A Trip to Save Turf on the Bog

Our Wwoofers from New Zealand are wonderful people, they have settled in well and a lot of extra work is getting done. Last week we all went to help our neighbour save some turf from the bog (or 'bawg' as they say in Leitrim). Turf has been used for generations by many Irish rural dwellers to heat their homes. It's a concept that proves difficult for visitors to get their heads around .... burning slices of earth! These days turf is no longer cut by hand, instead it's scooped up by a digger into a large mixer then squirted out in lengths along the ground. Our job was to stack the turf 'sausages', a task called Footing. The Footings are built with wide gaps which allows air to circulate and dry the turf. It's then either taken home and stored for winter or built into close fitting large Clamps (seen in the background of this photograph) in a manner that allows rainfall to trickle off the surface. The structures themselves are quite beautiful and remind me of the beehive huts on the Skellig Islands.

With four adults and three children we made short work of five rows and managed to Foot what would take an individual a whole day within an hour. There was a spirit of competition as each person took a row to themselves and a little bit of distraction tactics were employed with some keen contestants chucking bits of turf at the each other. As usual Dan won and I came last!

When the work was done we took leave to what is akin to the 19th hole for golfers. In our case it was O' Callaghan's pub in Mohill for a swift rehydrating lunchtime Guinness. Like many of the traditional pubs it's not just a place to drink but also a grocery shop, as you can see by the tea bag display in one window and horse tackle in the other.

As a child my Father and I would play a game when walking through Irish villages called 'Guess the Shop By What's In the Window'. Not as straightforward as you might think. I remember on one occasion we saw a shop front which contained a ball of string and a jar of sweets. It turned out to be an Undertakers (funeral parlour) and a pub. In the countryside people often diversify their shops in order to survive eg estate agents and car spare parts under one roof.

You'd think that at my age I'd know a pint at lunchtime means the rest of the afternoon is spent in an unproductive lazy stupor, but sometimes that's the best way to spend a day.

Comments

[Michael Connolly]

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoy your blog. It's a grand pleasure to hear about the simple life that you are living.

[Tania]

Good work. Love the picture of the little one. Every girl needs a pink hat to go with her wellies, after all!

Tania

[Terra]

I love the pigs in the photo at the top of this blog, and your wonderful efforts at living an ecofriendly lifestyle.
I will be back.
I used to write for Hobby Farms Magazine, which has lots of useful info; that is great you are writing books and the blog to share what you learn.
Hi from California

[Maddy]

I never fail to learn something when I come to Sallygardens and today is no exception. Shops that double as pubs and undertakers, now there is a thought!

[Lisa Z]

This is so fascinating for an American--to see how peat is made into burning "logs". My one question: does the peat/turf regenerate every year? How do you not run out? Or does the bog eventually get depleted? It's all foreign to me, though of course I've read of this in my Celtic books, etc.

Thanks, Lisa in Minnesota, USA

[Rebecca (Sallygardens Smallholding)]

Hi Lisa, yes the bog is becoming depleted and thus a difficulty arises in the Irish landscape. How do the authorities tell people who have had rights to cut their own fuel for generations that they are no longer allowed to do this? Some have given up their rights to cut turf, having accepted compensation a couple of years ago, but now with the cost of oil soaring the compensation is fading into insignificance, and cutting turf is coming back into favour. The turf, like oil, is not a renewable resource, at least not in our lifetime, it has taken thousands of years for the bog to 'grow'. There are unique plants and animals that live there, so some is being preserved.

[Wingo Stoverman]

...Just in from the bog, footing mah turf. First time. Back breaking labour, but will never look back on heating my home at 300euro/month during the winter months, again.
Good blog, lovely photos.
Thanks.