by Steve Byrne | Jan 9, 2015 | off grid
I had a conversation with a younger colleague today that serves as an example of why it is so important to question authority. We were talking about how there are times when I think it would be good to video or record ‘officials’ when they come to...
by Steve Byrne | Dec 11, 2014 | renewable energy
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...
by Steve Byrne | Dec 3, 2014 | volunteering
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...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 29, 2014 | off grid
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...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 18, 2014 | renewable energy
A bit of early evening winter sun means we get to catch a few last volts before it gets dark. There’s now 1.5kW of PV up on the roof, which suffers a bit from shading late in the day – just one of several issues to work around. We’re setting...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 11, 2014 | renewable energy
Rarely in many years of working outside have I ended up as wet as I did today. It was raining when I woke at 6, and tonight its still going. Still, what better weather for working with electricity. Outdoors. Since we did the roof of the build, all the existing...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 7, 2014 | volunteering
We’ve finally come to the end of our volunteer season until the new year, and its been a real pleasure to welcome Polly, Paul and their son Theo, who are on an amazing journey, and leaving us to head to Lammas in Wales, en route to a journey around the far east....
by Steve Byrne | Nov 5, 2014 | renewable energy
Today we were most fortunate to be able to go and pick up a not inconsiderable quantity of used solar pv panels – 0ver 3kW worth, together with a load of mounting rails. Although the panels are a few years old, they’re good ones, and should barely...
by Steve Byrne | Oct 6, 2014 | self sufficiency
No amount of careful preparation can protect against damage like this, and we woke up to find that a huge piece of our largest tree had come down. Amazingly it missed both chicken houses, and the tipi poles, but our poor tree is looking rather sorry this morning, as...
by Steve Byrne | Oct 5, 2014 | self sufficiency
So the first proper storm of autumn is coming tonight, and rather than wait for mother nature to do her thing, and then clean up the mess afterwards, we decided to be more organised this year and take down the tipi, wind turbine and firepit shelter, just in...
by Steve Byrne | Sep 22, 2014 | renewable energy
Today we pushed on, built a brick support around the base of the firebrick burner, – above, and then backfilled all the gaps with perlite and a clay mix to thoroughly insulate the fire itself, which we want to burn as hot as possible. The clay mix...
by Steve Byrne | Sep 20, 2014 | renewable energy
Having tried (and failed) to get clay soil cleaned up enough to make smooth clay mortar, I just went out and bought some clean clay, which was thirty quid well spent, and allowed the burner for the rocket mass heater to get built. Several of you will be...
by Steve Byrne | Sep 17, 2014 | renewable energy
We’ve had our solar thermal panel up for nearly 2 years now, and while it has been great, we always knew it was slightly too small for the size of hot water tank we have. Some time ago our friend John Clementson was kind enough to let us rehome a couple of older...
by Steve Byrne | Sep 17, 2014 | renewable energy
Now that we’ve the outside of the build done, (regular readers will realise that there is something of a gap here, but don’t worry its coming soon), we are turning our attention to the rocket mass heater that is going to keep the space warm. For those who...
by Steve Byrne | Jul 28, 2014 | self sufficiency
After a frenetic June, and the success of our crowdfunding campaign, we took a couple of weeks to travel and visit family and friends, and begin to plan the next couple of months in earnest. The thrill of meeting our funding target came with the knowledge that we...
by Steve Byrne | Jun 12, 2014 | off grid
There’s just something about tipis, isn’t there. That iconic conical shape with smoke drifting up in the breeze, flags fluttering from the pole tops. We fell in love with tipis years ago, and knew that we had to bring one back here to Lackan Cottage Farm....
by Steve Byrne | May 13, 2014 | animals
We love our hens, and I can’t imagine a time when we wouldn’t have them here – after all, what smallholding doesn’t have hens roaming around? Although ours have lived at times in a contained area, they love to free range around the...
by Steve Byrne | Apr 22, 2014 | off grid
After the high winds at the end of last year, our poor tipi was rather the worse for wear, so we sent it off to The Sail Yard in Killinchy to be repaired, and they made an excellent job of it. This season we were determined to put it up well, and so after no...
by Steve Byrne | Feb 13, 2014 | animals
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...
by Steve Byrne | Jan 30, 2014 | off grid
[youtube height=”480″ width=”600″]ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qopqYjIbVM[/youtube] 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...
