In Ireland the peat turves are dug out with a slan, a kind of spade. The are put in a group of five or six turves propped up in a teepee shape and left to dry.

Turf cutting have often "been in the family" for years, even centuries. They are the results of bogs drained by death of the overlying trees of other vegetation, or deliberate draining for agriculture, etc.

There ARE commercial peat cutting operations, and even turfs formed from loose turf.

Get a handful of sphagnum, like you might use on a garden, Set it on fire and you'll get the idea of the smell.