Last years garden

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This year there have been changes, despite things working and not. This post will be the things that did to show in small garden you can have quite a diverse range of things growing. And still have some lawn for the dog to run around.

Yummy loganberry Bush, this one took straight away and branched out quickly. Although its was a good yield, I realised my mistake of planting it too close to the neighbouring fence and within another year it would be an issue. So its been moved into a big planter box. And a cutting taken which seems to be doing OK. Fingers crossed for this year.

I have a couple of types growing, one with pink flowers that didn’t do well, I think now maybe its just ornamental? But the other had lovely juicy strawberries I just had to get there before the wildlife. They photography well before they are ripe as well.

They have raged a bit out of control being honest, and are spreading. Even escaping under the back fence, but who doesn’t like strawberries growing!

I purchased two blueberry plants having tried before years ago and failed. But last year was different, working out where things should go pays off in the end, after years of trial and error. Only a handful of them made it, but they were delicious and thoroughly enjoyed.

I love redcurrants. I used to have a blackcurrant bush years ago and it was extremely plentiful. I just didn’t like blackcurrants!! So I have planted a red one and it looks to be doing very well this year so far and as you can see, last year was quite good on the harvest front.

I also grew some potatoes. A couple of supermarket leftovers that sprouted a bit too far, but they went into another meal, so not all wasted.

And cucumbers. They did rather well but I didn’t give them enough roof, of a solid enough structure to climb up (I ended making my own small trellis for them but it was too late, and it struggled with the weight once a number of them chunked out at the same time.

And some tomatoes. These were the first time growing them from seed on my kitchen windowsill and planting them out. I’m not that big a fan of tomatoes though, so rather than be wasteful, I’m skipping them this year. It’s different not going to garden centers anymore, I have to plan well in advance and have taken to saving more seeds and planting my own rather than just picking up ones that have been started. It’s good.

And it all helped to attract and hopefully feed some wildlife too. I had lots of lavender and nasturtiums too so the large and small white caterpillars/butterflies were happy and I got quite a smart little bounty out of it for a few days.

I also have some herbs growing, a rosemary plant slowly turning into a bush and flat leaf and curly leaf parsley. I did have chives but when we got a dog they had to go – if you didn’t know, onions, garlic, chives and leeks are all toxic to cats and dogs. I have only just found out it’s onions too, so that will be uprooted shortly (I had planted a supermarket leftover, but something else will have to go there instead).

I thought I might even try and be brave this year and eat some dandelion and nasturtium (if I get to them before the butterflies do that is). But we can share, I have planted lots of extra seeds this year for poppies and sweetpeas too and got a pack of bee friendly seeds as well, so we shall see what occurs over the next few months.

(c) K Wicks

Let’s not mince words… (poetry)

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Let’s not mince words

And just be clear

What has occurred

Is project fear

Changing the face

Of reality

Replacing facts

With insanity

No logic or reason

And stirring up hate

Giving us things

To associate

With those fears

And make them more

Planting the seeds

For a social war

And one of the mind

They want your thought

Stressed and strained

And to be fraught

With worry and fear

That’s all there seems

While all they do

Is enact their schemes

But something is

So far amiss

We seem on the edge

Of a precipice

~

And it’s getting tense

Rhyme and Reason

(c) K Wicks

Wasps

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I hadn’t realised there were so many different types of wasp until I started taking photos of nature. Not just the variations of your classic yellow and black one, of those there are many. But the more unusual ones I hadn’t realised were part of the wasp family until I looked them up. I will start with the classic one though, and I have a few good shots of these so they may get their own post.

Paper Wasp – Spain
Yellow Jacket Queen Wasp – UK

I believe this a Queen wasp. I only noticed it at first in the garden because I could hear a scrapping sound on the fence and saw this large wasp chewing the wood off in small strips! Apparently this is what Queen wasps do to prepare the nest for eggs.

Ruby-tailed Wasp – Spain

This wonderfully coloured little beauty is a Ruby-tailed wasp, which is a type of cuckoo wasp. If you know what cuckoos are known for then you’ll know why they are named so. Laying eggs in another wasps nest is their thing.

Black and Yellow Mud Dauber Wasp – UK
Velvet Ant – Spain

You may think, why would you put an ant, which clearly looks like a spider, in with the wasps? Well, I was surprised to find out this is a wasp! The females are wingless and look like hairy ants as you can see. And to add to the strangeness of these little insects, when you disturb them they squeak.

Mammoth Wasp – Spain

We didn’t get to see many of these, but was nice to catch a couple of pictures here and there. They are quite big like carpenter bees and just as cool.

Red Paper Wasp – Spain

I think this is a red paper wasp, and as you can see I didn’t get a great picture and it was only one.

Cicada Killer Wasp? – Spain

Again, not the greatest picture, but only a small window as this guy did not linger. After much trawling through pictures and species, I think this is a Cicada killer wasp, but it does have lots of similarities to hornets and even some types of bee, so please feel free to correct me if I have got this one (or any of them) wrong.

(c) K Wicks

They found a way… (poetry)

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They found a way

To control your thought

With what you watch

And what you’re taught

Created the system

In which we found

From birth to death

We are quite bound

Over decades

This all has spanned

Carefully moulded

Could even say planned

So many people

From the start just complied

Which only did help

Of their want to divide

And keep us apart

Turning friend into foe

Keeping it moving

So no-one would know

~

Just what it is that they really should fear

Rhyme and Reason

(c) K Wicks

First Bees of 2021

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The first few bees of the year have been passing through, as more of the garden starts to come to life, more are coming. The muscari has been helpful, and my decision to move the small gooseberry bush was a good move. It didn’t have any fruit last year despite having some the first year of purchase. So I figured it needed more sun, it’s doing well and already attracting bees! So maybe some gooseberries this year to go with loganberries if that plant also survives it’s relocation. So far so good.

Although I love Spring, this is the frustrating bit for me, where everything is moving along, but slowly. It will take another few weeks for more to happen. But it’s coming…

(c) K Wicks

Brown Argus

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A pretty little butterfly that was extremely plentiful in Spain, hopefully I can entice more into my garden this year, but will have to see what grows to help with that. But this one was great to photograph as it didn’t even seem to notice me most of the time.

(c) K Wicks