Colette O'Neill, Innovator of Goddess Permaculture ~Plantswoman ~ Teacher ~ Writer and Photographer
Butterflies
Pulling Down the Sky
There is a gigantic food festival happening all around Bealtaine Cottage. The partying has been going on around the clock for a few days now, with most of it taking place in and around this humble little, easy to grow plant…the Nasturtium! Bees and Caterpillars are stocking up on the end of season glut, before […]
MoreIn Search of Sanctuary
“Sanctuary” refers to a place set aside or designated as a protected spot. Under EU Agricultural Policy there is a “Set Aside” plan for farmers to fence off small, protected areas for biodiversity. However, this does not apply to Bealtaine Cottage, as the holding is too small to be significant! I plant and protect for […]
MoreMarch Against Monsanto
The new sign at Bealtaine Cottage, alongside a more important one…”No Fracking!” Time to advertise what it is we stand for! The power of advertising is immense. Corporations and governments allocate massive amounts of money each year to get their messages of suppression and control across to the public. However, we have the access to […]
MoreApril Snow, Bees and Butterflies
April weather is always unpredictable. Snow fell this morning…in between rain and brilliant sunshine! It was like a convergence of all the seasons in one morning! This time last year we were swimming in the Atlantic Ocean down by Mullaghmore Pier. Legs and arms, uncovered for the first time in months, looked a sickly white […]
MoreThe Rise and Rise of Famine Farms
I describe monoculture practice as creating “Famine Farms” for bees and wildlife…becoming places of slow starvation for all. I recall thinking this when first beginning to plant out the permaculture gardens here at Bealtaine Cottage. As you can see from the place as it looked then, it was bereft of food for anything! Walking around […]
MoreThe Autumn Gardens at Bealtaine Cottage
One of the many apple trees at Bealtaine Cottage, laden with fruit on this glorious September day. As the nights draw in and the apple harvest swells, we realise Samhain is near. Autumn is making it’s progress through the beautiful Arigna Mountains and the valley where Keadue nestles near the Castle of Kilronan…a place swathed […]
MoreAbundant Harvest at Bealtaine Cottage…seeing is believing!
Despite the problems with weather and lack of sunshine, this is turning out to be one of the best years on record for the harvest at Bealtaine Cottage. Continual adaptation to climate change is paying off, as the Potager Beds have excelled themselves in little over ten weeks since construction and planting. Designed and built in […]
MoreThe Magic of Life
I had no idea! Reading about soil today has enlightened me…no, transported me…into another world, seriously! The world beneath my feet. I have always had a fascination with Fairies and the world of Nature, but was never fully cognisant of the facts about our soil…that deep, dark, rich matter that gives forth all we eat. Facts […]
MoreMonsanto, Bono, Africa and Suicide
He was once a hero of mine. A singer who sang about the issues I cared about. But, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” has become “Endgame, Bloody Endgame,” as the one time singer who articulated the ideals of a generation, turns advocate and spokesperson for the awful, dreadful, death impregnated, GM seed and food corporations of the […]
MoreThe Magical Festival of Lughnasa…
The land approaches Lughnasa, (Lughnasadh), August and the beginning of Autumn. Looking at the apples today on the trees at Bealtaine Cottage, it is easy to see how this is. Harvests continue to be gathered and develop, ripening to plumpness and fullness. Tomatoes, like the ones above, grown outdoors in areas of micro-climate warmth and […]
MoreA World Without Butterflies and Bees…
Buddleia are in full, heavy, nectar perfumed bloom all over the gardens at Bealtaine Cottage. This is one just opposite the front door. The purple coloured blossoms droop expectantly, waiting for the seasonal Butterflies, but there are none… What has happened is the fault of humankind, weather, pesticides, corporate greed and ecocide happening all around […]
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