Welcome to my blog!

I have embarked upon a project to plant willow (Short Rotation Coppice SRC)  for log production at home in County Wicklow, Ireland. We heat our (remote rural) family home with a boiler stove, and my hope and aspiration is to become self sufficient in terms of fuel for heating. I plan to track my progress here so that it may act as a guide for others considering similar ideas!

First some background. We moved into this house in 2015. It was constructed in 1979 so required some upgrades! We externally insulated the property, installed 12" of attic insulation and new A rated doors and windows throughout. We installed a boiler stove as the main source of heat, with a back-up high efficiency oil boiler for back-up. We also have a pair of solar thermal panels on the roof to provide hot water during the summer months.

The house came with a 3 acre field which I struggled to identify a good use for. Sure, I could rent it to a local farmer, but the rent would be minimal, and there would be the privacy factor, having someone else coming onto our property. late in 2016 I settled on the idea of growing trees for our own use. what to plant was the next question................