Latest news
Here at Lackan Cottage Farm people often say we are living the good life. We grow our own food and wood fuel, generate our own electricity, take responsibility for our own waste, harvest rainwater and are using natural building techniques. Additionally we help other people to do the same, and welcome visitors and volunteers here to the farm to stay and learn about what we have to offer.
Firewood finally
The past two winters have involved a constant battle to find enough wood fuel to keep us warm, and at times when trudging around in sleet and snow to retrieve sodden timber from the woods has been nothing short of miserable. So this spring we built the lovely new...
Misty mornings
These crisp, sunny mornings are what make this one of my favourite times of year, and the farm is starting to burst into life once again. Here we are experimenting with no-dig potato growing in last year's chicken enclosure. The potatoes are simply bedded on a bit of...
The new season gets underway
It has been rather quiet here on the blog recently - first because this winter was considerably quieter than the last, and a time for reflection and planning. A lot of reading was done over the quiet months, and in some ways this has reinforced our sense of urgency...
Drumming at Lackan Cottage farm
Something we really want to do here at the farm is connect people - to each other and to the land. I love drumming, so we were really pleased to welcome Marcella Gilliland here today, with Julia Cross and Vanessa from Sunflower Festival, to have a look around,...
It’s seed sowing time!
The joys of our polytunnels mean that even on horrid days we can be doing something and be toasty and dry. Lyra can come down and play whilst we get on with the serious business of growing this years supply of veg. Four of the outdoor beds are planted with autumn sown...
Volunteers wanted!
After a much needed winter break, we are gathering ourselves for the year ahead, and thinking about the projects that lie ahead. As always there is much to do, so we are looking for some volunteers to come and lend a hand. We will feed you and put you up, (or feed you...
The way of the whippet
This is Wilma the Whippet, the latest addition to the Lackan Cottage Farm household. Dumped in mid December, with 12 puppies, Wilma was fortunate enough to be picked up by the dog warden and taken to the Mid Ulster Rehoming Centre at Drumbonaway kennels. Sadly...
Could you give Martin a home?
This is Martin, a mostly Welsummer cockerel, who is truly a great looking chap. Martin is looking for a flock of ladies to call his own, and until then is roaming our smallholding, singing to any hen that will listen. Could you offer Martin a home? Otherwise I will...
The finer points of firewood
When you rely on wood for your heating and cooking, you realise that there is a vast amount of knowledge that was once common but is now largely forgotten, all of which is really quite vital to your success. Our first year has been a steep learning curve, but we're...
Can you help the Happy Pig?
Mark Boyle, known for his writing about living without money, has settled in Ireland, on a 3 acre smallholding, and hopes to create a free space for learning, creativity,...
I Am Alive
If you enjoyed 'Live before you die', then you'll love 'I Am Alive', again from Dreamtime Films.
A Million Trees in One Day
Last year we took part in the million trees in one day initiative, which very ambitiously hoped to do what it said on the tin. Technically this year it should be called 'The rest of one million trees in one day' but the sentiment is the right one. Some time in the...
When you gotta go, you gotta go…
We love composting toilets. Most of the time. As three quarters of domestic water useage goes to flushing the loo, composters are an easy way to drastically reduce water consumption, and in return you get some useful compost. As a society we have become used to our...
The wood fuelled home
It has to be said, our lives revolve around wood, and as a fuel trees are hard to beat. They lock up carbon, are completely renewable, and have multiple uses. Trees are key to our approach, both in providing habitat here at Lackan, and as a sustainable source of fuel....
Custodians of the cottage
It struck me as we work away here that our efforts are incredibly transient - part of a cycle of ebb and flow at Lackan, as occupants appear, make their mark, the place blooms, and then they age, and the place ages with them, falls into disrepair, and is ready for the...
DIY Living – Just Do It
I saw this today and it really moved me. Enjoy. "Their power comes from our obedience. Disobey"
Here we go again
So much has changed in the last year that looking back to this time last year is like peering at another age altogether. We had no beds to grow food in, a solitary little polytunnel, no pond, no paths, no water anywhere we needed it, there was still a huge pile of...
The end of an amazing year.
Well, the winter solstice is here, and as the shortest day comes to a close, its amazing to look back on everything that has happened over the last 12 months, and all the people that it has been our privilege to welcome to the farm. This time last year we had yet to grow a vegetable here, and without the hard work of all the volunteers, from near and far, we wouldn’t have seen the results that we did. The highlight of our year was surely the time we spent with our permaculture course visitors, and the energy that they brought to the farm.
Come to the South Down GIY Gathering
The South Down GIY Gathering The GIY South Down Gathering is your chance to come together with like-minded people for an afternoon festival of home-grown food. The GIY South Down Gathering will bring people together for talks, debates and Q&A sessions - so...
A chair for Lyra
Isn't it fine? Our friend Clare came to help us plant trees last year, and came back this autumn to cut some birch, as she makes rustic chairs. Today she brought us this fantastic little Lyra-sized chair, complete with elm seat. It is just beautiful. We are hoping...
From our shop
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Red Russian Kale - 200g
£1.50
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Onions - yellow - 1kg
£1.00
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Rainbow Chard - 200g
£1.50
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Gift Voucher
£15.00 – £100.00
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Accommodation Gift Voucher
£25.00 – £100.00