The Evolution of Bealtaine Cottage…a Fifteen Year Odyssey

July 14, 2019 Categories: Collapse · Goddess-PermacultureTags: change · climate · Collapse · cottage in Ireland · divine feminine · ecological collapse · ego · extract · extractive mentality · goddess · hubris · Ireland · love · Mother Earth · patriarchy · Permaculture · sixth mass extinction · smallholding · social media · way forward14 Comments

I shall begin with Bealtaine Cottage… The plan in the beginning was to create a garden with hundreds of trees interspersed with paths that would become a symbol of regeneration and hope in a landscape that represented one of the poorest and therefore cheapest places to create. North-facing, thin, poor soil- my first book, ‘A Cottage and Three Acres,’ details the story well. (And, by the way, the tunnel is fifteen years old with the original plastic covering…nothing special, 6mm and middle price range in case you are interested!) The plan evolved into a full Permaculture design in the first…

In Honour of Lyra McKee

June 7, 2019 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: Bealtaine cottage · Civil rights · Colette O'Neill · Derry · lough erne · Lyra McKee · Northern Ireland · Omagh · plant a tree · trees · Vegan festival · west of Ireland24 Comments

I am in Derry for the Vegan Festival and will be happy to report all to you on my return home. As you can see from the photos, home is very much in full bloom! Driving into Northern Ireland from the west of Ireland brings back memories of my youth, much of which involved “the troubles,” as they are referred to…bombings, killings and the constant uncertainty of war. My father was a Civil Rights leader and our tiny home was a hub for much social and political activity. I learned over the course of my growing up in Omagh that…

A Home for the Jackdaws

April 3, 2019 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: apple blossom · April in the garden · Blackcurrant blossom · chimney · compost · cottage · garden · goddess · Ireland · Jackdaws · nesting birds · Permaculture · polytunnel · sanctuary · snow · weather · west of Ireland12 Comments

There remains much work to be done here in the gardens over the coming days and weeks. It is essential I get on with it! I shall leave you with the rest of the photographs I took this morning as I walked around the gardens.

Heart Awakening…

March 19, 2019March 23, 2019 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: audio · awaken · awakening · Bealtaine cottage · consciousness · cottage · heart · Ireland · podcast · press14 Comments

“Once the soul awakens, the search begins and you can never go back. From then on, you are inflamed with a special longing that will never again let you linger in the lowlands of complacency and partial fulfillment. The eternal makes you urgent. You are loath to let compromise or the threat of danger hold you back from striving toward the summit of fulfillment.” ― John O’Donohue from: A Little Book of Celtic Wisdom Heart Awakening Podcast (audio) We approach the Equinox and the promise of longer days and shorter nights…the dark days are over. The Bealtaine Cottage Press supports The Bealtaine…

An Irish Cottage Garden and Homestead in Spring

March 2, 2019 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: biography · books · compost · cottage · food · garden · Goddess-Permaculture · growing best rhubarb · homestead · Ireland · mild weather · oldest tunnel plastic · one woman · Permaculture · planting · Potatoes · rhubarb · seeds · sowing · Spring · three acres · tunnel · Victoria Glendinning · Vita Sackville-West · west · writer14 Comments

The promise of peaches growing outdoors in the west of Ireland, another Bealtaine Cottage first! Blossom on these home grown trees, grown from seed, is looking good. So far, with only the first month behind us, this has been a remarkable Spring! New Bird Boxes have been added to the rich habitat, now in its fifteenth year on these three acres. The interior of the tunnel has been remodelled to create a sanctuary in which to enjoy being in the garden, even in very wet weather! Sanctuaries are much needed in today’s world! The plastic has been washed inside and…

February in the Goddess Permaculture Gardens of Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland.

February 7, 2019 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: Bealtaine cottage · catkins · colours in the garden · cottage · dogwood pruning · Goddess-Permaculture · Ireland · mulch · natural pond · Permaculture · preparing the garden for spring · trees · using cardboard in the garden · Water Garden · willow20 Comments

Work has continued unabated all this week. I managed to get a load of cardboard to begin mulching the problem bed over by the Lughnasadh Garden. Here I have laid the aboard and mulched with chipping from the garden shredder and laid another layer of cardboard. The progress is fairly rapid, with the exception that all the chipping come from the gardens, so pruning and shredding has to happen in conjunction with the mulching…and that takes quite some time! These are the magnificent red dogwoods that I am pruning at the moment…providing lots of mulch. The shredder is electric, second…

Christmas Eve in the West of Ireland

December 24, 2018January 14, 2019 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: Christmas · cottage · family · fire · full moon · gathering · home · Ireland · lough · Midwinter · shopping · silence · solstice · winter39 Comments

There was a full moon on the Winter Solstice, an unusual event and not occurring in my lifetime again, so, very special to me. As my ancestors before me, I celebrate the Solstice, marking the longest night of the year and with the promise of all that lies ahead… The ritual of fire and feast, music and drink, gathering of family and friends are all important aspects of the Winter Solstice. The youngest member of my little tribe was here, forming a focal point for us all as we gathered to celebrate. She is displaying a love for the natural…

Bealtaine Cottage Press Update

December 3, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine Cottage7 Comments

Enchantment on the Last Day of November

November 30, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: ancient · chalice · contract · Creatrix · divine women · earth · female · folklore · goddess · greed · holy Grail · Ireland · irish mythology · land · Midwinter · powerful women · pre-christian · sacred · sanctuary · solstice · Spring · walk · wealth · well · women · woodland27 Comments

There was always understood to be a contract between the people and the land. This reminder formed the words as I walked the woodland sanctuary, on this last day of November. The leaf-covered earth I walked upon reminded me of that sacred contract, one long since forgotten by humankind. From the sacred well flows the life-giving force of the Otherworld. All the ancient races of the Earth understood this. The contract was broken by those who nurtured a greed for more and more wealth. This continues today and is the reason why Mother Earth has been brought to the edge of…