Pure Rare Organics

Pure Rare Organics On tour, lending a hand on farms. Previously of the Walled Garden Helen's Bay, first CSA in Northern

Crop and tree trial (aka silvoarable / silvohorticulture aka fruit / nut trees with cereals / vegetables) is going prett...
31/07/2026

Crop and tree trial (aka silvoarable / silvohorticulture aka fruit / nut trees with cereals / vegetables) is going pretty well despite the lack of rain. We ploughed 1 May with an old Ferguson plough, then land levelled. Then added some compost, levelled and then BCS Two-Wheel Tractors rototiller to get a nice tilth. The plan was to direct drill with the jang but roller didn’t arrive in time so we broadcast on 8th May. Then, a trick I learned from Helens Bay Organic was to set the rototiller high and pass again to just about bury the seed which seems to have worked well. And sin é! Never watered or weeded. As can be seen the fat hen is pretty present in the wheat but oats and barley did great. You can’t see the rye as it lodged (fell over) after the last rain and was because we sowed too thick. Plan is to do a meitheal in the autumn to harvest and leave some as winter bird cover. Other interesting bits to follow!

Random early summer bits
28/07/2026

Random early summer bits

Hay 2026
28/07/2026

Hay 2026

Hedges; laying, transplanting, and coppicing.I sometimes think that hedge's days are numbered. I've never seen the attac...
21/05/2026

Hedges; laying, transplanting, and coppicing.

I sometimes think that hedge's days are numbered. I've never seen the attack on hedges there has been this last year. Brutal hacking, flailing or just stumping them out. Getting in the way of bigger and bigger machinery, too untidy, no productive value.

We forget though, that hedges in Ireland are mostly a human-made construct..lots grown to parcel land into taxable plots in the 17th and 18th centuries rather than the common land we had beforehand.

However, they were used to define townlands so some are ancient. And they inadvertently became the first type of agroforestry, combining trees with livestock. But their greatest benefit is that in many places, they are the last refuge of nature. Strips of native woodland within a sea of ryegrass.

Maybe a new type of agriculture is emerging where we plant blocks of woodland like is pioneering. Maybe we need to think differently rather than cling on to some idea of 'how things used to be'.

Here we had an overgrown, mostly blackthorn hedge, laid back in February.. hazel stakes to bind from an old hazel coppice nearby, woven together with spare, donated orange willow.

Cutting the heavy growth and laying took a day; gathering hazel, pointing and cutting to size plus collecting willow the same; then placing stakes and weaving probably about a day. A lot of work but is now stock proof, better for nesting birds and stimulated serious regrowth already.

We also wanted to make a new entrance but some hazel and spindle were in the way. So we cut them hard and transplanted. They have taken well and already regrowing (photo 11,12,13).

So before just hacking them to bits, there are other ways hedges can be managed, moved, or cut to still have value for us and nature.

Trees and hedge planting - late winter 2026400m of hedge planted and fenced, done different ways with biodegradable mulc...
19/05/2026

Trees and hedge planting - late winter 2026

400m of hedge planted and fenced, done different ways with biodegradable mulch and let grow naturally;
1/2 acre of mixed woodland/forest garden;
1/2 acre of Miyawaki forest planted by (last photo)

Big thanks to all who came and helped in all weathers!

Add to that the 3 acres of traditional and syntropic orchards planted last Feb/March, the place is really starting to take shape.

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Menton
06500

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