Mist and frost in the early mornings are a feature of March and the approaching Equinox.
Buds have opened on the Ribes to reveal scented pink flowers that serve as an early breakfast for Bees making their way out of hibernation and in desperate search of a nectar shot or two!
Work has been ratcheted up a few notches, as the rain has ceased and everything, including the woodwork, has begun to dry out…time to paint fences and sheds with preservative!
This is the new blue fence, courtesy of three rather rusted looking tins of blue wood preservative I have had donated to me from a friend, who had them in her shed for quite a few years!
The colour of the sky on a clear day!
Daffodils have really come into their own this week, with splashes of yellow all over the gardens.
The flooded ponds remain delightfully brimming and filled with frogs spawn.
…a decoy duck, I have to add!
And a rarely seen view, looking past the Willow Fedge, into the undergrowth of trees.
May 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of Bealtaine Cottage, from rushy grass monoculture to this little Eden.
The gardens will be open for one day each month through Spring, Summer and Autumn this year…check out the link at the top of this page!
After painting this little bench with some of the preservative, I moved it…
…down to this newly cleared dry spot by a Great Western Cedar, planted eight years ago and now affording wonderful shelter in which to sit and enjoy the sun.
The last full moon before Equinox rises over Bealtaine.
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Bealtaine Cottage has built up a Permaculture Seed Bank.
If you want to see a list of available, Not-For-Profit seeds, this link will take you there…http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-from-bealtaine-cottage/
Seeds from Bealtaine Cottage in Ireland are posted all over the world, the donation is the same wherever you live!
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
There are over 600 blogs in the archives on this site.
As an Ark for Nature, trees and wildlife, the smallholding of Bealtaine Cottage receives no grant aid from the EU, as only farm animals, monoculture and set-aside are grant-aided!
Your donation helps remedy that…
Ah, the coming of Spring! So beautifully serene on your lovely land. I look forward to Spring’s arrival here in Canada if it ever decides to show it’s face. 😉
It will…soon…I believe it happens very quickly too!
It does usually happen in the blink of an eye, doesn’t it? It can’t come soon enough this year.
I have fallen in love with Bealtaine Cottage. Is there any connection with a traveling singer using Bealtaine on pubilcity flyers who visits California annually?
Not as far as I’m aware…the spelling of Bealtaine is original old Irish, so the singer is well informed!
Blessings X