The midnight sky stays light on the northern horizon.
Bats encircle the cottage, as stars emerge into the darkness.
The day has passed into the Turning…of the light.
As the light passes into the lazy warmth of an enduring summer, visitors to Bealtaine Cottage come and go.
July and August nestle into the promise of sultry heat, with visits to the beach and afternoons spent in the shade of maturing trees.Berries continue to ripen, as flowers provide a succession of colour.
There is little to concern oneself with, as Nature holds sway.
The Bealtaine Girls…a bit like the Bluebell Girls, except they don’t dance!
I love hens.
They are social creatures.
They are inquisitive by nature and become very tame when treated well.
I have kept hens for years, even when I lived in London, I kept hens in my garden in Muswell Hill.
So, hens are familiar to me and have taught me a lot about what makes them happy!
Hens love to scratch and peck…fresh straw is great for this as they peck all the seeds left on the stalks.
Food is easy…lots of greens.
You can pick a few weeds every day and give to the hens, fresh is best.
Lots of starchy food leftovers is good for them as it provides a balanced diet.
I supplement with rolled barley, which they love!
If the girls can roam freely then this is good for all.
Mine get out for a good long roam-about when I’m working in the upper gardens.
This is because the handsome old fox lives on the hill above the cottage!
Say no more!
Hens love the berries of the Ribes, which stay on the bushes over the winter.
I have watched the girls jump up high to eat these from the bush on winter days.
Here they are scoffing the remains of blackcurrants from wine-making.
Hens are great foragers and will happily troop off on a good old forage through the bushes and woodland, emerging hours later at some unexpected point!
The henhouse is very spacious, with two floors and a long perch…and, you’ve probably noticed, very light too.
This is because it has a perspex roof, so all the sunshine and moonlight can brighten the inside.
In this way, the hens continue to lay eggs all year round as the light induces this process.
I built this on site and positioned the roof on a slope towards the south to catch as much sun and warmth as possible.
Trees are planted around it for maximum shelter, especially from the wind.
It works!
The hens even laid eggs on Christmas day.
Hens will lay for years and live for over 7 years and more.
It’s raining this morning and the plants that self-seed in the gravel are continuing to drink. This is Valerian, which loves the limestone gravel and grows from seed scattered into the stones. It’s beginning to flower and will continue to flower all the way through the summer.
Columbine is coming through the gravel around the Valerian. Seedlings like this usually do very well when potted on.
The Phototinia on the driveway suffered badly during the severe weather last winter, but it’s making a good recovery, with lots of new growth making a show.
Lots of berries are coming through on the Ivy…and there’s lots of Ivy all through the gardens. Possibly the sign of a cold winter ahead?
Gunnera Manicata grows easily under the Cherry tree, with no loss on the Cherry production. Dense planting is an essential part of permaculture…with definitely NO chemicals to control ANYTHING!
The delicate an exquisite flowers on the Dogwoods are beautiful close-up. For colour all winter, flowers in summer and berries during the autumn, dogwoods are hard to beat.Wildflowers…the most delicate and delicious blooms at Bealtaine Cottage…Elderflower Cordial, mmm!The time of the butteflies is very near. Last summer seen a huge upturn in the butterfly population as the garden matured. This summer should be good for butterflies too, although some of the buddleia was killed off in the prolonged frost of last winter. Seed heads from last summer. All so-called weeds are in fact valuable herbs, some of which we have not yet found a use for. It’s amazing just how much knowledge we have lost over the post-industrial time, a mere 150 years!
The bonfire of Midsummer night has died down. 
Bats encircle the cottage, as stars emerge into the darkness. 
The day has passed into the Turning…of the light. 
As the light passes into the lazy warmth of an enduring summer, visitors to Bealtaine Cottage come and go. 
July and August nestle into the promise of sultry heat, with visits to the beach and afternoons spent in the shade of maturing trees.
Berries continue to ripen, as flowers provide a succession of colour. 
There is little to concern oneself with, as Nature holds sway. 
These are the gentle days of Midsummer. 
