Harvest & Thoughts of Winter

Farming like most of life is cyclical. So while we are picking summer fruit and enjoying being outside in the back of our minds are preparations for winter. This week saw barley harvested in the neighbouring field.

Modern machinery is enormous. This combine is 350hp and cuts 24 feet at a time and given our weather you need to be able to cut as much as possible when the sun shines.

The number in the window indicates that this combine took part in the 'Combines for Charity' event last year which broke a world record and raised over €300000 for 4 Irish charities.

Barley being unloaded into the trailer.

This is feed barley which along with most of the grain grown in the area goes to a local pig producer who has his own grain handling and feed compounding facility where he makes a feed ration for his pigs and cattle!

All the straw is bought by local farmers, including us, for bedding animals in winter!

Gone are the days of small square bales. These round bales are the equivalent of approximately 10 small bales and have to be handled by the tractor.

Bales stacked up in the shed ready for the animals in winter, alongside turf and logs ready for us and the B&B.

A buzzard surveying the scene from his new perch. They have only been in the area about 5 years and are a wonderful sight soaring effortlessly in the sky.

Lambs

We check our livestock every morning, to make sure everything is the right way up and that all is well! So this morning I took my camera with me and photographed some of the sheep.

The cold spring followed by a very dry early summer has meant that grass growth was well back on previous years. Consequently lamb growth has been slow, but as you can see they are looking well!

We weighed a few to check on progress. This fine specimen weighs 40kg, but at the moment he's the only one, with the rest averaging 34 to 35 kgs. So we should have lambs fit in another 3 to 4 weeks!

Our lambs this year are Full Symbol Organic Lambs, and we hope to start selling some of them direct to the consumer ready for the freezer. So if you are interested drop us a line!

Longford Show

Derrynagarra Patience surveying the scene, before getting out of the trailer.

Patience and Helen waiting for their class.

The small agricultural shows need all the support from exhibitors that they can muster. If the breeders don't attend the classes will be lost, and young horses won't have the chance to get the experience they need.

We had a lovely day out, met lots of people we knew and were home in time for tea!

Trip to Wicklow

Borrowed a Sat Nav and headed off to Ashford with Derrynagarra Dash in tow, last Sunday.

Derrynagarra Dash

Helen & Dash concentrating like mad!

He is a two year old Irish Draught gelding, and he qualified for the gelding championship that is to take place at the national Irish Draught Show in Mullingar on the 31st July.

Field Mushrooms

We have been finding mushrooms in the fields for the past week. Conditions must be right this year, as we have had none for the past 4 or 5 years.

So we have been having mushrooms on toast, Helen has made up batches of soup for the freezer and we're having spinach and mushroom lasagne for supper tonight!

Bring Home the Turf

The good weather in June meant that we were able to save the turf in record time, and get it home before the weather broke. It is a very labour intensive operation, and each sod will have been handled at least three times before it's safely in the shed.

The area of bog where we get our turf is not in an SAC, and has been cut for home consumption for generations.

All rowed up, ready for loading onto the trailer.

As the saying goes, turf warms you more than once!

Taking a well earned break

Bog Cotton growing wild in its natural habitat.

I grew up on the edge of the Bog of Allen, when it was unspoiled bog as far as the eye could see. Now it has all been drained and is all gone, except for those areas that are still in the hands of 'non-commercial turf cutters'. The rest having been compulsorly purchased by the State and used, as our only natural resource, to fuel our Power Stations!

The Minister for Environment John Gormley confirmed the ending of a ten-year derogation from an EU ban on non-commercial turf-cutting in certain Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

Thirty-two raised bogs, where flora and vegetation continue to grow, are immediately affected with a further 24 next year and 75 heritage areas in 2013.

Bailieborough Show

We won our Class at Bailieborough Show yesterday with our yearling filly Derrynagarra Bliss.

Washed, brushed and plaited-up ready for her class.

This was her first show and she took all the new things in her stride - the loudspeakers, the ridden horses, the cattle, the very blustery day.

The judges considering their verdict

Bliss in every sense of the word! Helen and Bliss with their first prize rosette.