Colette O'Neill… Author, Publisher, photographer. Creator of Goddess Permaculture.
Walk with me around the production gardens at Bealtaine Cottage on this May evening in the West of Ireland. Potager beds and Peach trees, Polytunnel and Bees…all looking lush on this early Summer evening. The soundtrack of birds is all around us!
Read MoreMidwinter 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 […]
Read More2013 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! […]
Read MoreSprouting winter greens on the kitchen window sill, couldn’t be easier than this…the top of a swede sitting in a saucer of shallow water and left to continue growing and giving! I shall harvest small leaves to add to stir-fries. It actually looks quite Christmassy too! The seed-heads of Poppy and Honesty, now void of seeds, but […]
Read MoreThis 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 […]
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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, […]
Read MoreRed 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 […]
Read MoreSun 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 […]
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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 […]
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