Hanging strawberries
Last year we grew all our strawberries in beds at ground level, but a fair amount were eaten by something (probably slugs), so this time, encouraged by the amazing results we saw in Danny Kowalsky’s tunnel, where he grows strawberries in lots of hanging baskets,...
First fruit
We can barely keep up with the growth down in the polytunnels and growing field, and flowers such as these marigolds are attracting huge numbers of beneficial insects and pollinators. Borage has seeded and is growing around the pond, and is great for attracting bees,...
A day at Balmoral
The biggest agricultural show in Northern Ireland is Balmoral, and we make an annual pilgrimage to go and inspect the amazing variety of sheep, cows, pigs, goats and fowl, as well as sample the amazing local produce that is becoming ever more prevalent. Sheep of the...
Hen party
After years of making do with a camera phone, we finally bit the bullet and got ourselves a decent camera. I have to say that the results were worth it, and our chickens have been obligingly posing for me. f
Less really is more..
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...
Open Source Seed Initiative
The Open Source Seed Initiative seeks to make seeds perpetually available without the danger of them being patented, and thus guarding against the takeover of our seed stock by corporations. Today, only three companies (Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta) account for about...
Tipi living
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...
Pruck
As Dougie taught us, the word to describe stuff that is handy, and which others are disposing of, is ‘pruck’. Well we’ve had a bumper week for pruck. A friend is moving house and doesn’t have room for all the things she has collected up over...
Firewood finally
The past two winters have involved a constant battle to find enough wood fuel to keep us warm, and at times when trudging around in sleet and snow to retrieve sodden timber from the woods has been nothing short of miserable. So this spring we built the lovely new...
Misty mornings
These crisp, sunny mornings are what make this one of my favourite times of year, and the farm is starting to burst into life once again. Here we are experimenting with no-dig potato growing in last year’s chicken enclosure. The potatoes are simply bedded on a...