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Monday 5 September 2011

"The" Land


Now that you know where and who, why and more or less when, it's time to give you some information about the property that Whizzie and Sir Lynex bought, without giving too much info on its location (otherwise you'll just flood to the place). It's important to speak first about the land characteristics because the agricultural-farming potential is clearly related to the layout. As we say in Italy, apple trees do not make pears. At the top of the post is a map of the property. The red line is the outer border of the land, the blue line is the main road to nowhere, the green line is the access road to the farm that brings to the old farm buildings and the turquoise line is a narrow path that cuts the property between the pastures and the bog, leading to the neighbour's property up the hill. The property is approx 21 acres (8.5 hectares), the highest part is the northern bit (200 meters a.s.l.) and the lowest is the southern part, down the main road (160 meters). This means that it is beautifully exposed south, which in Ireland is definitely a plus :). As you can see, approximately 5 hectares of the property are good grazing pastures. They look like this:


The pasture composition in terms of types of plants is good and diverse, there are some weeds and reeds, especially in the two grazing areas north of the green lane, but nothing that can't be improved by sorting out the drainage. The boggy bit on the northern part of the property is beautifully diverse from a biological point of view and, although it has gone a bit wild like the rest of the property and could do with some light grazing, it is fairly stable and has great potential for one or two wind turbines. In fact there are rocks which are high, very exposed to strong, constant winds. Fencing and gates are in place and some of the gates need replacing but the fencing is fairly new. The property lies in a relatively undeveloped area between two small towns of the west Cork area, but has good potential. It is in fact close to popular tourism areas, the sea and the internationally famous food scene of Cork. As you can see from the image, Whizzie has already started some work and apart from setting herself up nice and cosy for the winter, she has been putting down trees for coppicing and an orchard, a polytunnel and a veggie garden. She is now working on setting up raised beds for next year and there are plans to get a swimming pond for Sir Linex, who could get there by driving the 350 cc brake-less quad bike that Whizzie bought in an attempt to murder him :) Get those brakes fixed guys! Ah! and she got hens only a few days ago! What are their names Whizzie?


That's all folks! What should I do with all this goodness? I'll tell you next week.

2 comments:

  1. Have just been reading all your posts and put a big grin on my face. I am quite intrigued why Tom doesn't need a nickname.
    Also, what made me smile is that the 'blue line is the main road to nowhere'....well, don't you forget that one day it might be (lets hope not though) our escape route...besides this is the road our cheese will travel on to reach its final destination...quite a lifeline after all, ey? :-)
    P.

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  2. Hey P! Nicknames in these blog are just in order to preserve our secret real identities! That's why Tom doesn't need one, I challenge the readers to find out who he is by knowing he's called Tom and his girfriend is called Whizzie :)
    Road to nowhere could also be the road to get home :)

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