Lunaria and Fennel in the tunnel today.
The Latin name Lunaria means “moon-like” and refers to the decorative seed-pods.
It’s warm and dry and great for working outdoors.
The clothes line is heavy with clothes moving gently in the breeze…a perfect Spring day!
I do not own an electric dryer, or a washing machine.
Washing clothes by hand in Spring water leaves them soft and smelling beautifully.
The Damson tree is now in blossom, with a strong prospect of plentiful fruit.
Cherry and Apple trees are almost ready to break blossom!
Euphorbia in a barrel outside the veranda today.
The lime green of the flowers are so joyful at this time of year!
That’s Valerian coming up at the front of the barrel.
Primroses on the driveway this morning.
I have never seen this many Primroses in bloom across the permaculture gardens.
There has been a huge amount of self-seeding over recent years and, with the absence of livestock, plants have grown and flourished in abundance!
I believe that there are more species of plants in the 3 acres of Bealtaine Cottage than anywhere else in Ireland.
Many of these are indigenous and some even rare!
It will be an interesting study to complete, when cataloguing all the plant life here.
Bealtaine Cottage is evolving into an Ark of sorts, where many species are protected from livestock, chemicals, pesticides and the urge to dominate Nature!
Looking at the picture above of the Badger sett here in the gardens, Mr and Mrs badger will testify to that!
The hens are out in the sunshine, just basking on the grass.
They have begun to lay eggs and appear to be quite content.
The Fairy Wood in summer…just about 8 weeks away from Midsummer!
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 85 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
Over 500 blogs from Bealtaine Cottage in the archives here.
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That’s funny. I just did a survey of my 1/2 acre property and listed all the trees and shrubs that are growing here. Most of them I planted myself and seem to be doing quite well. I wish I had kept a list of all the things that didn’t make it (either didn’t thrive or got eaten by the deer). Once I had a Franklina shrub (quite rare) but the deer wouldn’t leave it alone. I had a beautiful crab apple too which also was devoured by the deer. Guess everything I grow here at this point is unappetizing to deer. Learned the hard way I suppose. Now if I could just keep the hens out of the veggie garden!
Sounds like you need some Deer fencing!
As for my hens, I keep them in 3 different runs during the growing season and let them out around the acres in the autumn and winter. Deer are lovely though…so beautiful to watch!