BlueBerry Hill Activity Farm Kerry
As I was making my way from Tralee to Cork I had decided to fit in a visit to the area of Sneem Co Kerry, having heard much about it from a 1980’s band trip my sister had made in her late teens. The memory of her ‘I love Sneem’ hat stays with me to this day!
Not since the beautiful drive through Leitrim and Sligo had I experienced such incredible vistas and landscapes. Seriously folks, if you have never driven through the ‘Cork and Kerry Mountains’ a la Thin Lizzy then now is the time to do so – (well maybe in the spring..)
I had arranged to visit the very cute sounding Blueberry Hill Farm, an activity farm where visitors get to interact with a number of farm animals including goats, pigs, cows, geese, hens and more.
Sigi and Yvonne met me upon my arrival and we began our interactive tour with a bit of bottle feeding the goats! What fun! I can imagine the squeals of excitement that children would make from the enjoyment of being able to literally touch and feed the animals.
A Way of Life!
Chatting with Sigi it became apparent that this is more than a way to make a living – this is their way of life. Indeed Sigi and Yvonne decided to sell their house and travel around Europe before discovering and falling in love with Sneem and have worked hard building Blueberry Hill Farm from scratch.
The farm has goats, piglets, a beautiful cow (it’s rare I call cows beautiful trust me) and lots of very amusing fowl – (see the dinnertime video below to see what I mean) which visitors get to meet, touch and feed whilst Sigi explains a bit about them and promotes choosing free range meat over intensively farmed animals reared for meat only.
Candlemaking & Scone Making Fun!
The farm also has a very cool barn which is the venue for a spot of candlemaking where children from a very young age to adults all get to make a lovely keepsake that will actually be useful – a candle! Sigi and Yvonne originally had a candle making business where they created beautiful mutli coloured and multi shaped candles which they sold at markets and to craft shops throughout Ireland and it was from this business that they were able to finance the purchase of the land many years ago.
Activity Tours
There is a choice of tours and the full tour includes the preparation of scones where the children are shown how butter is made and they use the buttermilk and cream on the scones which are devoured afterwards!
Blueberry Hill Farm also offer lot’s of workshops throughout the year for adults interested in self sufficiency.
Self Sufficiency Workshops
One in particular that really interested me was the Home Dairy workshop where you can learn to transform milk into delicious yoghurt, soft cheeses, hard cheeses and real butter. This workshop will give you knowledge and skills which you can put into practice at home afterwards. They also offer Blacksmithing and Candle Making for adults.
Unique Hen & Stag Events!
Blueberry hill farm have some great ideas for Hen and Stag parties looking for something a little unusual – for eg the hens can create a beautiful horseshoe shaped ‘Good Luck’ candle with engravings on it which the bride can have at her wedding, whilst the stags can build a raft to sail across the lake in order to find the hidden whiskey! Or vice versa! no gender stereotypes here- many stags enjoy getting the groom to experience married life earlier by learning how to prepare and bake scones – pink apron supplied!
A freshly prepared lunch using their own homegrown organic veg and salads is included in the hen and stag packages.
Pre booking is essential for blueberry farm tours and events and they are open all year round so do give them a call on 087 3647371 to avoid disappointment!
Listen to our EcoTour Audio Here:
https://soundcloud.com/ecoactive/blueberry-hill-farm-sneem
Visit Blueberry Hill Farms’ Profile Page Here >>
Dinnertime for those naughty Geese: