We have recorded over 80 species of bird on the croft, nearly 300 species of moth, and over 70 species of wildflowers.  We had the first record for Skye of the beautiful moth, Merveille du Jour, and have discovered rare plant species growing (Moonwort).  We observed a Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly here on the croft for the first time in Summer 2022.  We’ve also seen an increase in the number of bird species breeding here on the croft and have observed Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Coal Tit starting to breed successfully. These species weren’t breeding here in our first few years.  Our efforts are paying off. Most of the croft is undisturbed woodland, and our growing efforts are concentrated in relatively small areas of the croft.

The moth pictured on the left/above is a Clouded Buff (a disappointingly boring name for such a brightly coloured beauty!)

We’ve been collecting tree seed and growing native trees of local provenance to underplant, creating a healthy woodland of mixed age.  This has been so successful Phil has started a tree nursery on the croft and you can find out more at Drumfearn Trees. We’ve planted hedges to create areas of shelter for growing, and in 2017 we planted 1700 trees and shrubs thanks to MoreWoods and MoreHedges grants from the Woodland Trust.  We achieved this with the help of our incredible Workawayer Thomas, all the way from Italy.  

The ground is slowly improving and our croft is beginning to flourish. The trees add nutrients and stabilise the soil, and increase water retention.  Many Alder trees are growing on the croft, appropriate for a township named Drumfearn, Fearn being the Gaelic word for Alder and Drum for ridge.  We decided to use Alder leaves in our logo as it’s such an important tree for us, providing habitat for native wildlife and improving the soil. We harvest our firewood, by coppicing the trees on the croft.  These trees continue to live and produce wood for us, sequestering carbon, building soil and providing habitat for our native wildlife too.

During the first lockdown we bought a polytunnel and our horticultural efforts began in earnest.  Carrying out the daily tasks of watering and potting on, and growing food helped to keep us busy and physically and mentally well.  We know how lucky we are to live in this beautiful place, and have the space to grow food and be surrounded by wildlife.  During the Summer of 2021 we weighed the food we grew and averaged 1.5 kilos of homegrown produce a day, mostly made up of potatoes, followed by eggs, berries, courgettes and salad greens. We have planted fruit trees and bushes and built raised beds to increase the amount of food we can grow.  It’s a huge learning experience figuring out which varieties do well here, what we like to eat, and how to preserve the surplus we have each autumn. 

We have 6 hens, who lay delicious eggs for us, and our guests in Stonechat Bothy.  The hens do an important job of disturbing the vegetation, allowing wildflowers space to grow. It is tricky though, as they eat a lot of wildlife when they are out foraging. They have a good life here and enjoy exploring the whole croft, but they also peck our plants and destroy veg beds! We think three is the right number of hens for us, maybe four. 

We plan to have more livestock here in the future once our trees and hedges are established.  This will help us increase the biodiversity, and the diversity of food and materials we can produce for ourselves, and hopefully for others too in time.