2 days in class

Yes! Above is the River Bandon which empties into Kinsale Harbor. The cloud, which Irish broadcasters might call "fierce" actually was - gum ball sized hail stones pelted us minutes before the picture was taken. Here we are planting birch, alder, and hazel in Michael's field (center right, blue attire). The field was occupied by British forces in 1621, it being the highest point for some distance. From it, they took stock of both Irish and Spanish positions, both of whom they routed. The Battle of Kinsale set Irish independence back decades if not centuries.





Asked if the plastic, which controls competition, would starve the new tree of water, I was kindly informed, "what?" Evidently 'drought' or anything resembling it is still something a non-traveler has only heard of, and maybe not even that. Suddenly for me, my lifetime in Seattle felt dusty.





This is Paul, our organic gardening instructor, demonstrating the function of a draw knife and his neat jig. He and two friends felled, hauled, and milled the trees/boards used in the house behind us. Timber framed houses are spoken of as an anomaly here, their virtues touted (year-round constructability, easy to insulate well, flexibility in design...). I think even the brick houses in the PNW are timber framed. I knew I loved wood. Save the damn forests! Gotta love steep undevelopable, sprawl-stopping slopes. While we are on the subject, if Washington state, with it's tall mountains and deep valleys, if it were stretched flat, how big would it be? And when we refer to it's area in square miles, are we being true? Does not the angled land get discounted or mismeasured? Does it really rank behind South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas? And how does it compare to Texas?

A day in the hazel coppice

Back in November we travelled to a woodland owned by Saul Mossbacher where we learned first-hand about coppicing by harvesting a crop of hazel.

Coppicing is the oldest form of woodland management. It essentially involves cutting the stems of the tree down to the stump. They then re-grow producing multiple stems, or poles.





Typically a coppiced woodland is harvested in sections or on a rotation. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland. Coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial for biodiversity. The cycle length (7-20 years) depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use to which the product is put. Not all tree species can be coppiced, only those that tend to sucker when cut.





In the case of hazel the poles are harvested approximately every 7 years and converted into a wide range of products including woven hazel fencing, rustic furniture, and poles for building things such as yurt frames.











Coppicing has the effect of maintaining trees at a juvenile stage, and a regularly coppiced tree will never die of old age. The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter, and some are so large (perhaps as much as 9 m or 30 ft across) that they are thought to have been continuously coppiced for many centuries. There is a growing movement in Ireland and Brittain to return abandoned coppices to rotation. Word travels among the 'interested' of a disused coppice that has been rediscovered, eyes widen and palms are rubbed together in hopes that a way can be found to remind folks of the forgotten value of a sustainably-managed woodland.













During harvest we sorted the poles according to size and straightness and bundled them for easier transport and sale.

Ponds and polytunnels

(The presentation room)




Another trip to West Cork, and outside the town of Ballingeary we found John Dolan's site. John specializes in designing and building ponds and constructed wetlands for domestic sewage treatment, aquaculture, frog production (read below), recreation, irrigation, and interestingly - as a frost deterrent. The picture above is of his yet to be completed house and the main pond on it's south side. He has just increased his solar uptake by almost 2x's. Below is his current quarters.





Here is John's polytunnel. Yes he does grow vegetables, but he also has a crash pad-loft, a functioning kitchen, and a meeting space. It's warm through the winter and the air is alive with flavor.





In a fit of creative thought, he increased the height of the structure by taking advantage of the rock outcrop behind the tunnel. If you look closely, you'll notice that the polytunnel is propped up and rotatated (circles don't lean?) towards the south.








This is John. Over the past ten years, he has been gardening on this naturally wet site and, as with many gardeners, he had a slug problem. They thrived in the wet environment and feasted on his young transplants. He pondered... and in time began noticing a few things: a predator-prey relationship, slug feeding behavior...He surmised that there was little chance of happening upon a single slug eliminating trick, he didn't feel that lucky. So he began to apply several tricks. He built raised beds and constructed ponds, together lowering the effective water table thus drying out the garden a little. He knew that frogs prey on slugs, and there were a few frogs on the land. So he set about about creating a tadpole-boom by mimicking and multiplying their floating spawning mats. He grew raptor-protection cover plants at pond's edge, and built pond edges that allowed frogs to escape if necessary. And for the slugs that escaped the frogs, just before and during the transplanting of his young food plants, he feeds the slugs what he calls "junk food balls," crumpled up balls of semi-decomposed kale and comfrey. The slugs turn out for the event and feast. It makes slugging easier, and importantly, they leave the young plants alone. Finally, for those slugs that have weaved their way though the hurdles, John probably offers a hearty congratulations, and let's them be, adopting the theory that plants when nibbled upon produce antioxidants, which makes them healthier to him and his friends.

Kinsale Community Garden

This is Kinsale's community garden. Established in front of a row of former barracks a few years ago, it has been managed by a rotating group of energized folks. Locals from the neighborhood and around Kinsale congregate every Sunday to dig, plant, mulch, weed, and socialize. Today there is a soup and planning session. The garden is affiliated with Kinsale's Transition Town.







Several weeks back, a few of us got together to haul straw and manure to the garden. Our friend, classmate, and local farmer-accountant, Michael Barry supplied the the raw materials, hydraulic power, and 1/3 of the muscle to get the stuff across town.











Michael, Ollie, and Ollie's son Dylan, after the morning flurry of work.

Smoking fish and tasting honey

Tim Rowe came from West Cork arrived to talk about smoking fish and beekeeping. He showed us how to build a smoker quickly with materials around the college (blocks, sand, wood chips...). Once the burning wood turned to coals, we applied doug fir chips and began to damper down the fire - making sure to plug up the leaks with sand. The fire was positioned lateral to the fish so that only the smoke and not heat would cook the meat.











We used Whiting, not because it was the best fish but because it was what was available. Typically you would want to use a more oily fish like mackeral or herring in Ireland.







A bit too salty but still good!







Tim runs his own bee farm in Ballylickey, where he gathers and produces absolutely delicious honey! He is also very involved in conducting surveys on the loss of bee populations in West Cork due to Colony Collapse Syndrome. A great book recommended by Tim that outlines the current plight of the honeybee is "A World Without Bees" by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum.

Permaculture in action

A visit to our instructor's property at Derryduff Mor near Bantry. Graham has had the 4 acre plot for over 7 years.
Here is his cordwood roundhouse with attached greenhouse. Our meeting place for the days activities.




An overall view of the property that lies above the flood plain of the Coomhola River. The red-roofed house in the background is Graham's home.






Madeline (France), Eileen (Cork), and Ann (Cork) working on gathering seeds.









We didn't get to see this is action but it is a wood bending system. You would stick a pole into the pipe and add water then light the fire to steam the pole. Then remove it and start turning it around the wheel to shape it.








Patrice (Quebec) and I working on trellising.







Stella (Germany) using a draw knife to peel stakes.