Turf

The Backwards Man

It has come to my notice that not everyone here is familiar with this most fundamental of Irish traditions. 'What's footing?' the say. 'What's windrowing?' What's 'bogging to the hoozles?'

How well are you up on your turf?

Persephone kindness

Are you asking me?

Who are your people? Do you know where you come from?

The Backwards Man

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It has come to my notice that not everyone here is familiar with this most fundamental of Irish traditions. 'What's footing?' the say. 'What's windrowing?' What's 'bogging to the hoozles?'

How well are you up on your turf?

Bogging to the hoozles is obviously some kind of dance craze involving country music, home-made liquor and flanelette shirts.

The Backwards Man

Candie wrote: »

Bogging to the hoozles is obviously some kind of dance craze involving country music, home-made liquor and flanelette shirts.

Candie, if you were ever bogged to the hoozles, fancy music, fancy drink and fancy shirts would be the last thing on your mind.

Persephone kindness

How well are you up on your turf?

I know my home. I know my people.

I'm afraid to ask now, TBM.

Ubbquittious

I know that it's pronounced "torph"

howdoyouknow

The Backwards Man wrote:

Candie, if you were ever bogged to the hoozles, fancy music, fancy drink and fancy shirts would be the last thing on your mind.

In to the axles up here

seamus

Yeah...I'm not a bogger.

Persephone kindness

seamus wrote: »

Yeah...I'm not a bogger.

My family is Five generations Dublin on one side and three generations on the other.

Dublin pride!

Hector Bellend

This is pure mulchie

Persephone kindness

seamus wrote: »

Yeah...I'm not a bogger.

I love your sig. I am so proud of my grandparents !

Persephone kindness

Hector Bellend wrote: »

This is pure mulchie

I don't look down on culchies. Or mulchies. GO RURAL IRELAND!

Jim Bob Scratcher

What is it with you and turf Backwards man ? Do you make love to it every night or wha ?

Persephone kindness

Anyway I am a small town girl in a place like london.

Persephone kindness

Jim Bob Scratcher wrote: »

What is it with you and turf Backwards man ? Do you make love to it every night or wha ?

It's an issue worthy of intense political debate.

selectamatic

Jim Bob Scratcher wrote: »

What is it with you and turf Backwards man ? Do you make love to it every night or wha ?

Turf is a giver not a taker

Persephone kindness

Protect our right to turf on.

Jim Bob Scratcher

selectamatic wrote: »

Turf is a giver not a taker

Yeah but yer man is coming across as a proper turfophile

Persephone kindness

I know my turf. I don't know your turf.

Persephone kindness

My Godfather is a gaelgoir from Donegal....he is an engineer .I texted him what windrowing was ..he said 'Dry Up' Is that irish for something?

Persephone kindness

Persephone kindness wrote: »

My Godfather is a gaelgoir from Donegal....he is an engineer .I texted him what windrowing was ..he said 'Dry Up' Is that irish for something?

I googled it Uncle Johnny just told me to shut up :mad: :mad:

the_pen_turner

a windrow is when you have turned the turf but couldnt be bothered footing it, you throw it into a continues heap the length of the rows, you could put 3-4 ten sod rows into the heap.
great job. we did it a few times. much easier then all that footing. it allows it to dry out but slows down the drying if its a scorcher of weather ,

alchemist33

If convicted criminals were made to foot turf for a couple of days, crime rates in Ireland would halve.

Totofan99

I love the sound of the word 'turf'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQqv4BEcUvs

Persephone kindness

Well you learn something new every day

Persephone kindness

I found this on the forestry and farming forum. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057122626

Bogfairy

When I lived in the UK a good mix of us used to be out having the craic when a few of us Irish lads and lassies would be going on about stories from the bog. Buck from hong-kong was fascinated with it. Londoner says to us "the bog? Isn't that something you sh1t in?"

Well yeah, kind of but not really......

When we were going on about the midges same Londoner thought we were being racist and that small people couldnt be cannibals.

Anyways, dragged him out to the bog one time he came over and worked the hole off him. He gets it now....

jimgoose

I am quite au fait with the noble art of turf. In Elder Days Goose the Elder would buy the use of a bank or two of Grageen Bog, near Murroe in East Limerick. This was unusual as bogs go, but not atypical of much of the geography around there, inasmuch as it was in an extinct volcanic crater at an altitude of a few hundred feet. This made drawing the stuff away by tractor and trailer interesting to put it mildly, with ten or twelve tons of the stuff pushing you down a one-in-six gradient in places.

osarusan

Spent a week or two my summers until the age of 18 or so turning, footing, bringing home turf. Bent-over, back-aching stuff, as the end of those six parallel lines inched closer.

It has a nice nostalgia to it now, but if I ever did it again that would disappear pretty quickly.

jimgoose

osarusan wrote: »

...those six parallel lines...

Tractor-mounted chain peat-cutter with six-way extruder, yes? At least we didn't need small armies of fellas belting away with sleans.

Aglomerado

I remember my granddad, dad and uncle hacking away with sleans in the early 1980s. Us kids used to help with footing and stacking the wooden wheelbarrow to bring it to the "reek" when it was dry. Then getting it home in a car trailer while the undergrowth tore the hole off the car driving out of the bog... (Older folk used a big wooden creel drawn by a donkey!)

I used to love the heather & bog cotton. Bog smell is lovely.

There were always a couple of abandoned cars which were reclaimed by nature over time.

My dad and brother got a few "hoppers" this year, nearly saved and home now...

I'm a dyed in the wool bogger: my earliest memory is falling into a boghole!!! :D:D:D

RichT

I'm from London, so fairly new to turf. Been using it now for the last 12 years, but don't understand this 'bog', 'footing' and 'turning' malarkey.

My turf grows in a local farmers trailer. Every year he empties the load out on my driveway and goes on his way with the empty trailer. One year later, he returns, and the turf has all grown back!

Great service!

Citroen2cv

When drawing turf home from the bog, we childer used to get a lift home on top of the trailer which has stacked right up with turf, with the grape forks and all. Wouldnt have been the safest when the tractor would go through a pothole on the road.

The Backwards Man

Aglomerado wrote: »

I remember my granddad, dad and uncle hacking away with sleans in the early 1980s. Us kids used to help with footing and stacking the wooden wheelbarrow to bring it to the "reek" when it was dry. Then getting it home in a car trailer while the undergrowth tore the hole off the car driving out of the bog... (Older folk used a big wooden creel drawn by a donkey!)

I used to love the heather & bog cotton. Bog smell is lovely.

There were always a couple of abandoned cars which were reclaimed by nature over time.

My dad and brother got a few "hoppers" this year, nearly saved and home now...

I'm a dyed in the wool bogger: my earliest memory is falling into a boghole!!! :D:D:D

They used to use horse drawn slipes here for taking the turf out, the horses loved it apparently.

jmayo

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It has come to my notice that not everyone here is familiar with this most fundamental of Irish traditions. 'What's footing?' the say. 'What's windrowing?' What's 'bogging to the hoozles?'

How well are you up on your turf?

Never referred to windrowing when doing turf.
Hay yes.

Cutting turf with spades, spreading, footing, clamping and bagging to get out of the soft spots to load into trailers.

And speaking of hay who has shook, lapped, cocked and reeked it ?

alchemist33

Aglomerado wrote: »

I'm a dyed in the wool bogger: my earliest memory is falling into a boghole!!! :D:D:D

Me too, only the hole then turned out to be part of an underground poitin still!

Glenster

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It has come to my notice that not everyone here is familiar with this most fundamental of Irish traditions. 'What's footing?' the say. 'What's windrowing?' What's 'bogging to the hoozles?'

How well are you up on your turf?

Oh my very dear.

Who gave your kind internet access?

jimgoose

Glenster wrote: »

Oh my very dear.

Who gave your kind internet access?

My "kind" invented Internet access, because we know first hand what it's like to be buried to both axles.

Boggy Turf

The Backwards Man wrote: »

How well are you up on your turf?

I'll give you a half trailer for €200

Neyite

jmayo wrote: »

Cutting turf with spades, spreading, footing, clamping and bagging to get out of the soft spots to load into trailers.

And speaking of hay who has shook, lapped, cocked and reeked it ?

The latter, every summer. Love the smell of hay. The former, I'll let you know next week when I pop my bog cherry

topper75

Persephone kindness wrote: »

My family is Five generations Dublin on one side and three generations on the other.

Dublin pride!

Shibboleth failure.

If you had typed pry-yead, you would have suckered me in.