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.
Getting plastered
After two weeks of hard graft, our latest wwoofers, Brodie and Molly are on their way, but what a difference they've made. We promised them building work, and our first task was fitting out battens and wood-wool board in the little cottage. Then they moved on to...
Three years of memories
This week we have been here for three years. It might have been a lifetime. Or yesterday, I can't tell which. Looking around it is sometimes hard to remember all the things that have happened here already. How many people have come and shared their lives with us, and...
New insulation for old walls
When it came to refitting the interior of our little cottage - number 81 - we face a different set of challenges to those we encountered here in 79. The little cottage is primarily concrete block built, and cement rendered, so it isn't the most breathable structure....
The wait is over – the electricity pole has gone
When we first saw this place three years ago, we fell in love with it instantly, but vowed that the 11 metre electricity pole sighted right behind the house would have to move. Moving it turned out to be incredibly expensive, but removing it altogether was (oddly)...
Green woodworking – video
Green woodworking at Lackan Cottage Farm - here's a bit of film from our Introduction to Green Woodworking course..
Turning in the woods
Today saw the second of our series of woodworking courses, the introduction to green woodworking, which focused on pole (or bungee) lathe turning, and some work shaping wood on the shave horses. Participants were able to make simple items such as rolling pins by the...