Alpaca your worries away in the Sperrins

‘The hedgerow is brimming with goodness that is there for us to use. It has all we need,” Siobhán McCrory excitedly says, gazing into the bountiful greenery of the Central Sperrins of Co Tyrone before delicately picking a ribbed leaf. This is a ribwort plantain, a natural antiseptic, which is beneficial for stings and cuts.

She sees opportunity in the hedges all around the family farm in terms of what she can make from tinctures to teas and balms and creams that provide a natural solution to many everyday problems. Wandering up the lane in the company of Siobhán from Sperrin Alpacas and our new furry friend Al for a foraging trek, it’s time to learn to look at the familiar anew.

Trying to stop humming the famous Paul Simon song, our new alpaca pal enjoys his own foraging session and is munching happily on some leaves or his own “buffet lunch” as Siobhán laughingly describes it. Ambling along, the lush green and blossoming hedgerow certainly takes on another hue. It’s a forager’s delight (for humans and animals), and Al’s enthusiasm for a break and a chomp means we can also gaze at the tapestry of green laid out before me. It is just breathtaking in the sun at 800ft.

“The foraging trek works well with the alpacas because they are natural foragers. They like to stop and have a chew,” says Siobhán, who explains that the treks really came out of her own personal interest in plants and remedies.

“Because they stop naturally, you’re looking in the hedgerows and you’re looking at the plants that work well [for making things].”

While she didn’t grow up on a farm, she puts her interest down to a love of the outdoors walking in her youth and lots of time spent in her grandmother’s garden. Siobhán remembers many occasions coming home from a wander with all kinds of plants from the hedgerows and learning what they were and what they could be used for.

That knowledge all came back into view when she and her husband Barry returned to his homeplace in the Altacamcosy townland, which means ‘height with the crooked foot’, referring to the river at the bottom of the valley, close to Omagh.

“When I had my own family (Aoife, Saoirse and Eoghan), it was about providing as many natural things as I could. I think that’s when I turned back to the hedgerows to see what I could use,” she recalls, making things with her foraged plants and doing workshops.

Lost knowledge

With birds fluttering by, butterflies, primroses and bluebells coming into shot, she agrees that a lot of that knowledge has been lost to modernity.

“It wasn’t valued. I think the old ways, in general – a lot of that knowledge wasn’t passed down. It was seen as peasant ways, as well as, in many parts, the language. Homemade was seen as peasant,” remarks Siobhán, but she is optimistic that is changing and there is a renewed interest in the natural landscape.

While she understands the fear among some people about foraging and using hedgerow plants, she is careful to opt for plants that are easily identifable.

The introduction of the alpacas over three years ago wasn’t a “well thought-through plan or anything”, says Siobhán, laughing. “I was scrolling online one evening, and I knew I wanted to do something on the farm. I saw an open farm in Armagh was closing, and they were selling Al and Chocolate, so I thought that might be a wee bit different.”

The foraging trek works well with the alpacas because they are natural foragers. They like to stop and have a chew

That was the genesis of her eight-strong all-male trekking herd, and she used her tourism background and an women’s entrepreneurial course with Go Succeed NI to start the business, which works well with farming and family life.

“I love the life. It’s great for the children; they have to muck in [with farming], and there’s work to do. It’s intergenerational too, with their grandparents (Sean, her father-in-law, loves meeting the visitors), and everyone is working together. I think that is a lovely thing; there are not many other industries where you are working so closely all the time,” she tells Irish Country Living.

Well aware of how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful place, Siobhán feels fortunate to be able to share that with others in the company of the alpacas who have adjusted well to life in the Tyrone mountains. There are also goats, a donkey and hens in the sloping field.

Further up the scenic lane, she picks up a horsetail or mare’s tail, a plant that could look to many as fern-like or even weed-like. Not so for Siobhán.

“That’s a natural silica, so it’s really good for your hair and nails. You can make teas with it or a hair wash by soaking it in vinegar.” When asked what ‘dandelion’ means to her, she breaks into a smile before uttering ‘detoxer’. She makes dandelion tea and tinctures, saying it’s brilliant for flushing you out. The root, leaf and flowerhead can all be eaten. Stickyback is another plant that is very useful for a spring tonic.

Therapeutic wander

One thing that’s refreshing on the walk is the sheer silence – apart from the comforting bleating of the new lambs. Being higher up, lambing just finished at the end of May in the 300-strong herd, so with the busiest time on the farm over, they can now enjoy summer.

There is a real sense of unwinding the further we lead Al, while Siobhán holds Carlos and Barney. She maintains each alpaca has their own personality.

Al is “quite social” while Barney is also an “easygoing character” and Carlos is a “bit emotional”, she says.

Around the corner, the hedgerow bursts into colour with the whitethorn blossom, wild roses and the vibrant yellow gorse or whin, welcoming the bogland landscape.

The latter beautiful flowers have a “coconut taste” and look lovely on a summer salad plate, explains Siobhán before spotting some bilberrys ready to make an appearance.

As well as sunrise and sunset treks, Siobhán also brings the alpacas to nursing homes and care facilities for visits. Asked how older people react to them, she says it is so rewarding. “It is so lovely to see that caring or maternal nature come out. They love to be with them, stroking them and spending time with them,” she says.

“We had a few groups who came out here as well. A lot come from rural backgrounds, and they are reminiscing about growing up [in the country]. They really react to them. The craic is first-class. I love that part, bringing them into different places.

Easy to handle and gentle, the alpacas are also in demand for local weddings, summer shows, social farming groups and for visitors who come to enjoy the picturesque area.

While she agrees this part of Tyrone has been a bit “undiscovered” in the past in terms of tourism, it is beginning to come to the fore because of the popularity of The Giants in the Sperrins Sculpture Trail. In situ since the summer of 2023, people are flocking to see the huge sculptures by world-acclaimed artist Thomas Dambo at three sites at Mullaghcarn, along the Glenelly Valley near Cranagh, and at Davagh Forest.

“There definitely is a lot more opportunity coming, even from Tourism Ireland, in terms of slow tourism. This is definitely slow tourism,” she says as Al puts his head in another hedgerow before we mosey into a field and enjoy the shelter of the ‘energy tree’.

With more of a focus on experiences or feeling like a local for a day and creating memories, the Sperrins definitely leave a lasting mark, not to mention the cutest selfie and a sampling picnic of foraged products after an enjoyable wander.

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