{"id":4567,"date":"2025-09-07T10:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T10:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/astraea.net\/blog\/?p=4567"},"modified":"2025-09-21T19:05:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T19:05:44","slug":"more-equitable-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/more-equitable-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"More equitable alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Extract from Sharon N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair<\/a>‘s article We ditched our desk jobs to spend more time in nature \u2014 here’s why<\/a><\/em> in the Irish Examiner 6 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tom Butler of Ballin Temple, Nurney Co. Carlow with his dog Luna home to an organic farm and gardens that produce vegetables, fruit, and hay without chemicals. Pic: \u00a9 Michael O\u2019Rourke Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tom Butler of Ballin Temple, Nurney, Co Carlow: \u2018I\u2019ve paid a financial price, but I\u2019m a nature guy.\u2019 Picture: Michael O\u2019Rourke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Butler from Ballin Temple in Carlow describes himself as a \u201cfinance guy who was a rebellious hippie in disguise\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1998, he walked away from a career as a venture capitalist in South-East Asia to become a smallholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had thought venture capitalism would allow me to influence businesses to grow in ways that would be good for them and the communities that surround them,\u201d says Butler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, while looking down from his penthouse suite onto a building site where workers were living in tin shacks, Butler realised it hadn\u2019t worked out like he had planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I found myself asking why I was all the way up there while they were working so hard for so little. Surely there was a more equitable alternative?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

His father\u2019s family owned land in Ballin Temple and Butler and his wife Pam moved there to see if another way of life was possible. Since then, they have experimented with different ways of living off the land. They farm organically, manage holiday cottages, and teach courses based on what they have learned about topics such as growing food, making hay, and living closer to nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also share techniques and experiences via books, articles and our websites ballintemple.com<\/a> and astraea.net<\/a>,\u201d says Butler. \u201cEverything we do is based on trying to get people to reconnect with nature and community to live a more meaningful life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is glad he changed the course of his life all those years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve paid a financial price, but I\u2019m a nature guy,\u201d he says. \u201cBreathing clean air, eating my own food, and being outdoors mean more to me than money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes we can all cultivate a deeper connection with the natural world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know people have to pay the rent and can\u2019t upend their lives like I did. But simple things like having plants in your house and workplace, especially plants you can eat, make you feel more at one with the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Extract from Sharon N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair‘s article We ditched our desk jobs to spend more time in nature \u2014 here’s why in the Irish Examiner 6 September. Tom Butler of Ballin Temple, Nurney, Co Carlow: \u2018I\u2019ve paid a financial price, but I\u2019m a nature guy.\u2019 Picture: Michael O\u2019Rourke Tom Butler from Ballin Temple in Carlow describes …
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