All our wealth comes from the natural world.
Looking out upon the Midsummer Solstice morning makes me want to weep…for what are we doing to our beautiful planet?
This is a stark realization, in terms of how we relate to Mother Earth, for we can survive without most material goods, but cannot survive without good food and clean water.
Much of what we eat and drink today is predicated on the use of massive amounts of chemicals…and all being pumped into, or spread upon, Mother Earth.
We are not just soiling the nest, we are destroying the habitat around it.
Not even animals do this!
Somewhere in all of this are people with real concerns, who are aware of the dangers ahead; only some people though, as many are still unaware, or refusing to face reality.
The reality is, in my opinion, quite stark.
One only has to start looking at the figures, such as loss of topsoil, loss of food growing agricultural land, number of force fed, factory farmed animals raised for excessive consumption on an annual basis.
The list goes on and on and the figures add up to frightening and alarming of destruction of habitat, for they point directly to an unsustainable world.
Unsustainable growth and development is when we plunder the future of our children, restricting their lives for our own wants and desires.
The health and well-being of future generations is dependent upon us all being mindful of caring for our Mother Earth and all her bounty.
Living lightly is not living without, but living with a care for our environment, our habitat and the children whose faces we will never see…
We will be remembered for our caring, or scorned for our destruction…
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Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…I have posted over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
I write to encourage, help and inspire mindfulness for our beautiful world and have photographed and written over 720 blogs on the Bealtaine Cottage site.
As an Ark for Nature, trees and wildlife, the smallholding of Bealtaine Cottage receives no grant aid from either the Irish government or EU. Everything created here is self-funded.
Any donation, no matter how small, goes a long way in sustaining and developing this site.
Blessings X
Your home is so beautiful, as are your words. The B12 issue is a really difficult one. Getting it from tempeh is not going to work as it isn’t activated. The only way to get B12 is you are vegan is to drink fortified milk products or fortified cereals, B12 fortified yeast, or to supplement. It really is extremely important as B12 is essential for nerve function and a deficiency can cause heart problems as well as issues with your nervous system.
I get all the B12 I need from Marmite…am just such a fan! For me, taking a vitamin supplement is no problem…much better than taking drugs or alcohol, which I don’t! I try not to worry about the little things anyway 🙂
Blessings XXX
Colette
Reblogged this on Bealtaine Cottage and commented:
Living lightly is not living without, but living with a care for our environment, our habitat and the children whose faces we will never see…
This is so true. And I saw a news story today that says most of the “bee friendly plants” that we buy at garden centers are so full of pesticides that they are actually KILLING bees , instead of nourishing them! It seems as though just about EVERYTHING is genetically modified these days, and when we THINK we’re doing things in an environmentally friendly way, we are doing the OPPOSITE!
I try never to buy anything from Garden Centres, instead buying at Farmers Markets and Fairs. This supports locally grown plants which are much hardier too!
hello, is it Red Valerian that you have in the photos around the house? i keep seeing the same plant everywhere on the roadsides in east devon where i live but can’t seem to identify it! cheers!
On 22 June 2014 17:46, Bealtaine Cottage wrote:
> Bealtaine Cottage posted: ” All our wealth comes from the natural > world. Looking out upon the Midsummer Solstice morning makes me want to > weep…for what are we doing to our beautiful planet? This is a > stark realization, in terms of how we relate to Mother Earth, for we can > sur”
Yes…it is indeed Red Valerian…easy to grow in limestone gravel!
Hi there Colette
Great post. Totally agree. There are too few of us but all you can do is set a good example.
Tell me about your paths – how did you prepare them, what’s the maintenance for them etc. They look good and I’m up for ideas for our little woodland, we’re just deciding how to lay them down.
Keep up your spirits, nil carborundum etc etc.
Regards
David
Good evening David…from a soft rain falling Bealtaine Cottage! The paths couldn’t be simpler…just mow then once a week in the growing season. Make some log benches here and there to sit on to break up the mowing session. After a few years, the trees will shade the paths, lessen the grass growth and eventually you will have no mowing to do. make the paths curved here and there and plant shrubs along the way for interest too! Most of all, have fun! The trees will pick up the vibe and grow healthier and stronger!
Blessings XXX
Your posts are inspiring. What you are doing is positive and powerful and many others are thinking along the same lines. We can only do our best and keep smiling 🙂
Thanks Lorna…we shall indeed!
XXX
We can only do little things to help. I have felt overwhelmed by the situation as a whole for many years, but small pushes forward are what keeps us going. I joined a re-enactment village in Gosport, a couple of years ago. I now have become the Apothecary, but my secret mission is to inform people including school groups about the wayside plants they call weeds, I don’t bother with exotics. After I have sung the praises of plants such as Plantain, which is surely the king of herbs, I take them to the garden to show the plant, and they say things like, “I have them in my garden and always pull them out, I thought they were JUST weeds” Obviously weeds have no value. Three different people told me yesterday that they were going to make some Plantain ointment.
Watching people realising the potential of our own native plants, gives me some hope that we can improve through education.
This is very inspiring Vivian and also very serendipitous, for my mother spent the war years in Gosport and had spoken often and fondly about the place. My grandfather was in the Merchant fleet and the family lived in various parts of Hampshire. I spent summers in Overton…beautiful memories! Your approach to spreading knowledge is wise and natural in that people are not even aware they are being taught, but engaged in a journey of discovery!
Blessings…especially for the way you have made me feel so very connected to my darling Mother this morning XXX
Sorry you were feeling down on midsummer morning…I do know what you mean, I think – the contrast between the summer loveliness all around, and the growing tide of grim news about the environment, food, water etc etc. But I’ve found much inspiration and encouragement here from your blog – I’m sure many others have too.
Thanks…every so often the reality of our awakening hits me! It is also very empowering too!
Blessings X
Every time I come across such a sensible post I am grateful to be a vegan & Macrobiotic 🙂
Being both certainly helps stem the tide of destruction…and there is much more that can be done too XX
I know… & that’s thanks to all those amazing bloggers out there coming up with information, documentaries & creative ideas 🙂
I’m learning a whole load of stuff & a lot of it is a lot of fun!
I have a question . I want to become vegan but ALL of my research concludes that in order for a vegan to get enough vitamin B12 they MUST supplement. I do NOT want to take supplements. Have you been a vegan for long and if so do you take a B12 supplement?
I have been a Vegan for a few months now…the Vegan Society would be best placed to answer this. All I can say is that I’ve never felt better in all my life! I must research this one!
I get my B12 from my Tempeh which is organic fermented soy beans but I still take sometimes the supplement to pass me through challenging situations as it has a calming effect.
I think that there are quite a few foods which contain natural B12 without it being of flesh origins.
I have abstained from meat & chicken for more than twenty years & fish for about six months since Fukoshima’s disaster has polluted the seas but replace my protein intake by Aduki beans,organic tofu, Seitan, red lentils, Nato… all traditional Macrobiotic foods which has been proven to cure sometimes terminally sick people & has therefore convinced me to keep my Asthma at bay that way.
I must say I never touch medication since nor antibiotics 🙂
You can check out a small video about it here http://oawritingspoemspaintings.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/michio-kushi-documentary-feature-film-project-sample-reel-2-of-2-october-2008/
Wishing you very good luck on your journey!
Thanks for that information…this helps to explain the B12 problem for many.
Blessings XXX