Turning a tillage farm into a natural, sustainable, biodiverse hive of activity with multiple income streams
Gurteen College lecturer Ailbhe Gerrard makes her own candles and balms using beeswax from the 15 hives on her 75-acre farm in Tipperary. She also sells honey, grows potatoes, runs a flock of organic breeding ewes and looks after a natural broadleaf forest
Ailbhe Gerrard swapped the academic life for the farming life over ten years ago, after her studies led her in an unexpected direction.
After graduating in sustainable development and agriculture, she was faced with the choice of either continuing full-time in academia or putting her knowledge into practice, and she choose the latter.
Now, she farms a diverse enterprise with crops, broadleaf trees, bees and a flock of mixed breed sheep.
She also runs her own sustainable and natural business, all from her 75-acre Brookfield Farm, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
“I’ve always been interested in sustainable and biodiverse agriculture and after studying it for years, I wanted to do something to contribute to the sector,” says Ailbhe.
“I could have continued studying and teaching, but I thought that it would be more beneficial to actually start farming, in a sustainable way.”
Ailbhe bought 65 acres, which had been leased out as a tillage farm, not far from where she grew up, and then added a further 10 acres to the holding.
“I kept it as a tillage farm for a few years, mostly growing barley, wheat and some oil seed,” she says.
“I then started off by buying store lambs. I ran this system for a few years and reared them as freezer lambs, with direct sale to customers.
“Then, when I decided to change to an organic system. I got into breeding ewes, Suffolks and Border Leicester cross sheep mostly.”
Ailbhe with some of her mixed-breed organic sheep on the banks of Lough Derg
Her interest in biodiverse farming led her to ask a local beekeeper if he would be interested in putting some of his hives on her land.
“He said yes and moved some on to my farm. I watched him caring for the bees and dealing with them and I became extremely interested. I wanted to give it a go myself,” she says.
Ailbhe joined the Beekeepers’ Association of Ireland and did training in beekeeping before introducing her own hives of native black bees to the farm. The course provided her with a mentor, which she says has been extremely beneficial.
After some trial and error, including some winter losses, Ailbhe now has 15 beehives on her farm and has been using their produce to create some award-winning honey and crafts.
“I started making candles and furniture balms and salves from the beeswax.”
The bees make the honeycomb, which acts as a store for the honey as well as a home for the larvae. The beeswax Ailbhe uses for candles comes from the honeycomb.
The candles, which burn slowly, are made through an ancient dipping process.
“First you take cotton wick, which is specifically braided for use with beeswax,” says Ailbhe. “Then you hang it over a stick and tie a weight at each end.
“The wick is then dipped in the melted beeswax vat and left to harden and cool, before being dipped repeatedly.”
Ailbhe can make up to 130 pairs of beeswax candles at a time, with each set taking up to eight hours to complete.
“It sounds like a long time but you’re rotating pairs of candles all the time and by the end of the eight hours you can have well over 100 pairs of candles made and finished,” she says.
When it comes to making the balms and salves, Ailbhe’s recipes combine beeswax with skin-friendly products like shea butter, almond oil and vitamin E.
Most of the ingredients are sourced locally, as well as her packaging and labelling.
“I use simple cardboard packaging which I get from the Tree Friendly Box Company based in Meath,” she says. “I use a local printer for my labels, the Nenagh Guardian, and I get the glasses designed for my beeswax-scented candles in an Offaly-based factory.”
Ailbhe has been using a farm shed to make her products and has been packing them in her house.
She also made the equipment she needed for her new venture.
“I worked with local welders to design a beeswax melter,” she says. “It’s a water-based system because the wax must never come into contact with a flame. I’ve used a domestic immersion to heat the water, which works quite well.”
Ailbhe’s products have garnered plenty of recognition.
“I was chosen as a Farming for Nature ambassador in 2019 and won the Sustainable Farming Award at the RDS the same year. I was also a Blas na hÉireann finalist. The support and recognition have been fantastic,” she says.
Ailbhe has a scented candle range, where the melted beeswax is combined with natural essential oils.
Prior to the pandemic, she hosted farm tours where visitors could see the candle-making and balm-making process as well as the everyday happenings of a working sheep, crops and tree farm.
“I used to do a lot of fairs and shows also where I would bring my mobile candle dipper and let people have a go at making their own beeswax candles. I’m looking forward to a time when that can resume,” she says.
Farm food, such as lamb and potatoes, as well as beeswax candles and gift boxes can be bought through Brookfield Farm’s website.
Ailbhe is interested in getting into wild bee care and establishing an insect sanctuary on the farm.
“There are 99 species of Irish bees, and only one of these is the native Irish Honeybee,” she says. “Some of the solitary and bumblebee species are in danger of becoming extinct, and if they do so, we risk losing some of our native Irish plants and flowers, as these bees are needed for their pollination.
“I want to help protect our insects as they are such a vital part of our everyday life, even if we don’t know it.”
Q&A: To get the craft business up and running it took four to five years
What level of start-up costs did you incur in setting up the business?
The land was a big investment initially, and I purchased more than I had originally thought I’d buy, but when the opportunity to buy this land came up, with it being so close to my home house, I knew it was right for me.
Was financing readily available from the banks for this type of business?
I didn’t even trouble the banks with my business idea. I thought they probably wouldn’t really grasp my idea or concept and that there would be no point. So, I went down another route.
How long did it take to get your business off the ground?
I bought the farm in 2010 and had my first tillage sales in 2011. I started my craft business in 2014, so to get all up and running it took four to five years.
Ailbhe in her designated native woodlands where she has planted oak trees
What grant aid or other assistance was available?
I got a Trading Online Voucher from the Local Enterprise Office in order to create my website, and I also got a small exporting grant from the LEO.
What supports bodies/agencies were available to help?
Everyone has been fantastic and so supportive since I started which has really helped me.
Teagasc were great in the beginning, especially with helping me to get my herd number and do the organic training.
Then the LEO was brilliant for advice, mentorship and even business training.
Was insurance required?
I already had farm insurance, so I then added to it and got public liability and product insurance.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Juggling everything is still my biggest challenge. Running the farm and the business as well as teaching in Gurteen College has been a challenge.
If you could go back in time, is there anything you would have done differently?
I would have converted the entire farm to organic. When I started, there was a scheme for getting into organics and I should have availed further of this. But in terms of my business, I’m happy.
