six years ago there was nothing here – I had just bought this. I still didn’t know what I was going to do with it,” Ailbhe Gerrard recalls of the start of her journey at Brookfield Farm in Coolbawn, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

Meet Ailbhe, whose hives and organic meat & veg on Brookfield Farm are reconnecting consumers with the land:

In the next installment of our Women in Ag series, we chat to Ailbhe Gerrard, a lady who has established the fabulous Brook- field Farm Hiveshare. Here, you can buy as little as an eighth of a hive and receive fresh honey from your own busy bees.

As our countryside is no longer the wildlife haven it once was, now the busy bee is moving to the city. Tara Corristine finds out more... 

It is late August and the golden swatches of rapeseed have been cleared from the fields. Tractors putter down lanes and backroads, cutting back hedges and briars. It is a scene playing out across Ireland and it may be why our bees are finding solace in the city. 

Ailbhe Gerrard produces lamb and honey on Brookfield Farm in Tipperary, and her unique concept, Hiveshare, is getting attention for all of the right reasons, writes Klara Heron.

I think it’s our responsibility as farmers to build a place for the environment and nature to thrive, because if we don’t, where will they go?” says Ailbhe Gerrard, as we drink tea at her kitchen table. Ailbhe bought Brookfield Farm in Coolbawn, north Tipperary, five years ago, having previously worked as project manager for construction in London.

What is your food product?

Brookfield Farm honey is a wonderful raw Irish honey gathered by bees from the large range of seasonal Irish wildflowers and tree blossoms. What could be nicer than honey from your own hive? We offer Brook- field Farm Hiveshare – you can get a share of our hives and enjoy your honey straight from the beekeepers!

Ailbhe Gerrard's family farm is by the shores of Lough Derg in Co. Tipperary. Despite the idyllic setting, an urban life lured her away from home and countryside, and a successful career in construction project management kept her away for many years to follow. 

Ailbhe Gerrard is certainly enterprising. A former project manager, she studied sustainable development and organic farming and has now been farming at Brookfield in Tipperary for a number of years, developing skills from forestry to tillage; she sells lamb direct and cold-presses her own rapeseed. 

We were delighted to open the ever entertaining Image Interiors and Living Magazine, and found Brookfield Farm featured in the July/August edition! Thank you Lizzie Gore-Grimes for a lovely article - 'buzzing dynamo' is the nicest description of Ailbhe!

We are very excited about a lovely feature on Brookfield Farm honey this week in the Tipperary Star. This talented food writer has a wonderful recipe for honey butter featuring Brookfield Farm raw honey... 

Buzzy idea What could be nicer than honey from your own hives? Well, it could be that someone else minded the bees, and as an added bonus made lovely natural honeycomb candlesticks and lip balm from the hive too, and delivered them to your door.

To celebrate the beginning of Food Month in The Irish Times, we have some good news for artisan food producers.

Eight young food companies have won their own stands in the food hall of the National Crafts & Design Fair at the RDS in December.

Going back to the land promotes sustainability and is living feminism – writes Ailbhe Gerrard

What do you think of when you consider farmers? Is it a macho guy smelling of pig shit and covered in engine oil? Our in-built expectations about gender keep women relatively under-paid and disempowered in Ireland.