Siggy Buckley
I Once Had a Farm in Ireland: Living the Organic Lifestyle
language
(Lightningsource May 14, 2015)
A wheelbarrow, a cable drum, gardening tools, and a pickaxe are unusual items on a wedding registry, but that’s what Mac and Siggy, a German professional couple, needed in order fulfill their dream to start organic gardening, then emigrating to Ireland to seek a healthier and simpler life in an unspoiled country.
It’s the 80's, the height of the Cold War, and a time of rearmament and potential political disaster. When Chernobyl blows up in 1986, they are scared enough by its fall-out to opt out of their comfort zone and make fundamental changes to the lives of their young family.
More than just fleeing the nuclear threats, they want to blaze a new path to a more self-sustaining and wholesome lifestyle. A period of intense learning and acquiring new skills follows: How to raise chickens, pluck geese, breed cattle and sheep, and how to grow all kinds of vegetables.
Soon they find out that farming means a never ending workload.. A strict, inflexible routine is required on the farm; their roles change sharply with day-to-day demands and problems they never envisioned. Even cultural differences between Ireland and Germany contribute to their stress. They almost kill themselves (and each other) to produce healthy food.
Lovers of Ireland, arm-chair gardeners and travelers experience a real life account of the most ancient and mysterious European cultures instead of the prevailing shamrock- and -leprechaun image.
It’s the 80's, the height of the Cold War, and a time of rearmament and potential political disaster. When Chernobyl blows up in 1986, they are scared enough by its fall-out to opt out of their comfort zone and make fundamental changes to the lives of their young family.
More than just fleeing the nuclear threats, they want to blaze a new path to a more self-sustaining and wholesome lifestyle. A period of intense learning and acquiring new skills follows: How to raise chickens, pluck geese, breed cattle and sheep, and how to grow all kinds of vegetables.
Soon they find out that farming means a never ending workload.. A strict, inflexible routine is required on the farm; their roles change sharply with day-to-day demands and problems they never envisioned. Even cultural differences between Ireland and Germany contribute to their stress. They almost kill themselves (and each other) to produce healthy food.
Lovers of Ireland, arm-chair gardeners and travelers experience a real life account of the most ancient and mysterious European cultures instead of the prevailing shamrock- and -leprechaun image.