On this beautiful day in the west of Ireland…Potting on seedlings, dealing with slugs and enjoying a bit of a rant! When something is not right, then it’s just not right!
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Category: Seeds
Seedlings, Slugs and Political Shenanigans
Excavating the Past…
Easy to grow salads, almost ready to eat from the box!
This mixture of seeds, mostly saved seeds, so the cost is minimal, has taken about 3 weeks to germinate and grow, outdoors.
Coriander, Parsley, Lettuce, Spinach, Leeks, fennel and more, all jostle together.
These will be cut and cut again for several harvests.
Some of the bigger, stronger seedlings will be pricked out and planted on.
I want to thank all of you who commented and liked on yesterday’s blog…this has really energized me!
Living on one’s own can be quiet at times and it was so great to get such lively and uplifting feedback…bless you all XXX
I love to forage and dig about at old dump sites, many of which can be found around old Irish cottages.
Nothing was ever thrown, but rather placed in the ditch or bank, so when people like myself excavate decades later, much of what we find remains intact.
This is a selection of old bottles dug up and cleaned.
Some of them are really beautiful, don’t you think?
Among other things, the practice of excavating old sites is directly linked to antique bottle collecting and glass-making.
This hobby is so very interesting as it allows a picture of the past to be slowly unraveled and a new tapestry created of past lives.
As I write there is a light spray of rain in the air…it is barely falling!
The ground has been dry and water levels in wells have dropped in recent weeks.
A week of rain would be very welcome.
The rain-water barrels have served me well, but are now empty.
Close planting has helped preserved the moisture in all of the beds.
The dry weather has also been great for seed collection.
I have hung Mizuna and Purple Sprouting Broccoli in the barn to dry off.
This Parsley seed will be ready to hang very soon.
Hover-flies buzz endlessly around the flower-heads of the Cotoneaster.
Leycestria Formosa grows like a weed here in the west of Ireland and the flower-heads transform into chocolate-scented berries much loved by the Blackbirds.
In between, it makes a beautiful bush…
Summer prevails and may continue long into September, making a seamless merge into late Autumn.
Enjoy every day in some small way…Blessings X
Bealtaine Cottage has a brand new website…it’s called Bealtaine Cottage Good Life…TO READ MORE, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW WEBSITE. SEE:
http://bealtainecottage.com/2015/04/01/an-invitation/
To access the site once donation is confirmed…
Little Pots of Magic…She Stirs…
The decision, once made, gathers energy and slowly, slowly begins to move…like a baby discovering it can crawl!
And so it begins…the first small movements of the Forest of Bealtaine, barely perceptible, but felt and experienced.
The Forest of Bealtaine is emerging through seed…seeds collected, saved and sown into pots of Bealtaine compost, that will travel with them, to their final destination, here, somewhere, in Mother Ireland.
Where in Mother Ireland I do not know, but, somewhere on this land bereft of the comfort of cover and canopy, open to the growing harshness of rain, that once fell soft like dew…for the changing weather patterns and climate are taking their toll!
And so She grows!
Today the rain falls heavy and my visitors from Dublin have gone.
The heavy rain assures me we need forest…for we are the rocky outcrop of a failing empire
There is no mistake in that word…for it is She with a capital letter, She with a need to grow and nurture.
The land we have collectively failed…our governments collecting carbon taxes whilst fracking the bowels of Mother Earth! 
The failing Empire of the EU paying Irish farmers to rip out trees, so land can be mapped out for Google Earth Maps!
And all so politicians and bureaucrats can peer and measure and post out cheques…
But what use is money to a people living on a land being ravaged by Climate Chaos?
But here at Bealtaine, the Goddess, the Mother, our Earth is nurtured for in her womb is cradled Eden, waiting to be birthed.
And Bealtaine is one of many birthing places, for the Mother is us and we are her…there is no separation.
And in these little pots of hope, She grows, and slowly, barely noticeable to visitors, the magic begins to manifest.
She stirs, awakens and is…
A New Way of Living
Food production can be a problem for many people who have little or no access to land.
There are many who live in conditions where even a balcony is a precious space.
I have spoken before about the ways in which access to growing space can be achieved, through allotments, community gardens and the like, but here is something which may prove to be an inspiration, a new way of looking at food, both growing it and eating!
As an aspiring Vegan, (sometimes I miss the mark!) and dedicated grower and lover of all life, I have recently been converted to “Micro Greens.”
The concept is extraordinarily simple!
Seeds such as lettuce, peas, beets, etc., are sown and grown for about two weeks or less, before being harvested and added to dishes.
These Micro-Greens, it is said, contain up to 40% more nutrients than older, traditionally grown and harvested vegetables.
I can believe it!
Yesterday evening, I had a dish of cooked brown rice, mixed with Micro Greens, seasoned and drenched with the juice of half a fresh lime and this morning I feel a surge of energy!
Micro Greens can be grown on a window ledge, balcony, hanging basket…anywhere they can get a decent dose of light!
Growing Organic is easy to manage in small areas too!
Little or no problem with slugs and availability all the year around!
For me, the days of packaged salad of any kind are over and the tiresome task of cooking greens are almost over…adding raw makes more sense in every aspect of preparing and eating food!
All you need is a tray, or pot of compost, seeds and water!
So, there you have it…a new way of living…simple, easy and kind to Mother Earth!
And the fun part? Now you can enjoy seeing some of your vegetables run to seed, like this Mizuna in the Potager Bed!
Here are just some of the seeds you can grow Micro Salads from…Arugula
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Kale
Mustard greens
Radish
Red cabbage
Turnips
Watercress
Basil
Chervil
Chives
Coriander
Fennel
Lemon Balm
Mizuna
Rocket
Sage
Chard
and many more…
(Both the Light Catcher and the Bird Box were gifts, made by Nick O’Neill…aren’t they lovely?)Happy growing!
Blessings from Bealtaine Cottage XXX
Subversion Without Violence
Bill Mollison once said, “I teach self-reliance, the world’s most subversive practice. I teach people how to grow their own food, which is shockingly subversive. So, yes, it’s seditious. But it’s peaceful sedition.”
Applying design to growing makes for good permaculture.
As Ireland endures a wetter and wetter climate, constructing vegetable beds on the top of gravel helps to counteract the worst elements of flooding.
The same design principles are applied in the polytunnel.
Beds are raised and paths are lowered, allowing for good drainage on this north facing slope.
This is a Nectarine tree, under-planted with Comfrey, which is then regularly chopped and dropped throughout the growing season, thus feeding the hungry fruit tree.
It has been planted in a central area in the tunnel so as to avoid cold drafts when doors are open.
This morning sees the blossom opening at just the right time, as bees are emerging from hibernation, so it’s essential to have both doors open to receive them.
Now this is something rarely seen, but this system works very well for me…seeds are sown together in one, big, deep, polystyrene, re-cycled box.
As seeds emerge and gain strength, I gently tease them out and pot them on, leaving space behind for the next swathe of emerging seedlings.
Rhubarb fills out a Spring bed, with Raspberries coming along next in seasonal line!
The Summer fruiting Rhubarb lies protected under this mound of straw…excluding light from emerging weeds.
The bed is mound shaped as every year sees more and more compost added.
And here’s the black gold…home made compost. As all of the gardens are on a north-facing slope, the tyres do not interfere with the quality of the compost, just protects the heap from the east and north weather systems…particularly cold!
Trees and bushes all play a part in the permaculture design, creating shelter and wind-breaks in this instance.
You can see one of the six bins used for compost toilet waste re-cycling tucked in on the right of the picture.
This makes great planting compost for trees!
More rain storms moving in from the west and Atlantic seaboard this morning, but the sun continues to shine!
As smoke curls up in wisps from the chimney, reminding me that a hot kettle awaits me indoors…tea!
I love the unpredictable Irish weather!
And the way everything greens up so quickly after the winter!
Have a good weekend everyone.
Blessings XXX
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…
http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-from-bealtaine-cottage/
Seeds from Bealtaine Cottage in Ireland are posted all over the world!
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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.
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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!
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…
http://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:
http://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…
http://bealtainecottage.com/bealtaine-cottage-good-life/
Know Your Seeds
There are basically four different kinds of seed you can purchase.
- Open Pollinated Seed.
This is the most natural seed, simply because it has not been interfered with in any laboratory.
This seed is pollinated by Nature…bees, insects and wind. Occasionally by us too as we brush up against flowers and accidentally get pollen on our clothes, carrying it to another flower and so on.
Sometimes we help Mother Nature a little by gently brushing the pollen from one flower to another. It’s all good! 
These seeds are what are commonly referred to more and more as “Organic” on the packaging. 
Organic seeds are fast becoming more difficult to obtain in Garden Shops etc. 
This is because the big seed companies are busy buying up the small seed companies, leaving the consumer with less and less choice! 
High Yielding Seed. These look attractive in the packet, with lots of blurb attached to get you to buy, but, these seeds thrive on chemicals and are sort of married to chemicals too! Definitely not organic and in many cases a danger to bees and insects.
Hybrids. These are actually designed not to be saved!
G.E. Seed. Otherwise known as GM, GMO and all about genetic engineering Nature and patenting the result. These seeds are injected with chemicals and then patented by corporations such as Monsanto. Monsanto declares to be above God Almighty, by stating, and being supported by US Law, that it created the seed!
This is merely a guide for you to build on.
Find out all you can about seed, for it is your future and that of your children.
Vandana Shiva: The seed in its essence is all of the past evolution of the Earth, the evolution of human history, and the potential for future evolution. The seed is the embodiment of culture because culture shaped the seed with careful selection—women picked the best, diversified. So from one grass you get 200,000 rices.
That is a convergence of human intelligence and nature’s intelligence. It is the ultimate expression of life, and in our language, it means “that from which life arises on its own, forever and ever and ever.”
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Here at Bealtaine Cottage in the West of Ireland I save seed…grown under Permaculture conditions which seek to protect both the integrity of the seed and the environment!
Open pollinated seed is available from Bealtaine Cottage.
Click on the link below to see the current list of seed.
http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-for-sale/
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… http://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.
Permaculture Gardens
The growing season has begun, with Rhubarb sending forth strong pink stems despite the storms of recent weeks.
Meanwhile, down in the Fairy Wood, ferns have kept their green in the shelter of the dell. Mosses grow bright in the sunlight and ivy twists and twirls around the Goat Willow.
Lots of Goat Willow has been coppiced over recent months, and although it takes a year or so to season, it makes excellent logs for the stove, giving out masses of heat for free!
Further down the gardens, Pine, laurel and Great Western Cedar all grow happily together and appear healthy in the spring sunshine.
Daffodils are on their way to opening under the shelter of the Beech hedge. This is down beside the pond by the driveway.
And as I turn around from the Daffodils, the Ivy that hangs from some of the mature Goat Willow, swings about in the wind and sunshine…this is turning into a lovely walk around the gardens!
I amble around the lower pond, snapping as I go…Jack moves ahead of me, tugging on his lead for he has picked up the scent of a fox or badger!
I put my camera away and let Jack pull me along, hot on the scent of other life…we finally stop as we come up to the east side of the cottage.
We move around towards the polytunnel and one of the orchards. Pyracantha and Cotoneaster are now devoid of berries. This can be a hungry time for the birds as they mate and nest…there is a big bag of Oats I can scatter around in handfuls for the hungry birds and will do this later.
Back to the cottage and the shelter of the veranda…it’s very stormy, despite the sunshine!
With a full moon over Bealtaine Cottage tonight and a hard frost to come, the evening will be cold for sure.
The coppicing continues and the woodpile grows…
Fennel is beginning to send forth lots of new growth in the shelter of the veranda and the back of the cottage. These new shoots are delicious added to salad!
And just across from the Fennel…
And a reminder for anyone wanting 100% Bealtaine seeds from Bealtaine Cottage…there is a link at the top of this page where you can choose what you want.
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.Country Living and Magic
Red berries and silver light, weather changing frame by frame and night skies opening up to endless stars…country living, or maybe just observing.
For as I type, a fierce storm moves across the tree tops, sweeping leaves before it like a Samhain broom!
Yet in the stillness of the sheltered gardens of Bealtaine, Perscaria blooms stand tall and erect, like soldiers guarding Summer…but not for long!
(Persicaria amplexicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to the Himalayas.)
Che-Mousey-Bear chases around the gardens, delighting in Autumn and curiously keeping watch as I take photographs this morning.
Willow arches have thickened this year…something I will plant many more of, as the Autumn progresses and leaves fall away, to reveal the best stems to cut and plant.
The fallen Rowan tree continues to grow strong and multiply it’s stems, year after year.
This beautiful tree had fallen in a storm over nine years ago, but now grows in the more sheltered gardens.
The Rowan tree has long been regarded to possess magical and protective qualities and often was planted near Irish cottages.
This may have something to do with the fact that there is a small five-pointed star, or pentagram, opposite the stalk of each berry.
Pentagrams have long been considered symbols of protection.
The berries’ red colour is also regarded to be the best protective colour against enchantment.
The covering on the tunnel is in need of washing, for the algae has settled on the outside…a task to add to my weekly list!
The berries on the Ivy are ripening fast.
These are a welcome source of food for blackbirds and if not eaten, remain on the plant until spring, providing an important food-source for young birds.
Ivy makes a magical decoration for the home towards midwinter… I always look forward to gathering and decorating the mantelpiece with this wonderful greenery, leaving plenty for the birds!
Blackberries at Autumn Equinox
Early morning in the permaculture gardens of Bealtaine, coffee in one hand, camera in the other, to record the passing of a time, a merging of a season, as we flow seamlessly into late autumn…the autumn equinox.
Blackberries hang heavy near the stone circle, flattened grass signs the badgers have been here.
Looking skywards, all looks different as the season casts a spell over the landscape…I never noticed the ivy on the Ash tree before, really looked and wondered…
And underneath the mighty Ash, a sacred tree in Celtic lore, the ferns remain green and lush in the warm September weather.
The circle of stone and willow in the early morning light…
Crossing the little bridge over the ditch to continue my walk.
And down into the Fairy Wood…
towards the pond…
under Willow arches in the playground of Mother Nature.
Along pathways evolved over nine years of delight with the Mother herself!
Where the Sidhe dance and Badgers trundle…
I spent yesterday clearing the paths a little, for I and many visitors walk these paths all year round.
Some wood I leave on the ground to feed the earth and provide habitat for all seen and unseen.
As I write this blog, an email hits my screen, a response to one I sent earlier to a very kind donor to Bealtaine Cottage.
I sent an email to this wonderful man asking permission to publish a little of what he wrote to me recently…
I have discovered your beautiful cottage a week or so ago from an article in permaculture.co.UK, I have watched most of your youtube videos, subscribed to your newsletter and want to do my part to help you do the beautiful things you are doing….
I was floored to see the transformation you have made around you through I’m sure a lot of hard work, an enlightened mind and a superb taste (and of course these wonderful trees)…
I am personally still stuck on a corporate life that I don’t appreciate and I would love to gather the courage to make the jump and return to a more balanced, tastier, healthier and joyful country life…
The address mentioned on my donation is actually my parents’, they have a lovely garden where I would love to have your seeds make their magic. Feel free to send whatever you have, don’t feel obligated to any quantity…
The entertainment and inspiration you have provided with your videos and blog entries are already worth more to me than the money donated.
But if I am buying seeds to plant in my parents’ garden, I’d rather my money going to you than to Monsanto or another large commercial seed merchant!
All the best and keep these posts and photos coming, they make my day!
That was a lovely email to receive today, the autumn equinox and I know you will be happy to read it too!
Enjoy the rest of the photographs taken this morning, here in the permaculture gardens of Bealtaine Cottage…it’s always a pleasure for me to share this sacred place with you X
Thanks and blessings XXX
Come Visit the Permaculture Gardens this weekend!
The Open Weekend at Bealtaine Cottage approaches…
yes…
It’s this weekend everyone!
You have a special invitation to come and spend as long as you like on either Saturday or Sunday, this weekend, exploring the gardens, asking questions, looking inside the cottage and just having a lovely time in the permaculture gardens here at Bealtaine Cottage…and…it’s all for charity!
I am posting directions at the end of this blog, so you will find Bealtaine Cottage quite easy!
Carole from Whispering Pines in the U.S. has already donated the entrance fee, of 10euros, despite the fact that America is a long way off! 
Carole at http://whisperingpinesfiberandherbfarm.com/ writes a lovely blog every day all about her homestead and lovely animals…I often pop by!
Hopefully there will be at least 100 euros to donate to The Leitrim Animal Sanctuary by the close of the weekend!
Your 10 euro donation includes tea and lashings of cake, home made soup with home made bread and staying all day if you wish! 
How’s that for value…and you will be helping animals in distress!
There will be lots of tea, fresh coffee and home made cakes!
If it’s wet, don’t fret…with two covered verandas and a cosy cottage, there will be lots of dry space to enjoy your morning or afternoon tea!
I am selling a lot of my gardening books too…some great books!
There is lots to see and many secret paths to explore…so come along to the Permaculture Gardens at Bealtaine Cottage this weekend..
Directions to Bealtaine Cottage…
From Ballyfarnon travel on the R284 to Keadue for approx 4km. In Keadue turn right at the top of Village, signposted Leitrim Village. Travel for approx 2km and take right (L 15036) and house is third on the left.
From Carrick on Shannon, travel on the R284 to Leitrim Village, approx 5km. In Leitrim Village go over bridge and take left road signposted Keadue. Travel for approx 6km and take left (L 15036) and house is third on the left.
Distance from:
Keadue 2km
Boyle 12km
Carrick on Shannon 11km
Sligo 35km
Dublin 160km
Lughnasa Gardens and Weddings
As early Lughnasa transforms the permaculture gardens of Bealtaine Cottage into a colourful abundance and the harvest continues, the early days of an Irish autumn unfold.
The berries on the Hawthorn are turning colour and the magic of a warm autumn fills the air!
These mushrooms are growing today near a clump of Birch trees in the woodland gardens further down from the front of the cottage.
The willow archway here has closed in on either side as the summer growth has cast even more shade in the new woodland. 
Bamboo and Dogwood have almost merged to close this path. As you can see, the leaves are beginning to drop.
The entrance to the Fairy Wood is closing too…there is a lot of work ahead this Autumn as the cutback begins!
Here are the new beds by the front door of the cottage. They are filled with home-made compost and planted with Birch and Cotoneaster, both grown from seed.
I love the simplicity of creating gardens around an old cottage…fuss-free and free!
One of the evergreen trees originally by the front door has been planted in the corner. It had grown far too big for the terracotta pot.
I love the way the silvery autumn light changes the way the sitting room of the cottage looks. This is my best-loved season!
I have just returned from the wedding of my son, held over three days at Markree Castle in Sligo. My beautiful grandsons are here with me in the picture. 
The flowers were grown here at Bealtaine Cottage and all the guests were gifted with bags of seeds.
It was a lovely, lovely wedding!
Here I am with my eldest daughter, Cara.
And yes…the bride wore yellow wellies!
Images on the First Morning of Lughnasa
The first day of Celtic Autumn has arrived.
It’s cool.
Last night seen the hot water bottle come out of storage and be filled.
Rudbeckia has opened its beautiful deep orange petals…a marker of the time of year. This has been grown from seed, this year.
I started it off in the tunnel in February, from seeds I collected last Autumn.
As I walked the gardens, Sammy-Bear walked in front of me, finally stopping in the tunnel and rolling in the dirt!
For a white cat, he can be a dirty little rascal at the best of times!
On the plus side, he doesn’t seem to mind the rain, so cleans up well!
Seed-saving continues apace and the bees keep up the good work, even on a wet morning like today…
…this is where the tunnel works really well!
These are seeds from the three year old Purple Sprouting Broccoli, still in the pods, drying.
These seeds are big and plump and represent the very strongest, biggest, most productive and oldest of the Purple Broccoli.
Monsanto eat your heart out!
Pom-Pom Dahlias are making a show of themselves.
This is the first year I have grown these.
This Buddleia was grown from Bealtaine Cottage seed and planted in the tyres two years ago.
Many followers of Bealtaine cottage ask me for Lunaria (Honesty) seeds…and here are some drying on the veranda of the Lodge, hung up last evening.
This is a nice airy place to start off the drying process, though I may need to bring them indoors, if the wet weather prevails for much longer.
The Apple harvest continues to delight as the fruit appears so healthy and untarnished for another year.
I NEVER spray my Apple trees, or, for that matter, ANY of the fruit trees, and am rewarded with a bountiful, healthy crop year after year!
Truly Organic!
The rain settles onto the leaves of the Crocosmia Montbretia, a beautiful harbinger of Autumn!
A pot of tea beckons…
Sammy-Bear is sad to see me go indoors…
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Always an Upside!
It is very hot and very, very dry.
The well has dropped low and trickles down to the cottage, threatening water supply to the tank in the loft.
Plants are thirsty and the rain barrels are empty.
A potential disaster ensues if the clouds don’t spill the rain soon!
However, there is always an upside…sometimes one just has to search around a little.
I found it!
This is perfect weather for harvesting seed that is ripe and there are lots of it!
The seed is dry and the air is dry…that makes for perfect harvesting in my experience!
And so I harvested…
There is always an upside!
Thank You, Monsanto!
So much for panicking…my computer is fixed!
I was really in a tiz thinking that I was going to be without the means of spreading the energy from Bealtaine Cottage and I’m glad about that, because as the evening progressed and my computer was being fixed, I had time to think about all the people I have met through this blog…and what we all have in common…Passion!
Growing life from seed and sharing the abundance of the ensuing seed and all because of Monsanto!
If Monsanto had not attempted to own and monopolize our seed, I would never have met Elena from Greece, who posted me this Rocket seed…now in the process of making more seed!
Or David from the U.S. who sent me these Oak seeds, now growing in pots in the shelter of one of the sheds.
And Eric who posted me a selection of tree seeds, all scattered in the gardens, for me to find in the autumn, as flowers and fruit and vegetables die back.
For then I will carefully lift and pot them on.
And the package I recently received from Switzerland, filled with Ginkgo seeds, a unique species of tree with no close living relatives.
A tree that tolerates pollution and indeed even survived the Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima!
Or the Black Tomato seeds from Tara in New York!
The wickedness perpetrated by Monsanto, in trying to arrest, control and kill off the great biodiversity of life, has awakened so many to the very essence of life itself…seed!
We are now aware and able to articulate what it is that makes life so fantastic…and it all stems from seed.
Nine years ago, my main interest in seed was far from protecting it, but simply in growing.
Thanks to Monsanto, I got to know great people like Dr Vandana Shiva, who opened the door into a wonderful world of possibilities and challenges, to save and nurture seed.
Nine years ago I was growing food and flowers…today I am growing an Ark for Mother Nature, one that is more than the sum total of everything I have ever done before!
Monsanto has aroused passions in people that few were ever aware of…certainly I never felt this passionate about Mother Earth!
And that is the difference between Monsanto executives and Seed savers and nurturers…passion.
They just don’t have it!
Eat your heart out, Monsanto!
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There are over 550 blogs in the archives on this site.
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Growing Food in Cottage Gardens
It’s a perfect day for being in the garden, with just the right amount of sun and shade as the voluminous clouds drift overhead, sun shines full in between and there’s just a promise of rain!
The roses on the veranda are hanging so low that one has to limbo-dance under them to get in and out of the cottage.
In doing this manoeuvre, one gets smothered in the most heavenly scent.
My friend, Terri brought lots of cardboard and seaweed from Connemara and I laid the cardboard down in the new orchard yesterday.
The seaweed is being spread on the Potager beds much to the disdain of the slugs…but they will move out, deeper into the gardens, where their voracious appetites will be welcomed!
Peas are podding…these are an Irish heritage variety and seeds will be saved!
The bees work hard here at Bealtaine Cottage to make sure I have harvests of abundance every year!
Kale and Broccoli are thriving in between herbs and flowers.
Garlic stands ready to be harvested.
Onions are thriving and Pumpkins are finally rooting in and beginning to grow.
Cara, who now has Gloria, is delighted to report that the aforementioned hen adores slugs and eats 20-30 daily.
Raspberries are coming into fruit.
Sweet Joe Pye…food for the eye…soon to be in flower!
Salads are continually harvested from the tunnel…mixed with much herbs and very tasty!
Blackcurrants ripen towards a promise of Cordial, Wine, Jam and Chutney.
Mother Earth knows no austerity!
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