The first visitors to Bealtaine Cottage Smallholding have just left. Today is the first ‘open day,’ of the year and the weather has remained good. Visitors from Kilkenny, Enniskillen and Devon, England, have spent a day enjoying the gardens of Bealtaine, exploring the many aspects of permaculture and discovering for themselves just what is possible.

We shared stories, experiences, wisdom, food and plants…this has been a truly permaculture day! Abundance has been shared and received in the true spirit of Permaculture Ethics.

It’s amazing the rate of growth in the gardens at the moment! The rain of last night has certainly been turned into green shoots today. Bees are busy in the orchards and especially on the blackcurrant as many of the bushes display flowers opening to the warmth of the sun!

Bees and flowers make fruit…the hens love the small, hard fruit of the Ribes, an autumn treat for them…

These lime green flowers of the Euphorbia have just come into blossom in the garden near the veranda. I always think they look like aliens!

An early flowering Anenome peeps through the mulch…

And now, time to put my feet up and reflect on a lovely day!