The Season began in 2021, with a simple but powerful intention: to reconnect people with the land that feeds them.
What started as the first step in a long-term project quickly grew into a movement: one that aimed to revitalise the local community, celebrate the richness of Wicklow’s natural resources, and bring awareness to the beauty and complexity of local food production.
From the beginning, our mission was hands-on and heartfelt. We wanted people to understand not just what food is, but where it comes from, how it grows, how it can be preserved, and how deeply it is tied to the rhythms of the seasons. We wanted to share the joy of foraging, the craft of homemade food, and the real stories of farmers whose work sustains us all.
In our first year of trading, we introduced food grown by our own hands: transformed into bakery goods, soups, condiments, and other small-batch creations. We brought these to farmers’ markets across Dublin, where the response was warm, enthusiastic, and deeply encouraging. It felt like the beginning of something special.
But life, as it often does, had other plans. Personal and health challenges forced us to pause, far longer than we ever imagined. During this time, we also had to uproot our entire lives and operations, moving from Enniskerry to Ashford. The move wasn’t just about boxes and furniture; it meant literally lifting trees from the earth and transporting them in massive pots, preserving the living ecosystem we had nurtured.
That transition wasn’t completed until early 2025, when we finally began rebuilding what we had once created. And rebuilding takes time. You don’t get frogs in your garden overnight. You don’t build a chicken run in a day. You don’t restore an ecosystem with a snap of your fingers. We are still in the midst of shaping our new, smaller space, landscaping, planting, and encouraging life to return in its own time.
While we don’t plan to return to farmers’ markets for now, our vision for community connection has only grown stronger.
In the coming weeks and months, our website will evolve far beyond an introduction and a blog. You’ll find dedicated sections on:
- Gardening and growing your own food; - Homemade food and preservation techniques; - Seasonal recipes and practical skills; - Foraging guidance rooted in local knowledge.
These resources will lead to small-group events and classes in Ashford, offered on a registration-of-interest basis. We want to create a space where people can learn, ask questions, get their hands dirty, and rediscover the magic of local food.
We are also proud members of Wicklow Naturally, a vibrant community of food businesses and experts across the county. As part of our commitment to supporting this network, we are launching a distribution service: Culchie Express, operated under The Season, but dedicated primarily to helping these producers reach more people, more efficiently.
Alongside this, we’ve been meeting remarkable individuals whose work deserves to be seen and celebrated. We plan to share their stories, interviews, insights, and examples of circular economy in action; so that the wider community can learn from them and be inspired by what’s possible.
The Season has always been about more than food. It’s about connection, resilience, and the belief that small actions: growing a tomato plant, learning to forage, supporting a local farmer, can ripple outward and strengthen a community.
We’re still rebuilding. We’re still learning. And we’re excited to welcome you into this next chapter with us.
For enquiries, please contact us at admin@theseason.ie
