A step closer to self sufficiency (harvesting from the polytunnel and sheep shearing)

This week we harvest a years worth of garlic among other things and we get Luan the sheep sheared. and we have another Bee swarm! Check out steins channel here / @pinkettshoney
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We are- a family of four,
Mum- Annie,
Dad-Bruce
Two children Elsie and Betsy
3 dogs - Doug, Pip and Twig
3 Cats - McTat, Ash and Mowgli
2 Pygmy Goats - Treasure and Bell
1 Sheep - Luan
2 Pigs - Copper and Rascal
2 Budgies - Disco and Big Budge
2 Horses - Merlin and Montana
We decided to trade our busy life as home and business owners to chase the dream we’ve harboured for 10years.
How did we get here
After years of saying one day, we finally realised that these opportunities don’t just land in your lap and if we seriously wanted to make a difference to the Earth then we were going to have to stop talking about it and do it!
We sold all our stuff, got rid of the mortgage, sold our camper conversion business and landed in a dream come true. After traveling in our van we settled here in the west of Ireland. A place that has always been special to us. Annie is half Irish and since we met 13 years ago and she took me to meet her family i fell in love with Ireland too.
Now we’ve made this dream a reality there is no stopping us! our plan is to work hard, meet new people and learn new skills that will guide us on our journey of permaculture and creating a way of life that sings to us. One where we aren’t bound to the banks, working every hour and outsourcing all of our needs. A simple way of life, with connection to ourselves, each other, the earth and our community.
Vlogging with
iPhone 11
Insta360
Olympus OM-D 5 mk ii
Lens Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14 mm F2.8 PRO Lens
Lens Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40 mm F2.8 PRO Lens
Mic Rode VideoMicro Compact On Camera Microphone
Final Cut Pro
DJI Mavic Air

[@franceswatts4001]

Beautiful singing, Elsie! Your shearer did a grand job,

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks 🙏

[@DynaHogg]

Oh I bet the house smelt lovely with that garlic hanging Mmmm

[@OffGridBruce]

It did!

[@lorrainewoodcock520]

Great job lots of garlic enjoy your harvest 😊

[@OffGridBruce]

Thank you should last us the year :)

[@garyhowes7467]

Looking good. You can multi sow leeks 5 or 6 seeds per cell. There happy growing together and you can achieve a greater harvest in a given area. Same for onions,spring onions, beetroot,radishes. Theres 2 different types of garlic also,hard neck and soft neck. The soft neck varieties store for much longer.

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks for the tips! I’ll pass that on to annie

[@ko6el]

Great to see Annie become less camera shy, and.... a Vampire free home 🧛

[@OffGridBruce]

😂 no vampires coming here for a while

[@TerryTerryTerry]

Think you forgot to put the Bee man link in.

[@OffGridBruce]

So I did. Put it in now though if you want to check his channel

[@kathyc3312]

You tell him, Annie

[@OffGridBruce]

😂 oh she does

[@jolenetunison5660]

I moved my pumpkin and it made it. So no worries bet yours will make it too.

[@OffGridBruce]

It seems to be hanging on so far

[@frazerneil9493]

Algo. Rhythm.

[@OffGridBruce]

Yes frazzle!

[@RD-mz5sy]

Another great vlog 👍. Luan is beautiful in her naked form, even if she didn’t enjoy being shorn, she will be much more comfortable ❤️. The pigs are doing a great job too 🐷. Annie, your doing a grand job of keeping young Bruce in his place. See you next week. 🐝x

[@OffGridBruce]

She doesn’t miss a trick my Annie.

[@reannejarvis9464]

Noticed all your bracken in the field. I was told when I was a child that where bracken grows tomatoes will. 🇦🇺🎸⚡️🤘🏿🤘🏼💋❤️

[@OffGridBruce]

That’s interesting. May have to do an experiment

[@julesflynn6477]

So cute that the goats were unruly till their sister returned safely to the fold 😊

[@OffGridBruce]

I know they absolutely love her

[@Donneczka1]

Yum, yum, yum, buzz, buzz, buzz, progress, progress, progress! Well done! 🐝🥬🥔🥚🐝

[@OffGridBruce]

Yes! Thank you!

[@kevinfisher1632]

Welcome back folk's. You both have fantastic tan's and look well rested.

[@OffGridBruce]

Thank you! 😊

[@johnoleary528]

Great to see you all back from holiday and down to work 😊

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks John

[@PinkettsHoney]

Hi, Glad Annie is also enjoying the bee keeping even if they are a pain at times. :) I Happy to help out and also interested if other beekeeper have any ideas :). Thanks for the Plug and also looks like you got a great harvest :)

[@OffGridBruce]

No worries Stein. Thanks for all the help

[@aprilriordan8202]

Another jam packed vlog 🐓🐶🐱🐖🐑 and 🐝 lol fantastic the hens are finally laying , your sheep has such pretty colours with her winter coat gone , the pigs sitting for Annie in the background made me laugh and what a fantastic harvest from the Polytunnel, everything thing looks amazing 😊

[@OffGridBruce]

😊 thank you. Happy with the way it’s all going right now

[@davidfennell5124]

Nothing like home grown produce 😊

[@OffGridBruce]

It’s the best!

[@magcurran100]

Nice to see you all back home..... love the way Luan was put in the car to go for her haircut!

[@OffGridBruce]

😂 I will borrow a trailer next time

[@tiarnanvanderbrun8260]

You're getting busy but everything is coming good. Chickens firing all cylinders, bees in abundance and a nice garlic harvest good work team 👍

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks 🙏 feels good at the mo

[@allonesame6467]

HooRay! Eggs! Congratulations! Happy Summer Solstice🌞🌞✨✨

[@OffGridBruce]

Thank you! Happy solstice ☀️

[@wild.in.ireland]

Love Annie’s transition 😆 oh and that lunch!!! 🤤

[@OffGridBruce]

😂 she’s definitely the comedian

[@maeliosashannon4246]

Have you done quick course with a local bee keepers society. If your leaving 2 queen cells you have to split the hive at the same time or your older queen will get out quick. But it does sound like your new queen might be on a mating flight and not a swarm at all.

[@OffGridBruce]

I haven’t done a course but I kept bees when I lived in suffolk but I am by no means an expert. The original queen already swarmed so these were secondary swarms. Weirdly one of the queens returned and built her colony underneath the original hive so we had to break that off and put them in a new hive. It was a crazy few weeks

[@AdamSmith-yw7qh]

I do love your channel Bruce and watch occasionally, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't click and watch all the way threw if itvl wasnt because of the thumb nail. Among 10's of other videos i clicked this one solely because of the thumb nail and must say such a shame its that what grabbed my attention, but irregardless of the thumbnail I thoroughly enjoyed the entire video.

[@OffGridBruce]

😂 I appreciate your honesty there Adam

[@joannabowers1358]

Very enjoyable video. I’m watching it a day late due to bringing in my own harvest. Here in hot, steamy Texas, my peas and tomatoes are being picked daily. Plus, I had to pull all of my corn due to the heat and the friggin’ fire ants. There’s such a sense of self sufficiency when you finally get to eat meals straight from your garden.

[@OffGridBruce]

I love eating the home grown. I didn’t realise Texas was humid. I always imagined it being dry and hot

[@joannabowers1358]

@@OffGridBruce Texas is close to 900 miles wide and 1000 miles deep. It’s hot all over, but I’m in the northeast where it’s also very humid. We have swamps and lots of boggy areas. Just 100 miles southeast, you hit the gulf coast which is semi tropical. From San Antonio westward, it is dry and becomes complete desert.

[@paulaniclinseach8672]

Loving the vlogs guys! We need more of Annie! She's great craic

[@OffGridBruce]

That she is! I think she should take a whole vlog one week. I always laugh editing when it’s a heavy Annie episode

[@fionamcguinness6125]

I used a mixture of equal parts breadsoda and icing sugar in the polytunnell last year to get rid of ants. Place in several small containers around the place. Good luck!

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks for that tip. I’ll get on that

[@jacksg1809]

Its great when u finally get ur own eggs 🎉

[@OffGridBruce]

I love it

[@mikebourke1185]

Welcome back from the Holiday ..your polytunell produce looks Fantastic ..well done 👍 Stay Free and Safe 😍👍

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks Mike

[@freedomforestlife]

Hey guys, great vlog, really enjoyed this one, especially all the joys of harvesting what you’ve grown and creating self sufficient meals … my favourite kind of reward 😃 our broad beans are going crazy atm, but last year the dip I made wasn’t that great … did you make yours with raw or cooked beans? Also been meaning to thank you guys as we had a GREAT crop of super early polytunnel new potatoes this year, thanks to your previous video giving us the idea .. we got straight out the next day and planted up 🙌 vid on our channel, if you fancy seeing 😊 AND I’m visiting Ireland this week from south Uk, for the first time ever … coming to see Rebekah 🙏 thanks for all you share, you guys really make us smile 💚✌️🌿

[@OffGridBruce]

Our beans were raw in the dip. I find them nicest picked a little early. I don’t like them when they start to turn bitter (a taste I remember as a child and thought I hated B-road beans) loving the tunnel spuds. I’ll check out your vid :) Amazing you are in touch with Rebekah she is one beautiful human! Good luck and enjoy your journey :)

[@davidstoddard9160]

You might want to put some energy toward getting a trailer to haul things such as animals, ect for the future.

[@OffGridBruce]

I think I’ll borrow my neighbours next year

[@neevydee6103]

Most beautiful moment: A gorgeous spontaneous song to Luan! Least beautiful moment: the use of the word "Idiot." If I may offer some counsel (from one who has been there), it's very easy under conditions of stress for playful banter to descend into a form thinly-veiled bickering, where feelings get hurt by "only joking" words, and the cycle continues unconsciously. I felt saddened by this as I value and admire your usual family harmony and loving style of relating. Please bring some light and consciousness to this before it becomes an ingrained habit. I noticed that the pattern continued into the bike video, so I thought it might be constructive, if a little uncomfortable, for me to comment. With love, Niamh.

[@OffGridBruce]

Hey Niamh appreciate the concern there as words are powerful but you definitely should know me and Annie are great communicators and we love a bit of wind up between ourselves. What bit in this video did you mean?

[@neevydee6103]

@OffGridBruce maybe my radar is a little too sensitive to these things! It was the bit where Ann brings the wheelbarrow out of the polytunnel and says "idiot."

[@OffGridBruce]

Ah 😂 I love it when she gives me that sort of thing. We are very good at checking in with each other. We also have a very deep and connected side minus the joking but I don’t have the camera on for that bit

[@neevydee6103]

@OffGridBruce Thanks Bruce. 😊 I'm reassured! Yes, the videos are only a snapshot of course. Xx

[@OffGridBruce]

I know the word idiot can be extremely triggering for some.

[@artifactartstudio107]

Plant abundance! Nice job. Love the copper egg. So pretty, wondering how it tastes? Richer than others? And your daughter’s sweet song on the car ride was my fav. ❤

[@OffGridBruce]

I tried it this morning and it tastes pretty much the same

[@WestCorkWander]

love it dude!!!! glad your back :)

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks 😊

[@carolfaberpeake857]

Wow so many jobs done!’ 🎉🎉🎉

[@OffGridBruce]

Thanks Carol

[@malcolmduggan5130]

Great vlog as per usual 😊

[@OffGridBruce]

Thank you!! And thanks again for sort Luan. Did you get the part for the car?

[@DCScott-wo7cq]

Great vid as usual guys. 👍❤

[@OffGridBruce]

Thank you 🙏

[@jacquelinechilvers9361]

Good you had a great holiday. First days back are always challenging. I'm glad you warned the girls about the ants,Annie They don't half twang!! Irish ants seem fiercer than the ones I knew in Cambridge. Our Galway ants are ferocious. Be well

[@OffGridBruce]

I haven’t had a bite yet but Betsy has had her fair share. She says the bite burns

[@ElisandeWalters]

impressive harvest. (if Annie loved the process of braiding, and if she doesn't allready know, she might enjoy checking out foragedfibre on these things)

[@OffGridBruce]

Is that like bramble and nettle cordage?

[@cclose8007]

Great vlog!

[@OffGridBruce]

Thank you!! :)

[@richardomalley1746]

Great to see you back from your hols. Those earlies what variety are they. They are not an Irish variety, my dad used to grow “queens” Wexford or British

[@OffGridBruce]

I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask my neighbour as he gave them to me. I have planted apaches, and queens and another variety but the name escapes my mind

[@Lifegrowsonandon]

Wheres the tomatos

[@OffGridBruce]

Not ripe yet

[@julieattard7098]

My future goal xx

[@OffGridBruce]

Good luck

[@SHGRetro]

You will need to get rid of the Ant's as they can kill anything growing by tunnelling under the root ball which will slowly kill the plant! Very jealous of the poly tunnel 🙂🙂

[@OffGridBruce]

Ah that’s annoying. Shame I can’t put the hens in but they would do more damage than the ants

[@newbatling4194]

Love your videos, live the little one going barefoot, also when are you going to harvest the lovely selection of clothes growing above your head in the polytunnel....lol

[@OffGridBruce]

Haha that’s a weekly harvest

[@wormwood6424]

I think they get hot. Try putting the hive in a cooler spot🤔

[@OffGridBruce]

I’d have to move them a few miles first as the rule is move them 3ft or 3mile

[@OffGridBruce]

I’d have to move them a few miles first as the rule is move them 3ft or 3mile

[@wormwood6424]

Maybe a big pot plant or awning in front . Just a form of shade?

[@newbatling4194]

What's the music playing... think your in a hurry?

[@OffGridBruce]

It’s called “it’s a beautiful day” by River Sam

[@newbatling4194]

@@OffGridBruce thankyou going to find them now...

[@johnmurphy8319]

A Jesus Clare through it away 😡

[@OffGridBruce]

Was very frustrating the last 15 mins or so