August

Cloughjordan Community Farm (August)

 My first month as a volunteer in Cloughjordan Community Farm has flown!!!  

There are always lots of activities here at Cloughjordan Community Farm.  Mondays and Fridays are the best days because we harvest the vegetables for the community. We fill boxes with tomatoes, peppers, hot peppers, lettuce, onions, leeks, spices, grapes and many more varieties of vegetables. On the other days we work on the farm preparing growing beds, turning the land and getting it ready for planting. We sow seeds for germination and water the polytunnels.

Chard harvesting

Harvest

Compost-shower

Last weekend we had the opportunity to attend an event in Irish Seed Savers  where we learned about the importance of seeds, organic farming and school orchards and gardens.

Here, I'm also learning a lot about organic farming, the use of green manure for soil fertilization, how some plants can be used to inhibit the proliferation of pests on other plant species and the use of compost as a natural fertilizer.

In the evenings, we prepare dinner and always use vegetables that have been harvested on the farm. We are also learning to cook some desserts with the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries that are around the Ecovillage. (The carrot cake is now my speciality!) I discovered a new plant called rhubarb on the farm, It is a vegetable with sweet taste. Only its stem is consumed and it is used for some desserts.

On August 20th we had a permaculture event (All Ireland Permaculture Gathering) and built a compost-shower that heats water through the compost. It's amazing, the water was heated to 50 ° C!!

We never stop learning!! Next month I will write about the new activities that are taking place in the Ecovillage.

And...REMEMBER!! This volunteering is in accordance with many Sustainable Development Goals :)

It's time to change and together we can build a better world. All the best!

Raquel

You can follow my history as an European Volunteer on my personal Twitter @r_kuaujtla