Rocket Mass Heaters are a really efficient way to heat a space, that you can build yourself for a relatively low cost. They are designed to burn at a high temperature, which results in less smoke and a more efficient fire. Ours is always a source of fascination, and when lit, the big room is warm in no time. Steve is off to Mayo in September to help run a course in building one, and in the meantime, here’s a reminder of how ours was put together.
One of the last existing buildings that we took down here was the old wooden garage outside the cottage, and the time has come to replace it with another useful structure that will be used to store garden produce and tools. We want to build it on a tiny budget using reclaimed or local materials to create a natural looking structure that has minimal visual impact.
Lackan Cottage Farm (and our compost toilets) have teamed up with Toilet Twinning, to help provide clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene education to people in some of the most deprived areas of the world. Nearly one third of the world’s population lacks access to even the most basic sanitation, whilst at the same time, nearly one third of household water use in developed countries ends up being flushed down the toilet.
now opened up the circular walk around the woodlands opposite the cottage, and we’re always happy to show guests around the gardens, and introduce them to the horses.
Having put the rainwater harvesting in, we were left with a 4″ pipe running across the concrete outside the cottage, not ideal. It was always our aim to pull up all the concrete slab in front of the house and incorporate the area in to the garden – our permaculture Zone 0 through which we constantly come and go. On reflection though, we need some parking space for visitors, and so decided to pull up just the area beyond our front door, which is the bit we come and go through anyway.
This course is designed for those with none or limited bushcraft knowledge but who are interested in the subject.Topics covered will include: Learn how to make a fire using simple and reliable methods; Find out more about foraging and how we can use the plants and trees around us; Safe tool use, including knife work, will be explained and practised
We really enjoyed the recent permaculture weekend course, and one of the exercises we regularly do is to ask participants to look at our site and see if they can come up with suggestions or improvements. We got several great ones this time around and so set about acting on them. The first was the observation that the area around the pond was being wasted
This week we did a bit of filming for a segment on the BBC programme ‘Escape to the Country’, telling Ruth and Stuart about our smallholding as they look for property in Northern Ireland. It was good fun, and an opportunity to show off Birch Cottage, but it’ll be 9 months before the programme airs. Tell us is you see it, as we don’t have a TV….
When I headed off to Tipperary to collect willow cuttings so that we might grow our own basket willow, Richard was kind enough to give me a trailer load of dry willow. The smaller stuff is all for baskets but I’d been wondering what to do with the heavy stuff. In a bid to protect the young hedge around the garden, Claire and I decided to make a woven fence, which then evolved as Claire suggested bending it over into hoops. The result is excellent, and blends into the garden without shading plants too much.
We’re always making things here at Lackan, and now Steve is making more baskets and willow things, we decided that it is time to make them available on the website. Many items are one offs, and once they are gone, they are gone, but they are all hand made here, from local materials (on site where possible), and always from sustainably produced materials, or in some cases, reclaimed items. Anyhow, we’ll be adding more items as we go, so the shop will change constantly, and hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised by some of the things that you can buy here.
I’m going on tour in September to teach a rocket mass heater workshop at our friend Claire Templar’s place Tir Na Nog in Mayo. Not many of these get built so its a rare opportunity to find out how and get hands on experience.