Permaculture Potagers, Polytunnel and Gardens
Tag: potager beds
Preparedness
Midwinter has passed, and with it, the counting down of the days towards the light.
Visitors have now left and the cottage seems eerily quiet…somewhere in the stone walls I can hear a mouse scrambling about.
The cats are sleeping off their party food, including creamy custard from the sherry trifle, and are ensconced on top of the straw bales in the barn.
This was my first opportunity to get out into the gardens and observe the flow of the water through the ponds after all the heavy rain of recent days.
The weather has been very warm with heavy rain.
The temperature has stayed around and above 55F day and night.
Despite the midwinter, there remains plenty of colour in the gardens.
Dogwoods of red and lime green, willow and evergreens merge to make a colourful picture, especially in the winter.
The weather experts are fore-casting possible snow and hard frost after Christmas and before New Year.
The worst of the weather is yet to come, as so often is the case in December.
The warm weather has seen the continued growth of Fungi, one of the beautiful aspects of decaying wood.
I have watched the cost of food escalate this year, so am mindful that this is a good time to start preparing food-grow areas, such as raised beds.
The small potager beds here at Bealtaine continue to give food through these darks days of winter.
If you have not yet started a compost heap, then section off a corner of the garden for that too.
There’s masses of leaves still on the ground, so just bagging these up will give you precious leaf mould in the growing season!
I want to take this opportunity to say a huge “Thanks” to all of you who have posted cards, presents and donations over the past week.
I am overwhelmed by your love, kindness and generosity.
Bless you XXX
A Year at Bealtaine…part 3
2013 moved from Spring to summer with ease and Poppies jostled with one another for space in the beds.
The potager beds were extended and two more were constructed.
Aquilegia and Valerian ignored the seasons and came up together, surrounding the porch with delicate shades of pink and purple.
It was a frenzy of colour!
The roses made their appearance on the veranda, more abundant than ever!
My friends Terri and Lol brought me masses of seaweed from their beautiful Clifden in Connemara and it was spread all over the potager beds!
Sammy-Bear turned from a rather naughty kitten into an even naughtier cat!
Visitors had to dodge the low-hanging flowers and…
emerging fruit!
Bird baths were sat into trees for the rather hot birds…
and Blackcurrant wine was started off in the glass carboy.
Then transferred to a demijohn to sit out the next few months on the kitchen windowsill.
The heat of summer continued and the well ran dry!
Bealtaine Cottage basked in the sun and heat, as I carted water up from a spring well lower down the land.
Rose petals fell like confetti all over the veranda…it was lovely!
Ox-Eye Daisies flourished everywhere!
Sammy-Bear cooled off by rolling in the dirt path in the tunnel and getting absolutely filthy!
Che-Mousey found a cool spot in the shade of the laurel arch.
It was sheer abundance!
And the summer rolled on…
Gosh…almost there…part 4 methinks!
Blessings from Bealtaine XXX
Permaculture Midwinter Gathering
The seed-heads of Poppy and Honesty, now void of seeds, but perfect for winter displays.
I have harvested all the seeds and am packing them up for distribution across the world…especially for the bees, but also for their extraordinary beauty, even when dried!
Dried Chillies, ready for packing into containers and storing in the pantry…an effortless way to store food!
And outside, in the gardens this morning, the colours of winter deepen as the mists continue their journey from the lough.
Nature’s baubles decorate the bare trees…
The mild, early winter creates a feast of chocolate scented berries, for the Blackbird, on the Leycestria Formosa…early mornings can be noisy, as birds squabble over this winter feast!
This old bread tin, bought in a Charity shop in Belfast last month, is ready to be packed with seeds, saved at Bealtaine Cottage…a perfect container for this purpose!
Potager beds continue to hoard food in this little micro-climate area at the back of the cottage.
Vibrant red dogwood splashes colour here and there, making winter as joyous an occasion in the gardens as any other season!
Midwinter, on the 21st of December, is a lovely time to be with loved ones and celebrate!
This year will be easy to gather, as the 21st falls on a Saturday…
I had arranged a get-together for the Sunday, 22nd, but…The Midwinter Gathering is transferred to a closer date…all on the list have been contacted and there’s sure to be some great fun on the day!
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Enjoy your Gathering!
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Blessings X
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The Wood in the Willows
This is when the coppicing begins…early winter as soon as the leaves have fallen.
This Willow will make excellent logs for the stove, once properly seasoned.
The thinner bits will be added to the kindling pile and left to dry.
Coppicing allows for continual regeneration of woodland and is an excellent way to help young woodland get established.
This is a selective process and involves wonderful interaction with Nature, as it is slow and steady work.
This is the interface of the young woodland, colourful and vibrant!
The warmth of Bealtaine Cottage on a Winter’s night, is fast becoming dependent on this most under-appreciated of all our natural resources…trees!
As I work through small areas of the gardens, it allows me time to tidy up some of the paths…though allowing the leaves to stay where they fall, as this helps to build soil and define pathways.
Buddha sits among the leaves…
Meanwhile, down in the Bog Garden, little Che-Mousey enjoys the November sunshine and temperatures of 14 oC!
Spindle continues to hang onto its berries…
And the Potager beds, at the back of the cottage, continue to deliver food for the table…
So far its been a beautifully mild early winter, making the season seem much shorter!
A Little Bealtaine Cottage Christmas Book…
I am into a second print run and am posting from today, Friday 15th of November!
Sad to add that all the lovely cards are now gone! (I can post seeds with the booklets!)
If any kind visitor to this blog would like to support the work of Bealtaine Cottage, then…
This is the link to the details of how to purchase  your own copy…
http://bealtainecottage.com/christmas-book/
Blessings from Bealtaine X
Companion Planting in Permaculture
Here are some of the combinations that have worked really well for me this summer here at Bealtaine Cottage. Pumpkins, Kale and Nasturtium…the bees love the flowers on the Nasturtium, bringing them in towards the Pumpkin flowers.
Another strange but beautiful combination…Celery and Rudbeckia.
Rudbeckia is late flowering and especially useful in a potager bed, making lots of babies that can be potted on and sold at the market next Spring.
Parsley and Sedum…Sedum is the last meal of the year for the bees and will ensure adequate nutrition for their long hibernation. This is the Sedum, Autumn Spectabalis, which makes lots of babies for potting up!
Tomatoes, Feverfew, Borage and flat leaf Parsley…all very happy and thriving together in this potager bed. This is the way I grow all my fruit and vegetables…to the point where no soil is exposed. It works great every year!
Young Kale with Sedum and Nasturtium. The plants are continually surrounded with shredding. I make shredding from what I cut at Bealtaine Cottage and put it back onto the earth to build up soil. I use an electric garden shredder.
Sweetcorn and Kale in one of the potager beds outdoors.
Lemon Balm and Rocket…both go great together in a salad as well!
Potager beds are the focus of companion planting in extremis!
The next harvest in the fruit gardens is the from the Apple trees. Plenty this year!
Meanwhile, the work continues in the potager beds.
One of the many workers supporting Bealtaine Cottage.
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Cottage Garden Harvest
Red onions and seeds dry in the heat of the afternoon sun at Bealtaine Cottage. 
The Permaculture harvest is on it’s way.
I am saving lots of seed from the biggest, healthiest and tastiest plants!
The rain came and has left a little water…not much, but enough to fill the tank in the loft!
Herbs and seeds are coming into their own!
Potatoes are appearing where none were planted…these have grown from seed dropped last year and have not been earthed up!
Blackcurrants are taking over the gardens!
Apples are plumping out…
Runner beans are seeking Heaven…
Raspberries are being eaten straight from the garden!
Broad Beans are looking monstrous!
And the Potager beds have received their second planting…
My brother Hugh O’Neill has made some very special Bog Oak pendants for the Bealtaine Cottage Etsy shop.
Hugh has carved some Rune and Ogham symbols on some of these special little pieces of Bog Oak.
The wood is carved and polished by Hugh into these amazing pendants, each accompanied by glass or wooden beads…
A little piece of Ancient Ireland to wear around your neck!
You can find these on the Bealtaine Cottage Etsy Shop…
https://www.etsy.com/listing/157732408/ancient-irish-bog-oak-pendants
An Angel at Sunset
Sun and rain has enabled wonderful growth.
The rocket stove has allowed me free tea all day…just a few twigs to boil the water.
The Potager beds are filled with plants and new growth, as the seaweed is watered in by the Atlantic rains.
Last year’s Blackcurrants are being emptied from the freezer to make this year’s wine.
The race is on to use the remaining harvest from last year as the summer promises yet more abundance.
The brilliance of this sunset beckoned me out to capture it in photograph and share it with you!
There is a mist descending on the mountain.
The bats are beginning their night patrol.
The day is almost over.
The sun is setting in the west.
It is 10pm.
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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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Heritage Seeds in a Cottage Garden
The morning is dry and hot.
7am sees me boiling the kettle on the rocket stove, eager for fresh coffee.
The water is ready in under 10 minutes, from lighting the stove and inserting a handful of twigs.
As I walk back into the cottage a blackbird swoops noisily through the courtyard, followed by it’s assailant, another blackbird.
These birds are very territorial!
The Dog Daisies are opening in the heat of the morning.
These magical flowers were used to treat madness and Smallpox during the middle ages!
These Ox-Eye Daisies were thrown onto this patch of gravel as seed two years ago and are ready to make a fine show this summer.
During the time of the early Christian church, this flower was dedicated to Mary Magdalen and became known as the Maudlin Daisy!
They are lovely, wild flowers to grow in poor soil, but are not good for flower arrangements as they make a stink when cut and put into a vase.
I grow Shasta Daisies for that!
Mushrooms are growing up through the mushroom compost I spread a few weeks back…one of the benefits of collecting and spreading spent mushroom compost at this time of year!
Peas and Chard this morning in the Potager Beds.
The young peas are now in flower and looking strong and healthy!
This is the beautiful crimson flowered Broad Bean, a heritage seed, vicia faba, this morning.
So delightful, it fits into the Potager gardens as a flower and a vegetable.
It’s wind tolerant as it only grows about a foot or so!
Red-flowered broad beans were described in seed lists in the late 18th century.
This variety was lost and appeared to have become extinct, until an elderly lady from Kent donated it to the Heritage Seed Library in 1978.
This red-flowered Broad Bean had been grown by her father, who was given the seeds during his childhood years a century earlier.
Monsanto eat your heart out, for this is what we gardeners do well…preserve the seed!
I shall be saving and posting this seed by the end of the summer!
Valerian is now flowering around the cottage in wild abandon!
The first ever flowers on the Wisteria…this was planted about 4 years ago.
These Poppies have already seeded and are beginning to fall over, so need to be staked this morning.
More seeds to save…I shall be very busy from now through to the autumn, saving and cataloguing seed.
The hot, dry weather has encouraged the Thyme to flower outdoors.
Recent weeks have been so hot, that this potent, little herb thinks itself in the Mediterranean, where it once lived!
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Bealtaine Cottage is free and has over 1100 blogs, as well as over 15000 photographs.
Seeds…
http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-for-sale/
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 200 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.