THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY

Our environmental ethos has developed primarily from the feeling of responsibility we have for this special corner of the island. In the first instance we are farmers and so this piece of land is very important to us and is what we aim to preserve and protect; renting the cottages out enables us to stay here and continue.

THE FARM

We endeavour to farm in harmony with our environment. We are in the Argyll and the Isles Environmentally Sensitive Area and this means we farm in accordance with environmental guidelines for protecting different wetland, woodland, herb-rich and grassland habitats whilst also protecting the many archaeological sites found on Treshnish. In 2006 we enter a new agreement called the Rural Stewardship Scheme which is a more nationwide scheme with similar aims. We look after our herb-rich pasture to protect wild flowers, allowing them to set seed before introducing stock in to the area. We control grazing around the ancient monuments. We exclude stock from woodland to allow regeneration of native broadleaved trees. We cut silage once ground nesting birds have safely reared their young.

We ‘officially’ began organic conversion in 1999, but in reality had been working towards an organic system before that. In 2002 we gained full organic status. It is our belief that the soil is healthier without application of unnatural fertilisers and manufactured chemicals and that being the case the food grown or reared on that land is therefore healthier for humans to consume.

We use a system at the moment where the cattle are housed over the worst of the winter and the farmyard manure created is used as soil improver/fertiliser at a later date.

Our principles in farming organically are to preserve this beautiful corner of Mull as best we can, whilst ensuring that the food we produce on it is as healthy as it can be.  We feel we cannot ignore the impact of 'food miles' on how we farm and with the decisions we make as to what special feed and bedding we make or source outwith the farm for the animals during the winter. 

We very nearly gave up our organic status for this reason in 2005 when we reached the conclusion that the way we had been going, whilst being organic and supposedly therefore in harmony with the land here, was actually being quite hard on it.   So we have reduced our cattle numbers and have consequently cut down on how much silage we have to make.  This will allow us to rotate the fields we make the winter food on and allow more fields to be left fallow each summer.  We feel we will be able to look after the farm and our immediate environment now in a more gentle and sustainable way whilst still providing good healthy and organic produce! 

Our cattle are Highland Shorthorn  and Angus cows who run with an Aberdeen Angus bull.  They seek out the more marginal grazing which more commercial cattle would ignore so they are ideally suited for our ground.   The Blackface sheep are on the hill ground for most of the year but introducing them to the fields over the winter means that they clean up the grass but reducing the tufts left by the cows and thus creating the perfect habitat for the next crop of wild flowers.    

THE COTTAGES

Our holiday cottages at Treshnish and at Haunn are run in the same way. We try to minimise the impact of any development we undertake on our surroundings, whether it be the choice of paint we use or the renovation of an existing building. We remember clearly what attracted us to Treshnish in the first place, and try to preserve the ‘old’ atmosphere it had 10 plus years ago when we came here. It was a quiet oasis away from the mainstream, untouched and unspoilt. We have, (we hope!), preserved the feeling of being away from it all without compromising on comfort and amenity.

RECYCLE REUSE REDUCE  

We are proud to hold a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme which promotes environmental management and measures. We recycle WHATEVER we can and encourage our guests to do the same by providing a collection point for the different recyclable consumables. We reuse whatever wherever we can. We reduce wherever possible, using energy saving light bulbs, good insulation and double glazing. (Since we have been here we have replaced over 40 (rotten) single glazed windows with double glazing!).

Environmental concerns are taken in to account at every level of planning any project within the cottages - which materials are best, where do they come from, how long will they last, how sustainable is the use of whatever material it is, are they appropriate to our location.

We contribute to Climate Care to offset the carbon usage of running the cottages and collect donations from those guests who would like to offset their travelling to get here and whilst on Mull - we pass their donations on to Climate Care - from 2004 to date this has amounted to offsetting  around 22 tonnes of carbon each year.  We feel that whilst it is not a cure, carbon offsetting enables us all to support worthwhile long term environmentally friendly projects.  We plant trees and encourage woodland to regenerate.  We support organic gardening, the Slow Food Movement and the local Producers Markets held in the summer months in Dervaig Community Hall. 

Burnet Moths:

Mull and Ulva are the only places left in Britain where the Slender Scotch Burnet Moth and its related species are found. We have found the Six Spot Burnet Moth at Treshnish and we hope that by farming with butterflies/moths in mind - leaving areas of nettles and thistles for example - we will help them survive. We support Butterfly Conservation (Scotland). Look at www.butterfly-conservation.org for more details.