Birch Cottage has a new website of its own
Visit the Birch Cottage website to bookWelcome to Lackan Cottage Farm
We’re Steve and Claire Golemboski-Byrne, we live here off grid with our daughter, our dog, cats and horses. We make all our own energy using wind and solar, grow as much of our own food as we can (it varies widely) and have used permaculture design principles to help us create a great place to live.
Here on the website you’ll find stories about the projects we’ve undertaken – what works, what doesn’t. You can come stay in our guest cottage – Birch Cottage and we will show you round, or maybe you just want to find out how to do some of this stuff. Either way, welcome.
There’s so much to do!
As we approach Samhain - Halloween, and the midpoint of the latest lockdown or 'extended half term' as it's sold to us, we've managed to get busy in the garden. Our apple crop this year was woeful, partly due to some odd frosts at bad times, and partly because half...
Wind turbine upgrade
Right at the start of the year, Gerry from Kerry was kind enough to give us a working Bornay turbine like the (then broken) one we have, as well as a 15 metre mast to put it on. Our mast is 9 metres which seems pretty tall when you're near it, but in the world of wind...
Let there be light
For the last eight years we've been fervently letting everything grow, more or less unrestricted. So for the first time this summer it became really apparent that it was time to rein things in a bit, as the vegetable garden was becoming darker and darker, and just...
Where has the truck gone?
We've had lots of emails to ask why the truck isn't available to stay in at the moment. The simple answer is that during lockdown, we spent a lot of time redecorating and sprucing up Birch Cottage, and then realised that the truck needed even more work doing to make...
A tour around Lackan Cottage Farm
As it looks as though we won't be doing any actual tours around or opening for visits in 2020, I made this somewhat inpromptu video tour where I had a good walk round and covered most aspects of Lackan Cottage Farm on the way. Usually I'd be answering questions as I...
Our new venture – Off Grid Kit
Over the years hundreds of people have come to us for advice about off grid energy, and over the last two years Steve has increasingly been supplying equipment to people all over Ireland on an occasional basis. With increasing interest in energy security in uncertain...