From monoculture rushy land to woodland in under twelve years.
Not just any woodland, but a food forest woodland, as you can see from one of the thousand plus trees planted above…a Greengage!
This is the only lawn here, enjoyed by Jack!
There follows a series of forty plus photographs taken here at Bealtaine Cottage in July 2016.
The Bealtaine Cottage Land Restoration Project was started in late 2004.
It was a challenge for one woman with zero resources to restore what was deemed by the EU as “Poor Land”…a term I vehemently challenge!
There is no such thing as “Poor Land” just ABUSED EARTH!
As with all EU projects that entail putting Mother Earth first, there was zero funding for this!
Not to be deterred…(I never am!) at the age of forty eight, I took on a mortgage to help buy this bereft, sad-looking little place, with the dream of returning it to Eden.
I believe the Earth is sacred.
The rest of the story is told here in these photographs…
The fact that I have planted this entirely on my own, growing much of what you see from seeds and cuttings, makes this a workable model for anyone to follow…
This is not a blog about Climate Change or, even, extreme weather…enduring it is quite enough! 
This is about an extraordinary human being, who, 400 years before James Lovelock, set out the case for our Earth being alive…as I know her to be today! 
For this and other beliefs, Giordano was burned at the stake in the year 1600. 
Giordano Bruno, born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian 
He is remembered for his cosmological theories, which conceptually extended the then novel 
He proposed that the 
He also insisted that the universe is in fact 
Beginning in 1593, Bruno was tried for 
So, you can begin to see why I have warmed to this rather extraordinary and brave human being!
Not, as some would imagine, for having strong views…but for daring to question!
Bruno’s 
The Inquisition found him guilty, and he was 
In short, Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake just over 400 years ago for maintaining that the Earth was alive!
After many years of isolation in the science community, James Lovelock was acknowledged as the bearer of truth, sometimes a painful burden to carry in a society fixated with staying well inside the box!
I know from my intimate work with Mother Earth, that she is indeed alive.
The change in acceptance of James Lovelock’s Gaia theory was summed up in a declaration published by scientists from the four international research programmes in 2001 which said…
“The Earth system behaves as a single, self-regulating system,comprised of physical, chemical, biological and human components. The interactions and feedbacks between the component parts are complex and exhibit multi-scale temporal and spatial variability.” 
We need to make peace with Her…and to do that we need to listen!
The greatest concern of our times is happening on a daily basis and affecting every one of us.
The gabbling media assault our senses with celebrity highs and lows, sport and highly edited titbits of what is happening internationally…all the while keeping away from any real conversation about the chaos that is the weather all around us and those dreaded words: Climate Change.
I would like to offer words of comfort and reassurance, but that’s not possible, for I live in the real world and events are happening too fast for me to be able to offer predictions that will reassure!
So, let me tell you about the people I hope to reach with this news…
If there is a Universal Consciousness…give it the name Goddess, God, Divine, Mother Earth…whatever you know it by…then that consciousness must surely want us to care as deeply for our planet as we care for ourselves.
I am fearful for what I have come to shape my entire being around…Mother Earth.
Yet…there is hope…for where there is life there is hope and I have always been a pragmatist, optimist and carer.
A kilogramme of beef protein reared on a British hill farm 
This is the worst case, and the figure comes from a farm 
This time it affects us all, for this time, everything is connected, as we are to Mother Earth.
The clock moves to just after 4pm and the sky outside is darkening fast. 
I rejoice in days like these, for one feels alive and adrenaline pumps to the surface, as the full force of Mother Nature moves across the sky and the trees tremble. 
There is a conference in Paris today…on Climate Change. 
War and militarism are the key components of what fuels Climate Change! 
Jack worries not…there are times I envy him!
