by Steve Byrne | May 18, 2013 | permaculture
Although it might not look it here, we are finally seeing a lot of young vegetables growing and are reaping the benefit of the new tunnel in this not-quite-spring. Hundreds of young seedlings are coming on in modules, and the first of those have been planted...
by Steve Byrne | May 7, 2013 | self sufficiency
For a while there we thought it might never be sunny again, but once again we are enjoying the warmth, and the knowledge that the sun is providing our electricity and an increasing amount of our hot water. All around us the place is bursting into life, and the brown...
by Steve Byrne | Mar 8, 2013 | self sufficiency
Well folks, after much late night toiling, here it is – our new website and blog. We’ve been with blogger for years now, but the time has come when we need more than it can offer, especially now that we’re a business and have volunteers and...
by Steve Byrne | Mar 3, 2013 | woodlands
27th April 2013 One Million Trees in One Day is a charity, not-for-profit, cross border, community and environmental initiative which will plant a million young native trees at many different sites across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in twenty...
by Steve Byrne | Feb 17, 2013 | smallholding, the farm, volunteering
Two thirds of the way through Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Josephine’s visit, and we’ve made amazing progress. Paths laid, 450 trees planted, new water pipes installed to the stables and outhouse, all the old rubble from the house levelled, tonnes of firewood...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 20, 2012 | permaculture
One of the principles of permaculture is ‘Obtain a yield’. On seeing the horses the other day, a visitor asked ‘How do you make money from them?’, and seemed surprised when I simply answered ‘We don’t’. It’s an unusual...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 18, 2012 | smallholding
One of the problems with buying land that is affordable, is that it is quite likely to be what is known as ‘unimproved’ land, or that it has been improved, but really not a great deal. Most of ours falls into this second category, and so it was with a...
by Steve Byrne | Nov 11, 2012 | animals
Yesterday I set off to collect our new hens from William over in Cloughey. Daylight reveals that we have 1 Welsummer cockerel, 2 Welsummer hens, 2 Light Sussex, 2 black bantams, 1 goldeny bantamy thing, and a mystery grey hen. They are living in the new polytunnel for...
by Steve Byrne | Oct 16, 2012 | renewable energy
Evacuated tube solar collector Someone told me last week that they wouldn’t have solar water heating because ‘It doesn’t work in Northern Ireland’. Funny that, I said, because every time the sun comes out it heats our water to 40 degrees, at...
by Steve Byrne | Sep 29, 2012 | self sufficiency
For those readers who are also smallholders or have small farms, this is an incredibly useful read.Small is Successful – a report put together by the Ecological Land CoOperative – examines eight smallholdings with land-based businesses on 10 acres or less....
by Steve Byrne | Sep 21, 2012 | woodlands
Since autumn appears to have arrived (and because it’ll take me weeks), I’ve made a start on coppicing over in the woods. Although it is mainly birch, I’ve started with an area that has some ash in it, to give the ash a fighting chance, and because...
by Steve Byrne | Aug 25, 2012 | the farm
It’s been a busy old day. This morning I could have sworn I heard bagpipes, and sure enough it turned out to be the local band heading up the road from the local Orange hall. The horses really don’t know what to make of them at all, but they are very...
by Steve Byrne | Aug 23, 2012 | self sufficiency
One of the joys of doing Lackan Cottage up has been taking old ‘stuff’ and making something of it. Wherever possible we’ve reused things from around the house – for instance the kitchen units are made from the old ceiling in the extension....
by Steve Byrne | Jun 9, 2012 | the farm
Well, thats the end of the second week living here at Lackan Cottage Farm, although it feels like we’ve been here months. Despite my impatience to get the building work sorted, I’ve come to the conclusion that a rest day is pretty much unavoidable once a...
by Steve Byrne | May 26, 2012 | the farm
Without doubt the best time of the day, and here is dawn breaking over the lake at the end of the road. The mist has just rolled down from the mountains, and you can imagine that almost anything could lie beyond it.
by Steve Byrne | May 26, 2012 | the farm
Ok, so here is the view from where I am sitting at the laptop, and rather fine it is too. I think we are still at the stage where we keep wandering about just staring at the amazing place in which we find ourselves. For instance, if I look away from the mountains, I...
by Steve Byrne | May 7, 2012 | permaculture
We watched this lecture by Toby Hemenway this evening, in which he talks about the meaning of sustainability, and how agriculture as we know it can never be sustainable. He gives the example of the longevity of horticultural societies, and explodes a lot of myths...
by Steve Byrne | May 7, 2012 | permaculture
I’m compiling a map of broadly ‘eco’ places – anything that is involved with a low impact, sustainable approach to life, from Transition Towns to permaculture farms, and interesting buildings. Other than the ones I already knew about, finding...
by Steve Byrne | Mar 27, 2012 | permaculture
Courtesy of Permaculture Ideas. “Straw bales (not hay bales) are a great place to plant vegetables. Here’s my start-to-finish results! The straw is an easy, loose place for the plants to spread out their roots. Also, up on the straw bale there is...
by Steve Byrne | May 1, 2011 | Uncategorised
I didn’t start out with the sole intention of going off grid – it has crept up on me over the last year. My interest in permaculture, the transition movement and low impact living has certainly driven me, and now I come to the point where the...
