Posted by Barry Shelby on Saturday, September 4, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Well, with little relish but clear resolve, we culled a Welsummer cockerel last weekend. We will do one a week for the rest of the month. That night it made a decent roast bird, served alongside all our own croft produce: broad beans mashed with fresh ‘green’ garlic, boiled Stroma second early potatoes, peas, shallots, and some of those funny ball-shaped Paris variety carrots. The bird’s liver was a succulent highlight. In the future, we will probably go the slow-cooked, braising route ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Friday, September 3, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Bernera Community Association came home with four ribbons from the annual Horticulture Show in Stornoway. The best result was 1st place for a trio of lovely onions (variety: Sturon) grown from sets. Strawberries (Florence) came 2nd and two 3rd place certificates were earned for the volunteer horticulturalists’ rainbow carrots and display of 18 veg. As for 1 Earshader croft, 1st place was bagged in the growing herb category (rosemary, sage, and comfrey).
showtime
Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Tuesday, August 24, 2010,
In :
Crofting
First Horticulture and Local Produce Weekend on Lewis and Harris Events to highlight wholesome, seasonal food
The first Horticulture and Local Produce Weekend will be inaugurated next Friday and Saturday, 27-28 August. Organised by the Lewis & Harris Horticultural Producers [LHHP] –– in association with NHS Western Isles/Fas Fallain and An Lanntair –– several events are planned to highlight food that is sown, grown, reared, and harvested locally.
Various exhibits at the 3rd annual... Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Sunday, August 22, 2010,
In :
Crofting
We eventually found out “the Walrus was Paul”, but I wasn’t sure what to say when I was asked earlier this summer if I was the Egg Man? Aside from prompting me later to pull out my Beatles collection (which if you asked Elizabeth doesn’t take a hell of a lot), I could only answer “yes,” however sheepishly.
high street at the byre.
But more recently I was up at the Bernera poly tunnel project and someone asked if I was the Pig Man? So, pigs or hens. I have to admit ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Saturday, August 14, 2010,
In :
Crofting
a tidy bank cut last year
Although I am about two months behind my peat-cutting mentor, who appears to have a stack at home to see him through the apocalypse, I am just about to bring the final batch back to the croft.
In truth, the penultimate batch. The last peats cut at the end of June, soggy and sad, remain propped up in their mini house of cards. They may never dry but then the quality of the peat at the top end of the bank is quite rubbish anyway.
the last cut (slow to dry)
T... Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Monday, August 9, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Actually, Lewis and Harris’s regional show time has just ended. For my work with the Horticultural Producers, I attended each one (save the Westside Show in Barvas). These agricultural shows are only partially about the competitions to show off the best tup [see thecroft.wordpress.com blog] or largest potato.
Is that Mikey D?
I associate shows more with English counties. Cider-drinking men in flat caps or jodhpurs or Paisley cravats. But as this is Scotland and the region is lum... Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Monday, August 2, 2010,
In :
Crofting
I meant to say in that earlier blog that our Nice New Neighbour(s) [NNN] are incomers just as we are. They’ve been on Lewis longer; presumably are a bit wiser.
In some instances, incomers onto the island are called “white settlers”. I have never been certain whether this is a reference to many who arrive with grey hair or whether it is because they behave like colonialists. Or both? Whatever the case, incomers are forever incomers in the eyes of a Lewisian, Leohasach.
I heard from... Continue reading ...
Posted by Barry Shelby on Wednesday, July 21, 2010,
In :
Crofting
“I think you’d better come down to the pigpen,” he said “What’s the trouble?” asked Mr Zuckerman. “Anything wrong with the pig?”
“No—not exactly,” said Lurvy. “Come see for yourself.”
Well . . . it was one-hell of a long day, using a hired 4x4 that could barely scale hills with the borrowed 2-tonne trailer, but we managed to get to Skye and back in one piece, with our valuable cargo: two Gloucestershire Old Spots.
some pigs
Plan A is for them to clear the crof... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, July 19, 2010,
In :
Crofting
All the locals smiled sardonically and one said “Welcome to crofting.”
We were at the fank, having just brought in the sheep for sheering, and
I received the news that a dog -- owned by the new tenant of the croft
adjacent ours -- had killed our last surviving female Indian Runner
Duck.
This fellow although not exactly apologising, he did offer to give us ducks of completely different
breed. As the conversation progressed, he then suggested that his dog
would, in fact, kill more of our ... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Tuesday, July 13, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Today marks the beginning of the annual HebCelt festival, so the town is full of visitors. Well, not really, but there is a bit of buzz (mostly among the local dudes who hang out An Lanntair).
Meanwhile crofting activities wait for no event. So more eggs arrived today for hatching and I spoke to a man about installing an electric fence. On Thursday we are to collect two pigs from the isle of Skye. Produce at the Bernera polytunnels is coming along nicely, apart from the infestation of... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Friday, June 18, 2010,
In :
Crofting
The publisher thinks you might be interested in the house that E and I are having built in Earshader. I am not entirely convinced as a lot of “look at my house go up” blogs have been posted in past few years. But here is where we’re at. We have agreed to a SIP-style structure, which means cassettes of highly insulated panels will create the frame of the house. We are also pursuing socalled passive house standards, which means ideally no heating is necessary. I doubt we will be that lucky... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, May 24, 2010,
In :
Crofting
I don’t really expect to have much finished produce this year to sell via the weekly Farmer’s (Crofter’s) Market in Stornoway. But as we always have excess stock from our annual sowings, I thought I might try my luck selling some plants this spring. Took several into town on Saturday morning. Not bad, sales-wise. All of the tomatoes were bought and most of the courgettes. Not a great appetite for Brussels Sprouts, but I will keep trying. They're a purple variety so maybe I need to emphas... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, May 24, 2010,
In :
Crofting
As we are beginning to sell produce from our endeavours, I thought we had better get our ‘domain’ sorted. So, went for the easy option: earshadercroft.com. That will go on all labels and marketing from now to eternity. As for sales, it has been modest but successful. Eggs (mostly hen) are being sold from the ‘croft gate’; ie, the roadside as one can do this without registering the operation (not that we have anything to hide). Sold out yesterday (Saturday). Boxes are clearly marked, as y... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Sunday, April 18, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Bernera Bridge
Standing Stones of Bernera
Old Road Sign
Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, April 5, 2010,
In :
Crofting
A couple of weeks earlier than normal, the crofters of Tir Mor, Bernera, brought sheep in from the moors Saturday 27 March. Meeting at 8 am, about 10 of us headed south with crooks, quads, and waterproofs from the cattle grid at the Lundal pens. Destination: a set of disused pens along the old Uig road, about half way between the Bernera road junction and the turnoff to Scaliscro House. A bad bearing on one trailer with a quad slowed progress slightly as the wheel would lock up at the least op... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Sunday, March 28, 2010,
In :
Crofting
. . .....of 4 Earshader
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h&layer... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, March 22, 2010,
In :
Crofting
You know, I can’t even think of that word now without doing my There Will be Blood / Daniel Plainview impersonation, at least in my mind. Daniel Day Lewis bellowing like John Huston with constipation: ‘Drainnn-edddggge, Eli, it’s called draaainnn-edgggge.’ Anywho, I am not sucking any one’s oil dry using a metaphorical straw. No, I’m freeing the locked water on the croft. This is as satisfying as Plainview’s drainage.  drains follow the old 'lazy beds' These photos are poor but I ne... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, March 22, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Let me bore you with more crop developments. Tomatoes and tagetes have been pricked out of their seed trays and potted on. Both were quite leggy, which troubles some folk.
potted on
It occurs as we don’t have a greenhouse. Though the room with the propagators is the brightest in the cottage (which is on the dark side), there isn’t sufficient light. So those early leaves stretch, leaving long, stringy stems. With these two plants, as well as many others, it ‘s not a problem. Just gently bu... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, March 22, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Let me bore you with more crop developments. Tomatoes and tagetes have been pricked out of their seed trays and potted on. Both were quite leggy, which troubles some folk. potted on It occurs as we don’t have a greenhouse. Though the room with the propagators is the brightest in the cottage (which is on the dark side), there isn’t sufficient light. So those early leaves stretch, leaving long, stringy stems. With these two plants, as well as many others, it ‘s not a problem. Just gently bu... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Sunday, March 7, 2010,
In :
Crofting
My first (yes, first) car . . .  Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, March 3, 2010,
In :
Crofting
The first seeds of 2010. Up on Sunday 28 February. Sowed on Tuesday 23 February in a John Innes soil-based seed compost.
Two types of tomatoes, one red and one yellow: don’t know the variety as I saved seeds from fruits bought at the Stornoway farmers market last summer. Medium size. Will need to ask Les Brown of Balanstruthal, who grew them in his polytunnels.
Also, got a companion plant, tagetes or French marigolds, started. Again, I am not certain of the variety. Saved seed from my own sto...
Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Thursday, February 25, 2010,
In :
Crofting
I was meant to go the mainland today, but the ferries are off due to gales. Probably none tomorrow, either. Wasn't it Baudelaire who said, "When the going gets tough . . . the tough bake" ?  Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Thursday, February 25, 2010,
In :
Crofting
 Got me a guitar . . . Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Tuesday, February 23, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Working together, local growers can overcome difficulties –– whether wind or waterlogged soil –– and return land to productive horticultural use. That was the message of a two-day horticultural training event held in Tarbert and Buonavoneader last week. Over 30 people, mostly living on Harris, attended the training, held 15 and 16 February. This group of current and aspiring horticulturalists heard a detailed and engrossing presentation from two experts in their fields: Scottish Agricu... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, February 8, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, February 8, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Good news, relatively speaking, on the duck front. Though we had seven Indian Runners, four survived whatever accident befell the lot back on 13 January towards the end of the big freeze.
To recap: One, as you remember, was left behind. I moved the hut and her closer to the cottage. Then on Saturday 16 January, E found another one down at the lochside and we shephered her back. A week later, we got a call from the house up on the hill saying one drake was in their garden. Finally, 25 January, ...
Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Tuesday, January 19, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Well, it's all melted and the ground's a soggy, sodden mess. Everyone moaned at the time, life was made a bit trying, but before we forget entirely, some images of the last month.  frosty fork  snowy drive  frozen loch  glazed front garden [yard]
Posted by John McKenna on Saturday, January 16, 2010,
In :
Crofting
Done a Runner? I wish that were the case. The other morning, 13 January 2010, I found no Runner Ducks in their hut. None to be seen in the dim Winter’s light. Checked the croft, all their usual spots, and the surrounding area. Nothing. Back to the enclosure and closer inspection revealed straw pulled out of their home, mixed with a few feathers.  what’s left In the improving light, I saw that one female was still tucked in the back of the housing. El Ultimo Pato? The last duck standing. I feel...
Posted by John McKenna on Tuesday, January 5, 2010,
In :
Crofting
E and I went for a hike 2 Jan in the afternoon. Having figured out how to use my Canon 'PhotoStitch' software I produced these images taken out on the common grazings behind the croft.  glow on the horizon  cairn on hill  wide angle setting  elizabeth  sheep pens & disused dip
Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Friday, December 11, 2009,
In :
Crofting
. . . well, there’s fish. In this case a bit of locally landed haddock that I’ve home smoked out by the byre.
brook's original home smoker  I couldn’t be bothered with making a full-on brine as I will be using the smoked fish immediately in a Cullen skink and the fish doesn’t need to be ‘preserved’ for any time. That said, I gave two fillets a short, sharp cure for an hour or so in Maldon’s seasalt with some dried thyme. salted fish (with dog)  Next I remove all the excess salt and ...
Posted by John McKenna on Tuesday, December 1, 2009,
In :
Crofting
The titter is back. This time it is from reading an anthology of the late Hector MacDonald’s columns, originally published by the West Highland Free Press. I recently met the charming widow MacDonald, or as she is apparently known at the hospital Maggie Leurbost. (Get out your atlases -- or is it atlai?)
Anywho, Mr MacDonald wrote using the pseudonym Aimsir Eachainn, which I am certain has some double entendre and whenever I manage to learn the Gaelic, I’ll share it with you. He... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Tuesday, November 24, 2009,
In :
Crofting
Broadcasting “across the Western Isles from the heart of the Hebrides,” Isles FM is a bit of misnomer. Based in a tiny Stornoway studio, our community and volunteer-run radio station, 103 MHz on the dial (not that anyone has dials these days), is more than slightly preoccupied with the Isle of Lewis. Generally speaking the station’s signal disappears once you’re in Harris (though people on the western coastal mainland apparently hear it loud and clear).  Isles FM might strike the unknow...
Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, November 11, 2009,
In :
Crofting
. . . When I'm in the middle of a dream, stay in bed and float upstream . . . I was sitting by the peat fire recently when I heard some news of February Burns. Some of you may remember him.
peat fire  He was the one mixed up in that strange but appealing scheme to “fight fur with fur” back in the late 1980s. Homeless people in the East Village and Lower East Side of NYC were paid to catch rats. Then Burns and some cohorts sewed the pelts into odd bits of garments. Gloves were the least o...
Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, November 11, 2009,
In :
Crofting
Last night was our first carnivorous meal featuring croft livestock. The Indian Runners are not ideal for the table, but seeing as how we need to cull a couple of drakes, we might as well not let them go to waste. I followed the basic outlines of a Jamie Oliver recipe.
before  Roughly chopped veg (onions, carrots, celery, garlic) go in the bottom of the pan. Fresh sage leaves are mashed with salt using mortar and pestal, and then rubbed all over the bird. Citrus (lemon or orange, halved) gets ... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Sunday, October 25, 2009,
In :
Crofting
(As a preamble, this all went on to the compost heap.) It was collected on a recent hike to Aird Toranais (Torranish).  mushrooms, mainly
Yes, that's sheep dung and an urchin shell. Aird Toranais is due west along the shoreline, amid the common grazing, old stone walls and a modern shepherd bothy (complete with generator, cooker, full ash tray, and TV (why? - why not?). spore pattern
 To repeat, binned as I don't know for certain whether or not this will destroy my kidneys. Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, October 19, 2009,
In :
Crofting
One of the nicer hikes is out the back of the apportionment and
south into the hills of the Earshader Common Grazings.
crumpled OS map of the area
I did it back in April with the camera. Along the banks of Loch Fhreunadail
I found a dead ewe. The carcass was still furry. But we like to collect sheep
skulls so I thought I should go back.
rotting corpse
And I did Sunday. And to my slight surprise, I found the remains of the beast. But not at all as I left them in the ... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Friday, October 16, 2009,
In :
Crofting
One of my regular duties is cleaning the hen house. Scraping poo off roosting bars may seem a dismal task, but honestly, the shit is it. Along with stray feathers and bits of straw, it goes on the compost heap. Then it works a sort of horticultural alchemy with the green kitchen waste, shrub trimmings, grass clippings, shredded seaweed and some partially rotted horse manure from the other side of Lewis. Over six months or so, the concoction heats up and rots down to become among the best soi... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Thursday, September 17, 2009,
In :
Crofting
Jonathan Meades is a former restaurant critic for the The Times in London.
Considered the best, once. Now he has either moved onto (or back to) general
social commentary. His latest television series is focused on Scotland, a place
he doesn't seem to care for; in the same dismissive manner that English historians
often approach the country (which they occasionally don't accept as a country).
Anyway, Meades' latest TV venture is called Off Kilter (gittit?) and last night's
programme, which ...
Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, September 2, 2009,
In :
Crofting
Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, September 2, 2009,
In :
Crofting
In July, Elizabeth and I began bringing in the peats from our croft's designated bank (about three miles away, on the 'Bernera road' back towards Stornoway, from the croft in Earshader). Cutting started back in May, stripping a half foot depth of turf off and replanting it below the face of the peat bank (so that the heather and grass should continue to grow) before we sliced through the deep brown peat with a traditional peat iron.
the peat bank  Cutting the peat away from the bank is labour ...
Posted by John McKenna on Wednesday, September 2, 2009,
In :
Crofting
In Earshader, there is no BT-based broadband (the Bernera exchange, 2 miles away, hasn't been upgraded) and the wireless transmitter is blocked by large hills. So, I have gone back to a very slow dial-up account established at the rented house. To get in touch, use either bshelby@bshelby.demon.co.uk or barryshelby@mac.com. (No big attachments, though please. ) Wireless b-band will take a while. The company said another two or three months in January, but the last time I checked it's website, ... Continue reading ...
Posted by John McKenna on Monday, August 31, 2009,
In :
Crofting
Lewis-based food writer Barry Shelby argues that, far from clinging to a dying way of life, crofting’s time is right now.
(this article first appeared in The List-http://www.list.co.uk/ 1st May 2009)
Crofting can be a conundrum. It was a modern improvement to subsistence farming on the mostly marginal lands of the Highlands and islands, but it neither fitted into the mainstream nor ever quite managed to shake off a bias against it as inefficient. Though crofts are indeed a type of small farm ... Continue reading ...
Colin Macleod - Local Lad + Landscapes:
Again in the music-videologue-of-Lewis-vein: this one features the rather frightfully handsome lad, Colin Macleod. Pal of Dotjr, apparently. New CD (on Geffen) due out soon.
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About Me
Barry Shelby, American-gone-native-Scotsperson, Journalist , Photographer, Author and....Crofter located now at Earshader on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Barry, based for years in Glasgow, is now with his wife Elizabeth on the Islands off the North-West Coast of Scotland.
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Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas, also Isle of Lewis) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides (an archipelago) of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is 683 square miles (1,770 km2).
Lewis is, in general, the lower lying part of Lewis and Harris, with the other part, Harris, being more mountainous. The flatter, more fertile land means Lewis contains the only town, Stornoway and three-quarters of the population of the Western Isles. Beyond human habitation, the island's diverse habitats are home to an assortment of flora and fauna, such as the golden eagle, red deer and seals and are recognised in a number of conservation areas.
Lewis is of Presbyterian tradition with a rich history, having once been part of the Norse Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. Today, life is very different to elsewhere in Scotland with Sabbath observance, the Gaelic language and peat cutting retaining more importance than elsewhere. Lewis has a rich cultural heritage as can be seen from its myths and legends as well as the local literary and musical traditions.
(source Wikipedia)
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