Nestled into the rolling hills of West Cork, on the south slope of the Mizen Peninsula, just 5km from Roaring Water Bay, Glensallagh Gardens is a sprawling oasis of botanical diversity. Over the last few decades, our WWOOF hosts Richard and Jules have transformed their patch of rocky, windswept land into a flourishing pocket of life. Originally a working cow farm on 47 acres, the landscape has been transformed by vigorous planting. There is now managed woodland of 18,000 trees (Oak, Ash, Sycamore, Beech, Sitka, Lodgepole Pine), 15 acres of woodland 'garden' containing over 200 species of trees and shrubs, wildflower meadows, moorland, wetland, and extensive areas devoted to fruit and veg production, including two polytunnels and two green houses.
Foot and tractor paths cross the property, leading one through the many varied landscapes of wood and garden.
Exotic plants and flowers reveal themselves at every turn.
Richard takes a very laissez-faire approach to the woodland garden, allowing nature to primarily run its course, unmaintained after planting, creating a very natural feel to this otherwise curated landscape.
The primary veg garden containing onions, leeks, squash, chard, lettuce, carrots, peas, beans, chives, edible flowers, etc.. And the enclosed fruit cage bursting with different varieties of raspberry and gooseberries.
One of our first tasks was to learn the delicate art of edible flower picking. Each Monday and Thursday Richard sells salad greens highlighted with flowers to a local organic grocery and cafe.
Heide was partial to the violets.
Edible chrysanthemum, brassica flower, and violets.
Borage. Richard demonstrates the subtlety of picking this particularly persnickety flower.
Each day we were also responsible for feeding the hens and collecting the eggs for sale.
Heide's love for gardening was hugely useful as she spent the majority of her time focusing on the endless tasks at hand in the green house, polytunnel, and gardens; transplanting, planting, and weeding an amazing amount of plants each day.
Here she battled with the jungle to carve out some space for a new rose bush.
The warm, dry weather created a prefect climate in the polytunnel for the heat loving plants like basil, tomatoes, peppers, and corn. We saw these just explode during our short stay.
We had three weeks of nearly no rain, requiring Patrick to tackle various irrigation projects in the garden, conservatory and polytunnel.
A strong wind storm last winter blew down many trees around the property, blocking passage on several of the access paths. Patrick spent a few days playing with the chainsaw and tractor, limbing the trees and hauling out the trunks for later use as building timber or firewood.
Patrick also made himself useful with a few small building projects such as new doors for the secondary polytunnel.
Heavy machinery gardening!
We both chipped in to begin construction of a new bbq pit at a site on the property with stunning views of the surrounding hills.
As far as our accommodations, we were fortunate enough to stay in both the Cottage and the Tractor Shed during our stay. Representing both ends of the spectrum in terms of building style and aesthetic we found we enjoyed them both.
The first few days of our stay was the only rain we had and it was perfect weather for staying cozy next to the wood fire stove with a book.
After a week in the Cottage we exchanged the low ceilings, small windows, and stone walls for the vaulted ceiling and glass walls of the Tractor Shed.
Where the Cottage was cozy the Tractor Shed was stunning, looking out over the tree tops and down to Roaring Water Bay. If you are interested in staying at either of these lovely accommodations they can be rented out to you, contact our hosts on their website.
The heating and domestic hot water for the Tractor Shed are run off of wind power in the summer and a modern wood fired furnace in the winter.
Richard and Jules lived in a lovely house decorated with art and artifacts from their colorful lives in Africa and Australia and India and goodness knows where else.
The entire north side of the house was enclosed with a glass conservatory. We enjoyed our mid morning coffee here and a few dinners on the warmest days.
Richard was full of amazing stories of his travels as an exploration geologist as well as a great conversationalist on so many topics.
Thanks you for all that you shared with us Richard and Jules we truly enjoyed our time with you Glensqualler Gardens.