Our Time on Peafield!

Yes, the current place we are staying is called, Peafield!

Mike, Fabrice, and Damien, are all very nice, although the latter two, speak minimal english, it is quite a trip communicating with them.
Our first day here, we were hooked up, as Mike took us to the grocery store and stocked up on food we could eat!

That night, we took a tour of the land, and it is rather neat how it is laid out, there is a giant hill on the north end, where his sheep graze, and some other people's cattle graze at the top of the hill.  It is very mountainous area around here, with lots of green hills and mountains.  We are quite close to the atlantic as well!  So as you head south, down the drive way, which winds and curves, you come across a section of about 15 raised beds, filled with garlic, spuds, onions, beetroot, horseraddish, comfrey, cabbage, and rutabaga!  There is also a super long poly-tunnel with tomatoes, more spuds, and a grape vine growing in it!

Really cool lay-out.  Mike uses sea-weed from the ocean, to deter slugs and other pests away from his food, which he grows so much of because he sells it to the co-op and another stand in town.  He also has some raspberries and goji berries and goose berries growing!  Also, he uses nettle water, from the stinging nettles, which he basically lets decompose in barrels which fill up with rain water, to add nitrogen to the plants.  He does the same thing with comfrey to add potassium!  Teas for the garden!  Another thing he uses as fertilizers are the weeds we pick all day, after they decompose, and settle under a tarp in the sun, he lines the beds with them.

So after our tour, Mike offered us to join him and his neighbor for a drink in (one of the 15)  local bar in town.  We got into Crowleys and ordered our Ciders, and met an old guy from Australia who was Biking around Ireland!  Also, another retired man from Portland, who was also wwoofing!  It started out pretty quiet and there were only about 10 or 12 people in the bar, however there was an awesome Irish band practicing their music, and that was lovely!  A banjo player, two flutes, a violin, an accordian, and a really cool hand drum!  Mike also plays the banjo! =)  We enjoyed our time, and especially once the Old Irish men began to break out in song!  It started with one, and then it began happening every 5 minutes, another would just begin singing these traditional Irish songs, it was pretty outstanding, and once the bar got busier and the young lads began singing, it became quite-a-hoot!!  The only song i remember was one about only having a Four and Nine in your pocket, when taking a lady out to dine.

But that was awesome, and it was really great how after we were done at the pub, around 12, instead of getting back in Shawn's car (mike's neighbor), we just walked right past it, and onward home, without anyone saying a word, about it, as if it was Obvious that we would not drive, after drinking some brews... which i thought was just brilliant!

Since its only a twenty minute walk from town, it was rather nice!  Especially because it was soo dark, once we turned onto the country road/. drive way and we could barely see the ground beneathe us but the stars were sooo bright!!

So our first day of work was rather great.  SO much weeding to be done!  And now that we have worked for about 3 days, we only have a tiny bit left in the garlic bed!  We are the weeding twins, and we can become monsters in that dirt!  We also have planted some peas and some cucumbers! 

Today, we also dug up some Earth, to put in the wheel-barrel, to than shovel out onto the spuds, since weeding them really cleared out the dirt, they needed more dirt to pile up, to allow the spuds to sprout up beneathe it!

It has been really nice, working our asses off, and then walking to town to have an espresso or a guinness at night.  When you work hard in the sun, food taste better and sleep feels better! 

It is all great craic really!=)

We will keep ya posted with the exictement of our dirt explorations!

love to all!
-mimi