Chickens & Eggs

 During the winter we have enough eggs for ourselves, but as the days begin to lengthen and spring approaches the hens start to lay again in numbers. 

We use them in all their forms, boiled, poached, scrambled and fried. Transformed into omelettes and pancakes. We make lemon curd and bake; for ourselves, our friends and our guests.

We have about thirty hens of mixed breeds.

We also have alot of foxes, so our hens live in a large fenced off area, and have a house to go into at night.

 One of the hens will go 'broody' as the season progresses and she will sit on about a dozen eggs which will in due course hatch and join the flock.

The eggs range in colour from off white, through to brown, speckeldy and even green depending on who laid them.

Hedge Planting

As part of our participation in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme we have to plant hedges. So far, over the last ten years, we have planted 560m of hedge. It is mostly whitethorn with a mix of guelder rose, holly, beech and blackthorn. We have also dotted some trees within the hedgerow, mainly oak and Scots Pine.

This year we had a further 215 meters to plant.

First of all an old fence had to be removed.

In the background you can see a hedge we planted about 8 years ago.

Then it was out with the Weed Dragon, to burn off any dead vegetation, and kill grass and weeds where the new hedge is to be planted.

The hedge was supplied and planted by Ramor Landscaping and all 215 meters was planted in a day.

It was planted on a nice bright day in February and was well watered-in by a down pour the following day!

Potholes!

From the dizzying heights of our Radio debut last week, it was back to earth with a bang yesterday when we spent the morning filling in potholes!

The avenue, which serves both the farm and the house, has taken a severe pounding this winter and if we don't get to them in time the potholes get bigger and bigger!

With Helen driving the tractor......

........ and me on the end of the shovel ......

...... we had it sorted out in a few hours!

Job done....for another while at least!

Irish Moiled Cattle Photographs

If you heard us on CountryWide this morning, with Ella McSweeney, talking about Moiles and were wondering what they looked like, here are a number of photos taken on the farm throughout the year!
Our animals are all DNA typed and parentage proven. As we mentioned to Ella they are all named, and carry our registered prefix 'Derrynagarra'

Derrynagarra Patricia

Derrynagarra Gwen

Derrynagarra Viola

Gwen with here calf Patricia, 4 weeks old

Helen's favourite photo

'The Bull McCabe' wishing he was in his field!

Christopher's favourite Moile photo

Derrynagarra Hilda

Twelve day old calf

Chewing the cud

Derrynagarra Viola

Two day old calf.

The snow and freezing temperatures were of no concern to 'The Bull'

McCabe drinking through the ice

Gorse

We have a patch of gorse in the field at the back of the house. It surrounds what we believe to be the quarry where the stone for our house and buildings originally came from. It has been gradually encroaching into the field, as gorse does, but now the EU have decided that it is ungrazable land, and therefore must not be included in land area calculations.

And so it has to go. It's not the end of the world though, gorse being gorse it won't be long before it starts to come back, and we have left a band of blackthorn and trees, so after we have reseeded with grass it will look pretty good.

And so digger driver extraordinaire John McCabe, of McCabe Contractors  arrived on a cold dry day in January and took it all out, leaving the ground ready for a quick harrow and reseed once the ground temperature warms up.

We had considered doing it by hand but were very glad we didn't!