Harvesting the West Cork CSA Oats
Yesterday was the harvest of a part of the West Cork Bantry community supported agriculture (CSA) oat crop. The smaller field of a bit less than an acre was harvested by hand using scythes. It was great to see how this was done in the times before mechanisation – the farmer remembers doing this only 15 years ago! For me it was a very salient reminder of how much work there could be in a bowl of porridge oats if it wasn’t for modern combines and mills.
The field is in a stunning spot on the Sheep’s Head – so here’s a short video as a reminder of the day.
It’s amazing that any of the crop survived the summer we’ve had – so hats off to everyone involved and best of luck with getting the rest of the harvest in (the big field is to be harvested by combine) and drying it.
[Edit - Madeline has a great video here...]
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
5 responses to Harvesting the West Cork CSA Oats
Nice one Tom.
At 50gms each for a bowl of porridge that’s a lot of breakfasts.
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Great stuff Tom, well caught……….looking forward to the threashing party!!
sorry john but the guy cutting was pulling the scythe and should have been sweeping it . he would not last if he were to put in a days work. keep trying…
padraig
Looks like a great day but hard work! Now let me see now why wasn’t I there…