It’s surprising just how much food is growing in the gardens of Bealtaine at this time of year, the time of scarcity…but far from it!
There’s the makings of a decent salad, with Fennel, Japanese salads like Mizuna and others as well as a lovely edible garnish in the form of Pansy flowers.
In other parts of the gardens, where little micro-climates exist in the form of stones and shed walls, there’s Flat-leaf Parsley and Thyme.
I used Thyme in roasted potatoes yesterday…delicious!
Purple Sprouting Broccoli is giving lots of florets…delicious raw or cooked and full of goodness! 
Then there’s Leeks…all grown from saved seed and the stronger for it!
Elsewhere in the gardens I found stands of Kale…shred this in salads and roast as chip dips!
Here and there in the flower beds and in pots…lots of Sage and Rosemary…great herbs to add taste to root vegetables at this time of year!
Bay is growing in abundance, quite acclimatised to the Irish climate.
Golden Oregano continues to thrive past Midwinter.
All of this is growing outdoors, not in the tunnel and these pics were snapped today, 26th of December!
Even the Rhubarb is beginning to produce!
There’s lots of other food in the garden…for birds and small mammals, in the form of berries.
Seeds are available from the link below…
https://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-for-sale/
To join the Bealtaine Cottage Good Life…
https://bealtainecottage.com/bealtaine-cottage-good-life/
This seed has adapted over twelve years to grow in difficult conditions, for as you know, it rains frequently here and the gardens are all on a north-facing slope. 
This is why the seed saved here, year after year, is more resilient than commercial seed, which is grown in ideal conditions for the maximum production value! 
Saving seed also makes one value the pollinators, especially the Bees…for without their incredible work there would not be any seed to collect! 
During the 1900’s we experienced a startling drop in the number of heirloom varieties—because gardeners stopped saving and trading their own seeds. 
Here at Bealtaine Cottage I have developed a seed bank over twelve years, adding more and more seed year on year, as the biodiversity increased similarly throughout the gardens. 
When we rely on commercial seed companies, any seeds that sell slowly simply get dropped from production and disappear. 
If you would like to support this vital work of seed-saving and building resilience for the future, consider purchasing some seed from Bealtaine Cottage… 
You may remember that last week I visited the Atlantic shoreline to harvest some seaweed to use on the garden. 
The strands to the south of Sligo town have piles of loose seaweed here and there along the beaches.
Always only ever take the loose stuff…don’t pull seaweed from stones as these form habitats and are essential to the ecology of the seashore!
In the end I managed about three big bags of seaweed and headed home with my foraged booty!
The first thing I do is to spread it on the gravel around the cottage and allow the rain to wash out excess salt.
After about a week, I start to spread the seaweed around established plants in the garden and tunnel.
The seaweed acts as a wonderful feed and a weed-suppressing mulch!
One of the best things about growing food in the garden is the opportunity to use local and near resources that are free to be foraged or collected…seaweed is an organic fertiliser! 
Seaweed is washed in by the tide, so is easy to forage!
Only ever take what you need!
It’s packed with Potassium and Nitrogen, bot wonderful for the garden!
Ireland is the richest source of Celtic myths and legends. 
Down through the Ages, Ireland remained remote and cut off from mainland Europe, holding onto its rich folklore and spirituality. 
It’s peoples worshipped all aspects of the natural world in which they recognised the Divine, in much the same way as I do here at Bealtaine Cottage. 
The reason for the wealth of myth and legend that pervades Ireland, today and it’s people lies not just from its isolation from mainland Europe for much of its history.
Ireland remained free from pressures exerted by other cultures such as the Roman Empire. 
So much so, that the great writer, John B. Keane referred to his people as having only a “thin veneer of Christianity…” in that they merged their pre-Christian practices with their newly inducted Christianity.
And so I offer this up as a simple explanation for the gardens at Bealtaine Cottage having evolved through a similar understanding of the natural world and the supreme forces of Nature. 
This is no ordinary Permaculture garden as you can see, but one deeply nourished and inspired by the Goddess. 
For me there is a spiritual, otherworldly, ethereal force at work and play here.
This is the rational (for me) way of explaining the extraordinary growth and extreme revving-up of biodiversity that has happened at Bealtaine.
All beyond my control…not that I ever wanted to control this magnificent force! 
As I re-emerged through my journey with Mother Earth, I came to an intuitive understanding of the need to stop digging Her…to let Her be! 
So I mulch and cover Her with as much tenderness as befits the Great Mother. 
You will never see any of Her precious skin exposed. 
Her mantle remains in place. 
And so this brings me to the second part of this story… 
The wonderful success of No-Dig Gardening… 
And here is the first of over twenty photographs and the story of growing success at Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland…continued over at Bealtaine Cottage Good Life… bealtainecottage.org
