One for the techies
The last couple of weeks have seen our renewable energy setup almost completed, as the wind turbine was commissioned, although we quickly realised that we would need some additional capacity to deal with all the power coming in. Our Victron Multiplus 24/3000/50...
Autumn mists
Today saw the first autumn mist, and the farm took on a magical quality that you only get at this time of year. Such an incredibly abundant time, as fruits begin to ripen, and we are able to harvest from the garden and tunnels every day. Having a freezer for...
Permaculture Gathering 2015
The weekend of August 7-9 saw the first visit of the All Ireland Permaculture Gathering to Northern Ireland – at Tubby’s Farm in Hillsborough, home of Sunflowerfest. Preparations have been going on for months leading up to the Gathering, mainly organising...
Wind power at the farm
Solar power is wonderful but here in Northern Ireland sun is often in short supply, especially in winter when the days are short. Hence the need for an alternative – in this case a wind turbine. Bornay, who make this particular model have been building turbines...
Our first official event in the classroom!
When we built the classroom space, the intention was always that it would be a space for people to come to and discover new things – not only from the person giving the talk or presentation, but from each other. So it was this weekend as we hosted the first...
Community living
I recently heard Tobias Jones talking on the radio about Windor Hill Wood, an experiment in communal living, albeit a fairly extreme one where his family took in folk with a range of issues, with the ideal of giving them a refuge. Although our circumstances are vastly...
Solid foundations
Two years ago we built our little stone circle at midsummer. Our home is built from the granite that it sits upon, and the stones are a connection to the mountains they look to, as well as a reflection of the place in which we live. The stones are all...
Living with the land – Natural Building
Another excellent video from Permaculture Magazine, produced by Permaculture People and narrated by Kevin McCloud. Many, many good reasons in there why natural building is the way to go. More info here
You can make a difference
In response to a post I wrote about coping with the effects of catastrophic climate change, someone commented to the effect that ‘the climate has always warmed and cooled so we should all stop complaining, and accept that this is the natural order of...
Solar Independence Day
Today is apparently ‘Solar Independence Day’, and the good weather means that just about now an amazing 15% of the UK’s power needs are being met with solar. Of course, around here 100% of our power needs are being met with solar all the time, and...