Anne and Domhnall

We both grew up in homes where our fathers grew soft fruit and vegetables so growing and gardening came quite naturally to us. We started growing veg because we wanted to eat food with as low a carbon footprint as possible. We had stopped buying food that had travelled long distances. By growing our own veg we realised that good taste was totally connected to freshness and the different varieties available to the grower. Shop bought vegetables paled in comparison. Needless to say we also grew organically.

Our veg growing journey started from small beginnings. When we first took on an allotment of 55 sq. metres we spent only an hour or two a week at it. We grew Romanescu, and Runner beans and experimented trying to grow garlic. We soon learnt that some plants need a long time to grow and it was important to read and follow what it says on the seed packets. The next year we took on another 25 sq metres and our allotment became a heavy workout but produced heaps of potatoes. The 3rd year we took on  another 50 sq. metres. We were hooked. We were there every weekend, for hours. We loved it – the tranquillity, the birdsong, the community of other growers. That 3rd year we realised we had grown and preserved enough veg to last for a year. We had saved so much money we went on a second holiday and took out a loan to buy a new car.

Anne is also a textile artist, with a passion for feltmaking but still works full time. We both love travelling and cooking. We love sharing our veg growing adventures with our grandchildren who enjoy getting stuck in.

Our philosophy

We had called our new house The Pigeons Share coming from a belief that we need to listen, live with and give back to nature.

When we first started growing veg in the allotment our first lesson was that a share of our crops will always go to birds, slugs and insects. We had no idea then that pigeons love cabbage!!!

The Pigeons Share symbolises that philosophy for us. It takes its name from the concept of the Angel’s Share – the mysterious amount that disappears in whiskey making. And we chose ‘Pigeon’ as it was our first hard lesson in crop sharing.

It is a balancing game between how much we need to protect our crops and what we are happy to lose to other creatures that share our land. It used to always feel like a battle.

But over the years we learnt that if we can create a healthy ecosystem, one where we keep nurturing the land then it too will give so much back that there is enough for us all to coexist. It’s hard at times, and we aren’t perfect. We happily watch our ducks eat slugs and we proactively discourage rats from eating our newly sown peas. And then we have to protect our crops from our ducks who love eating the tops off onions and garlic.

It is a game as much as a philosophy.