Sunday 13 November 2016

October

Cloughjordan Community Farm (October)
In October we planted some fields with oats. We also planted four rows  of spring onions. To protect the seeds from the cold, we covered the surface of the ground with straw or cloth.

                                                         Covering the onions
                                                                                         

In the fields we harvested all the onions and beets. In addition, we also finished harvest red radishes, scallions and pencil French beans.

                                                                             Harvesting beetroots

Harvesting red radish

We also finished delivering all the pumpkins we had harvested in the month of September. Some of the pumpkins have been used for Halloween decorations!

                                                                             Pumpkins delivery

Pumpkin for Halloween

In October, we have been harvesting celery, two types of parsley, mint, coriander (it always reminds me of the delicious tacos from Mexico), Kale (Black, Scarlet, Pentland and Red Russian kale) and many carrots with really strange and fun shapes.

Carrot love (roots competition)

Blanche
Goi

Raquel
















On the farm we have our own carrot monster

Due to the cold and the humidity, there are also some fungi around the farm, but for the moment they are only spontaneous!



In the polytunnels, we can see the change of season by just looking at the colors of the plants. In the first polytunnel the grapevine has stopped giving grapes and its leaves are now red.

Vine leaves


In the second polytunnel we have finished harvesting cucumbers, jalapeños, chilies and sweet peppers. 
October harvest

This polytunnel has been totally transformed. Cucumber plants, courgettes, melons and chilies have been removed and taken to compost. We have cleared and rebuilt the beds and planted salads, spinach, garlic and spring onions.

Second polytunnel

In the third polytunnel we had planted different varieties of lettuces (mild and spicy) and also  spinach including mustard in early October and they are now ready to harvest.

Third polytunnel


Spicy salad

As in all orchards, we have also had some uninvited guests. In the fields several caterpillars have appeared and in some seedlings some eggs have appeared. To prevent caterpillars and snails from eating our crops, we are planting aromatic and other associations of plants looking for the best combination between them – allelopathy-  with spring onion, barriers with large leaf spinach, garlic, etc. around our salads.

Caterpillar

Slug eggs

In the month of October we have also received a group of new hens.

                                                                            New hens!

Goi and I are learning how to handle horses. Every day we put on the harnesses and take the ponies to the stable. Daily, we check that they have clean water and we clean their sandbox.

Buddy & Coco

Misty

News on the Coach-house! Thanks to a writer in the community, all members of the farm can get to know us a little better. In the couch-house, they have put a space with a brief history and a photo about Goi (EVS), Blanche (wwoofer) and me as volunteers on the farm. It's a very nice detail, thank Eileen very much!
Coach-house wall

When we finished working on the farm, we used our harvest to learn how to cook something new. This month with the great apple harvest, I learned how to cook an apple tart.

Apple tart

I've also learned how to make beetroot muffins with nuts. Although the taste is new and strange, they are surprisingly tasty!
Beetroot muffin

Elliot always knows when I cook


This month we also have the opportunity to travel a little bit. We went to see beautiful Galway city which is an hour and a half from Cloughjordan.

Galway

Coffee time in Galway


And last but not least ... We wish you all the best, Blanche! Although your stay has been short (two months) we will miss you very much on the farm, you are a great friend. We hope to see you soon in the farm and all goes well with your studies of Agricultural Engineering in Lille, you are the best!


Blanche delivering the harvest

Do you join us to cultivate a better world? :)

REMEMBER! This precious project promotes sustainable agriculture and rural development, UN goals for sustainable development!



Free time in the farm...



SEE YOU SOON, ALWAYS WITH NEW LEARNINGS. 
ALL THE BEST!!


Sunday 6 November 2016

Lord of the Onion Rings






OCTOBER HAS BEEN THE ONIONS MONTH



Every morning Blanche (wwoofer), Goi, Aleix and me harvested onions hoping that soon they were finished. Like they never ends. It took two weeks to harvest the entire field that had been cultivated. We woke up thinking in onions, having lunch thinking in onions and we finished the day thinking about tomorrow onions. 






Sometimes the motivation was thinking about how delicious is the Spanish omelette with onions. 





One day, a strange feeling was in the group. Onions were almost finished, we realized that we had much love for onions, we will miss them.
















                                                         Long live the ONIONS! :D








Cloughjordan Commmunity Farm in Arrival training


The first day was the welcome for the volunteers and the introduction for the European Voluntary Service. As practice exercise, we had to explain to other volunteers about our project. My co-workers and I drow the feelings and some symbols which are important for us for represent our work on the farm.
We drew a tractor in the middle of the paper as a symbol of work on the farm. Another diagram we wanted to highlight was the shape of the ellipse. On the farm everything is connected, all our actions affect and are involved in the cycle of nature.
With post-its we wanted to highlight some of the tasks and objectives of our project. The apple and carrot represent cultivation, care and harvest at the farm. The following post-it "local" represents the promotion of responsible consumption, production and the importance of self-supply of resources in the ecovillage.
The circle of people represent the community and the importance of making decisions together, for example, carry out an activity or resolve any existing conflict.
The word "BIO" symbolize a new lifestyle. In the community consumerism is not the governing system. Ecological and environmentally friendly products with the environment are the priority in the ecovillage. An example would be the use of ecological detergents and personal products, the association between plants on the farm to prevent the use of pesticides or bioconstructions of some buildings.
The recycling symbol represents other objectives of the community, the rule of the "3 R" (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), applied, for example, management of solid waste in the community.
The watering symbol means the importance of water as a natural resource in the community. It is essential to supply water to irrigate farm crops. Thanks to water the community can consume their own food. The water is regulated with care and drip irrigation system inside the polytunnels and houses collects rainwater for irrigation of their own plants. On the farm there are dry compost toilets or “compost toilet” that don’t use this natural resource.
With the world diagram we symbolised "think global, act local", promoting rural development in the community and being really aware of the effects that our actions can have on the world and on future generations.
The sun diagram means the use of renewable and clean energy. As we said in the first point referring to the ellipse, everything is a cycle, we have to be aware that climate change is happening today and we are responsible for determine actions that stop or at least reduce it.
Finally, the last drawing is a diagram that ends in a heart. This drawing is one of the 17 main objectives of sustainabledevelopment of a United Nations report to transform our world. It means good health and wellbeing like consumption of  local and healthy products of organic farm, like we do in the community. Activities that connect mind and body like tai-chi or help you to find your emotional balance as meditation are promoted in the community for good health.


"To transform our world, we must transform its cities" says UN chief on World Cities Day. Promoting rural and community development, Cloughjordan Ecovillage with the community farm promise to be a good example of sustainable community, as we draw in the paper to explain what is our beautiful project.


Arrival Training

Arrival Training 29th September - 2nd October Emmaus Centre, Swords, Co Dublin

In the arrival training we had the opportunity to meet others EVS in Ireland. We are a group of 21 young people from 17 to 30 years residing in a country in Europe: Russia, Slovakia, Scotland, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy and Spain.


Sophie (instructor), Fabio, Elena, Florine, Sarah, Connor, Goizeder, Andrea, Irina, Tobias, Tom, Eléonore, Aleix, Miriam, Henriette, Christine, Anne, Samuele, Romy, Raquel, Elisabeth and Martin. Laurence (instructor) was taking the photo

EVS projects in Ireland:




How volunteering can change your worldview? Perform an EVS helps you develop as a person and as a professional through a non-formal approach. It helps you improve your personal skills, learn a language, know the culture of the country and, above all, gives you the opportunity to get involved in the development of local communities as our Cloughjordan Community farm.
The first day of training we present our projects to the other volunteers

Cloughjordan Community Farm

Anne, Irina, Andrea, me and the Irish luck doll!
On Friday after a meditation, we talk about the rights and responsibilities of an EVS. In the afternoon we visited Dublin in groups and made an exchange of culture with the game "Dublin Challenge".







On Saturday we reflect on different cultures. Being part of a new culture enriches your personal values, you learn to be flexible, to adapt and deal with the changes. When you understand the cultural expressions, you develop the ability to empathize and understand the values, norms, heroes and symbols of the people living in the new place. Iceberg theory is a good representation to understand what we are aware (music, food, games, clothes ...) and we have less control (values, religion, the way we behave ...)

The last day, we talked about the skills of EVS and its three main elements: knowledge, attitude and skills. We also talked about the Youthpass, our own goals and how to make better EVS to grow as professionals and, above all, as great people.
The 8 Competences – YOUTHPASS



  1. Learning to learn
  2. Competence in mathematics and basic competence in science and technology
  3. Communication in foreign languages
  4. Communication in the mother tongue
  5. Digital competence
  6. Social and civic competences
  7. Cultural awareness and expression
  8. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
To end the training, we had dinner together at The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub!






This factsheet provides a selection of the positive effects of the European Voluntary Service.

The content is based on the self-perception of participants and taken from the ongoing research based analysis and monitoring of the EU youth programme by means of RAY.



Behind the official arrival training ... (Thanks all for the photos)

WIFI & EVS 
Molly Malone statue & EVS













Miriam and Christine

The Temple Bar
Testing Guinness