Juicing is a great way to ensure one has the maximum of vitamins and minerals and this is something I do every day. It’s also a reason to keep greens growing all the year around, as even small bits can be added to the juicer and vital vitamins extracted. I’ve used some small bits of Kale that have escaped the frost and storms.
There is no waste in Permaculture, just compost and more vegetables growing! Compost is the food needed to grow food!
Slowly, slowly the Willow is cut and stacked…time is running out as the buds thicken! Baskets, Fedges and Obelisks are standing here!
These beds are fairly sheltered and continue to produce Kale, which is processed in the juicer.
Fine Willow used in basket weaving waiting to be harvested. The gardens look colourful all the way through Winter, as the stems of Willow, Dogwood, Ash and Birch are revealed.
So much rain has fallen here in Ireland this Winter and now, in the early days of Spring, the flooding has begun to dominate the landscape. Here at Bealtaine cottage I spent much time in the early days digging out drains and water channels, as well as keeping them maintained over the past ten years…and it has paid off, as you can see from the lower pond. The water runs free, out into the streams and rivers that take it to the Atlantic Ocean.
In sheltered areas all over the gardens the ferns have remained green, though a little bit droopy. The winter was mild and warm, with plenty of rain!
This is the beginning of the wood pile for next winter. It comprises of coppiced logs of Birch, Ash and Hazel. The twiggy bits are thrown into the back of the pile as they make wonderful kindling! These logs may be small, but are perfect for a small wood-burning stove!
I’ve been stocking up on straw recently, as this makes great mulch around the garden helping to suppress weeds and line paths.
Green Beech hold their leaves right through Winter, adding even more colour and shelter to the gardens!
And look who’s keeping an eye on me as I type…my loyal Jack!
This has been a great year for trees…amazing growth!
Willow, pollarded and coppiced has made good growth too!
The morning has been wet, but very still and autumnal.
Crocosmia Montbretia is struggling to climb out from underneath the lush leaf growth. Both Che Mousey-Bear and Sammy-Bear have walked the gardens with me, despite the rain and the wet conditions.
Strange little fellows!
The branches I chopped earlier in the summer are almost ready to be stacked in wig-wam shape to dry out.
You can see from this photograph just how near the bedrock is to the surface of the land…I garden on very thin, poor soil on a north-facing slope!
Everything is grown from seed, so has a fighting chance of making it, despite the far from perfect conditions.
Mother Nature has worked miracles here at Bealtaine Cottage!
The rain has clung to cobwebs all over the gardens…
One web dangles with raindrops…
The new orchard is making good progress. I am keeping the ground well mulched as the trees, bushes and flowers find their feet!
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Splitting logs of Ash for use in the stove this winter. This wood is easy to grow and easy to harvest if continuously coppiced. Ash, if coppiced, can grow steadily for 2,000 years and more. Ash can be burned in the green, that is, on the day it is cut. It is the perfect the perfect permaculture fuel!
Michelmass daisies and almost ripe pears heralds the middle of Autumn. Both pear trees are heavy with fruit. This winter I will plant more fruit trees, definitely plum and pear among them!
As the season progresses and the harvest is gathered in, the recipe books are opened and real saving of the harvest begins. So far I have made Autumn Chutney, apple chutney, various pickles and jams as well as a most unusual Blackcurrant Chutney.
Colours of Autumn simply absorb the whole landscape. This picture from today at Bealtaine Cottage says it all!
And more colour…
Grapes in the tunnel this morning. This is the best harvest so far. These are sweet and juicy. I am attempting to grow a vine outside here in the west of Ireland and will keep you posted!