{"id":2099,"date":"2015-06-13T04:21:25","date_gmt":"2015-06-13T11:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=2099"},"modified":"2019-04-17T08:58:51","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T15:58:51","slug":"i-once-had-a-farm-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/writing\/i-once-had-a-farm-in-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"I Once Had A Farm in Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ireland\"<\/a>My mother’s family were farmers, so when I heard about Siggy Buckley’s blog tour about\u00a0her book on organic farming, I Once Had A Farm In Ireland<\/em>, I wanted to hop on.\u00a0As\u00a0well, since half my debut novel takes place in Ireland, I was\u00a0naturally intrigued. And then, there’s the whole business of organic foods. I studied foods and nutrition on my way to earning a Bachelor of Home Economics degree, so I’ve always been concerned about the quality of food we eat.<\/p>\n

When I mentioned to my family that I was going to post about Siggy’s book, they said her book sounded like an Irish take on that very popular book,\u00a0My Year in Provence<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/em>It turns out like that one, Siggy Buckley’s book is also a memoir. Now, who doesn’t like books about travel, adventure, and occupation in interesting countries? So, please read and enjoy,\u00a0I Once Had A Farm In Ireland<\/em>: Living<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0The Organic Lifestyle<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0Available from Amazon.com<\/p>\n

About the book:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A wheelbarrow, a cable drum, gardening tools, and a pickaxe are unusual items on a wedding registry. They are what Mac and Siggy, a German professional couple, need to fulfill their dream of organic gardening. When Chernobyl blows up a few years later, they are scared enough to undertake fundamental changes in the lives of their young family to seek a simpler and healthier lifestyle in an unspoiled country.<\/p>\n

They buy a farm in Tipperary, Ireland. They give up their jobs, friends and home to raise their children in an unpolluted environment. Although Siggy shares her husband\u2019s environmental convictions, she would prefer a warmer climate, maybe an olive farm in Tuscany.<\/p>\n

A period of intense learning and acquiring new skills follows: how to raise chickens, pluck geese, breed cattle and sheep, and how to grow all kinds of vegetables. Soon they find out that farming means a never ending workload. They almost kill themselves \u2500and each other\u2500 to produce healthy food.<\/p>\n

I Once Had A Farm In Ireland<\/em>\u00a0not only gives advice for budding organic gardeners but it is also the story of a woman who sacrifices her own ideals for the sake of her family until she discovers her own dreams.<\/p>\n

For more on the author: Siggy Buckley,\u00a0<\/b>you can visit her website<\/span><\/p>\n

She’s also on Goodreads<\/a>\u00a0and on Twitter @Hernibs.<\/p>\n

Educated in Germany with a Master\u2019s Degree in English, Siggy Buckley lived in Ireland for over 15 years, first teaching at the University of Limerick as an adjunct professor, while building up an organic farm. She later ran her own businesses in Dublin before coming to the USA in 2003. In 2005, Siggy married an American and pursued her life-long dream of writing.<\/p>\n

After reading all of the above, aren’t your curious? I certainly am.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mother’s family were farmers, so when I heard about Siggy Buckley’s blog tour about\u00a0her book on organic farming, I Once Had A Farm In Ireland, I wanted to hop… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[744,4],"tags":[11,78,648,36,751,750,749,5],"class_list":["post-2099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-writing","tag-book","tag-diana-stevan","tag-ireland","tag-memoir","tag-my-year-in-provence","tag-organic-farming","tag-siggy-buckley","tag-writing-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/I-Once-Had-A-Farm-In-Ireland1.jpg?fit=166%2C250&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-xR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6683,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/books\/an-enduring-love-story-for-valentines-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":2099,"position":0},"title":"An Enduring Love Story for Valentine’s Day","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"17 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"To celebrate the upcoming launch of Along Came A Gardener, I'm offering a Special Sale of my debut novel, A Cry from the Deep, an enduring love story for Valentine's Day. The ebook, a time-slip romantic mystery and adventure, is now .99 and the paperback is $11.97 US ($14.99 Canadian)\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"enduring love story","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6505,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2024\/books\/celebrating-a-cry-from-the-deep-with-a-sale-on-its-10th-anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":2099,"position":1},"title":"Celebrating ‘A Cry from the Deep’ with a Sale on its 10th Anniversary","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"My Debut Book Launch It was a dark and stormy night\u00a0in October, 2014, when I launched A Cry from the Deep, my debut novel, at the local library in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. It wasn\u2019t a night to be out. The wind howled, as it does across Discovery Passage,\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Welcome","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cropped-Coho-Bestseller3.jpg?fit=940%2C427&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cropped-Coho-Bestseller3.jpg?fit=940%2C427&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cropped-Coho-Bestseller3.jpg?fit=940%2C427&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cropped-Coho-Bestseller3.jpg?fit=940%2C427&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3015,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2017\/uncategorized\/writing-the-setting\/","url_meta":{"origin":2099,"position":2},"title":"Writing Settings For A Novel That Engages The Reader","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"18 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing the settings for a novel is one feature of a Novel Writing Workshop I'll be giving at the North Vancouver library.\u00a0In thinking about my presentation, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned over time. Setting is the world of our characters. Without a backdrop, characters would have\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writing the setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7070,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/books\/https-www-dianastevan-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":2099,"position":3},"title":"A Year of Hope and Frustration","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"8 \u0413\u0440\u0443\u0434\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Where would we be without hope? It\u2019s what fuels our dreams and loves. But this past year has tested us all, lots of hope and frustration, with the war in Gaza and Ukraine (the birthplace of my parents), and AI threatening many livelihoods and our climate, which is already under\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hope and frustration","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Christmas-trilogy.jpg?fit=552%2C363&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Christmas-trilogy.jpg?fit=552%2C363&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Christmas-trilogy.jpg?fit=552%2C363&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1783,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/setting-the-stage-in-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":2099,"position":4},"title":"Setting the Stage in Fiction","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u0412\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you write the scenes in fiction? I spent quite a few years honing the craft of writing screenplays, which is useful in setting the stage in fiction. It\u2019s natural for me to think visually when I write. I see the scenes\u2014the rooms or outdoor spaces with people and\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Writing the setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Killybegs.jpg?fit=500%2C376&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6847,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/writing\/folding-memories-into-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":2099,"position":5},"title":"Folding Memories into Story","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"12 \u0427\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing What You Know Ernest Hemingway, the wonderful author of great works such as\u00a0The Sun Also Rises\u00a0and\u00a0For Whom the Bell Tolls,\u00a0was a master of folding memories into story. After he had received another bout of shock treatments, he said to a friend, \u201cWhat is the sense of ruining my head\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Folding memories into story","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DSCN4546b-2020_02_01-15_54_38-UTC.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DSCN4546b-2020_02_01-15_54_38-UTC.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DSCN4546b-2020_02_01-15_54_38-UTC.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DSCN4546b-2020_02_01-15_54_38-UTC.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DSCN4546b-2020_02_01-15_54_38-UTC.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}