Clearing Laurel

Behind the tractor shed was a large cluster of English Laurel (prunus laurocerasus, also known as Cherry Laurel or Common Laurel) which I have been looking forward to removing for a couple years. This kind of laurel is toxic to humans and many animals due to having significant levels of cyanide in the leaves, branches, and berries. If the plant is eaten or cuttings stored in enclosed spaces it can cause serious health issues including death. And yet it is still sold in most garden centres today with no warning signs which I really don't understand.

Now that autumn is nearly here and birds are no longer nesting in the laurel it was time to remove this dangerous plant. Chain saw, pruners, and protective gear made fairly quick work of the majority - except for a dozen or so branches which had been cut some years ago (before we purchased the farm) and grown into the ground as newer roots. Those will need to be dug up with an excavator at a later date.

Here is the clearing work roughly half way through - I forgot to take a 'before' picture...

Most of the branches toward the end of cutting:

And the cleared area after a few hours:

Hidden in and behind the laurel were 8 large old truck tyres from a lorry or semi-trailer, some roughly 25mm braided hose, and some bits of rubbish. We will probably remove the tyres and recycle the metal hubs since they are pretty rusty and would not be safe for new use. Or maybe an upcoming project can use them as a sturdy base since they are pretty heavy.

The large cast iron kettle on the right apparently came from a local factory, but not sure what it was used for. Unfortunately it is badly cracked in multiple locations so cannot be used anymore :(

Chipping

Despite laurel having high levels of cyanide, once it dries out it is safe to use as bark / mulch and the wood is ok to burn. So using a PTO driven chipper the branches have been chopped into small chunks and will sit out for several months before use to supress weeds in the veg field.

The shredder does great work on branches, but does not chop green leaves well - at least not the laurel leaves. So periodically it would get clogged in the discharge chute (the curved bit where the chips fly out of) and that requires stopping the tractor, opening the blade cover / chute assembly, removing the blockage, closing things up, and starting again. I think it clogged 4 or 5 times while doing this large batch of laurel.

Also, a neighbour down the road took down some trees that had grown too tall and were a threat to the house next door. They chipped up a big pile of branches and offered some to us, so here they are in the yard - and the lorry driver was a nice chap named Martin who had delivered some rock and compost to us a couple years ago. This pile is several times larger than anything we've chipped, but they had a commercial towed chipper which handles much larger branches. So many tools, so little time (and money)...

Field Mowing

Years ago the farm was a working dairy and most of the fields were either used for grazing or silage (feed for cattle). When the former owner retired he rented several of the fields to another man for grazing. However, a few years prior to our purchase of the lands there was no activity and the fields had not been cut for at least a couple years. And in the first couple years that we owned the farm we did not have a tractor or suitable mower for tall grasses so a number of fields became very overgrown and rushes grew to 1m - 1.5m (3ft - 5ft) tall. To get these under control we purchased a heavy duty flail mower for the tractor and it does a grand job, although the Kioti is just barely powerful enough to run it so we have to mow very slowly.

While the weather is still decent - some rain, but the ground is not too wet - we've cut the remaining rushes on west side of the 'rush' field next to the Spruce plantation as well as the field with Cob trees (similar to Hazels) just south of the railway track. Each of these initial cuts of over 1m (3ft) tall rushes takes 2-3 hours. Here's a video from one pass in upper field - (each pass takes 7-10 minutes) - the faster bits are sped up 4x. The sound is the diesel engine and flail mower droning on and on...

Once the rushes have been initially mowed they are far easier to cut on subsequent passes every 2-3 months so it is much easier to maintain, and after about 6 months grasses come up making and slowing the expansion of rushes. Below are pictures after mowing the east side of the 'rush' field. That area was flail mowed last year and can now be maintained with a topper mower behind the smaller Kubota 24HP tractor:

Evidence that our neighbour's cow(s) are still getting through a fence somewhere and occasionally wandering through this field:

Eventually I plan to experiment with tilling some of the rushes to break up the dense bases - more on this in another post.

Glengowla Mines Visit

We took a short holiday up to Connemara last week. We had previously driven past Glengowla Mines several times, but never when they were open. But this time they were open so we stopped in for a tour. The property has been owned by Keith Geoghegan's family for several generations, and back in the early 1990's Keith decided to excavate the mine and make it available for visitors. The family still lives at the property and we were fortunate to chat with Orla who has grown up there. She said reopening the mine and making it safe as a tourist destination has been self funded by the family.

The mines were started in 1850 and worked for only 15 years. Many tools, ladders, and other historical items were found inside the mine during excavation in the 1990s and now reside in the exhibit or in the small, but informative museum at the property. The tour takes you into the mine and down several layers on well constructed walkways with railings. During covid lockdown the mine was further excavated, and there is more to uncover with planned works into a new section.

Galena is the mineral form of lead sulphide and was the focus of the mining operation. During the 1850s and 1860s lead was in high demand, especially for bullets and significant orders from the US for the American Civil War. A variety of other minerals - primarily crystal forms - were also unearthed but apparently did not have a market so they were unfortunately discarded. With the end of the American war the demand and price for lead dropped quickly and in 1865 the owner closed it suddenly overnight, burying the entrance and all of the worker's tools still inside.

There are a number of other activities at the site including panning for gold, a kids playground, and seasonal turf (peat) cutting demonstrations - well worth a visit!