Looking back at 2023 - Feast Upon The Earth, woofers, growing, wood designs ...

The solstice approaches and we are reflecting on the strange year we've had.  Early on we celebrated the new public holiday, St Brigid's Day, whose values of nature loving justice reflect ours; we hosted WWOOFers which changed the dynamic in the garden and introduced us to some amazing people, our harvest was unpredictable as dry and then wet weather combined with volatile temperatures to complicate cultivation of veg and hay, and in the second part of the year, combining our food and system change interests, we put together Feast Upon The Earth, an installation commissioned by IMMA which was centred about a large timescape exploring existence, Earth and humanity with a strong element of food history, and then afterwards a book of the timescape.  Feast upon the Earth shares Brigid’s associations of wisdom and healing through nature and asks "What future we will choose?".

Carmel McEvoy and Teach Bhride have generously given over space to hang the original timescape panels so you can see them any time at Teach Bhride, New Chapel Lane, Tullow, Carlow,  R93 W447

Please join us , at Teach Bhride for a viewing of the timescape on Friday 22 December, 5pm to 7pm, and to enjoy a drink and a snack.

Visitors to the original festival described it as educational and liked the immersive nature of the timescape. The very positive response to the installation inspired inspired the book which is available online and in the following shops: McAssey’s in Ballon, Waterlilies in Carlow and Tullow, Visual Carlow, The Delta Centre in Carlow, IMMA’s bookshop in Dublin, the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Waterford, The Book Centre Kilkenny, Bargain Books in Kilkenny and The Store at Borris House.

You can listen to our chat with KCLR here.

Back in the garden, autumn is lingering and wildlife seems occasionally confused by weather volatility, but vegetables still grow.  The six-week dry spell (technically a drought) in May and June followed by an unusually wet July caused some anomalies in the veg, like squiggly carrots and somewhat smaller potatoes. Broad beans were phenomenal – a very reliable high-protein crop. And the greenhouse gifted us with tomatoes and peaches.  It’s quiet in the garden and we are happy to have winter vegetables like kale, cabbage, chard, beetroot and carrots still harvesting.

The apple harvest was fair and we are so grateful to family run The Apple Farm in Tipp who pressed and bottled the apples into delicious juice.  (Available from the farm and McAssey’s in Ballon, Ward’s Tullow and Waterlilies Carlow.)

Hay was challenging and we were lucky to make most of what we cut.  The weird weather led us to cut a bit early but then wait till August and even September to get the hay in.  Most was saved without rain, though some bales had up to three days standing with some rain, and then we left 100 in the field after the rain became persistent.  We have a few bales left in case you need some.

We were happy with the outcome of having “wwoofers”, the acronym for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It’s a platform to match farms with volunteers.  The help was welcome, but a real bonus is when you meet interesting people and even stay in touch.  Thanks wwoofers!  Our profile is here, check us out. We usually accommodate one person at a time for a couple of weeks, so if you know anyone who’d be interested, pass the word along.

We continue to offer holiday cottages which seem to be well received and good value for money.  Here again the bonus is meeting fascinating guests and encouraging access to nature.

And Pam continues to offer yoga classes in Tullow, Carlow and online. See pambutleryoga.com for details including a beginner’s course starting in January in Carlow, workshops and retreats.

The woods are important to us because they are a rare ecosystem that thrives on the edge of humanity's virtual world.  We now heat the house almost exclusively with wood, which is a welcome milestone, though hard work.  We also started slabbing some of the fallen trunks so have some wood for fabrication.  But perhaps most exciting is the gently growing footprint of Richard's bespoke woodwork.  He exhibited wood designs at Shankill Castle during the Kilkenny Alternative Arts Week, selling a number of pieces, and has since been commissioned to design and build bespoke furniture like chairs, dining table and cabinet.  It is so good to see that people still want hand made craft.  Find out more or get in touch with Richard on the Wood Design page here.

 

 

Wishing you a rejuvenating rest over solstice weekend and a happy bounce in to the new year.

Pam and Tom 

 

 

Farm, Garden, Sanctuary, River and Woods

A nature club for people who love nature. 

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Ballin Temple, Ardattin, Carlow, Ireland
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