Farming For Nature Walk with Bridget Murphy - August (Co.Sligo)

The Farm Walks are an opportunity for the Farming For Nature farmers to showcase their contribution to nature and good farming practices on their land.

Bridget has been living on and farming mountain land for nearly 20 years. She would be the 8th generation she knows farming the land. She prefers to practice agroecology over agriculture or agribusiness and uses her farm as a case study on issues ranging from governance of the commons, to using native ponies and bees to diversify grazing / forage regimes on the hills. She keeps a flock of Cheviot sheep, four hill ponies and an apiary of native black bees, plants in copses of native woodlands and maintains watercourses and streams. She builds dry stone walls and keeps a few acres under traditional hay meadow. Her land has a healthy wildlife population that includes pine marten, badgers, foxes and lots of hares. The birdlife is prolific and there are small trout in the streams. Heath and blanket bog characterise the higher land parcels, and for the last decade she has been working on rewetting sections of the land; she sees the value in the allowing the natural habitat to return and recognises the need to keep the carbon stores locked in the ground. She is a long time land rights activist from her early days fighting the Apartheid system in South Africa and claiming land back for rural black communities, she is also a long time ecofeminist.

WHAT ARE THE FARM WALKS:

• This will be a 2.5 hour (approximately) visit to the farm and will include a walk around with the farmer/farm family, a look at some of the habitats and species present, as well as the livestock and/or crops, and a discussion with the farmer about how he/she/they manage the land in support of nature.
• Depending on the national restrictions, numbers will either be restricted to 15 or 25, so in order to get a place you have to book beforehand through our booking system then you will receive exact details of where to meet etc. This will be opened up at least a month prior to the walk.
• These walks are for farmers and people with an interest in farming for nature. They are meant to be an interactive knowledge exchange between people with a real interest in farming and nature. They are not suitable for children, or for people/groups looking for an ‘organised walk’ in the countryside.
• These walks are non-profit but a booking fee is necessary to minimise the frustrating level of no-shows. It costs €10 to register and all funds are circulated back into the farming community.
• Please wear suitable footwear for uneven and potentially muddy conditions.
• We would ask that you please respect these farmers, their land and livestock when visiting. Dogs are not welcome. You will be turned away if you arrive with one.