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.
Power to the people
Part of our plan here has always to be entirely self sufficient in energy. That said, there is a huge pole and some wires that bring 11,000 volts to within 20 feet of the house, so despite our immediate thought 'that pole has to go, its right in the way', we realised...
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...
Can you give this cockerel a home?
We hatched two lots of eggs this year, and would you know it, from nine chicks we got only two hens. Seven cockerels shouting at dawn every day is seven too many, and so they have all gone for the pot, bar one. Martin (I don't name them;) is a wily young chap who has...
A little bit of Wales has come to live at Lackan Cottage Farm
Well, after weeks of pole preparing, canvas proofing and waiting for half decent weather, we finally put up the tipi in the camping field, and it is very fine indeed. There's more to it that I ever thought, and it took a day, but we got there in the end, and...
Food swap success
We held the first South Down Food Swap a couple of weeks ago, and it turned out to be great fun. Swappers brought with them a great selection of veg, jams, preserves, pies and more, which made for some very competititve bartering. We can't wait to do it again....
The end of the season
Well, our busy season has finally come to an end, with the departure of our last wwoofers of the year - Armando, Clare and their son Leo, who have just returned home to Illinois in the USA. Most of their week here was spent preparing all the bits and pieces we...