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Author: cloughjo
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Spring 2021 Newsletter
Our new Spring 2021 Cloughjordan Community Farm Members Newsletter is out now – Click here to download
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Tar Abhaile (Grow hub), A Taste of the Wild Side and SpeakEatsy, 02nd November 2019
‘Tar Abhaile’ at Cuan Beo, the Community Farm’s recently established Grow Hub.
11.00 – 17.00 I Cloughjordan Community Farm
· Herbal tea bar: Rachel and Jeanne will be offering warming autumnal teas to enjoy on site, and custom blends to take away.
· Harvest Soup: Enjoy a bowl of tasty fresh soup prepared on the campfire from our farm veg which we hope to harvest on the day with participants, weather permitting.
· Mandala in the polytunnel: Nature, art, pattern and ritual. In our Mandala space in the polytunnel Lian will explore eco-printing and create a combined artwork marking the onset of winter.
Plant Sale all day on Sun 3rd Nov: this sale is to allow people to buy a useful souvenir from their day and to raise funds for our Grow Hub. Will, our Hub’s land steward, will be on hand on Sunday to offer planting and growing advice.
A Walk on the Wildside of Cloughjordan Ecovillage
16.00 – 18.00 I Leaving from the Community Farm Cuan Beo Tunnel. (Near Step Rd Entrance)
A walking conversation with Mary Reynolds, Deirdre O’Leary, and Rachel Hussey to some of
the wildest corners of Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
Price €10 – Very Limited Places – Tickets from Sheelagh na Gig Bookshop – Leaving from WeCreate
SpeakEATsy – A Taste of the Wild Side19.00 – late I WeCreate
A convivial evening with a delicious Meal by Night Orchard with Cloughjordan Community Farm produce. After dinner conversation with Ella McSweeney RTE, BBC) and Mary Reynolds. Mary is a nature activist, reformed landscape designer, author of The Garden Awakening. Performance poetry with Mel White (XR) Music from Deirdre O’Leary (Crash Ensemble). Film and photography from Eoin Campbell (XR) and dancing with Anacalypsis and Pressure Drop DJs.
Places strictly limited to 60 – €40 Remember it is a bring your own bottle event.
BOOKING www.cultivate.ie
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Elements of Change Festival, Sat 29th June 2019
With the challenges facing us, many movements, organisations and individuals are calling for sustainable change. Alongside global movements what can we do to ensure our local areas are healthy, resilient and support our wellbeing? How can we connect to have meaningful work, local food and energy, and for our communities to be a positive force in these critical times?
Let’s come together to rethink what actually sustains our communities and what these diverse elements of change can look like.
View/ Download Poster
Facebook event
This family-friendly festival weaves a spectrum of elements together for a unique programme of events. From scheduled workshops to Open Space, from walks and talks to collaboratively walking our talk and from musical treats to revolutionary feats – counter the culture of passive audience and bring this community festival to life!
About
Ticketing & what to bring
Keynote speakers and performancesCome on the train (the programme matches the timetable) and bring the whole family for this inspiring event – there will be programmes for all ages! This festival focuses on communal collaboration and as a participant of the festival you are the community!
Be part of the discussions, offer a workshop in Open Space slots, let your children inspire you with their own programme, bring an instrument or talent, get involved in a meitheal, host your own conversation cafe, mingle in the diversity of the festival and then share your insights!
“If we wait for the governments, it’ll be too little, too late; if we act as individuals, it’ll be too little; but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.” -Rob Hopkins, Transition Towns Movement
Featuring voices and vocals from:
Rob Hopkins | Lorna Gold | Kiruu | Mel White | Dave Rock | Branwen
and more…
Rob Hopkins is an activist and writer on environmental issues, based in Totnes, England. He is best known as the founder and figurehead of the Transition movement, which he initiated in 2005. Rob will join us for a community conversation on the amphitheatre as we discuss the movements of our times and how we can collectively reimagine what we’re moving toward.
Lorna Gold is a Scottish-Irish academic, climate campaigner, author of Climate Generation and also a mother of two boys. Deeply concerned about our children’s future, Lorna has been heavily involved in the #SchoolStrike4Climate and #FridaysForFuture movement.
About:
“Change” in the context of our modern way of life is not a new conclusion, and sustainable living has long been the pursuit of individuals and communities in response to the challenges we face. Many movements are calling for rapid change to ensure a harmonius future… though what that future could look like needs to be as inspiring as the movements that take us there!
For a community to sustain itself in meaningful, nourishing ways – to foster wellbeing, collaboration and creativity while coming together as a force for positive change – calls for a broader understanding of what it means to be a ‘sustainable community’. It takes much more than a low-impact lifestyle (although low-impact living is still a core element), it takes a healthy culture, a sense of belonging, personal and communal wellbeing, play, shared work and celebration and more to actually create and sustain a community, a network or a movement of people.To make the shift from ego-system thinking to eco-system living, we’re calling for us all to come together and to not just build collective resilience, regenerative cultures and purposeful livelihoods… but to celebrate what’s involved in creating that! We want to reimagine a world and culture that helps us respond creatively and appropriately to the threats of climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity and species extinction, mental and physical health epidemics, fossil fuel energy dependence, the housing crisis etc…
Not to lose sight of the dire situation or urgency of action that’s needed but this is a once-in-a-species opportunity for massive systems change – to reimagine a holistically sustainable future! Let’s not let a good crisis go to waste.
“Art is not a mirror held up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.” -Bertolt Brecht.
Tickets and what to bring:
Children aged 6 and under are free and family tickets can accomodate two
adults and up to three children between 7-15yrs.
Sorry teenagers, we know you’re not ‘children’, it’s just a ticketing term!Adult €35
Young Adult (16-23yrs) €20
Children (7-15yrs) €10
Family (2 Adults, up to 3 Children) €75Zero waste, sustainable transport and a local economy are all core values so we strongly encourage you bring your own crockery and to come by train (or car-pool if you must drive – limited parking available) and enjoy the delicious food on offer from our ecosystem of growers, chefs and artisan bakers!
The programme allows for arrivals and departures on the train so please consider leaving the car at home.If you have ideas of other ways (great or small) that you would like to get involved then get in touch with aaron@cultivate.ie
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Feeding Ourselves 2019 conference – 23rd March 2009
COMMUNITY REVITALISATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE APPROACHES TO FARMING AND FOOD.
WHEN: SATURDAY 23rd MARCH 2019
WHERE: WeCreate Workspace & Cloughjordan Community Farm, Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary, Ireland
Feeding Ourselves is the annual conference that brings together agro-ecological farmers, community food advocates and anyone with an interest in good food, good farming and community revitalisation.
The focus this year is on you! This year we want our annual gathering to be all about the participants and our collective contributions – WE are the people we need to hear from!
This is the event for you if you want to help with or are interested in:
- Rural revitalisation
- Community supported agriculture
- Regenerative soil practices
- Threats and opportunities of digitisation on agriculture and rural spaces
- Climate disruption
- The Common Agriculture Policy
- Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
Discover how a cooperative approach can strengthen and build more resilient and sustainable food systems, while at the same time supporting our communities and local economies.
Case Studies, presentations and breakout discussions will be held on topics such as, Community Supported Agriculture, Food Hubs and other local supply and distribution systems.
Make a weekend of it and stay over. There will be film screenings, a convivial community meal with compelling conversations, and music on the Saturday night. On the Sunday, there will be an open day with walks and activities on Cloughjordan Community Farm.
If you want to create and support jobs in your area, help secure your food supply, are part of a community that wants to strengthen its local economy, or are a grower looking for a rewarding and potentially profitable way of supplementing your income, come to Cloughjordan where we’ll plan it all together.
Organised by Cultivate and Cloughjordan Community farm, with funding support from NOTS, UCC’s Centre for Co-operative Studies, ARC2020, GROW Observatory, Night Orchard, Food Sovereignty Ireland, and CSA Ireland.
Cost:
National Organic Training Skillnet is co-funded by Skillnet Ireland and member companies. Skillnet Ireland is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education & Skills. Therefore, the fees for this event have been reduced.
Please note when you register your booking through NOTS, there is a drop down menu for you to select your ticket type.
- €65 – Full day Sat & Sat Evening Event
- €50 – Saturday Day Ticket (including Lunch)
- €40 – Sat Day Ticket (excludes Lunch & Evening Event)
- €15 – Saturday Evening Event: “In Our Hands: Seeding Change”
The above are the NOTS funded rates and are only available through PAID advance bookings.
Please note, if you do not wish to recieve the NOTS funding rates, full prices will apply on the day at Cloughjordan. ( See below)
- €87 – Full day Sat & Sat Evening Event
- €67 – Saturday Day Ticket (including Lunch)
- €53 – Sat Day Ticket (excludes Lunch & Evening Event)
- €20 – Saturday Evening Event: “In Our Hands: Seeding Change”
IN OUR HANDS: SEEDING CHANGE
Farm Meal, Film and Conversation. Saturday 23rd March 19.00 – 22.00Join us for a convivial evening celebration of small scale farming and community food production in the context of climate disruption.
We stand on the brink, the future is uncertain, but the seeds of a better food system are quite simply … In Our Hands!
All change begins with a story and In Our Hands is the story of the farmers who, through hope, and hard-graft are refusing to be victims of history.
This evening get together after the Feeding Ourselves conference will include a screening of a documentary by the UK Landworkers’ Alliance and Black Bark Films, telling the inspiring story of real life farmers taking on the might of the industrial food system and taking back control of their lives, the land and their communities. This will be followed by a Community Farm meal, singing and poetry, and a compelling conversation with farmers and activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement.
- 19:00-20.00 Film
- 20.00-21.00 Shared Meal
- 21.00-23.00 Conversation with Talamh Beo and Extinction Rebellion.
We stand on a brink, but the future is still In Our Hands
PLEASE INDICATE IN THE SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FIELD IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS SUCH AS VEGETARIAN OR VEGAN.
Accommodation:
Very affordable accommodation is available in Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
To book Django’s Eco-Hostel see www.djangoshostel.com or call +353 87 256 9348.
FARM FLICKS. SYMPHONY FOR THE SOIL – Friday 23rd MARCH – 20.10 – Please note, this event is not supported through NOTS. Please book directly with Cultivate. For further information see www.cultivate.ie or contact info@cultivate.ie
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On Farm Seed Saving Course – 5th October 2019
Cloughjordan Community Farm is now offering a new set of half day and full day Farm-Based Seed Saving courses with open pollinated heritage seeds.
This is a practical, farm based seed saving course, based on selecting from the best varieties you already grow. Importantly, this course teaches seed saving without the requirement for on or off farm fridges.
Course Tutor:
Kevin Dudley has been involved in seed saving and sustainable agriculture for many years, and all over the world. His seed work has taken him from the Irish Seed Savers in Clare, to Koanga seeds in New Zealand and an ecological horticulture qualification from the Centre for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems University of California Santa Cruz.
Course Content, Saturday 5th October: BOOK NOW
- The course will cover onion, lettuce, brassicas, tomato, parsnip and courgette.
- Selection, saving, harvesting, processing, storing, overwintering and assessing.
Learning Outcomes
- Understanding types of seed and family identification in an open pollination, farm-based context.
- Understanding how to place, plant, pollinate and observe your crops.
- Knowling best practice in selection, saving, harvesting processing, storing, overwintering and assessing your crops.
Course Cost:
Please note when you register your booking there is a drop down menu for you to select your ticket type.
- Course Fee €50 (excludes lunch)
- Course Fee with lunch €60
PLEASE INDICATE IN THE SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FIELD IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENT SUCH AS VEGETARIAN OR VEGAN.
Course Venue:
Cloughjordan Community Farm, The Eco Village, Cloughjordan, County Tipperary.
Cloughjordan Community Farm is a member owned and operated horticulture smallholding in the Irish midlands. About 75 members (plus their children) are supplied with agroecologically produced vegetables twice weekly. Members pay the farmer’s wages and for all requirements via a monthly sub.
This project is supported by The Heritage Council.
The Heritage Council logo displayed in accordance with guidelines.Irish Seed Savers
Cloughjordan Community Farm is a guardian for the Irish Seed Savers Association who conserve Ireland’s special and threatened plant genetic resources. Their work focuses on the preservation of heirloom and heritage food crop varieties that are suitable for Ireland’s unique growing conditions. They maintain Ireland’s public seed bank with over 600 non-commercially available varieties of seed.
http://irishseedsavers.ie
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SpeakEATsy: Soil & Climate Action, Sat 8th December
An evening of food, art, live music, poetry, DJs and dancing as part of the Global Green Christmas Party and World Soils Day. This unique event includes a sumptuous local meal, acoustic music, spoken word and a public conversation in a convivial festival setting, resonant of our set up at the Electric Picnic.
With sweet sounds from local singer songwriter Nicantsaoi, The HQs – a family folk band who have developed their own combination of folk blues and hillbilly funk to form a unique harmonic sound that will blow your mind…plus gypsy jazz and swing from the Cloughtown Swing Band. Delicious food from the Community Farm and local producers, prepared by Johanna at the Night Orchard.
A conversation on the topic of healthy soil and climate change with Dr Oliver Moore and Cara Augustenborg, live poetry curated by Mel White and global beats from DJs Pressure Drop and Anacalypsis complete the aesthetic.Tickets are limited – Book now at www.cultivate.ie
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Farm Heritage Day – Working Animals on Farms, 22nd Sept 2018
Joining Cloughjordan Community Farm’s Pat Malone and his working horses are Eamon and Gereldine McDonagh (Bovine demonstration), Harry and Mona Bartlelink (Horses and potato harvesting) all day on Saturday 22nd September 2018 on Cloughjordan Community Farm.
The day will be a meeting of the Irish Workhorse Association after event and a 10 year celebration of Cloughjordan Community Farm. Feile Na n’Ull – the Apple Festival event is also taking place on the same date, same place, which sees a range of apple related events in Cloughjordan.
For more information contact Pat Malone on (089 2584326)
www.cloughjordancommunityfarm.ie
Facebook/cloughjordancommunityfarm
Cloughjordan Community Farm, Cloughjordan Ecovilllage, Co. Tipperary -
Feile na n’Ull, Apple Festival – 22nd September 2018
The 3rd annual Apple Festival and Community Fair takes place in the ecovillage at Cloughjordan. This festival, which coincides with the European Day of Sustainable Communities, celebrates the yield of apples, those that tend to the trees, who work the land and those who create delicious food.
The day features a number of talks, workshops and activities that are open to the public.
Highlights include delicious local food stalls, an apple baking contest, tours around the ecovillage, its orchards of heritage apples and a Heritage Day highlighting working animals and seed saving on the community farm.
It has been a great year for apples and at Féile na nÚll there will be a chance to get them juiced. Bring your apples for mashing and pressing and, if you have an apple pie or tart recipe you are proud of, consider entering the Apple Bake contest.
In the evening there will be a celebratory shared meal and open mic night for the Cloughjordan Community Farm 10th Anniversary Birthday! Bring a dish to share and an instrument to play!
This exciting programme of special events kicks off at 11am in and around the WeCreate enterprise centre, which is located off the Shinrone Road entrance to ecovillage.
Schedule11.00 – OpeningStalls and apple pressing open outside WeCreate.Entries for Apple Bake Contest can be checked in from 11 until 3.30.From 11 until 4 – Community Farm Heritage Day – Working Animals on FarmsJoining Cloughjordan Community Farm’s Pat Malone and his working horses are Eamonn and Geraldine McDonagh (Bovine demonstration), Harry and Mona Bartlelink (Horses and potato harvesting)11.30 – Workshop – WeCreate Classroom
We Need To Talk About Basic Income.
A basic income is a payment from the state to every resident on an individual basis, without any means test or work requirement. It would be sufficient to live a frugal but decent lifestyle without supplementary income from paid work and will play a central role in a modern, flexible economy. Delivered by FEASTA and Basic Income Ireland.13.00 – Exhibit – WeCreate Main SpaceIntroduction and exhibit on the Sustainable Development GoalsA short presentation by Davie Philip of Cultivate on the 2030 Agenda and local projects addressing the global goals.13.30 – Introduction to Seed Saving – Cloughjordan Community Farm
A short practical workshop on the importance of saving seed with Kevin Dudley.14.30 – FabLab Introduction – WeCreateVisit the WeCreate FabLab and hear what it is all about with Ben Whelan. A fab lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop offering digital fabrication, which is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools with the aim to make “almost anything”.15.00 – Ecovillage Presentation and Food Tour – WeCreate Main SpaceThe story of Cloughjordan Ecovillage presented by members of the Ecovillage Education group followed by a tour of the allotments and RED Gardens (Research gardens), the apple tree walk, the Stop Food Waste composting area, the community farm and community woodlands.16.00 – Apple Bake Judging16.30 – Music from local singer songwriter ‘Nicantsaoi’ celebrating the release of her new single “The Apple Walk”17.30 – Closing – winners of the Apple Bake announced.19.30 – Shared Meal in WeCreate celebrating the Community Farm’s 10th Birthday.Bring a dish to share and an instrument to play!
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More than vegetables! A photo essay of soil, cover crops and good old farm yard manure.
While what we grow is mostly vegetables, there is lot more to our farm than the edible plants we grow. How we produce our vegetables is important too – we manage the land with a long term vision, so it’s in the best shape to keep producing food into the future. And we do so without harmful inputs – mineral fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides – because of the damage these things do. We care about the soil and about biodiversity, for lots of reasons. Below are some recent pictures of the stuff that’s not vegetables.
This is a four plant cover crop. It consists of fodder radish, mustard, rye and coltsfoot grass. This entire field is covered in this cover crop to help build the soil.
Growing vegetables depletes the soil of nutrients, so we grow this plant combination on a specific field that needs it, and then, we don’t harvest it – so all the goodness goes back down into the soil. This means that next year the field will be able to produce again. A handy side effect of doing this is that it’s great for biodiversity-its positively buzzing with pollinators!
Growing a cover crop is an alternative to using chemicals like mineral fertilizers, which have a huge negative impact on the environment, both in their use and their production.
Check out the quality and depth of this soil.It’s this good, and this deep – because we grew a cover crop on it last year.
Soil quality is important – globally soil is being lost due to monocultural farming practices, through urbanisation and from a host of other activities.
Cover crops also prevent loss of carbon into the air.
Using well composted farm yard manure is great for the soil and in turn the crop quality. The straw prevents nutrients from being lost into the air, where they also become pollutants. The willow helps soak up the nutrients below.
Cow manure is especially good because cows are ruminants – they have four stomachs to process their food, which breaks it down more than what are called monogastrics (horses, pigs, sheep). We compost our manure for a year (!) to help break it down and make the nutrients in it more available to the soil and plants.
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