Tag: fairy wood
Guided by the Goddess
This is a permaculture garden of three acres, where planting and design are guided by the Goddess, in goddess-inspired permaculture. Walk with me as this story of earth care unfolds…
Crystal Energy
For millennia, ancient peoples have harnessed the power of crystals, using this power to release mental, physical and spiritual blockages.
This was done to facilitate the free flow of throughout the body.
I have used crystals for many decades and especially here at Bealtaine Cottage.
You will have seen crystals whirling from trees across the gardens and hanging in windows around the cottage.
I have always been aware of the power of crystals in bringing energy, especially the free-flow of energy to my own environment.
On a cellular level, our bodies and quartz crystal are both made up of mineral silicon-dioxide.
Because of this, we are naturally receptive to the vibrations of crystals as they transmit, reflect, store light and receive energy.
When crystals are placed directly on your body, they have a powerful vibratory effect that surges from the crystal to you.
As we enter into a new Age, all that was before will begin to break down.
Those who are aware of the changes taking place, will seek to develop their consciousness, realizing that much of what we are is related to energy.
The importance of energy is now being revealed to us, as we move away from the strictures that bind.
According to the law of physics, thoughts direct energy and energy follows thought.
I use crystal energy pieces to serve as a tool to help the thoughts of my own consciousness connect with the environment I have sought to create here at Bealtaine Cottage. Many refer to this as manifestation.
The energy at Bealtaine is surely charged by many forms, including the good wishes of visitors to the gardens.
It is evident to me that the many crystals whirring and spiralling from trees across the Gardens of Bealtaine are indeed a part of that wonderful energy force, capturing energy and feeding this back into the land, air and water.
I am offering a small number of these crystals for sale.
Each crystal has a hole drilled top and bottom, so you can add other precious stones in droplet form if you so wish.
Each one will be wrapped in fresh Sphagnum Moss taken from the land here, as a unique way of preserving the integrity of the crystal.
Every part of the moss is permeated with minute tubes and spaces, resulting in a system of delicate capillary tubes, having the effect of a very fine sponge.
The cells readily absorb water and retain it.
The water can be squeezed out, but the Moss does not collapse and is ready to take in fluid again.
The plant is not dependent on soil water, but also absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and is laden throughout with water retained in its delicate cells.
To purchase your own unique Bealtaine crystal, click on the link below…
Fairy Tree Burial
An ancient land, old superstitions and human burial are all part of this intriguing story of love and rejection.
Join me as I recount the story of The Fairy Tree and what lies beneath…
Frogspawn, Sunshine and a Walk in the Garden
Went for a walk down to the pond and made a video on the way, as the sun shone and the birds sang…what a beautiful day!
The lower pond is filled with Frogspawn…almost heaving really…I’ve never seen so much!
Just recalling how a mere twelve years ago there was nothing here by wet, rushy ground that was impenetrable to the spade!
Now it’s packed with wildlife, young woodland, ponds, streams, orchards, soft fruits and vegetables!
There is even a Spring Well, dug out from stone, deep within the Fairy Wood! 
Bealtaine Cottage…from monoculture to permaculture in twelve short years!
Enjoy the video!
Those interested in the Fuchsia, Blackcurrant or Rubus cuttings need to hurry and order, as they are fast coming into leaf…another couple of weeks left to get them in the ground and growing…and they will grow very fast indeed! To place your order, click on the link below…
http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-for-sale/
Signs of Spring
Life is stirring.
Light shines higher in the morning sky.
Thickening buds cast a haze over the land.
“But there were certain early days in Casterbridge- days of firmamental exhaustion which followed angry south-westerly tempests-when, if the sun shone, the air was like velvet.”
― Thomas Hardy
Colours emerge and birds sing out a joyous, higher note.
We are officially in the season of Spring in the West of Ireland and the new energy is tangible, from rising in the morning to the growing lateness of dusk.
The temperature seems rather unstable, as you can see evidence of in the photograph above.
The morning began very cold and in the space of minutes, the temperature had climbed by 18 F., causing the mirror on the veranda to steam up!
I recorded this as most of the only real information about climate and weather appears to be anecdotal evidence from social media! 
My favourite aspect of Spring is the way the light changes.
If one simply sat in this cottage and never ventured outdoors it would be possible to map the seasons in light play.
I expect birds, animals and even insects are similarly informed.
Living in the glare of artificial light can be dulling to our senses!
“She walks in the loveliness she made,
Between the apple-blossom and the water–
She walks among the patterned pied brocade,
Each flower her son, and every tree her daughter.”
― Vita Sackville-West, The Land
Elsewhere in the woodland gardens at Bealtaine, frogs have emerged from hibernation and busied themselves, as only frogs can in cold ponds!
Frogs in Bealtaine pond have the luxury of a shallow, sheltered, ancillary pond, hand dug by myself, just off the main one.
This water heats faster and earlier, ensuring maximum attention to the detail of frog mating and spawning…a sort of nursery pond!
Anyway, it works a treat and has done for the past eleven years.
As a consequence, the amphibian life force has healthily expanded!
“Woods were ringed with a colour so soft, so subtle that it could scarcely be said to be a colour at all. It was more the idea of a colour – as if the trees were dreaming green dreams or thinking green thoughts.”
― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke
Diversity of planting not only has created resilience, but bestowed all year round colour to Bealtaine Cottage…so appreciated as Spring emerges…for with this rising of the sap, comes a much defined colour change!
“She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
“Winter is dead.”
― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
Catkins have appeared on the Willow…and there’s many different varieties in the Woodland. Pond and even Orchard gardens. Essential food for the bees emerging from a hungry winter hibernation.
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
This Quince grows in the Bog Garden and has begun to flower!
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
― Margaret Atwood
Where would Spring be without the exquisite little Primroses?
Seen here in the Fairy Wood at Bealtaine, surrounded by Spurge!
“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
The Fairy Wood awakens!
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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…
Transition
The transition has begun.
Knitting has been brought out from hibernation.
The final seeds have been sown.
And the flowers and herbs continue to thrive in the potager beds, the warmth of the gravel and stones keeping them in a summer state.
Seasonal adjustments are happening all over the northern hemisphere, as the days draw close to balance and equinox.
Berries are in abundance this year, some say a sign of a harsh winter, but that’s to be seen.
Cotoneaster, Hazel, Blackcurrant and Fuschia all here together.
The changing colours are so very gentle and subtle, but they’re there if one looks…
Blackberries ripen near the stone circle, as the leaves mottle and turn towards Autumn.
The Sloes on the Blackthorn are ready to pick…these will make some fine Sloe Gin for Midwinter.
The Sloes are pricked with a pin and pushed into a bottle half-filled with Gin.
The bottle is then sealed and buried in the earth until Yuletide celebrations, when it is ceremoniously dug up and partaken of!
Deep within the Fairy Wood, Autumn creates some more magic…
These tiny mushrooms are growing on a dead branch of Goat Willow.
Crocosmia Monbretia in all its Autumn glory.
Follow Your Bliss and the Universe Will Open Doors
Making a decision is always the most difficult part of moving forward.
In deciding, one simply puts it out there, for the Universe to pick up.
That is what I have done here at Bealtaine Cottage…the next move comes from that energy.
The sale may, or may not happen…but the planting of trees will move forward.
I have done what was asked of me and agreed to the sacrifice.
What happens next is synchronicity and the will of Divine Energy…The Forest of Bealtaine will happen in the same magical way as Eden emerged here at Bealtaine Cottage.
As my friend, Rosie, on Twitter, pointed out to me this morning…“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” -Joseph Campbell
Bealtaine has begun here in the west of Ireland.
Planting is under way of crops and even a few more trees, though mostly the trees are in pots awaiting a forest!
Walking around the gardens this morning I snapped these pictures…
Warm,Naked Earth
The naked earth is warm with Spring,
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun’s kiss glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze.
~Julian Grenfell
…except, in Permaculture gardens, little is naked, most is covered, yet the earth beneath the green mantle warms just the same.
April has set Spring firmly in place, with early sunrise and birdsong to lift the dullest spirit!
The boys awaken to the sunshine…
Honesty comes into flower…
Ribes sets the bees buzzing…apparently the Bumble Bee is losing numbers here in Ireland, as well as the UK, but certainly not at Bealtaine Cottage…the place is abuzz!
Amelanchier is coming into flower…yet more of the succession planting for the bees!
The playhouse is being transformed into a hen house…an upstairs~downstairs hen house to suit the due pecking order!
I’ve been busy with the brush and wood preservative, making sure that this little house sees another 10 years!
Chard has over-wintered well in the tunnel and will keep producing right up until the newly sown Chard is ready to pick…so very easy to grow!
Photinia, Red Robin has opened its new leaves…a burst of red!
Perennial Poppy has weathered the frost well!
Quince is in flower against the barn.
These gigantic shells have been moved to hang on sticks driven into the earth, making a contrast to the emerging green!
Spring is bursting forth into a riot of greens, as the first Cuckoo of the year heralds its summery arrival…earlier than last year!
The Fairy Wood is a mass of lime green Spurge!
The Lavender-painted Barn takes on a new look, making a wonderful backdrop to Spring.
Newly painted benches are ready to withstand another year of crazy Irish weather!
Primroses emerge in places where birds have dropped seed!
And the warm earth, no longer naked, continues to push forth magic!
Ascending Towards Midsummer
This is not colour enhanced, but the vivid colours between storms here in the west of Ireland!
The buds are still thickening, yet the life is visible in the stems, sky and emerging green…isn’t it simply wonderful to be able to witness the Spring as it progresses, slowly, tentatively through the landscape?
This is the skyline above the Arigna Mountains, with a Rainbow, flopped over the ridge of the hill!
I watched this from the window, then rushed out with camera in hand to snap the moment!
I feel blessed to be a part of the Spring, waking earlier, walking for longer and working in the tunnel in my dressing gown!
Showing some wonderful garden visitors around over the weekend, reminded me of the reasons why I write and talk about Permaculture and the simple way of life…it lifts my heart to be a part of it!
As we walked the land and into the Fairy Wood, the sight of all this bright green Spurge ignited a passion for woodland in us all.
The Celandines are so bright and golden as to seem unreal…but that is the wonder of Nature, Mother Earth…too beautiful!
There is work to be done too, but all to the beat of the weather…weather-proofing all the wood around the cottage.
Lavender is the colour, soft on the eye, but tough and resilient!
Excess donations to the website renewal were used to pay for the wood preservative…so bless you one and all, Friends of Bealtaine XXX
My right arm hurts from all the painting, but it was in desperate need!
The heavy rain we get in Ireland can ruin buildings if they are not looked after!
I watched this small slug acrobat his way onto the potting table in the tunnel…on a long thin thread, like a spider!
So, that’s how they do it!
Geranium is coming into leaf and exploding green under the apple trees…a good companion plant for keeping weeds at bay!
Bumble bees are in busy flight all across the gardens.
The light grows in intensity, day on day, fading into the west way after nine o’clock in the evening.
On a clear day, the heat can be quite intense…
…as the sun continues its ascent towards Midsummer.
Blessings to you all XXX
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In Search of Fairies on a Summer Eve…
It could be the way the light hangs in the sky this evening…
Or the stillness of the air as a mist starts its’ way up the valley…
Or may even be the predominance of moths fluttering in the still air down in the Fairy Wood, in the gardens below the cottage…
I’m walking the gardens in search of the Fairies.
Although most people here in the West of Ireland will tell you they’ve left the fairy faith in the past, there is a lingering moment, between asking whether or not they believe in the Fairies, and the reply in the negative.
That moment of hesitation is all one needs to be aware of!
Fairy faith is the belief in fairies, of course.
When the Milesians, the mythical race described by an 11th century scholar in Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions), came to Ireland they banished the natives to the underground and they became the Sidhe, the fairy folk.
They reside in old ring-forts, stone circles and inside and under magical trees like the Hawthorn, or Fairy Thorn as it is known here in Ireland…particularly one growing alone in a field.
No farmer disturbs the Fairy Thorn, for to do so brings almighty bad luck!
There is a Fairy Thorn in the wood below the cottage, hence the name, Fairy Wood or Dell, as it lies in a hollow, well below the cottage.
And so I ramble the gardens, quietly, patiently looking here and there for movement or unexpected light.
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Blessings from Bealtaine
The permaculture gardens of Bealtaine Cottage today, Tuesday 7th of May.
I’m too exhausted from working in the gardens to write…enjoy the pics, mostly taken this morning in the Fairy Wood here at Bealtaine Cottage!
Blessings to you all!
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Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 100 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
Over 500 blogs from Bealtaine Cottage in the archives here.
An Irish Ark
Lunaria and Fennel in the tunnel today.
The Latin name Lunaria means “moon-like” and refers to the decorative seed-pods.
It’s warm and dry and great for working outdoors.
The clothes line is heavy with clothes moving gently in the breeze…a perfect Spring day!
I do not own an electric dryer, or a washing machine.
Washing clothes by hand in Spring water leaves them soft and smelling beautifully.
The Damson tree is now in blossom, with a strong prospect of plentiful fruit.
Cherry and Apple trees are almost ready to break blossom!
Euphorbia in a barrel outside the veranda today.
The lime green of the flowers are so joyful at this time of year!
That’s Valerian coming up at the front of the barrel.
Primroses on the driveway this morning.
I have never seen this many Primroses in bloom across the permaculture gardens.
There has been a huge amount of self-seeding over recent years and, with the absence of livestock, plants have grown and flourished in abundance!
I believe that there are more species of plants in the 3 acres of Bealtaine Cottage than anywhere else in Ireland.
Many of these are indigenous and some even rare!
It will be an interesting study to complete, when cataloguing all the plant life here.
Bealtaine Cottage is evolving into an Ark of sorts, where many species are protected from livestock, chemicals, pesticides and the urge to dominate Nature!
Looking at the picture above of the Badger sett here in the gardens, Mr and Mrs badger will testify to that!
The hens are out in the sunshine, just basking on the grass.
They have begun to lay eggs and appear to be quite content.
The Fairy Wood in summer…just about 8 weeks away from Midsummer!
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 85 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
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The Drama Unfolds…
The rain has fallen for 48 hours.
Heavy, relentless rain, that has washed down the hill behind the cottage and into the ditches, I constructed for such a deluge.
The water is carried around the ditches and into the stream bed that flows down through the Fairy Wood and on, into the ponds.
This is how it looked, as water rushed into the lower pond, about 10 minutes ago!
Visitors are coming this afternoon and more tomorrow…I hope they bring their wellies!
The Bog garden is not navigable in this weather otherwise!
All is not wet though…there’s a nice warm stove in the kitchen and the air temperature outside isn’t too cold.
In between the downpours, the sun shines, reflected by the watery scene that makes up the gardens today.
The birds are singing and the wind-chimes are melodic rather than frenetic! 
The hens have settled in well and have even laid a few eggs!
They don’t mind being indoors, as the roof on the hen-house is transparent and tilted to the south, admitting the sun as it shines on.
The lovely aspect to April is the sheer drama of it all…and total unpredictability!
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The Days of Light and Dark
The light filtered in through the window at around 6am this morning.
Willow catkins stood out on the tall sticks that jabbed up into the lightning sky.
Arcturus was the last star blinking in the dawn sky, as drawing the blind scared the fox off the front driveway.
He was there cleaning up the remainder of the dinner I had scattered last evening.
The days and nights are almost equal in length.
The Equinox approaches.
Seeds are breaking through the earth, Primroses have opened and the beginnings of Bluebells are carpeting green in the Fairy Wood.
Ribes flowers are plumping up their blossom to tempt the bees from hibernation.
The cold morning brings the birds out from the trees and onto the frozen ground, hungrily seeking sustenance.
Further down the gardens, tall, straight stems of Willow beckons cutting and stacking into neat bundles, ready for basket making.
The day begins…
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The Perfect Permaculture Plant …
A Permaculture plant is one that is perfectly suited to that space in nature, soil, climate, site, micro-climate, etc.,
A plant that is comfortable in that zone and one that adds to the bio-diversity possibilities on the land space you inhabit.
One that provides food, whether for yourself, animals, insects or the soil…thereby keeping the loop healthy and working.
Covered with tiny droplets of rain, this Cow Parsley looks exquisite, despite the fact that it is hated and despised by so many gardeners, yet home and food and shelter to so many insects.
I have vast tracts of Cow Parsley growing on my land.
It looks stunning when dusted with winter frost!
I noticed that there was a lot of this wild herb growing on the roads around the mountain of Kilronan this week.
It looked spectacular in the mountain light.
This wind spiral catches energy moving through the woodland of the Fairy Dell.
This is a spot that everyone refuses to visit or even walk through after sunset…
Fairies inhabit this little bit of woodland.
A woodland zone is a vital part of the Permaculture Plan…
