Editor’s Note: These pieces are intended to offer a deeper look into each episode of surfer Fergal Smith‘s Line9 series, Growing, a new clip published every two weeks. The series is a year in the life of Smith and his brother. With a new clip published every two weeks, the series follows them as they take a step back from the rat race while spending days tending to a sustainable garden and surfing the readily available Irish slab.
Author’s Note: My main reason for doing this series is for showing the what else I’m passionate about — aside from surfing — and to try to promote all the good, positive things that people are doing.
This the second episode on the field Moy house. We felt Holly needed some new friends. I put the word out and, lo and behold, a lovely family offered us two young pigs. They have a lovely farm and really care for their animals, so they were very happy that if here, at Moy House, Hazel and Willow were never going to make it onto the dinner table. They are all such good friends now, and make for a great little team.
Once the pigs ate their way to the end of the field, we then put the field into drills. First, we had to use a digger to take out loads of massive tree roots and then we used this little old tractor (Massey Ferguson 35) and a ridger to ridge them soil up. Someday soon we will be using horses for all this work, but we have a lot to learn first. Thank you to Bernard on the digger and James for bringing the ridger and doing the great job.
Then it was up to us to get planting. We planted thousands of onions and a shed-load of spuds first. As I write this, we have just started eating our first potatoes of the year — wow, they are amazing and totally worth all the work now. We have also planted garlic, leeks, beetroot, spinach, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, kale, broccoli, turnips, brussel sprouts, rocket, radish, and lettuces. The footage here is back in march but it gives you the background of what it took to get the place up and going.
We will have another clip of all the veg in full bloom and eating a big meal together at the end of the summer. That will really show the fruits of the labour. I like looking back at this clip. The change from then to now is massive. It’s really exciting to see all our hard work beginning to pay off.
The surfing in this clip is from a cool little wave we all love to surf: it breaks in all kinds of conditions and it’s a good practice wave for other better waves. There is no swell in Ireland at the moment and looking at the waves makes me want to surf. But it’s exciting times in the garden so it’s all good. We are in the middle of a heat wave, would you believe.
I hope everyone is having great summer, and thanks for taking the time to watch and listen to the little edits we have been doing. Please get in touch if you want to know more what we are up to in the gardens and if anyone is ever passing through Lahinch come look us up.
I better get some sleep and get back to watering the garden…
Until next time, peace,
Ferg
