THEN: In May 2017, Margaret Hoctor told Irish Country Living how she swapped her high heels for wellies, her Blackberry for a bucket, and her office for the orchard after she was made redundant, and we learned just how resilient she really was. Alongside her husband Eamon, she explained how they had developed Kilmullen Farm in Co Wicklow to offer 100% direct lamb sales, apple juice, livery and sweetcorn, as well as sharing the lessons she learned along the way through coaching.
NOW: When it comes to lessons, 2020 has certainly delivered more than its fair share at Kilmullen Farm.
One of the biggest challenges Margaret and Eamon faced was losing 80% of their sweetcorn crop this summer, following Storm Ellen and Storm Francis.
“We went through the five stages of grief,” acknowledges Margaret, but having given themselves “space” to accept the loss, they were at least able to salvage some of the crop for the farmers’ markets and “gate to plate” sales, and will be taking learnings forward for the farm.
On a more positive note, direct sales of lamb have gone up since lockdown, currently through the farmers’ markets in Airfield and Dun Laoghaire. Interestingly, she has seen an increase in sales in the 65 plus age category, who are looking for a lamb for freezer rather than particular cuts.
We are managing it daily and allowing for the odd cross word and forgiveness and we don’t forget to laugh
“They are saying: ‘Margaret, I normally just get chops from you, can I now get a full lamb for my freezer in case of complete lockdown?’ So that's a big change for us,” she says.
Margaret hopes that farmers’ markets will remain open as an essential service and that they will be able to continue to serve their customers until the seasonal end around mid-January - though of course, nothing is certain.
“We are managing it daily and allowing for the odd cross word and forgiveness and we don’t forget to laugh - we have to find some humour in all of it!” she says.
Livery and apple juice
As regards the livery aspect of the farm, under the “care of animals” clause during lockdown, clients were allowed to visit their horse and hack the land at the farm while observing social distance.
“This proved to be very successful and we retained everyone, but now for November, we are experiencing some leaving, with competitions cancelled and the uncertainty of when they will resume. They are throwing a rug on their ponies and going elsewhere for the winter months on grass livery,” she explains.
We are experiencing some leaving, with competitions cancelled and the uncertainty of when they will resume
“We accept that as part of this business, circumstances change for people too. What we have learnt to do is control our emotions around all of that and ask, ‘Ok what can we do with this space’ and see what other opportunities there may be.”
At present, they are in the process of sending several pallets of apples from their orchard to Con Trass in Tipperary to make this year’s juice. Margaret explains that there is huge demand from customers for their large bottles of juice and that she has “really noticed a whole drive to support local businesses.” To this end, she has joined the steering committee for “Wicklow Naturally” to get local food and drink on the map.
Coaching
Margaret Hoctor sharing her lessons in life and resilience at the Women & Agriculture event last year.
With regards her off-farm work, Margaret continues to provide coaching and mentoring through the local enterprise boards, delivering courses such as “marketing on a budget” and “mind your own business with your mind”. She is also a guest lecturer with the INNOVATION Academy in UCD, and hopes to resume her own online coaching from November, thanks to Zoom.
We look at what is in front of us with realistic optimism and know we will prevail
In terms of continued self-development, she is very inspired by everybody, from the likes of Dr Maureen Gaffney to Jim Stockdale, a former prisoner of war who spoke about being a “realistic optimist” i.e. accepting the facts of his reality, but believing that he would prevail.
“I think that is what we try and do on the farm - we look at what is in front of us with realistic optimism and know we will prevail,” she says.
“One day at a time, one foot in front of the other and breathe.”
Three tips
She shares these three tips for readers for the coming months:
Be informed, but not saturated, with the news only once a day. We are coming into these dark evenings, so nourish ourselves with lots of good food, get as much daylight as possible and keep in touch with friends and family by phone.Inspired by Dr Maureen Gaffney, keep a negativity audit on yourself. We are a third more productive if we have a positive mindset versus negative or neutral. So do what you can to get rest, sleep, exercise and fresh air.Our emotions are contagious. They can spread rapidly through groups, so keep a check of both internal and external dialogue. Cut each other some slack if the day isn’t going to plan. We use the code, “I am at 50% or 80%, so can you carry this?” to allow ourselves the space to have a bad day and carry each other’s work.For further information, visit www.margarethoctor.com and www.kilmullenlambdirect.com
Read more
Margaret Hoctor of Kilmullen Farm: "Your worst day can be your best day"
Women & Agriculture: Margaret Hoctor on life's lessons
THEN: In May 2017, Margaret Hoctor told Irish Country Living how she swapped her high heels for wellies, her Blackberry for a bucket, and her office for the orchard after she was made redundant, and we learned just how resilient she really was. Alongside her husband Eamon, she explained how they had developed Kilmullen Farm in Co Wicklow to offer 100% direct lamb sales, apple juice, livery and sweetcorn, as well as sharing the lessons she learned along the way through coaching.
NOW: When it comes to lessons, 2020 has certainly delivered more than its fair share at Kilmullen Farm.
One of the biggest challenges Margaret and Eamon faced was losing 80% of their sweetcorn crop this summer, following Storm Ellen and Storm Francis.
“We went through the five stages of grief,” acknowledges Margaret, but having given themselves “space” to accept the loss, they were at least able to salvage some of the crop for the farmers’ markets and “gate to plate” sales, and will be taking learnings forward for the farm.
On a more positive note, direct sales of lamb have gone up since lockdown, currently through the farmers’ markets in Airfield and Dun Laoghaire. Interestingly, she has seen an increase in sales in the 65 plus age category, who are looking for a lamb for freezer rather than particular cuts.
We are managing it daily and allowing for the odd cross word and forgiveness and we don’t forget to laugh
“They are saying: ‘Margaret, I normally just get chops from you, can I now get a full lamb for my freezer in case of complete lockdown?’ So that's a big change for us,” she says.
Margaret hopes that farmers’ markets will remain open as an essential service and that they will be able to continue to serve their customers until the seasonal end around mid-January - though of course, nothing is certain.
“We are managing it daily and allowing for the odd cross word and forgiveness and we don’t forget to laugh - we have to find some humour in all of it!” she says.
Livery and apple juice
As regards the livery aspect of the farm, under the “care of animals” clause during lockdown, clients were allowed to visit their horse and hack the land at the farm while observing social distance.
“This proved to be very successful and we retained everyone, but now for November, we are experiencing some leaving, with competitions cancelled and the uncertainty of when they will resume. They are throwing a rug on their ponies and going elsewhere for the winter months on grass livery,” she explains.
We are experiencing some leaving, with competitions cancelled and the uncertainty of when they will resume
“We accept that as part of this business, circumstances change for people too. What we have learnt to do is control our emotions around all of that and ask, ‘Ok what can we do with this space’ and see what other opportunities there may be.”
At present, they are in the process of sending several pallets of apples from their orchard to Con Trass in Tipperary to make this year’s juice. Margaret explains that there is huge demand from customers for their large bottles of juice and that she has “really noticed a whole drive to support local businesses.” To this end, she has joined the steering committee for “Wicklow Naturally” to get local food and drink on the map.
Coaching
Margaret Hoctor sharing her lessons in life and resilience at the Women & Agriculture event last year.
With regards her off-farm work, Margaret continues to provide coaching and mentoring through the local enterprise boards, delivering courses such as “marketing on a budget” and “mind your own business with your mind”. She is also a guest lecturer with the INNOVATION Academy in UCD, and hopes to resume her own online coaching from November, thanks to Zoom.
We look at what is in front of us with realistic optimism and know we will prevail
In terms of continued self-development, she is very inspired by everybody, from the likes of Dr Maureen Gaffney to Jim Stockdale, a former prisoner of war who spoke about being a “realistic optimist” i.e. accepting the facts of his reality, but believing that he would prevail.
“I think that is what we try and do on the farm - we look at what is in front of us with realistic optimism and know we will prevail,” she says.
“One day at a time, one foot in front of the other and breathe.”
Three tips
She shares these three tips for readers for the coming months:
Be informed, but not saturated, with the news only once a day. We are coming into these dark evenings, so nourish ourselves with lots of good food, get as much daylight as possible and keep in touch with friends and family by phone.Inspired by Dr Maureen Gaffney, keep a negativity audit on yourself. We are a third more productive if we have a positive mindset versus negative or neutral. So do what you can to get rest, sleep, exercise and fresh air.Our emotions are contagious. They can spread rapidly through groups, so keep a check of both internal and external dialogue. Cut each other some slack if the day isn’t going to plan. We use the code, “I am at 50% or 80%, so can you carry this?” to allow ourselves the space to have a bad day and carry each other’s work.For further information, visit www.margarethoctor.com and www.kilmullenlambdirect.com
Read more
Margaret Hoctor of Kilmullen Farm: "Your worst day can be your best day"
Women & Agriculture: Margaret Hoctor on life's lessons
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