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Chickenopolis
The building of our new Chicken Metropolis (Chickenopolis) has been an involved and laborious endeavour but nothing is free each and every element of our now extensive and highly evolved permaculture design has had a price and although that price is not always a financial one there is always a price to pay in labour time and resources. The financial cost of Chickenopolis is just 18€ that is for the gate hinges and screws everything else has grown on site sweet chestnut posts and willow whips. We like our interns to have a chance to leave a mark on our site it gives them and us a sense of…
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Up-Cycle and Re-Use
While I have been involved in craft work for over twenty-five years now most of that has involved taking the raw material of wood and making new items. Over the last ten years or so of our permaculture journey in to self-imposed simplicity we have had less money at times and that has made us more creative. We have also come to value older hand-operated machines which are often more efficient and certainly more beautiful. Below is a picture of our milk separator in use by Erin, skimmed milk is pouring in to the bottle and cream in to the jug. This is permanently set up in our cellar so…
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Woodturning Course
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Potimarron
Squash ‘Potimarron’ (Cucurbita maxima, Hubbard Squash) (Winter) A famous French heirloom, the name Potimarron derives from potiron (pumpkin) and marron (chestnut). Potimarron is one of the very best for baking and roasting, fruits reach 1.25-1.75 kilos (3-4lbs) in weight with an aromatic chestnut like taste. Great for storage we harvest from late august to consume immediately. The main harvest for us is in October making sure its before the first frost, we then store them in our cellar on shelves or old pallets. We can still consuming them in good condition in February of the following year. Culinary note: The flowers are edible. Flowering Period: June, July, August Sowing Months:…
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Spinach
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae native to central and western Asia. It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows up to 30 cm tall. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions. Ours does survive but only if we transplant it in to the poly-tunnel or the greenhouse. Sowing Months: March, April, May, June, July Position: sun or semi shade, dappled shade We also have to be very careful in the summer to keep it well watered or it will go to seed because of this we also grow another variety. Perpetual Spinach (Beta vulgaris) Hardy Biennial so not truly perpetual but it does…
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Aubergine
Aubergine (Solanum melongena) is a species of nightshade grown for its edible fruit. Eggplant” is the common name in North American and Australian English but British English uses “aubergine” as do the French. Other common names are melongene, garden egg or guinea squash. The fruit is widely used in cooking. As a member of the genus Solanum, it is related to both the tomato and the potato. It was originally domesticated from the wild nightshade species. How to sow: In pot under cover, we use our greenhouse from February to sow all frost tender seeds. Transplant into full sun once the last frost has occurred. We use our poly-tunnel for…
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Broad Beans
A gardeners’ favourite. Broad been ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ is the best broad bean for autumn sowing, overwintering plants on the plot outside, for an early harvest the following spring. Slender pods of 23cm (9″) long, are full of succulent white seeded flavoursome beans. Height: 100cm (39″). Spread: 45cm (18″). How to sow: Direct sow broad bean seed under cloches in February, or without protection from March to April. For particularly early crops some varieties of broad beans may also be sown outdoors under cloches from early autumn to late winter. Grow beans in full sun on rich fertile, well-manured soil with protection from strong winds. Plant broad beans in double rows…
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Purslane
Portulaca oleracea(common purslane, also known as pigweed, little hogweed, red root, pursley, and moss rose) is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which may reach 40 centimetres (16 in) in height. Approximately forty varieties are currently cultivated It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves clustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to 6 millimetres (0.24 in) wide. Depending upon rainfall, the flowers appear at any-time during the year. The flowers open singly at the centre of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. Seeds are formed in a tiny pod, which opens when the seeds are…
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Our Potato Harvest
We have always grown potato’s as part of our annual planting regime, but for the last few years we have collaborated with our neighbours too. Now early and late plantings of potato’s are grown on our site and main crop potato’s are grown on our neighbours site. Our neighbours site changes every couple of years as they farm 100 hectares of land, a mixture of arable crops and beef cattle are the produce. So once they have had their main crop garden in one place for two to three years they move it to another field, which has been grazed for the previous few years, exploiting the natural fertility of…
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A day in our life
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Green Wood Terrace Cover
During 2015 we held two “Natural Building” courses the second one put a permanent cover over our existing terrace area, this is where we eat during all our courses. The door at the back leads to our summer kitchen equipped with a Rayburn wood fired cooker, stainless steel work area and double sink. The terrace is then the dinning room and social gathering area for visitors and students, we also use it for entertaining and celebrations. During 2016 we will be holding another course and constructing a similar frame and roof to cover our blacksmithing and green-woodworking area. The photos below give some insight in to the process of the…
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A day in our life
Firstly I should say there is no such thing as a typical day in our lives. Some things have to happen every day as you will see but other are only done once or twice a year. Some things are done every day for weeks then not done again for a year and other are done once a week every week. This is the joy of living a life in tune with the natural forces around us our life is cyclical. I’m writing this in part to give potential apprentices/interns some idea of what to expect when they come to live and work with us, but it’s also a…
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