I made this video this evening so you can enjoy a walk through the gardens and see what’s growing and coming to blossom.
Mist and frost in the early mornings are a feature of March and the approaching Equinox.
Buds have opened on the Ribes to reveal scented pink flowers that serve as an early breakfast for Bees making their way out of hibernation and in desperate search of a nectar shot or two!
Work has been ratcheted up a few notches, as the rain has ceased and everything, including the woodwork, has begun to dry out…time to paint fences and sheds with preservative!
This is the new blue fence, courtesy of three rather rusted looking tins of blue wood preservative I have had donated to me from a friend, who had them in her shed for quite a few years!
The colour of the sky on a clear day!
Daffodils have really come into their own this week, with splashes of yellow all over the gardens.
The flooded ponds remain delightfully brimming and filled with frogs spawn.
And a rarely seen view, looking past the Willow Fedge, into the undergrowth of trees.
May 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of Bealtaine Cottage, from rushy grass monoculture to this little Eden.
The gardens will be open for one day each month through Spring, Summer and Autumn this year…check out the link at the top of this page!
After painting this little bench with some of the preservative, I moved it…
…down to this newly cleared dry spot by a Great Western Cedar, planted eight years ago and now affording wonderful shelter in which to sit and enjoy the sun.
The last full moon before Equinox rises over Bealtaine.
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Bealtaine Cottage has built up a Permaculture Seed Bank.
If you want to see a list of available, Not-For-Profit 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 is the same wherever you live!
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…
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.
From head to paw, disgusting in the extreme!
Last night, as the moon came towards its fullest, Sammy refused to come in.
As I walked Jack in the full light of a post storm moon, I could see Sammy on the hill behind the cottage darting here and there as he chased something.
Hours later he slunk home in this disgraceful state!
He refuses to clean himself, ignoring my chastisements and sits in full state, on the executive chair, in front of the stove!
I may as well talk to the wall!
There is a full moon tonight and the air is still.
Over recent days the storms have been intense, with rain, snow, wind and tornado!
The extremes of weather are being felt all across the world.
The British Isles have been hit quite badly with floods and high winds all over.
The effects of this extreme weather in terms of financial cost has not been talked about too much in the media.
There appears to be an Ostrich reaction to it all, as economies are talked up and realities are ignored.
I don’t feel I need to write about the cost to our environments, as I do so all the time really, but the financial cost to countries will be immense and will certainly slow any hoped-for economic recovery.
So it is well worth mentioning once more the power we all have, to grow food and make plans for our own home economies as best we can!
I might add here, that our worst, can only really equal the best that our own governments appear to be doing in the face of environmental disaster.
By applying common sense and with a little foresight and planning, we will ensure some security of tenure on this battered planet.
For my part, planting trees for coppicing and energy needs will ensure a warm home next winter.
Storing and familiarising myself with the use of dried pulses, growing and successfully storing home-grown produce, as well as becoming well-versed in the very best home-made soups and potage dishes, continues to occupy my spare time.
My advice, for what it’s worth…Don’t Wait For The Cavalry!
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Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
Over 550 blogs from Bealtaine Cottage in the archives here.
Thank you for supporting this blog
Thank you for supporting this blog