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.
The big switch on
No, not Christmas lights - at least not yet. Today we were able to switch on George - our 2kw solar pv array, and although the weather is far from ideal - heavy skies and no real sign of any sun, he is generating some useful amps. He joins Rowan, our 1kw array,...
A year of fantastic volunteers
It is that time when we look back at the year gone, and remember all the amazing people who have passed through the farm, and marvel at the things they did along the way. Volunteers came from all over the world - Spain, Italy, North America, Australia, England as well...
Polytunnels on the cheap (and not so cheap)
I answered a forum post the other day that asked about how to get a polytunnel on a budget. I won't go over how useful polytunnels are here - it's been covered a million times elsewhere. Needless to say that if you are growing your own veg, they are a...
Meet George
Meet George. As our collection of solar panel arrays grows, I decided to give them names. As the panels were given to us by St.George's Church in Belfast, George seemed appropriate. Plus when he stops working I have a name to hang the insults on. George is a...
Is winter coming?
As we approach December, and I wake to the first heavy frost we've had, I am reminded that winter hasn't really arrived yet. The cold night is just a reminder of all the things we need to do - very soon - if the coming months aren't to be a struggle. I'm all too aware...
Something new for Northern Ireland
Our friends are starting an exciting new venture - Freckle magazine. Freckle is an independently published magazine dedicated to celebrating the people and landscapes of Northern Ireland and beyond. Here is what you need to know - "We need your support to print the...