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Dear ,

Spring has finally well and truly sprung in Ireland! After a long and VERY wet winter it feels like there is a shift in the air. The dawn chorus is glorious and everywhere birds are snatching twigs and bits of fluff to build their nests. The earth is abundantly soaked with water and if you listen closely you can hear it moving in the soil. This morning we heard the first geese of the season returning north after the winter, hopefully bringing some gentle warm winds with them.

It has been some time since you have heard from us, and we have a few fun updates from the farm including newly born farm animals, digging a pond & our May and August work weeks.

↑ One of the perks of living remotely; beautiful Aurora Borealis! - Jan 2026

Winter ponderings

It has not been an easy winter for us, with many challenges that seem to get in the way of us doing the thing we are passionate about, restoring and stewarding the land for future generations. We have had many late night conversations about the idealism that we strive for vs the concrete reality of raising a young family and paying the bills. 

Some days it feels like we are trying to move mountains; manage invasive species (rhododendron), build up and protect natural areas (planting trees, managing land for water and soil health), plant native woodland, dig ponds, reduce deer pressure (fencing?) etc. None of these things will have direct financial income. So why do we do it? 

In moments where I forget exactly why we are slogging through the mud, day after day, I try to remind myself to seek out the tender beauty around me. The fresh green leaves on the hawthorn trees and the abundance of wild garlic that has been gracing our table these past weeks. There is a patient joy in seeing this place constantly unfolding. The birds that build their nests and find new sources of food in the native trees that are being allowed to once again cover the land. The insects that forage, bringing a pleasant hum to summer mornings. It is all entirely worth it! To imagine a future where our children's children can enjoy the freshness of air, exhaled from the great green lungs of oaks that we have tended. A living future is worth it! Today more than ever it feels vital to cherish these gifts from a living Earth.

For centuries humans have consumed the gifts of the earth, taking more than we have returned, and while there are plenty of initiatives trying to monetise restoration, justifying that we can make money by restoring land, something doesn’t sit entirely right with me. Yes, there are alternative ways to create income on a piece of land like this; tourism, education, some farming; yet ultimately what this land needs, and what many places need, is the possibility to be stewarded without having to create financial return directly. The return is absolutely there! Healthy ecosystems will create resilience, clean air, pollinators will have habitat making it possible to cultivate nourishing food, to name just a few.

And…. At the moment we are doing all this in our “free” time. Of course there are many regenerative schemes, carbon credits, incentives to reforest etc, but, on this scale, a livable family scale of restoration is not a way to make a living. We wish it was, because it feels like a contribution to something bigger than just us, and yet we still need to support our family and its living needs, which is why, for now, this work is an “extra” that we do with whole hearts, even on the muddy days 💚

Around the farm

One of the many joyous aspects of spring is the birth of new farm animals. Our goat Lioba had two very sweet kids again, and you may remember our new Shetland Ram Bruno? Our Shetland ewes gave birth to 5 very cute lambs. We hope our increased flock size can help us manage our grasslands even better while also giving us some beautiful Shetland wool.

Pond 

Our biggest project over the last two months has been digging a pond. We have wanted to dig a pond since we first arrived here, and 4 years later it feels like a real step towards creating healthy eco-niches at Terranu. 

A generous donation from guests to the wedding anniversary of Edith & Sikko, as well as a small government grant towards the cost of digging a pond, meant that we were able to rent a machine to do the work ourselves. We spent 10 days moving earth and clay to form what will hopefully become a thriving pond. And it feels even more meaningful knowing that it has been made possible because of the support of so many people!

The area which we chose seemed to have a natural flow of water, and after initial digging we found a bubbling wellspring! What a gift! In forming the pond with this source flowing in there will be a constant flow of fresh water, and continuous movement will hopefully reduce the tendency for mosquito and midge breeding. (We can always hope right?!)

Another exciting discovery was that the area where we dug the pond has a thick clay deposit! We were able to use this to form the lower holding bank, and the pond seems so far to hold the water without any further lining or clay addition. We didn’t want to put any synthetic liner, or fabric in the bottom, so this was a really welcome discovery! 

The whole endeavour was one big mucky mess, and at times we were up to our knees in the mud! There were broken over-flow pipes, and a sliding digger as the clay turned to pudding from the vibrations. For the next few months we will leave the banks to settle, and keep the water level low. Once we see it has firmed up enough we will gradually allow it to fill. We look forward to sharing photos with you over the coming months as life finds its way to the waters!

We realise now, as we are searching for photos, that it is very hard to capture the pond in a way that shows its shape and form. Here are a few attempts, and we will hopefully have some aerial footage later this year to show its placement in the landscape.

On-going projects: New entrance gate

In February we were joined by our friends Silas and Christianne for three weeks. They helped us to get a start on a gate project. Braving the incredibly wet and windy weather Silas spent hours moving stones, and building the foundation of the dry stone wall that will grace the gateway and building forms to pour the concrete posts for the gate. We are excited to continue working on this project and welcome many guests through our new gates this year.

Garden

The garden has been resting through the winter, and as the warmer days arrive we are busy seeding and preparing for the growing season. Tomatoes sown with Christianne in February are thriving! This year we intend to have a small stand at the new gate to sell farm produce. We are also planting 50 Blueberry bushes, to see how they do in our soil and climate.

Terranu Work Weeks 2026

As we mentioned we will be hosting workweeks at Terranu this year. In February we kept it small as we already had some friends and family visiting during that time. We planted some trees and blueberries and realised that work weeks in February can be tricky if it rains for 6 weeks straight.🤪

We dream of a sauna next to the pond, but whether we can build that in October is to be seen. We also dream of hosting courses here, but that still feels too ambitious still this year.

4 - 8 May: Pond care, Planting trees and Pulling rhodo

This workweek will include tree planting, around the new pond and on farm edges, as well as mulching berries and fruit trees and managing rhododendrons (of course 😉). Depending on the pool of skillsets there might also be some fence building and other construction projects.

We are partnering up with our friends from Planetary Service, who will co-host the week with us. We still have some beds available, so if you are keen to join, get your hands dirty and support us in regenerating this place let us know! We will provide food & accommodation. All we ask is for 5 hours of your hands per day. Be prepared for mud and be surprised with sunshine 😀

On May 8th we will host a Meitheal. The origin of the Irish term meitheal (pronounced mehal, with a short 'e' as in met) goes back at least to the 8th Century. A meitheal was a gathering of neighbours to help each other in turn with farming work. In a meitheal, work that would have taken an individual farmer weeks to complete was done in a day or two, on the simple basis that many hands make light work!

If you are reading this newsletter from a nearby location, mark your calendar and join us on May 8th (please RSVP)!  Food will be provided.

Festive August Aronia Harvest

In the first week of August we will be hosting our first Festive Aronia Harvest. We expect to harvest between 1000 and 1500 kg of berries this year, and as our bushes have grown tremendously the last few years due to the sheep's wool mulch, harvesting the berries will be easier. Moreover, it is lots of fun harvesting as a big group! We imagine we could fire up the pizza oven at the end of the day or even have some live music sessions. We will turn the week into a festive berry bonanza 🤩 Come for an hour, a day or the whole week!

We have some shared accommodation options & space for your own tent.

Phew!!  That felt like a lot of updates and writing! If you are still here, thanks for reading along with us. And, as always, we are deeply grateful for all the words of encouragement that come our way. It’s easy to put off writing the newsletter, but once it’s done, it’s always nice to have spent this time reflecting on the last months and sharing the stories of Terranu! 

Wherever you are, we invite you to notice all the signs of spring (or fall in the Southern hemisphere) that remind & connect you to the beauty of the earth, breathe deeply and feel the connection that we all have woven into our very being.

Sending you warmth and light,
With gratitude,

Nakyta & Pieter