Visitors to the Garden

Wildlife is very often encouraged into gardens. It is an important form of natural pest control. I bring beneficial insects into the garden by planting certain plants beside those susceptible to damage such as 'Poached Egg Plant' to attract hoverflies, the young of which have a voracious appetite for aphids. I also place certain plants to discourage pests, such as planting carrots with onions to confuse both the carrot fly and the onion fly.

Regular visitors include frogs such as this chap, The Man that Can found just in time whilst mowing the lawn, and removed to the safety of the area behind the greenhouse

My favourite wildlife visitors are birds. During the nesting period, my garden can be visited almost constantly as the parents flit back and forth collecting bugs and caterpillars to feed their young. To keep these feathered friends interested in my garden, it is my duty to feed the birds and provide clean water for drinking and bathing. Unfortunately in my quest to keep the birds happy, we're also visited regularly by a family of grey squirrels. I do try to keep them from the feeders by leaving food out for them further down the garden, but they always prefer the very same food given in hanging feeders.

This last week has been a race against the squirrels to pick the strawberries and raspberries before they tuck in. Much to my annoyance, they have taken to tasting every single berry rather than eating them whole! We had thought it might have been birds at first, but the strawberries display tiny 'teeth marks'

The following pictures were taken of ripening fruit...the following day, each had a bite taken from them!

Disappointing in size, and certainly disappointing in crop. Note to self: Net crops in future.

I do have success around other areas of the garden though. My first courgettes have been harvested. My family aren't fans, so these have been going to the Outlaws.

The tomatoes are forming, and the blackcurrants are ripening

The onions are swelling nicely, and there are even tiny pods forming on my french beans

When the heads of the sweetcorn began to grow, I was suspicious. It didn't resemble the sweetcorn bought in the supermarket. Had I bought the wrong type of seeds? A little research revealed that these heads were in fact the flowers, and once pollinated the corn would form lower down the plant. A couple of weeks later, and lo and behold, I have what appears to be the fluffy 'silks' of the cob. How exciting!