Sallygardens Smallholding

Home Cured Chorizo and Salami

The salami and chorizo are both cured and ready to eat. It took roughly three months for them to air dry sufficiently. Every so often, when out getting wood, I'd have a quick grope of the sausages hanging from the roof. Once they were no longer 'squishy' they were good to go.

It's at this point that most first timer air dried sausage adventurers begin to doubt themselves, or rather their sausages, because the final product ticks all the boxes in the 'do not eat this if you wish to live' category. It is after all raw meat, raw meat that's been hanging outside and not in a fridge, for months. Add to that the fact that the sausage is wrinkled and mouldy. The mouldy hillocks range in colour from white, to grey, to blue, brown and black. Of course all the previous preparations have been done under very clean and hygenic conditions and careful informed decisions made as to what, if any, preservatives are to be used.

To give you an idea of what to expect here is a picture of our latest chorizo. It was delecious ... only 6 more metre long sausages of various flavours to go!

Air Dried Hams and Salami

The pigs are no longer foraging the front lawn. The lawn has been sown with wildflower seed and the pigs are now pork. As the previous air dried hams were such a culinary success we decided to make four air dried hams. You can never have too much air dried ham, it's an absolute delight. Similarly you can never have too much saussison or salami which is why we made less sausage and more salami this time too. The only problem is the waiting and salivating in anticipation. We shouldn't have too much longer to wait for the salami but the hams were so large it could be another three months before they are ready. However, it's most certainly worth the wait.

We hang the salami in a muslin lined chicken wire cage and the hams are wrapped in cotton pillowcases to deter scavangers.

 

So we are without pigs at the moment but hope to get more weaners in July which is good timing as it means we will have more pork to process in the Autumn. October is a great time to be working on pork. It means the weaners have been growing during spring and summer when wild food is bountyfull and the weather warm, so the extra foraging they do adds to their flavour and the concentrate feed we give them goes further as less calories are burn't off to keep warm. And ideally, in October, there are few flies and the weather is cool, ideal conditions for butchering.

Appreciating Resilience

One of the words that keeps popping up all through any permaculture book or website you'll dip into is 'resilience'. At first I didn't really appreciate the value of this word, and what it might mean for our own family, but as the economic downturn packs some serious punches the term is making a lot more sense. 'Resilience' isn't just a fashionable permaculture buzzword.

 

In a nutshell, whenever you look at your living space (indoors and out) you should always ask yourself the questions 'how can I utilise this space/item/object for more than one use?','if this breaks how will I continue ... is there an alternative source of water/fuel/food/shelter/cooking/travel etc?'. Whenever we add something to our life, our home or our garden I always ask how I'd cope without it, or what alternatives we could use instead. I walk around our house and garden and I look at how we've set things up. I ask all the same questions ... how would I water this polytunnel if the pump and automatic watering system failed, where would I source water if our water supply was to be cut off. Water is one of the first things to ask ourselves about. We are lucky to have a stream at the side of our property and a lake at the back, plus plenty of roof area to collect rainwater if needed. Another main area is fuel ... how would we heat our home if we couldn't afford oil, or travel to buy coal. Again, luckily we have a woodland plantation which provides us with heating fuel and so we rarely buy fuel these days. Cooking of food? What if electricity is cut off or we can no longer afford gas cylinders? One plan for this summer is to build an earth oven in the garden for such occasions. And as for food, what if the supermarket supply chain fails and there's no food on the shelves ... sourcing local markets or growers, and growing your own suddenly becomes much more than just a fulfilling pleasure.

Apart from being fun it also makes sense to build our resilience. With the global economic downturn I've suddenly felt the welcoming cushioning effect of all these little steps of resilience built into our lives, which up until now, I'd have barely acknowledged their presence. But they are there and we planned it that way, thanks to reading up on permaculture. At the very worst case scenario it boils down to survival, at it's current level it helps keep life on a steady and even keel. There is still food on the table and we know we have many of the resources we need on the doorstep in order to continue living the life we've been enjoying.

Of course we are far from self sufficient, but we've never aimed to be that. It's more about living sustainably, and building resilience into life is one little part of that.

Selecting Seeds for Spring

It's that time of year again when the seed catalogues arrive in the post. It's a great lift for the spirits to leaf through the pages and begin selecting whats to be grown this year. After a few months of pretty much nothing happening in the garden you can start to look forward to the beginning of the cycle all over again. It won't be long now until the seeds are placed in compost trays and their small green tips push up through to the light. The miracle of these tiny seeds growing so vigourously in the spring and summer seasons is always a thrill to watch ... and eat!

Sitting in front of a winter fire and discussing what varieties and types of plants to grow is always a pleasure and something to be savoured. This year we have quite a few seeds left over from last year which have kept well, so we don't actually have to buy a lot of stock.

One thing that's always tempting is to buy too many varieties of each thing, but  I've learnt to concentrate on a few items and try to do them really well, rather than become bogged down with tons of seed packets, which I'd never realistically be able to sow and grow!

The vegetables and polytunnel have always been my 'department' but now that I'm on the traditional Irish music course every morning himself will be learning to take the lead in the garden and I'll be his assistant when I get home. It's a good thing that we both learn the logistics of all the various farm areas.

So what are we sowing this year? A sample includes mange tout, sugar snap peas, dwarf purple, golden and green French beans, spinach, chard, courgette, sweet corn, kale, mixed salad leaves, pak choi, stir fry oriental leaves, onions, garlic, pumpkin, parsnip, carrot, potato, kohl rabi, brussel sprout, brocolli to name a few.

If you are starting out growing for the first time I have an eBooklet that gives advice on how to get started. The main points are to choose hardy and reliable plants so ensure success but also to start small with just a few items and add to that each year.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Learning From Horses

Getting horses has probably been one of the biggest decisions we have made, up there with starting a family and getting married. It's not something we have taken on lightly, we researched the idea by devouring books and internet websites and forums, talked to and visited horse owners, we took riding lessons and attended a few courses on horse handling and training. Of course you can do all of these things for years but you can't even begin to scratch the surface of the equine world without having some in your care and some carefully chosen guides. We are beginning to scratch that surface now.

At first we were all quite frightened, both the horses and the humans! Of course that's not the best scenario, but we all have to start our equine learning somewhere. It doesn't matter how many horses you handle on a course, they are all different and the chances of the horses you buy having identical personalities, insecurities or strengths of those you've previously experienced are virtually nil. That, I'm beginning to see, is part of the beauty of equines. They are as diverse in personality as human beings, and so the methods of teaching horses must be diverse enough to suit the needs of whatever horse you happen to become the guardian of. Owning a horse does not come without risk, it's a gargantuan and incredibly strong animal, and that's also something you need to weigh up.

Taking on these animals is a huge commitment both in terms of responsibility for their welfare but also in time and money. If we want these horses to be useful and happy working animals then we need to put in the time with them nearly every day, handling them, getting to know them, building a relationship with them and training them. It's a twenty plus years commitment. There have been times when I've seriously questioned what on earth we were doing getting horses, there have been people who have been wholly positive and supportive, there has been a minimum amount of undermining negativity and that led me to totally re-evaluate the whole idea ... I've been willing to admit if we were just plain stupid to take on such a massive commitment. Thankfully we have come through it with support and help from some amazing people who pulled us through with pure encouragement and belief in our abilities.

We are working with Sally and Conan at home with a trainer who visits us once a week for a three hour session and is pretty much available on the phone if we have problems in between.  Her approach is to train the owner to read and train the horse, so that when she leaves, we have the knowledge to carry on in the right vein. We fully intend to carry on doing our very best and if at any point we feel it's not the best approach for the horses welfare then we will re-evaluate again. But we are 100% in and thoroughly enjoying it and we are not going to throw in the towel without doing everything in our power to be good owners and trainers, we owe them that. Having said all that, I wouldn't encourage somebody else to do the same thing without first talking to them sincerely and honestly about the challenges we have faced emotionally in our journey to date. Keeping horses not only requires you to learn about horses, but also to identify and face up to weaknesses in yourself that need to be addressed. It requires you to delve deep into your inner strength and stillness, which can be frightening, because well, what if it isn't there? I've not only learned about how I need develop my skills and address my personal weaknesses to 'be' around horses, but also these skills have given me a level of personal development within myself and in my own personal relationships with people. I've not doubt there'll be a lot more to learning to do, a lifetime of it.

The approach we have decided to take is working wonders. It's neither a pure traditional or a natural horsemanship approach. It's a hybrid of many training techniques which takes on board the methods that work best from each school of thought and gives the most positive result in terms of experience for both the horse and it's handler. What we love most about this method is that the trainer, Cathy Griffin, comes to our home to teach us and she instills the confidence in us to feel like we can truly achieve a positive result and to choose from a range of approaches, choosing what works in our own particular case.

After six weeks we have come from being scared of these massive strong creatures which unsettled them, to loving the time we spend around them. We are seeing huge changes in our own confidence, and consequently theirs. Their behaviour towards us is evolving positively as we learn how to read their body language and act accordingly.  We are building slowly and steadily on our relationship with them and as our trust grows in each other we are achieving some great results and responses. It's all hard work and commitment and nothing of the nature I had imagined it would be like!

Sally is nervous and so we are generally working on her very gently. Our approach is not to teach her initially how to perform the tasks we ask of her perfectly, but to attempt to perform any response in a relaxed 'soft' way. That's our aim, to help her to soften up, relax, gain confidence and have fun. Over the last three weeks we have seen her relax and open up, it's wonderful. With that achieved we are now perfecting some of the movements we have taught her. She is a very fast learner and extremely sensitive. She will now perform some tasks by verbal command, and others with a point, or a gentle tap on the rope with my finger. This week Cathy has given us a specific thing to 'ask' Sally to do, which is a big deal for a horse as it leaves them feeling vulnerable and they must really trust their handler to put themselves softly into this position. She was able to demonstrate it on Conan because being young he has no trust issues or emotional baggage and did it immediately!

When we first got the horses I naievely thought 'ah, foal, cute, easy, cuddly'. I have learned quickly that being responsible for a foal is a serious business and a huge responsibility, whatever we teach, or fail to teach him now, will set him up for the life he will lead. It's up to us to make sure he grows into a safe and respectful animal. Conan is a whole other horse and totally different in comparison to Sally.  He is a young 7 month old colt full of the joys of life. He loves racing around the field, throwing his head, kicking and rearing. He wants to play! He isn't scared or nervous at all and performs everything with gusto but we just have to make sure he doesn't encroach on our personal space in case he can't help trying to 'play' with us, which would hurt! In two weeks he has gone from being a live wire on the rope to being respectful of our space and eager to be asked to do plenty of tasks. If we don't keep him busy in a training session he gets bored, after all he's only a kid, so we keep his lessons very short but interesting. He is full of spirit and a joy to be around.

Clothes Swap Party

On Friday  I went to my first 'ladies only' clothes swap party. It was just what I needed to add some cheer to these dark winter days. Three of us lift shared, all stuffed into the car amongst piles of clothes with  food offerings balanced here and there. When we arrived there were already some people at the party and a pile of clothes lay in the middle of the room. We threw in our contributions.

At first I felt a bit unsure about the etiquette. I mean you can't just dive at something that catches your eye, it's not like the January sales in Dublin! Everybody sort of visually scans the heap, then once you've seen something you like you kinda glance around the room to see if anybody else has honed in on it too. Then it's all very polite and there's a bit of chat about which one of you should try it on first. It was all very exciting as people went in and out to the bedroom, returning to display the clothes they'd put on. There were lots of  'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' as ladies strutted around looking fab. After a while a certain flow developed and everybody rummaged through finding things for themselves and offering suggestions to others. There was even some fab jewelery. It was worth tyring lots of things on because some clothes that looked drab on the floor were transformed and looked fabulous on a lady!

I brought five items with me and left with five. The clothes were lovely and I'm delighted with my swaps. It's great to have some new life in my wardrobe and to think I haven't spent a penny and the clothes have been recycled amongst friends. The few things that were left over will be brought to a local charity shop.  Everybody agreed that the night was great fun and we look forward to the next clothes swap.

We Are Horsey

It's been a very eventful week here at Sallygardens. Last Sunday our horses arrived and we were very excited to welcome them to their new home. We'd seen the mare at her owners three times; once by ourselves, again with a knowledgeable horse friend and finally we went to watch during the vet check. On all occasions she was respectful and never aggressive and we were sure she'd be right for us. We bought her from Tom Divine near Newtownforbes, Co Longford, who has a selection of lovely Irish cobs for sale that he breeds himself (087 7667091).

The horse was called Patch when we got her, but that didn't seem very ladylike so we renamed her Sally! Her foal is six months old and we've called him Conan. During the week that followed we hit highs and deep dark lows, we experienced self doubt, despair, helplessness and finally hope, understanding and optimism. I've cried several times in sadness and today I cried with relief and joy. Oh yes, the horsey world will teach you many things, not just about horses, but about yourself too.

The first two days were fantastic. I refer to them as the honeymoon period! Sally was gentle and respectful with no signs of aggression as we expected, but on the third day she nipped me. I was then on the look out for it again  and kept my elbow stuck out when I was near her so she'd knock into it instead of nipping me. Once I was in the courtyard with her we were fine together, but then she began to get nippy at the gate making it hard for me to get in. She began to pin her ears back when we simply approached the gate and yesterday she flung herself around to kick when we tried to enter.

Why should this happen? At the time I was very upset because I knew it was probably something I/we had done wrong. At some point she tested us and we missed it. She tested us because we are her new herd and she needs to know that we are strong enough to be the herd leader. If we are then she can relax and go about grazing and leave the stress of watching for predators and decision making up to me. Unfortunately I missed her 'asking' me and so she thought, 'damn, I have to be in charge'. A horse will much rather not be in charge but once they are it takes a bit of confrontation and strength (inner strength, not physical) to turn it around again.

Having had next to no previous horse experience various friends offered advice and came to help us with routine stuff. But it had become so bad that we didn't feel safe to enter her pen and so we called in expert help. Joanna Shaeffer of Natural Bridges Horse Training (087 3284251) arrived to assess Sally and within a few minutes she could tell us that she wasn't a headstrong alpha mare and that things would be ok again with a little work. After about an hour of work to make Sally safe and get her listening I went in a took control. On the lead rope she moved back for me, she moved her hind quarters away when I asked and presented to me head first. Finally she went out on a lunge line and turned in when I asked her.  I had to stand my ground because she hadn't previously let me be in charge of her so it was an education and a change for the both of us. If Joanna had not worked through it with her first I'd have been in trouble, she laid an easier path for me.

At the end of the hour Sally had turned from a horse that bit and kicked at the gate not letting either of us into her pen, to the horse she was when she first arrived ... ears up and happy to have a rub. At her previous home she was well cared for and she lived in horse heaven in the fields with little day to day human contact. She simply isn't used to being in the control of a human.  Now she needs to learn to pay attention to us and know that she is not in control of the new herd here, and that it's ok to leave that up to me.

We are to practice what we and she learn't today every day for the next ten days and then we may be ready to move on with more training. At the moment we are just laying down the basic rules to keep us safe in her proximity. Joanna told us Sally is likely to behave for a couple of days and then may test us again. So stay tuned. I'm optimistic that by the end of it we'll have a great horse ready to work with us and a great relationship too.

To say this week has been an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. Getting a horse has been like having our first baby, nothing anybody can tell you will prepare you for it. Life and priorities change and the sense of responsibility is huge but the rewards will come.

Sallygardens eBooklet Store

At long last I've managed to create a Paypal store which will make it easier for you to purchase our Sallygardens eBooklets. Instead of having to email me first to request a Paypal invoice you can place a direct order via this store front. Of course you can still use the old way, this alternative just provides another easier option . Look to the right hand side bar to find the store. Come on in and have a look around.

Learning How to Harness Train a Horse

Although we had already decided which horse breed we wanted to bring to Sallygardens we also needed to do something about the fact that we are total  and utter horse novices. It became apparent that a horse trained up to do the pulling ('driving' in horsey terms) of carriages/loads of wood/etc.  is an expensive animal. We began to look at buying a younger horse that could be trained a couple of years later but training costs are high and the animal has to go to stay where it's being trained for a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months at €120 per week. I just didn't like the idea of sending my horse away (and I didn't even have a horse!). I started to wonder what it is that people actually do to train a horse, it all seemed so mysterious and secretive, something that a layperson couldn't possibly ever contemplate doing themselves for fear of death.  We were warned off this idea by a lot of people.

Then I happened across something that has changed our entire approach. I got in touch with the ispca in Longford to see if they might have a horse suitable to foster that would meet our needs. Through that connection I was introduced to Vanessa Bee. She runs a variety of courses, one of which taught participants how to train their horses to drive. I was sure I'd need to be a highly qualified and experienced horse trainer to attend, but I was assured that novices were more than welcome. What's more I didn't even need to own a horse to do the course, for those of us without an equine, we were paired up with an experienced horse handler and an  ispca rescue horses.

I have to say I was very scared at first but after we'd gone over the basics of how to build a trusting relationship with a horse based on respect and confidence, it all began to make sense. The key to those things seems to lie in learning how to politely 'ask' a horse to do something and crucially, how to recognise a 'try' and give immediate reward.

The course I attended first was two days of Pony Power during which we learnt how to introduce a horse to a harness, rig it up to something to pull and get the horse to move forward and drag the object. There were three horses and out of those one was successfully pulling heavy logs out of a wood, another was happy to drag a tyre around a field (a similar sensation to harrowing) and the third happily wore the harness and long reined nicely from the ground.

Tilly being long reined, she has previous driving experience

But before we familiarised the horses with any new equipment we first had fun tying it out on eachother.  We actually learnt an awful lot about how it felt to be a horse, actually it can be quite confusing deciphering all those 'asks' via the long reins! We also trialed a few quick release ideas incase a horse became scared and we needed to drop the load without delay.

This is Maria of Gaia's Horse blog with Pepsi and Crystal watching with anticipation

This horse Pepsi had never previously had a harness on before. She excelled and really loved the work. You can see how proud she is of herself. Once Vanessa had long reined her for a while and she was sure Pepsi was happy with everything she did her first job ... pulling a log out of the woods, and she did it like a pro.

This horse is only 14.2 hands high, which is the threshold from pony to horse, so she is a small horse. However you can see she is strong, her leg bones are chunky, her chest is broad and muscly, her rump is large and rounded and her back is short in length. These are the attributes, along with a gentle temperament, to look for in a working horse.

The course changed my attitude to horse training. I'm sure that with a little more help we'll be able to train our own horse. Apart from my own revelations with regard to horse training it also became apparent that the ispca rescue horses were undergoing a very valuable form of rehabilitation. They were being transformed from horses that sought kind hearted folk to offer them a place to live quietly in a field, to being very useful farm animals that can be utilised for work ... but of course the folk who foster them still need to be kindhearted. I'll be revisiting the ispca in Longford soon and telling you more about each of the horses there that are seeking a home.

Launch of 'Keeping Chickens, A Beginners Guide' eBooklet

I'm proud to announce the addition of another ebooklet, 'Keeping Chickens, A Beginners Guide', to our collection. It covers everything from where to source poultry, which breed to buy to suit your needs, DIY or bought housing options, feeding and breeding. The ebooklet includes a section on plant fodder suitable to grow in and around your chicken run which is an approach that will save you money in terms of buying in food and also help do your bit for the environment by cutting down on the volume of feed you import to your home.

Keeping chickens can be incredibly rewarding and fun, but it's also a good way to take another step towards increasing your resilience to the changes in our economic communities. Producing food locally means you are less tied into the necessity to fork out yet more cash at the multinational supermarket. Anything, however small, that brings food production to your doorstep is a step in the right direction on many levels ; food higher in nutritional value, less food miles, local food for local people, a product with which you can barter in return for other food or services and perhaps surplus that you can sell to friends and neighbours. Children also benefit from learning about where food comes from and of course the responsibilities for animal welfare that go with taking care of any animal. Collecting your own fresh eggs in the morning is such a huge thrill, it never ceases to bring delight to our family!

Chickens aren't just for the rural setting, many people in urban homes are keeping a couple chickens in their garden for eggs. It's perfectly feasible and a wonderful addition.

Our ebooklet contains all the information you'll need to get up and running, it costs €8 via email or €12 via snail mail. We are also launching a new course of the same title here at Sallygardens so if you prefer to come along and learn all you need to know around the kitchen table please call to book a place (071 9632212). Courses run every weekend and cost €45 per person, places are limited to four per course, so book well in advance. You'll be cracking your very own home laid eggs into the frying pan before you know it!

Working Horse at Sallygardens

A few months ago we started researching the idea of getting a working horse to join us on our smallholding. We've pretty much been researching this idea full time since then. I've gone from not knowing anything about horses, other than what they look like, to having at least enough knowledge to consider what horse might suit our needs. We  considered various breeds such as the French Percheron, UK shire horses or Clydesdales and the Belgian Ardenne.

Finally we set our hearts on a native traditional heavy Irish Gypsy Cob. They are ideal because they've been bred to suit our wet climate and do well outside the year round.

This is a yearling colt 'Shruna's Boy', not fully grown, from www.gypsyirishcob.com
 

They are also economical feeders and generally  have a very gentle nature. The traits have been selectively bred into the gypsy horses by the Travellers for generations because this animal was just the thing they needed on the road... something that could survive outdoors and didn't need expensive stabling, something that could feed economically on the roadside grass, a horse strong enough to pull a family and it's caravan, and last but not least, an animal kind enough to be easily handled by the children of the family. It's all of these qualities combined that have made the Irish cob a horse that is bred extensively in Ireland and one which people from all walks of life seek out. When I was a child in Dublin these were the horses seen being ridden by inner city children, used to pull cart loads of vegetables into Moore's Street or coal to the housing estates. They were often left to graze the central reservations of the city roads and I'll never forget the excitement of waking up one morning to see a lost horse standing in our own front garden. Indeed their legendary gentle nature means that people from as far as the UK and US are now eagerly importing these gentle giants.

The horse itself is magnificent to look at, especially when the feather (lower leg hair) and mane is long and they are running or jumping with hair billowing out behind them in the wind. Yep, we got it bad! I apologise if this blog takes a bit of a 'horsey' turn for a while, I promise to try and balance things out with various vegetables and other smallholding animals!

And some very exciting news ... if all goes according to plan our very own Gypsy Cob is due to arrive here at the weekend. Stay posted for news.

Ripening Tomatoes

The polytunnel has well and truly finished it's summer flush. It's with a little regret that I mark the end of summer and the beginning of autumn by snipping off the remaining tomatoes from the plant. I bring them inside and hang them up in the south facing kitchen window, still on their vine. I think of summer time whenever I glance at them. The family just graze on them, picking them off as they ripen up. Delicious.

One way to encourage the green toms to ripen is to hang bananas amongst them, the blacker the better! A gas emitted by the banana speeds up the ripening process.  Another way to use up and green toms is to make a green tomatoe chutney or, as a recent visitor told me, fry them in butter.

Changing Seasons

It's all been very busy here lately and I'll fill you in on the reasons. First of all the last of our hard working wwoofers has left and we won't be having any more until the spring. With Christmas approaching Dan is now in the workshop making Hobby Horses for customers. He features in the November issue of Ireland's Homes, Interiors & Living Magazine and already has orders coming in through that. I've just been working on an Etsy Shop for him too but his order books are bound to be full quite soon.

We are also kept busy with running courses here at Sallygardens and because the subjects are varied we never get bored! Pig rearing for the table, goat keeping, keeping chickens, growing your own vegetables and a general smallholding visit are all becoming more and more popular, but with the way the economy is going I'm not at all surprised. With less cash in peoples pockets and rising prices the interest in providing for yourself, even on a garden scale, is getting more appealing by the minute. Luckily there's not too much to do on the gardening front here at the moment other than eat whats there, and there's still a lot. Dan planted about a hundred over wintering onions in the polytunnel a couple of weeks ago and we will also plant garlic before the end of this month.

Life is finding a new balance at Sallygardens because I've taken up a full time course which means I'm out of the house 'at shcool' five mornings a week. Our youngest started school too this September so Dan has the place to himself until after lunchtime. He says he gets loads more done without me around nagging him!!! The course I'm doing is Traditional Irish Music, I'm learning to play the fiddle as well as studying folklore, music theory and history ... and I LOVE it.

Reaping the Harvest

As autumn takes over many of the vegetables have reached the end of their productive season such as the tomatoes, French climbing and dwarf beans. Other crops are still bearing fruit, the last of the cucumbers are still in the tunnel, some runner beans are waiting to be picked as is a good crop of carrots that will last another few months.  Outdoors the pumpkins are at their best. As winter approaches Kale comes into it's own, the cabbages are being used and the leeks stay in the ground until needed.

The garlic and onions have already been saved are hanging in the kitchen.We haven't got a full years supply of these but as each season passes we add another vegetable bed so eventually there will be enough produce to tide us over for a full year, but one step at a time!

The Taming of the Pigs

Since the piglets arrived (and left, and arrived, and left again!) about a month ago we have been working on building a trust with them. Once it became apparent that they were too flighty to investigate the electric fence slowly but surely we had to take fast action before they decided to depart full time. We built a four foot high strong mesh fence with round posts roughly every meter. The mesh size was only a couple of inches, sheep fencing would have been useless because piglets are small enough to jump through the larger gaps.  Just above grass level and at pig shoulder height we strung around electric ribbon fencing. When the pigs were released into their new and improved enclosure they again made repeated runs at the fence for a good two minutes, but this time when they got pinged by the electric fence they couldn't just bolt out through it.

Once they calmed down they never went near the ribbon fencing again, and after two weeks turning the soil in their miniature 'training enclosure' we removed the mesh fencing. Four strands of electric ribbon fencing now contains them and can be easily moved around to new ground as they need it.

Why do we use ribbon fencing rather than wire fencing? Because a pigs eyesight isn't great, especially if they are are lop eared breed as the ears effectively act as blinkers, but they do learn where the wire is and avoid it. When the time comes to move the fencing, or the pigs, they won't want to cross the line where they've learned the ping exists. If you use wide ribbon electric fencing they can see it clearly and associate the ping with the ribbon rather than the area, so will readily move across the line once the fencing is removed. We find they might still need a little encouragement.

As you can see these piglets who ran the first few days are now well on the way to relaxing in their new home. We spend a few minutes with them during several sessions each day, not just at feeding times, so that they don't expect to always get food whenever we enter their pen.

A Plan for the Woodland

The oak wood plantation that came with our house is nearing ten years old and as part of the forestry scheme it was planted under we are now officially required to submit a management plan. Getting our medium and long term aims down on paper is something we wanted to do anyway and so to receive formal notification was a great motivator to get moving.

Having done some research on various management techniques the one that appealed to us the most was a continuous cover 'close to nature' approach. There are only two or three professional foresters actively practicing this technique in Ireland. We enlisted the help of forester Paddy Purser and rather than just ticking the boxes on the required official forms he agreed to come and spend a whole day with us and a friend in our woods training us in the first steps of 'close to nature' silviculture.

Although it piddled rain for the duration we were enthralled and hardly noticed being soaked to the skin. Paddy taught us how to prune, how much to prune and what to prune. He showed us how to select 'frame trees' which are the ones we will favour in the long term for the timber trade. We marked the frame trees with yellow tape, we also marked special interest trees with blue tape and in a few years time others will be marked with red tape for thinning. We identified small areas of poor quality trees that could be cleared to allow naturally germinating saplings grow and thrive, thus encouraging natural regeneration and increasing the biodiversity of the plantation. In our woods there are plenty of ash and sycamore saplings just waiting for a spot of sunlight to race up through the canopy. By allowing more species to grow the crop becomes more like nature intended and is consequently resilient to disease and natural disasters such as storms which can wipe out vast tracts of forests of a uniform age.

We had read up about so many of these practices and had even been on a brilliant 'close to nature' morning workshop but we still didn't have the confidence to get out there with our saws and just 'do it' in our own woods. After our day with Paddy we are now really excited about taking the woodland to heart, reading it's changes season to season and deciding how to manage it on the smaller scale. Our woodlands are full of possibilities for the future and we are now eager to take up the role of it's custodians. It will never be clear felled like much of the forestry in the landscape which apart from looking like a nuclear bomb has landed in the vicinity, also causes devastation to the ecosystem and the fundamental soil structure. Even when a mature tree is selected for felling from a continuous cover woodland the result of it's removal  is hardly noticeable.

On a larger scale Paddy recommended further species we could introduce to add more diversification but also to meet the requirements we have in the medium term as a family ; Cherry, Walnut and Sweet Chestnut for fruit, nuts and colour, Noble Fir for growing our own christmas trees, Holly for wildlife and decorative berries, Scots Pine because it's Dan's favourite tree and Ash for a fast growing firewood. Much of the prunings we are taking now and over the years are big enough to use as firewood and so we are immediately self sufficient in terms of our central heating with plenty of surplus; I've already bartered a wheelbarrow full of firewood in return for an evenings babysitting.  The prunings can also be used to make charcoal or greenwood house and garden furniture. When the time for thinning or extraction of faster growing trees comes we hope to have our own low impact working horse in the woodlands to work alongside the family and so avoid the need to contract in large scale high impact diesel fueled machinery. As we work through the decades the woodland will remain a tranquil and enjoyable place for all creatures, human and otherwise!

When we first moved here we thought the woodlands would just be like an extension of our garden, a place of amenity and a wildlife haven. Now we understand it's potential for being so much more whilst still maintaining it's initial appeal and functions.

Natural Horsemanship Courses

I'm delighted to promote the following courses which will be held at the ISPCA Centre in Co Longford, Ireland.

Positive Horse & Pony Power Workshop

 

ISPCA Centre, Co Longford
Thursday 18^th & Friday 19^th September
Trainer : Vanessa Bee of www.positivehorsemanship.co.uk is visiting Ireland
On this two day course we show people how to train their horse or pony to carry out jobs around the farm or smallholding saving fuel and helping them, and us, get fit! So often we turn to diesel power to carry out a task which could so easily be completed by a pony for no cost at all in money or environmental impact.  Do you have a fat, unfit pony bored in his field with nothing to do? Are you worried about laminitis? Would you like to do something fun and get fit at the same time?

Round Pen Course 

ISPCA Centre, Co Longford
Wednesday 23^rd & Thursday 24^th September
Trainer : Vanessa Bee of www.positivehorsemanship.co.uk is visiting  Ireland
On this 2 day course we examine types of ‘round’ pen be they square or round and explore the reasons behind using them. You will learn how to construct a simple round pen, when to use a round pen, how to use a round pen with different types of horses and how to work a horse on long reins and at liberty.

All courses cost €200 per place including lunch, tea coffee and snacks. A €50 deposit is required to book a place.

 To book a place contact Cathy Griffin ;

087 9378393. email cgriffin@ispca.ie

Rearing Piglets for the Table, Course Dates for 2008

The large black piglets are at last settled in and they are ready to accept visitors! For the next three months we will be running courses for people to come to Sallygardens Smallholding and learn how to rear a pair of weaners for the table. If you have between a quarter and half an acre of land you can very feasibly raise a couple of pigs by buying in some eight week old weaners and fattening them to roughly six months of age. Your pigs will be living a very happy and fulfilling life, free ranging and happily grazing on the land. There are many hardy breeds that can be kept outdoors all year round. Perhaps you have a piece of land to reclaim from rushes or scrub, why not let the pigs do the work for you and reap the benefit of delicious pork at the end of the job! Such benefits include home made sausages, salami, air dried hams and out of this world roasts.

On the course here we start with a cup of tea and a chat at the kitchen table about your own circumstances and hopes for family scale pork production. Then we go outside to meet the pigs and discuss what breed of pig would suit your needs best, where to source them, welfare, fencing, housing, transport, feeding, handling, legal requirements, the final days of preparation for the abattoir and a couple of tips for processing the pork.

The maximum number of participants on a course is four, that way we keep it friendly and informal and we have plenty of time to discuss your own situation and questions. Once you've done the course you are free to contact us with any further queries. You'll also receive a printed copy of our booklet  'Rearing Weaners for the Table, A Beginners Guide'.

Upcoming dates in 2008 include ;
Saturday 20th September 2.30pm
Saturday 11th October 2.30pm
Sunday 19th October 10am
Saturday 8th November 2.30pm
Sunday 16th November 10am
Saturday 13th December 2.30pm
In 2009 courses would probably run again from roughly April. Email me to reserve a place on the course.

Harvesting Herbs for Winter Use

During the summer months all the garden herbs and flowers grow in abundance and it's hard to comprehend that in the depths of winter most of these will have died back completely. In order to have a supply of herbs for cooking in  winter I like to harvest bunches and hang them up to dry. It also saves a fortune in buying dried herbs and you know nothing has been sprayed on the plants. It's best to pick these on a dry sunny day and that criteria in itself has indeed been a challenge to fulfill this year! I remove any leaves where the bunch is to be gathered together with an elastic band or length of string at the base because otherwise they'd go mouldy. Try not to make bunches too big so that the leaves in the centre aren't crammed together, it's important that air can circulate.

Hang the bunches up in a dry airy place. When the leaves are dry and brittle you can either tie a paper bag over the bunch, or for larger herbs remove individual leaves and store in airtight containers. This year I've hung sage, mint and thyme. I've also collected flower heads. Rose and pot marigold petals can be used in soap making, chamomile flowers in herbal tea and fennel or coriander seeds in cooking.

Positive Horsemanship

Since publishing a recent post about our decision to think seriously about getting a horse to work alongside us on our smallholding we've been contacted by quite a few people with information and advice. One of the things that has captured our attention (and our hearts) has been an approach called natural and positive horsemanship.

Rather than relying on just the traditional method which often involves dominating the horse, sometimes with harsh and heavy handed methods, a more gentle approach is used combining a range of techniques.  A trust is built up between handler and horse until eventually they are so in tune with each other that often merely thinking an instruction results in the horse obliging. Natural methods of care are also often favoured ; keeping horses in the field as nature intended rather than stables and keeping horses barefoot rather than shod. Barefoot doesn't mean simply not shoeing the horse, specialist care and trimming is still required but the method mimics that of horse hoofs in the wild.

At the weekend we were invited to a positive horsemanship demonstration offered by Liz of Metal Free Horse. Liz spoke of the struggle she had when she first took on her horse Magpie and how using ever more stringent equipment and methods were resulting in her horse becoming more and more unmanageable. That is until she stumbled across positive horsemanship. Pictures speak louder than words so just look at the trust and fun that beams out of this image! The demo and the people we spoke to afterwards was amazing.

To find out more about this gentle approach to horses visit Metal Free Horse or the eye opening Gaia's Horse in Ireland and Positive Horsemanship in the UK hosted by Vanessa Bee. Vanessa comes to Ireland on a regular basis to work with the ISPCA and also to teach courses, one of which I intend to go to myself. For a listing of courses coming up visit the Sallygardens Forum here.

Pigs Make A Grand Entrance (Followed by a Grand Exit)

Last week we were thrilled to welcome a new pair of Large Black piglets to Sallygardens Smallholding. We've raised quite a few for the table and so we had an air of confidence about us this time that only comes from a certain level of practical experience. At my age I now know that this first flush of confidence in any given relatively new activity is normally swiftly followed by a realisation, usually initiated by some form of unforseen disaster, that there's still a lot to learn. However, the anxiety of taking responsibility for pigs welfare had well and truly disappeared and this time around there was only pure excitement and anticipation of their arrival to enjoy to the full. We shut them in for a day to let them settle and then introduced them to their dwelling which had been lovingly fenced with not three but four strands of electric fencing just to be sure, to be sure.

The family gathered around to watch their first pensive explorations around their new pen.  Fresh water and a bountiful bowl full of feed awaited to entice them out of the confines of their 'safe' house. Sure enough two little black snouts appeared in the doorway a minute or two after it had been opened. One minute we were all going 'ah look, so cute', the next, pandamonium. One shot out of the door, out through the mains electric fencing and made straight for the garden gate. Luckily I'd shut it tight just as a precautionary measure, but we never thought for a second that the pigs would have any thought of escape on their little minds and that even if they did have an inkling the overkill four strand close gap fencing would keep a wild boar inside, never mind an eight week old weaner. I felt a moment of smugness as I calmly explained to Dan 'It's ok, I had the foresight to shut the gate'. Unluckily, at this point, the pig managed to squeeze out under the gate. He legged it up the lane and promptly disappeared through another gate into a field.

I got a fit of uncontrollable giggles, but Dan took stock and shut the second piglet back in it's house lest he felt the need to follow his companion. I managed to keep my eye on the escapee and could indicate to Dan just where it had gone. Hot pursuit followed across the field, up a hill, down a hill, across another field ... 20 minutes of chasing a pig at top speed was impressive but even Dan couldn't keep up the pace. It became obvious that an eight week old piglet is capable of running at precisely ten meters gap in front of a fit grown man, indefinitely, no matter how fast he quickened his pace.

I've heard an urban myth, that pigs can't swim. I know its an urban myth because after the 20 minute chase it then launched into a river, swam upstream for a bit, then swam along a ditch before scrambling up into a field across the valley. Dan returned for the van and sped off. A few minutes later I could just about make out his orange jumper ranging up and down the hedges on the far side of the valley. I went indoors and began to get on with the chores, certain we'd seen the last of this pig. I daydreamed about how we would be known as the people who let their pigs escape into the wild, oh the shame of it, and how the huge and dangerous boar would savage peoples gardens and vegetable patches in the years to come.

There was a knock on the door. A neighbour said casually 'Rebecca, there's a pig on the lane, I presume it's yours'! I could've kissed him. Sure enough there he was just standing there near our gate. Of course I could still see Dan at the other side of the valley, searching. The irony of it all. The piglet trotted off back into the field and I couldn't give chase, I had three small children to mind and taking them into a field with six bullocks to catch a piglet just didn't seem clever. I put out a few handfuls of feed, leading from the field gate to our garden.

An hour later Dan returned, he wasn't best pleased to hear piglet had been and gone again since his escapade across the valley. We decided it was time for a cup of tea.  While drinking it we watched two neighbours across the valley give chase in vain for half an hour to a small oblong black spot streaking back and forth. After tea another couple of neighbours came to check the bullocks. Our story up to that point provided them great entertainment and as we continued regailing the saga we all spotted the piglet emerge and cheekily trot up the farmers field, bold as brass.

Through what can only be described as a perfect feat of pigmanship, herding and joint co-operation including hand signals that the SAS would have been proud of, we ended up with the piglet being safely returned to its shelter. Huge sighs of relief were breathed, and shortly after and very large fence was built using 2inch wire mesh, round poles and two strands of electric fence. They still tried to escape but the the tough fencing along with the odd bolt has finally managed to contain them. After a few days of sweet talk they no longer try to run.  Instead stay to dig, forage and even enjoy, rather than tolerate, a good old fashioned back scratch.

Working Horses and Ponies

It's amazing what you can find on your doorstep when you start looking and people hear of your interest in learning about working with horses. I've just discovered a series of positive horsemanship courses given by Cathy Griffin at the ISPCA National Animal Centre in Co Longford.

Courses for September cost €200 and include Positive Pony Power on the 18 & 19th ; training horses and ponies to work on the farm and fields thus having fun, getting fit (horse and owner!), saving fuel and reducing carbon footprints. Email Cathy to book a place cgriffin@ispca.ie

As part of our quest to find a horse or pony to work with us at Sallygardens we've decided to have riding lessons! I'm hoping to discover a riding school that will take on all four of the family to have lessons together, that will be quite a challenge with the age range being from 4 to, well, er thirty something. We are all total novices so it will be an interesting journey, perhaps we'll rapidly change our minds when we come face to face with these enormous creatures!

E-booklet 'Small Scale Chicken Keeping'

Here at Sallygardens I've been working on a range of booklets available via email, hence they are 'E-booklets'. This keeps costs down as there's no postage, you simply print out the email attachment at your end. Also E-booklets can easily be amended and updated, thus kept right up to the minute with any new enlightenments (usually disasters!) and experiences we have with our own livestock!

We don't claim to be experts at any of this. What we do have on our side is the ability to remember what it's like to start completely from scratch, with no previous livestock experience whatsoever! Not knowing what to feed a pig, goat or chicken was hard enough to find out, but then we even had to find out where to buy it and how to enter the legal agricultural system. Then housing, fencing and breeding were all things that took quite an investment of time to research, not to mention finding the various channels available to buy livestock in Ireland. These booklets help to get you fast tracked and save all the footwork that we've already done.

The latest e-booklet I've written is about keeping chickens on a small scale, either in an urban back garden or on a smallholding. This level of poultry keeping is aimed at those who want to have a supply of eggs for the family, or some birds for the table. The e-booklet costs €8 and is 15 A4 pages long. If interested, please email me for a Paypal invoice to buy the booklet.

Ducks on the Smallholding

At long last we have finally got ourselves a lovely pair of Aylesbury ducks. Meet Rosie and Jim, although those names are still being argued about by the children and may be subject to change (one approves, the other doesn't)! They are only three months old so it will be next spring before breeding commences, fertile eggs are laid and ducklings waddle around.

Eggs and duck for the table aren't the only asset involved, indeed these are two positive extras, but the real reason we wanted to get ducks was to tackle the slug problem. Ducks LOVE to eat the slugs we HATE. So this is a match made in heaven. Keeping ducks around the smallholding can eradicate a slug problem but they must be fenced out from your garden and crops, because they also love to nibble plants, especially newly emerged tender seedlings. Our ducks have the freedom to roam around the outside of the polytunnel so any newly arrived slugs will not gain entry. They will also patrol the periphery of the raised vegetable beds and once beds are harvested they'll be allowed in to mine sweep all manner of beasties before we mulch or re-plant.

We considered several breeds and decided that dual purpose was the way to go ie a bird that gives a decent annual supply of eggs but also provides us with the option to eat roast duck. There are a few breeds of duck that in theory offer this, such as Muscovy (beauty is in the eye of the beholder!), Pekin, Cayuga or Rouen, and in the end it comes down to what you like the look of and what's available in your area. Most ducks these days are bred for their exhibition traits rather than their traditional ability to produce decent quantities of good quality meat so it can be difficult to find suitable utility birds for the table, however we shouldn't give up hope.  The smallholder can help to preserve specimens of  varieties in their originally intended utility form by selectively breeding heavier birds for the table, rather than for their looks. In the UK there are a number of breeders who are dedicated to resurrecting poultry for the smallholders use as opposed to the show ring.