Most of the energy we use at home comes from burning fossil fuels.
Using less energy means burning fewer fossil fuels and putting less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Over the past twelve years I have endeavoured to reduce not just my own carbon footprint, but that of Bealtaine Cottage and gardens.
When first planting the forest gardens it was important to keep the paths open, so mowing once a week during the growing season was a huge task!
That issue is now almost resolves as the trees have shaded the paths…
and dropped lots of leaves to create quite a dense mulch.
I am now tackling the long grass area that is the frontage of the gardens onto the road.
I began this task about three days ago, sculpting as I prepared a strip into which I planted.
Planting is diverse and from my own Nursery where I grow trees, flowers, shrubs, herbs and vegetables.
It has always been important to me to keep this neat and attractive as it is an encouragement to passers-by to consider Goddess-Inspired Permaculture in a positive light!Â
This is the stage I am at today. I simply strip back some grass and turn the sod upside down behind the strip…then plant!
The end result will be that there is about half the amount of grass to mow…so half the amount of fossil fuel used!
Best of all will be an extended feeding ground for the Bees!
That’s what I call a result!
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What a brilliant idea. I did something similar last year but it has all grown over. This has reminded me to open it up again and plant more. Thanks for another great idea Colette
I don’t know how its possible but these photos just seem to be ever more beautiful each time you post them. Such beauty – mere words are at a loss to describe. I love seeing your work of living art in progress. It is so inspiring. Some how over time my lawns faded into a memory. I wish I could say it was due to my work and planning but it was entirely nature that took over. I hope this year to add some ferns and hostas and other shade loving yet heat tolerant plants and flowers within my mini forest of volunteer tree-lings and clear back a bit of the ivy. Nature has always done a much better job with the landscape than I ever could have. But I have gotten so many idea’s from you Colette and I thank you. There are many idea’s on the net but none suit my garden as well as yours.
This is so heartening to read, for I hope that many will feel enabled to work with Mother Earth. As it is, governments, media and corporations do their utmost to disable us and put barriers between ourselves and our Great Mother. I’ll keep putting it out there!
I just had a thought. A friend has a daughter who is a physical therapist but she has her own photography business on the side and it helps generate extra family income. Since you are so gifted at photography, maybe you could see about doing that.
I am dedicated to photographing Mother Earth and do so with love. Thanks for the idea, but my time is taken.
I think your pathways are lovely, so I have decided to make my grass into grass paths, it will make the garden like a secret one when you don’t know what’s around the next corner. I also would like to grow a living willow arch. A couple of things to keep me busy in the next couple of weeks. Blessingsxxx
Any gardening that releases us fro over dependence on fossil fuels has got to be a good thing…and gets us co-creating with Mother Earth.
You have much more to mow than I do (I have a total of one third of an acre.) But I use a motorless lawn mower to cut my grass and it works well . These mowers are sold in boxes at hardware stores and easily assembled. They use no fossil fuel except for whatever it takes to manufacture them. Do they sell them in Europe? They even come in 2 sizes. I have the large size for my back yard and a smaller one to do the front yard.
The land here is both stoney and boggy, so the MLM is not sufficient. They are great for flat lawns though, I agree!