Orchard Pruning Workshop Story

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Winter and early spring is a busy time for the permaculture deisgner and orchardist. Besides running sustainability and pruning courses there is always a list of new pruning customers to tend to. It is also the period of planting bare root trees, orchards and hedging for design customers. I’m finally getting a chance however to write about the recent winter orchard pruning workshop here at the Ansa Permaculture Design headquarters, also known as my home and garden in West Cork. On a sunny frosty morning in February I was delighted to teach a small group including one student travelling all the way from Germany! Orchard pruning workshop topics The pruning workshop covered the following topics: Why prune at all; the natural shape of an apple tree; the purpose of grafting; its effects and side-effects; summer pruning vs winter pruning; vegetative and fruiting wood; orchard guilds and design considerations; pollination; tools Continue Permaculture Story

Orchardist with fruit tree

Pruning Apple Trees in Kerry

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This week I went on a lovely orchard care adventure pruning fruit trees in the beautiful town of Killarney, County Kerry. Its that time of year when there can be several new inquiries for orchard care on a given day and when there are smaller jobs somewhat in the same area I naturally plan to do them in the same trip. Ballyvourney Apple tree Pruning on the way to Kerry First up was a job pruning a large vigourous mature apple tree in a garden in Ballyvourney County Cork. Ballyvourney is a large village at the northern end of the Muskerry Gaeltacht, and its a beautiful place. It was on the main N22 road from Macroom to Killarney until it was recently bypassed. West of Ballyvourney the land rises up into the Derrynasaggart mountains and the lovely Lee valley is left behind as you head for the county bounds and Continue Permaculture Story

Pruning Workshop Poster

Orchard Pruning Workshop 8th February 2025

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I’m delighted to announce another winter orchard pruning workshop in County Cork Ireland on Saturday the 8th of February. I’ve provided professional orchard care to hundreds of customers caring for thousands of trees since turning my lifelong interest in orchard care into my vocation back in 2016. I will teach you the exact same theory and techniques that I use to care for home, farm and old estate heritage orchards across Cork and the wider Munster region. I will teach the workshop at Ballingeary, in West Cork. Directions provided on booking. Workshop price is E80 and if you would like 10% off of this then make sure you are a subscriber to my newsletter and always be in the know when new workshops are announced! Subscribe for 10% off sustainability Courses here. Winter Orchard Pruning Workshop Details Saturday 8th February, 10am -16.00pmBallingeary, Co Cork Join Paul Lynch for a workshop Continue Permaculture Story

Solar panels cleared of snow

Snow is Nice for Off-Grid Winter Jobs

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It’s deep winter in Ireland and the countryside is covered with a blanket of snow. In the winter months freezing weather isn’t uncommon in Ireland but it is usually accompanied with dry weather and clear skies and disruption is therefore usually minimal. Cold weather with snow and ice however is a relatively rare phenomenon in Ireland and may occur for brief spells only once or twice a year in the low lying parts of the country, if at all. I’ve had a nice winter break visiting family and friends and have had time reflecting on the year gone by and intentions for the year to come. So it’s time to get busy again! Hawthorn Wine Besides general everyday cleaning and tidying I had a job hanging over from last year – straining out the batch of Hawthorn wine I set brewing last year. I don’t brew much these days except Continue Permaculture Story

Professional apple pruning Ireland

Winter Orchard Pruning Season is Open!

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With the first proper freeze of the winter come and gone the winter orchard pruning season is well and truly open in Ireland. I tend to the orchard care needs of customers in Cork and Kerry, and sometimes further afield in counties Limerick and Clare. My interest in the care of fruit trees goes back to over 20 years ago when I was a curious teenager and I have tended to hundreds of orchards since turning professional back in 2016. Some pruning jobs involve a few small trees in a domestic garden while other jobs can involve tending to centuries old orchards on the grounds of old estates. Holistic Orchard Care While there are general rules and concepts that apply to all apple trees, each one is also a unique individual with its own personal history. Because of this I treat each one according to its own circumstances, history and Continue Permaculture Story

Sustainability Expert

Wales Permaculture Festival 2024

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This year I taught a permaculture design workshop at the Wales Permaculture Festival on the last weekend of September 2024. I’m making a habit of late September trips across to the UK, having attended the UK Permaculture Association Festival at Lambourne End just outside London in 2023. I had a great time there last year meeting wonderful people including Nim Robins of Cynefin Farm in Wales. This year Nim and her Wales Permaculture colleagues organised the festival and invited me to get involved. Last year I taught a swing dance class at the London festival, which was to be repeated this year, along with (more importantly?) a serious permaculture and keyline design workshop. I had a pretty crazy week leading up to the trip, with suspected food poisoning hampering my preparations and putting everything in jeopardy. During the week leading up to the trip I did some intermittent fasting which Continue Permaculture Story

Macroom Food Festival

Good Vibes at the Macroom Food Festival

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At the end of September local organisers invited me to speak at the Food Festival in my home town of Macroom in County Cork, Ireland. I was delighted to be back in the Town Hall in Macroom. I played table tennis here with the Macroom Table Tennis Club on Friday and Saturday nights for many years from the late 90s, but like many minority sports clubs in Ireland it has been dormant in recent years… anyway back to the good vibes! The Good vibes forum was part of the Macroom Food Festival and hosted stalls and talks from local sustainability and health practitioners in our local town hall. Majella O’Riordan from Dandelion Health had a stall next door so could catch up and compare notes during the day. I took several pointers from her amazing stall that I will try out next time. The speakers each only had 15 minutes Continue Permaculture Story

Permaculture Events: Macroom Food Festival and Permaculture Festival Wales 2024

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It’s busy in the vegetable garden, I’m finishing summer orchard pruning for customers across County Cork and new permaculture design projects are coming in. I’ll also be speaking at two sustainability related events over the last two weekends of September – busy time! Macroom Food Festival 21st -22nd September 2024 First up is the Food Festival in my home town of Macroom in County Cork, Ireland. I’ll have a stall with permaculture information and business leaflets and will be on a panel with other food sustainability experts at the Good Vibes forum on Saturday the 21st in the Town Hall 10am to 1pm. It’s a cool weekend and lovely to have Macroom town square busy with people enjoying themselves. https://www.macroomfoodfestival.com/ Festival of Permaculture Wales 27th – 29th September 2024 The following weekend I’ll be off to Wales to the Welsh Permaculture Gathering at Three Pools Farm near Abergavenny. I’ll be Continue Permaculture Story

Summer Pruning Espalier Apples and Pears in Ireland

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I was working locally today pruning some pear and apple espalier trees. What are espalier fruit trees you might well ask? Espalier Fruit Trees Espalier fruit trees are a restricted form of fruit growing that trains the trees to grow in a two-dimensional vertical plane. Usually there is some form of post and wire structure built before tree planting to tie the tree to as it grows. This results in a compact two-dimensional tree that in theory is easier to harvest from. In the Irish or UK climate it is a system often used against a south or west facing wall to take advantage of an the warmer, more sheltered microclimate created there, or along a path to take advantage of more regular attention and easier access that the trees will get on a highly frequented walk-way. Basic Espalier Fruit Tree Advice My basic advice for people who want espaliers Continue Permaculture Story