Hometree was concieved at Moyhill Community Supported Agriculture project around five years ago, on the basis that our native woodlands needed support to grow, there was a thirst from the public and businesses learn & engage, and a strong desire to help out
Up to three months ago, we were all volunteers. Thankfully, a combination of donations, pledges and project funding from @agriculture_ie allowed us to form a paid team.
Matt - Co-founder & manager
Myself - EIP/Landowners
Mitch - Co-founder & Nursery Manager
Meadhbh- Ecologist
Our base is in Ennistymon where we are turning a sixteen acre site into a demonstration and education hub .
We want this to be a place farmers, community groups, sports clubs, business owners and anyone else interested in creating woodland can come , observe, learn and plan.
Still cant afford to get blinds for the windows 😂😂😂
We recently got our Illaun-Farm forest EIP of the ground and will be working with farmers near Miltown Malbay to integrate trees and woodland to their farm systems.
We see farmers as key stakeholders and are really happy to be working closely with them to make change happen.
We started off just wishing to create woodlands, now we realise that's just one part of the solution.
We have three sites now. All very different. Each will require a different approach.
We are committed to doing all our work in line with best ecological practise.
So that's us. It feels like what (I imagine) a start-up company feels like - exciting and daunting all at the same time.
Hopefully this little seed grows!
If you wish to support, check out the website for options. hometree.ie/support
*to learn and engage
One downside is we are all (coincidentally) surfers which means the office can mysteriously empty out when the wind goes south east!
Matt, Mitch and Meadhbh below!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Hopefully I made the case yesterday that there is a place for trees on every farm.
Shelter and forage✅
Income ✅
Biodiversity✅
Water quality✅
Nutrient cycling✅
Biosecurity✅
Carbon✅
Flooding✅
Woodchip or firewood✅
The first step is deciding what exactly you want to achieve.
One-off trees amongst pasture? Agroforestry? Small woodlands? Fruit or nut producing copses? A combination of all the above?
I am a fan of planting near waterways & woodland corridors through the farms.
There is always the inclination to plant the most unproductive area. However it is important not to displace already important habitats on your farm, for example a wet corner may already be rich in biodiversity and should be let alone, likewise a meadow rich in wildflowers.
I'm certainly no expert, but have been looking into it quiet a bit this last two years.
I said earlier in the week (aside from out hedgerows) trees have been pushed to the very fringes of the Irish landscape.
It's time to bring them back!
So, how do we do this in relation to farms?
Well first things first - instead of seeing trees as some kind of onerous obligation, I would like farmers to see them for what they are-an opportunity.
(I appreciate not easy given Irelands current forestry system mess)
On the face of it,there would appear to be fundamental contradiction in growing food and growing trees. Both require the suns energy, if one is to thrive the other must struggle?
Actually when you dig down into it, there are many ways they can coexist & even support one another
Thread. I might be sorry, but I am going to start a thread on peat. Peat has been a mainstay of lots of horticultural production for the best part of a century. About thirty years ago I began hearing concerns about its future, due to sustainability issues.
2. There were issues around habitat loss, and greenhouse gas emissions. However, given that we in Ireland were extracting so much for burning (about 50 times more than for horticulture, despite the fact we were exporting lots of horticultural peat),
3. I didn’t see why horticultural peat should be an issue. However, I did notice that in some countries, like the Netherlands, that growers were beginning to work with alternative materials, especially in fruit production, which is an important industry there.
1). This is a Google street view image of Brosna in Co.Kerry. Many years ago I met an elderly man here, Sean O'Leary I think, who had a juice concentrating business in the village, probably in the 1950's.
2. He used to source (mainly wild) fruits from all around; blackberries, bilberries and so on, and make them into concentrate, which was exported, mostly to New York I think he told me. He showed me lovely old labels for cans.
3. If anyone here knows anything more about his business (long since closed) or himself or his family (I don't know if he had children), I would love to know more.
My Great Grandfather James Anthony Cunningham Established Cunningham’s Butchers at 15 Newcastle Street Kilkeel in 1919.
It was a whitewashed building semi-detached 2 storey dwelling. He learned his trade from his father William who started trading as a butcher from the (1)
2) his Home Farm, at Carginagh, near the Silent Valley in 1905 when James was twelve years old.
(photo of Cargineagh slaughter house)
The butchers ring is still imbedded in the wall, and the ring for the pulley block is fixed in the center beam of the old slaughter house
3) Great great Grandfather William’s Bill head in 1906. He wife Ellen, daughter of Daniel Fitzpatrick.They had 12 children
Patrick 1887 US
Michael died at birth
Mary 1890
Rose 1892 US
James 1893
William 1895 US
Susan 1897
Helena 1898
Jane 1899
John 1902
Charles 1905
Kathleen 1909