Field of Dreams?

bigjohnnykeats

Hey all!

Just bought a house which has a lovely two acre field out the back! Have the option to rent it for grazing but ideally would like a little project to potter away at - i was thinking wee little orchard - apple trees, fruit bushes, some trees for timber too...

Just looking for some advice as to getting this started, should i talk to coillte or someone (I believe they have a forest down the road) What kind of trees are good for quick firewood? How long before an apple tree starts fruiting?

As you may have guessed i am pretty much a novice with aspirations of orchard grandeur... home brewed cider... picnics...

Any other ideas for what to do with a spare two acres?

cossworxenergy

I reckon ya should grow ducks, geese, turkeys or hens. Brillian past time and can be quite profitable. Build a pond its great to see ducks in water and they are absolutely hassle free. Ya can kill em then and eat them beautiful meat. Ya could start a laying house too for ducks. Duck eggs are scarce enough in shops so you could sell locally. Top duck breeds lay 300+ days a year.
I have ducks, turkeys and hens. Will be building a shed next month for hatching eggs growing etc. Week old ducks can be bought for 3 euro and sell for between 15-30 euros depending on stage. Endless possibilities with poultry. Just search the web for more info.

What about greyhound training too?
Ya can get a grant for building kennels too.

dardevle

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not sure of your whereabouts, but over here in the northwest we have a coillte forestry development officer who is available to give expert advice on pretty much everything you are asking about...try the local coillte office and they will let you know whats available.


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CJhaughey

If you buy apple tree seedlings that are 4' or so in height then they will start producing in the year after planting. Put in a small orchard and in a few years put your pigs in to eat the windfall apples.
Ash grows reasonably quickly, although if the ground is wet Alder grows very well and is also good to burn when seasoned.

dardevle

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4 inch seedlings.... think you mean 4ft cj:o



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CJhaughey

dardevle wrote: »

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4 inch seedlings.... think you mean 4ft cj:o



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Yup, sorry my bad got the " and ' mixed up typing too quickly.

Dr Galen

bigjohnnykeats wrote: »

Hey all!

Just bought a house which has a lovely two acre field out the back! Have the option to rent it for grazing but ideally would like a little project to potter away at - i was thinking wee little orchard - apple trees, fruit bushes, some trees for timber too...

Just looking for some advice as to getting this started, should i talk to coillte or someone (I believe they have a forest down the road) What kind of trees are good for quick firewood? How long before an apple tree starts fruiting?

As you may have guessed i am pretty much a novice with aspirations of orchard grandeur... home brewed cider... picnics...

Any other ideas for what to do with a spare two acres?

this is going to come across as very un-moderatory

but
i hate you




your a lucky lucky person. I'd kill for that.

a little orchard deffo, don't stick to just apples though, what about a few pears? plums?

you could have a great veg patch, play your cards right and you could get away with hardly buying any veg at all a year from now.

oh and you need a shed. A big one.

treesireland

good , a proper size garden, how about get urself some basick traning on garden planing, the fun you can hav , ha ha i hav 10acers of weeds:D

bigjohnnykeats

thanks all for the interesting responses!! will defo follow up that coillte idea!!

And ducks... hmmm... sounds good!

Maybe we should have a competition to see who can give the wierdest idea! So far the wierdest would have to be from a friend of mine - and i quote (verbatim)

"Why dont you just dig it up, pave it over and start your own halting site!"

Carpark? Motocross park? Airstrip? Intensive Pig Farming?

John mac

ah thats just mad ted.


Ducks love slugs so you could do well with a veg patch.

The Sweeper

Three Ps - pigs, poultry, polytunnells! That's if you want to make some cash out of it.

Other options - apple / pear orchard with a few other interesting trees. Get chickens and other poultry and let them free range in the orchard - the eggs will be excellent. (Geese are fantastic guard dogs by the way - they kick up a dreadful fuss at the sight of anything unusual - but don't get them if you have close neighbours.)

You won't eat the apples off an acre orchard by yourself - look at buying a variety that'll allow you make your own cider, which'd be fun. At windfall harvest, you can hire out the orchard to a pig farmer. Grazing pigs on windfall apples brings an excellent flavour to the meat.

Biggest tip - whatever your ultimate plan, if trees are involved plant sooner rather than later. It could take you five years to figure out what you're ultimately going to do with the space - and the trees can be growing in all that time. Even a year is a hell of a head start with trees - better get them in and growing sooner rather than later.

BlancheSparks

Go to Irish seed savers for your fruit trees... they have rare irish varieties of apple trees etc etc..... think its www.irishseedsavers.com

cossworxenergy

Motocross track is brilliant idea but 2 acres is far too small ya need about 8 acres +

mountainy man

Bare rooted trees are available at some good garden centres quite cheaply aprox €1.50 for a four foot whip they would make good shelter for your orchard in the centre if you planted them around the outside creating a micro-climate plus you could plant quite thickly and thin them out for firewood as they start to mature .