A reasonable question…why, some would even say, a good question!
Isn’t it about time we asked it?
Isn’t it about time we stepped out of the ridiculous matrix we have trapped ourselves in?
Question more…
Today’s video from Bealtaine Cottage…
Category Archives: E.U.
Food Harvest 2020
Small farms in Ireland are in a steady decline and have been for several decades now.
Violets growing all over the woodland at Bealtaine Cottage
In fact farming is now referred to as an “industry”…a most illuminating use of language!
Buddha in the gardens
The pressure on small farmers to produce more and more, (mostly meat), is driving many off the land, as they find it difficult to compete with the bigger landowners and thus meat growers!
Sammy-Bear says “Hello!”
The countryside is fast losing vital habitat, as hedgerows are pulled out, trees felled and field size increased.
Apple blossom and Honesty flowers in bloom at Bealtaine Cottage
There is a government initiative behind this, of course…”Food Harvest 2020!”
Willow archways at Bealtaine cottage
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is Simon Coveney TD.
Water that is drinkable!
Minister Coveney held a meeting on the 17th of April.
Sedge in flower today at Bealtaine
Invitations were issued to key stakeholders, including farm organisations, beef processors and relevant state agencies to a round table discussion on the future development of the Beef Sector, as it is referred to!
Mixed planting in the very productive Potager Beds
Participants at this meeting were invited to discuss the government initiative, Food Harvest 2020.
Photinia and Kerria
This scheme was introduced by the Irish government to increase production of beef! (Ironic naming it “Food Harvest 2020!)
Golden Euphorbia in the early morning sunshine
Now, read this statement from the Minister of Agriculture…using language of industry, markets and sport!
Commenting today on the initiative, Minister Coveney said
“By some measures the beef sector is Ireland’s biggest indigenous industry, involving more than 100,000 farm families, and 8,000 jobs in processing, sales and marketing, with exports valued of more than €2 billion in 2013. Food Harvest 2020 set an initial target of a 20% increase in the value of output for the beef sector. The target for beef exports has already been exceeded.
The time is now right to sit down with key stakeholders in the sector, to consider the strategic approach needed to support its development, using the best available market intelligence, and the newest technology and research to improve performance at all levels of the supply chain. The beef sector makes a vital contribution to Irish agri food and to employment and the economy generally. I am convinced that with the right strategic approach and positive collaboration from all of the players, the beef sector in Ireland has a bright future.”
(https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/pressreleases/2014/april/title,74954,en.html)
Near the veranda at Bealtaine Cottage
All the while, loss of habitat is causing devastation!
Ferns and Spurge cover the floor of the Fairy Wood
Friends of the Earth, (FOE), have called on the Government to do a full Strategic Environmental Assessment of Food Harvest 2020.
Buddha wears a crown of moss in the Bog Garden
Other groups raising concerns with Food Harvest 2020 include:
The Irish Climate Justice Group
The Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership.
Friends of the Irish Environment and Allies
Buddha at Bealtaine
The European Commission has announced it is launching an investigation of whether proper procedures were followed.
The lower pond at Bealtaine Cottage, teeming with Newts, Frogs…
Each and every photograph I post here on this website is taken at Bealtaine Cottage.
Stream flowing from the Spring Well through both ponds
These three acres of abundance exist because I took the cattle off the land.
The Bog Garden at Bealtaine Cottage
I would like to invite Minister Simon Coveney to Bealtaine Cottage to see what happens to land when it is allowed and nurtured to re-generate!
The Lower Pond filled with clean Spring water that flows out into the River Shannon and on into the Atlantic Ocean!
We need, as a nation, to cherish our land and protect it for future generations.
Sammy by the pond
We need to produce more Organic Food for our people rather than importing it…that means fruit and vegetables and grains!
Bealtaine Angel
Oh, by the way Minister…you may call it Food Harvest 2020, but, I and many like me, do not eat beef…not much food there then!
Lower The Lifeboats!
The economic crisis, that became evident to all in October 2008, has never really been discussed in the mainstream media. 
Much of what could, and should, have been put in place by national governments, to ameliorate the dreadful effects of this crisis, have been blatantly air-brushed from the media and political debate!
We continue to be sold the illusion of full employment for all.
As direct fallout from the media hype around this lie, many people are feeling inadequate and hopeless, believing it to be their fault that they are job-less.
The media has demonized the unemployed and disabled, citing examples of welfare abuse, whilst ignoring the very real struggles many good people face in their everyday lives!
Governments have introduced all kinds of hoops and hurdles, that intimidate those seeking employment, into a state of hopelessness and despair.
Leadership, has and continues to, fail us!
Governments are aware that carbon reductions in relation to Climate Change cannot facilitate Economic Growth in the present paradigm, but resist any debate or discussion on this!
Government GDP figures do not take into consideration any guide to National Well-being, including health, food, clean air, clean water etc.
Fracking is part of GDP for example, as that produces a commodity to be sold, but look at the utter shambles it leaves in its’ wake, for local people to have to deal with!
Poisoned water, devastated land, sick children…the list goes on!
We are on-board a rudder-less ship with a drunk Captain and crew…time to lower the life-boats and row towards resilience, community and sustainable living!
When this ship goes down it will take everyone on board with it!
EU Pimping Monoculture Failure!
Mist prevails as the earth slowly heats, releasing some of the water absorbed during the wettest winter on record here in Ireland.
The air is still and birdsong echoes through the foggy dew…
The first of the seeds are now sown in a big fish box in the tunnel, made from thick, white polystyrene, once marked out for the dump but rescued and up-cycled here at Bealtaine Cottage…perfect for seeds and young plants!
There’s a digger at work on the hill of Ballyfermoyle, I hear it’s machinations echoing through the misty morning.
Young trees and bushes are being torn up and tossed aside, in an effort for land to be measured by the EU on Google Maps.
Less tree cover shows more grass and it is grassland that the EU are paying farmers here in Ireland to grow.
More grass, more meat, more export, more globalization…you know the story!
And so, the Earth is losing more habitat in a land that cannot feed it’s own people…Ireland is heavily reliant on imported food!
Another famine lurks around the corner, as monoculture food systems are the order of the day, financed and controlled by the EU bureaucrats, blinkered up to the eyeballs with bullshit!
In this land of plenty there is little food grown around this area.
EU sponsored, subsidized and pimped Monoculture prevails!
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Bealtaine Cottage has built up a Permaculture Seed Bank.
If you want to see a list of available seeds, this link will take you there…
https://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-from-bealtaine-cottage/
Seeds from Bealtaine Cottage in Ireland are posted all over the world…the donation remains the same no matter where you live, even Outer Mongolia!
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
There are over 600 blogs in the archives on this site.
As an Ark for Nature, trees and wildlife, the smallholding of Bealtaine Cottage receives no grant aid from the EU, as only farm animals, monoculture and set-aside are grant-aided!
Your donation helps remedy that…
This Could Change the World!
Real Crisis in the Economy, Economic Forecasts, Economic Recovery, …the list of headlines, news and political in-fighting over the economy seems endless.
However, the figures that are collected year on year, collated and spun out to us all, regarding the state of our country’s economy, are referred to as GDP or Gross Domestic Product.
GDP is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year.
This includes trees.
Dead trees.
Only dead trees!
Trees that have been cut down and transported out of the country, or sold.
Now, imagine this…
What if living trees were included in GDP?
For, after all, a tree is of more value to us all, alive than dead!
A tree is worth $193,250…
According to Professor T.M.Das of the University of Calcutta. A tree living for 50 years will generate $31,250 worth of oxygen, provide $62,000 worth of air pollution control, control soil erosion and increase soil fertility to the tune of $31,250, recycle $37,500 worth of water and provide a home for animals worth $31,250. This figure does not include the value of fruits, lumber or beauty derived from trees. Just another sensible reason to take care of our forests.
From Update Forestry Michigan State University
GDP is one the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country’s economy.
It represents the total dollar value of all goods produced by that country…
But, surely, the health of an economy is as much predicated on the health of it’s people, land, air and soil, as it is on exported dollar goods?
Can you begin to imagine how the inclusion of all living trees could change how we regard economic health, wealth, growth and progress?
This small step could change the world!
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You can place an order for seeds harvested here at Bealtaine cottage, from the plants seen growing here…all strong and vigorous. Click on the link below that will take you to the selection available:
https://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-for-sale/
I’m happy to write, photograph, podcast, YouTube and Facebook on behalf of Mother Earth…it would be great if you could take a second or two to press the LIKE button, leave a comment, or even subscribe to Bealtaine Cottage Good Life…
https://bealtainecottage.com/bealtaine-cottage-good-life/
A Grievous Sin
The biggest threat to our food security lurks in the shadowy depths of the Halls of Power…the buildings housing the European Parliament in Brussels.
You may or may not be aware of something called The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
TTIP is a trade agreement presently being negotiated between the European Union and the United States.
In my estimation, this will allow full and unfettered access to our food production, from multi-national corporations, such as Monsanto, that carry the weapon of GMOs.
I call this manifestation of utter madness, GMOs, a weapon, because that is precisely what it is…and a weapon that will cause more devastation to the environment than anything concocted in laboratories ever before!
This is already the case in the US, as small farmers, producing Organic food, are hauled before courts accused of property rights violations by Monsanto.
Monsanto claims ownership of any plant material infected by their GMOs!
Once this insidious and odious polluted seed of mass destruction is unleashed into the environment of Europe, supported in Law by the TTIP, then the takeover will be fast-tracked by our own governments, who are mandated by us to protect us, not US Corporate interests!
The countdown to the ultimate weapon of mass control and destruction is under way.
You need to know what is happening.
Knowledge is power.
For my part, I will not comply with any law that says a corporation controls and profits from the very essence of life itself…seed.
For their part, all they have done is take the seed of the Divine Creator and pollute it.
That, in my eyes, is a grievous sin.
Bealtaine Cottage has built up a Permaculture Seed Bank.
If you want to see a list of available seeds, this link will take you there… https://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-from-bealtaine-cottage/
Seeds from Bealtaine Cottage in Ireland are posted all over the world!
No More Seed Available At Present!
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Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living. There are almost 800 blogs in the archives on this site.I write, photograph and film, in a small way, to give a voice to Mother Earth.
Seed the Future!
In my small attempts to stand up to the Ecocidal Monsters of this world, I often feel like David (of Goliath fame), and then I am reminded of the massive opposition to Government and Corporate plans to control our planet and all the life therein!Amazing people like Elena from Greece, who posted seeds to me last year…one of many subscribers to Bealtaine Cottage who is doing incredible work in protecting our Seed Sovereignty, without which we have NO future at all! 
Elena has written to me to inform us all about what is happening in two days time!
Elena writes:I am writing now to tell you that on January 20th there will be a big demonstration outside the European Parliament in Brussels about the forthcoming seed laws (maybe you already know this, of course). Activists from all over Europe are coming to Brussels to be there, and events are being organised around Europe on that day. I will be coordinating the Athens events – a demonstration outside parliament, all urban farms open and giving away seeds/seedlings/information packs, hopefully some media coverage, as well as Greek blogs posting something relevant to seeds on that day (a movie, a small piece of text, etc)…I thought that maybe you could also write something specifically for seed freedom on that day, as well – although I know that you have written so much already!
have a very happy new year
with blessings from Athens
xxx
Elena
Our struggle to keep our Seed Sovereignty is ongoing, despite the small successes we have had in various government buildings.
The problem is there is so much wealth tied up with seeds, food and food production, the Corporations are seeking total control!Understand that this struggle is an ongoing battle to keep the seed!
I have harvested seed, like this Leek seed, here at Bealtaine Cottage for almost ten years.
I allow all the plants to seed themselves and I harvest seed every year…No government will stop me!
No law will prevent me posting this seed to all the world.
This is the year for you to take your future into your own hands and save seed, share seed, gift seed and talk about the seed…it is your future, it is my future.Without it we are slaves to tyranny!
There is a wide selection of seeds available here at Bealtaine Cottage.
If you would like some Bealtaine seeds for your own garden, then click on the link at the very top of the page.Shame On Us All!
Wisdom grows from thinking, acting and interacting!
This is how change for the better actually happens…on the human interface, one to one, one with one and many together.
The need to protect family, friends, community and Mother Earth is not about killing…yet we have been brainwashed to believe that soldiers fight for peace!
Countries rarely, if ever, invaded by a foreign army, need to invade other countries to keep the peace in their own.
Madness… total, irrational madness!
The War machine is the biggest industrial complex upon this Sacred Earth.
The War Machine is driven by the elite and the puppets of the elite, all bought and paid for with blood money!
Shame on us all!
Even Neutral Ireland, while we held the Presidency of the EU, and could have led a motion to stop sanctions against Iran, did nothing!
Iran has not invaded another country in over 300 years!
Shame on me!
I could have protested and demanded our leader, Enda Kenny, did something, anything…I did not…
The children, sick and vulnerable continue to die, as they did in Iraq!
Over 500,000 children died in Iraq because of sanctions!
World military expenditure in 2012 totalled $1753 billion, around 2.5% of world GDP.( http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex )
If one percent, just one percent of that money, had been spent on planting trees worldwide, every human being on this planet would be better off and looking at a future!
Damned Shame!
Monsanto and Why Your Vigilance is Needed…
We have been informed that Monsanto are backing out of Europe.
We have been told that Monsanto do not see a viable market for their GMOs in the EU.
However, it is important to realise that Monsanto have cultivated friends in the highest echelons of government worldwide.
The EU is now officially in bed with the US administration, via the recently verified Trade Agreement.
Monsanto are not going away.
The lure of money and power is too great!
Be vigilant!
Monsanto have been around for some time and used to playing the long game.
Do not let your guard slip on this one.
The stakes are too high!
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Update on 2nd of August.
As I suspected…
http://rt.com/news/court-overturns-french-monsanto-ban-930/
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 100 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
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