From monoculture rushy land to woodland in under twelve years.
Not just any woodland, but a food forest woodland, as you can see from one of the thousand plus trees planted above…a Greengage!
This is the only lawn here, enjoyed by Jack!
There follows a series of forty plus photographs taken here at Bealtaine Cottage in July 2016.
The Bealtaine Cottage Land Restoration Project was started in late 2004.
It was a challenge for one woman with zero resources to restore what was deemed by the EU as “Poor Land”…a term I vehemently challenge!
There is no such thing as “Poor Land” just ABUSED EARTH!
As with all EU projects that entail putting Mother Earth first, there was zero funding for this!
Not to be deterred…(I never am!) at the age of forty eight, I took on a mortgage to help buy this bereft, sad-looking little place, with the dream of returning it to Eden.
I believe the Earth is sacred.
The rest of the story is told here in these photographs…
The fact that I have planted this entirely on my own, growing much of what you see from seeds and cuttings, makes this a workable model for anyone to follow…
I have finally given away my hens…as I no longer eat eggs and there was a lovely home ready and waiting for them where they would be more useful, as they are good layers and their eggs will be anticipated and appreciated where there is a family of people to eat them. 
I shall miss them, but as with life at Bealtaine Cottage, the void is quickly filled and the hen-house will be re-purposed and appreciated further. 
In the past, their manure was a part of developing the fertility of the land at Bealtaine, but this is no longer needed. 
Seed production is well under way, with some of the harvest already collected and much more coming to fruition. 
We are now one week away from Midsummer, as evidenced in the lush growth seen here! 
We inter-breath with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans. They are part of our own body. ~Thich Nhat Hanh 
The fruit trees and bushes were pruned back quite hard over the course of last Autumn and Winter and they are happily producing yet another bumper harvest.
…no matter how complex or affluent, human societies are nothing but subsystems of the biosphere, the Earth’s thin veneer of life, which is ultimately run by bacteria, fungi and green plants. 
Your deepest roots are in nature. No matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of life you lead, you remain irrevocably linked with the rest of creation. 
It’s always a strange time when the moon is full. 
This May moon has cast it’s brightness over Ireland, presiding over an extraordinary time of growth.
All around the cottage there are flowers opening, plants growing, seemingly overnight and trees now heavy with leaf and blossom. 
Where would an Irish cottage garden be without the beautiful and traditional Perlagonium?
And, of course, every cottage garden has a little spot for Succulents…I plant these in terracotta pots and here in this old planter. 
Always lots of tasks to complete as in painting the old Buddha, so he may survive another winter!
As in all cottage gardens, famous for their mish-mash of flowers, vegetables fruit and just about everything else, edibles share potager beds with their close relations!
I have had to move many plants from pots and plant them in spaces wherever I can find them. 
The nursery bed, essential to a cottage garden, is being cleared fast, with plants going into the long beds down by the road. 
Pieris and Poppies…as always, flowers are squashed in beside the most unsuitable bed mates…the Poppy is planted in with Flowering Currant! 
And sitting in my chair on the veranda, looking up…the classic cottage garden rose. 
The all-forgiving Cottage Garden will tolerate just about everything one wants to “throw out!” Except, of course, I throw little away, favouring a good old re-purpose, as in this old, but very comfy, fireside chair! 
And…the beautiful Wisteria…tougher than it looks and essential “cottage garden!” 
Nothing pristine here! 
Even Jack…unlike Sammy-Bear! 
Oh Jack, you are a little beaut! 
Opening my backdoor this morning I see the Fairies have tidied up again!
For the past year or so it’s been utterly frustrating not being able to share on this website.
Restrictions were placed upon me in relation to upload space for photographs, as I had used up virtually all of the allocated space of 13GB, which is that allowed on the Premium Plan from WordPress.
Well, today I paid for an upgrade which allows me unlimited upload space…a treat for myself and, I’m hoping one for you too!
As I type there is a lovely soft rain falling outside, refreshing and renewing the earth.
The same has happened here for me on the website…I feel a sense of renewal and excitement!
To be honest, writing and photographing Bealtaine Cottage and Mother Earth constitutes my first love!
Much as I love the interaction on social media, it can be very time-consuming and ultimately takes away from the work I do here!
The payment of an extra 200 Euros was necessary for the extended plan, but this liberates me from the strictures of what I can put out there for everyone to enjoy.
I will continue with the Bealtaine Cottage Good Life website and am working on a plan to do a sort of “joined-up”daily blog…watch this space! 
And so the story of Bealtaine Cottage continues, moving onwards and upwards!
“Country things are the necessary root of our life – and that remains true even of a rootless and tragically urban civilization. To live permanently away from the country is a form of slow death.”
And so I hope to continue bringing the country to you!
Sharing this little sacred space in the west of Ireland, with the world…
The seasonal changes, garden, wildlife and Mother Earth…
The song of the Goddess and her inspired Permaculture…
Thanks for staying with Bealtaine Cottage…
Photographs (18 exclusive photos taken today) from the gardens of Bealtaine Cottage on EarthDay 2016.
The paid subscription website, Bealtaine Cottage Good Life allows you to support my work in return for some extra special blogs and photographs…and allows me a small, but much needed, income. 
My blessed thanks to those of you who sent me good wishes and gifts.
Friends like Heather, who made me this beautiful brooch, stitched with love.
As I write this journal, the radio informs me of another storm on the way.
The placing of a lighted candle in the window of a house on Christmas Eve is still practised today.
Hope is what Bealtaine Cottage is all about…hope and renewal.
Despite the wars of man, the fear of climate upheaval, the greed of those in power and the relentless drum-banging of the corporate consumer world, life, in all it’s imperfections, is sacred and beautiful.
On this blessed Christmas Eve, I will step out with my spade and wheelbarrow, to plant the future, in the form of five trees.
