More colour keeps coming through.
(c) K Wicks
Colourful July
gardening
Foraging for berries in the garden
Yesterday was my first proper forage of the year. I thought it might be nice to film it, so you can see how you can get a good yield from just a small bush or area. I have 3 planter boxes about 2 meters long and a foot wide, with two small patches of ground for flowers and things too. The boxes have a lot going on with potatoes, herbs, poppies, jasmine and wild strawberries.
I bought 3 extra small planters about 2 ft square to put on the concrete outside the house, to make the most of that sunny patch and get as much on the go as I can for the insects and spiders to make their home in. Mostly flowers but I moved the goosebery bush in Spring as last year it had no berries. Must have been a good move as there are loads this year.
Ended up with a rather good bounty for the first sweep 😁
The birds don’t seem to help themselves to any of the fruit, but they have plenty of insects and bird food to keep them busy so far. I don’t mind sharing though, in fact my dog likes strawberries so as I pick them i have to share as I go!
(c) K Wicks
The garden 2021 – June berries
Its been quite a month in the garden, so many bugs, berries and insects, and more flowers bursting through.
The loganberries, gooseberries and redcurrants look like they will be plentiful. And there’s a handful of blueberries ready to pick and eat 😋 .
The wild strawberries are also ripening on a daily basis now and its super cool having to forage for them. Rummaging through the bushes for them!
They are very sweet and my dog like strawberries too so come running over for one when it’s rummage time.
Small little handfuls everyday, what a summer treat. Homegrown fruit from the garden.
(c) K Wicks
Just a strawberry
(c) K Wicks
In the garden – June #1
Its been a busy month, for work and for nature. With all the sun and now a good bit of rain, its bulked everything up. New flowers are starting to open, with the yellows looking to be making way for the reds, pinks and purples.
The fuchsia has come back again, funny really, I tried 3 times to grow a fuchsia, bought already flowering and everything. They always died. This one was just a stick that had been left when we moved in, not even planted, just on the ground. I didn’t know what it was but could still see green under the bark so put it in dirt. Within a few weeks, it had leaves…
The potatoes have started flowering too, they have such pretty flowers. Potatoes are just great, the Bush crickets and snails are eating the leaves as quickly as they can but can’t keep up! Its providing great shade and bushiness for the bed too. I often see the sparrows having a little hop around in there looking for food.
I have white and red carnations this year, I don’t remember planting two colours so its good to see what appears to be new. A lovely dash of colour.
Another pink strawberry flower was poking through, its overshadowed by other strawberries, the loganberries and the fuchsia, so I’m impressed its made it at all.
The nasturtiums have just started to come out as well, its been a bit quiet for butterflies this year so far, but usually these bring the large and small white butterflies in.
The hydrangea is trying, its bee moved this year and surrounded by poppies which have now been and gone so ill clear some room and maybe it will do a bit better.
Its all pink and purple poppies this year, I thought I had planted some red ones but seems not. Either way, its a superb splash of colour and the bumble Bees love them.
(c) K Wicks
Strawberries
With letting everything just grow, you get to see what things do given the chance. Strawberries will grow and spread and are very efficient at this. And because they are so pretty, attract lots of bugs and have fruit at the end of it, why wouldn’t you let them. I may regret saying that when they fully take over, but I will scale some plants back a bit now to make light and room for others.
This box has all sorts going on in it, winter jasmine, parsley, rosemary and lots of trailing wild strawberries. I added a few poppies where they were getting crowded in my planters, and it rusn out the potatoes I grew in this box last year hadn’t all been dug up. So I have potatoes in both boxes now.
It seems I did have a pink strawberry flower plant left going amongst the others. These flowers only lasted a couple of days before they were munched!
The berries have begun to ripen 🙂
(c) K Wicks
Bigroot Geranium
This is called a big root geranium. I didn’t know this when I got it, thinking it was just a normal geranium like my grandma used to have. Nope, this one is different.
Starting as just an ordinary small plant i bought for my wedding anniversary a couple of years ago. It’s growing and spreading. Creating a small little patch of green and pink. It’s lovely. Smells a bit weird when you touch the leaves, but the bugs like it.
The bees however, love it. There were 3 different types yesterday, but they move quickly so not the easiest to catch!
I have now taken a section of it and planted in another pot, so I can move some of that awesome pink colour around the garden.
(c) K Wicks
Strawberry patches
I bought two strawberry plants a couple of years ago. One with white flowers, one with red flowers. I didn’t realise the red one was just ornamental, or must be as no strawberries on it last year. And so far this year, no red flowers on it either. Maybe the other one took over, as per the picture further down.
These are three different patches of strawberries now flowering. If you didn’t know, strawberries spread, going as far as you let them.
One box now has them all the way along. And, although I didn’t plant any potatoes in this one this year, we have potatoes coming up! I guess I didn’t find all of last years and they’re coming back. Funny because I’ve planted potatoes in the next bed along this year.
At the end of the strawberry box, we also have a mingled corner with rosemary, parsley and winter jasmine.
Lots of green at the moment in the garden with small spots of colour coming through. Another couple of months and I am expecting a lot of colour 🙂 One of last years strawberries below, so I’m hopeful of at least a few more this year!
(c) K Wicks
A little patch of wild
This little patch seems to be quite happy this year. I’ve cleared some of the weeds which were looking to clog it up, but left everything else as it is. Its a small strip at the edge of the lawn, but happily houses the redcurrant bush, bluebells, a few other plants and a geranium which is slowly raging out of control at the other end. But, I did find an angle shade caterpillar under the geranium this morning, and bees were enjoying it as well, so it’s doing a good job for now.
(c) K Wicks
Buds in the garden
Every day there seems to be more and more happening. Today was filled with finding buds, bugs and Bees 😁
These things are all a bit late on developing this year as the cold has slowed them down. But they’ll progress quickly now I think if we can have a few more days of sunshine and rain.
(c) K Wicks
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