This Farming Life

While April was a busy month planting, watering and calving, May is also a busy month for us at our organic farm.

Our allotment holders are enjoying their first salad crops. In the Castlefarm garden our first polytunnel crops are starting to bear fruit - soon we will be enjoying our own cucumber and courgettes.

Our outdoor crops are surviving the slugs and the recent period of drought. Although we have planted root and leaf crops, I sow more on a weekly basis to ensure a constant supply.

The Castlefarm rhubarb bed has been looking a bit thirsty but still provides enough for us to sell and enjoy. Having so much of it, I was delighted when one of allotment holders, Jean, passed on this website http://www.savor-the-rhubarb.com with a recommendation to make rhubarb lemonade.

Grass growth is good and we have closed off some paddocks, which we will later cut for silage. Our bees have been busy at work enjoying the fine weather and the oilseed rape in a nearby field. Last year we had a bumper crop of honey, so fingers crossed the fine weather this spring will mean another good crop this year.

Most of our calves are now outdoors and thriving. The highlight of their day is when someone drives the quad and milk feeder into their field. They are fed milk once a day and will be weaned off milk during the summer.

May marks the beginning of our breeding season. In order to have the best possible herd of cows for our organic system of farming, Peter artificially inseminates our cows. Our female calves will become our future dairy herd – which must be easy calving, healthy and have the ability to produce a reasonable amount of milk on a grass diet.

This month our three pigs will become two as we bring our first pig of the season to the butchers. I don’t feel bad about this as we bought them to fatten and, being chief pig feeder, I can confirm that they have had a really nice life. So on the last weekend of May we will have our organic pork for sale in the fridge at Castlefarm Shop.

Our hens and ducks are laying well and, in addition to the farm shop and honesty box, we are also supplying eggs to Castleruddery organic farm in Wicklow. We buy wholesale vegetables from Dominic and Hilda and it is good to work together.

Last week our young pullets were moved out to a larger hen house with access to the field. It took them about a week to brave walking down the ramp to scratch at the pasture and explore all the green!


Castlefarm Shop opens the last Friday and Saturday of each month from 10am until 6pm. We are next open on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th May

Our free farm activities on Saturday 28th May are:

• Helping to feed the pigs 11am sharp
• Egg collecting 2.30pm
• A gardening talk at 3pm.

To receive our newsletter and news of new products by email please contact Castlefarm Shop, Narraghmore, Athy, Co Kildare, Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie, log onto www.castlefarmshop.ie or telephone +353 (0)59 863 6948

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