When Gill Gairdner and Rod Alston arrived in Eden, Co. Leitrim the land and house were in a state of serious neglect, having not been lived on for a while. Their first objective was to produce as much food as possible so they did very little work on the buildings in their first year concentrating mainly on growing vegetables, producing their own milk, and getting the bees going. 

They achieved a considerable amount over a short period of time, cultivating over an acre of land with vegetables and herbs, maintaining seven beehives, and yielding about a gallon of milk per day from their three Saanen goats. 

Their commitment to self-sufficiency coupled with their willingness to learn new methods of cultivation to add to their expert skills in growing herbs and vegetables made them pioneers of organic farming in Ireland. 

Produced by Breandán Ó Ciobháin and presented by Jim Fahy

(First broadcast in July, 1977)