Natural Pest Control

By complete chance, I have found a solution to my caterpillar problem.  I was quite happy to sacrifice the calabrese to the caterpillars as I couldn't kill the furry monsters.  However, I have found a plant they like even more - watercress!

I bought a growing pot of watercress at the supermarket and decided to put it out on the patio next to the pots of cabbage and calabrese.  The caterpillars migrated to the watercress on their own.  One morning when I went outside, I looked over at the watercress and spotted it had been completely stripped of leaves, on closer inspection, I found it heaving with caterpillars.

It actually makes perfect sense, watercress is in the same family at cabbage.  As watercress has a strong, peppery taste, I guess it must have certain chemicals which caterpillars are attracted to in greater quantities than the cabbage and calabrese.  The caterpillars are certainly happy anyway.

I have now relocated the watercress plant to the end of the garden, together with the caterpillars.  The few stragglers still on the calabrese have been rounded up and moved to the watercress with the rest.  I have even bought another plant for the caterpillars to eat, as I can't let them go hungry!

Hungry Caterpillars!

I am growing a whole host of new crops this year, including cabbages and calabrese (like broccoli).  Things were going very well until a cabbage white butterfly tracked my plants down.  I have a vague feeling that the plants give off an odour which the butterflies pick up on.

It's tricky really, every since I was a child, I have loved butterflies.  My Grandad used to have collections of exotic butterflies pinned under glass which I used to like looking at.  When I was four or five, I used to try and add to his collection.  I would catch Red Admirals in my shrimping net and take them around to his house, as he lived two doors down from us.  My Grandad used to carefully take the butterflies out of the net and pop them under an upturned jar.

I have a funny feeling as soon as I was gone he used to let them go again in the garden.  I sincerely hope he did anyway!

When I was a bit older, I collected caterpillars in the garden and kept them in a large jar with holes in the lid.  I fed them up and watched as they became chrysalis.  I remember going down one morning weeks later to find butterflies testing their wings in the jar, the transformation complete.  I had such pleasure releasing them into the garden.

So here I am, years later, still enjoying watching the butterflies in my garden.  But then it struck me, butterflies lay eggs which hatch into caterpillars, which eat my cabbages and calabrese!   Nightmare!  I didn't have the heart to destroy the eggs so carefully laid or the caterpillars happily feasting.

When I thought about it, sometimes you just have to garden for wildlife.  If you want butterflies, you need to grow plants that attract them.  Caterpillars are eaten by the birds who I also want to attract, so I guess sometimes you just need to sacrifice a little to attract much richer rewards.

Who wants to eat cabbage anyway?

Bizarre Fruit

A few days ago, I popped out to water my potatoes and was really surprised to notice some tomato style fruits growing.  The plants had recently flowered and the "tomatoes" had appeared from the flower buds.  As this is only the second year I have grown potatoes, I still don't have much idea about them.

The more I looked at them, I suddenly remembered my growing attempts last year.  Having brushed against the plants a bit too much, I developed a really bad, itchy rash on my arms.  When I went to the chemist, the pharmacist told me that potatoes belong to the nightshade family which also includes, amongst others, tomatoes, aubergine and deadly nightshade.  Obviously, some are more toxic than others!

Suddenly the fact that my potatoes were growing tomatoes made perfect sense.  Obviously we view the bulbous root of potatoes as the vegetable but the plant also sometimes produces small green, tomato like fruit as well.  Having investigated further, apparently the potato fruit has quite high concentrations of poisonous solanine, so best avoided.

The Blackbird

Out of all the visitors to my garden,  the blackbird has always been one of my favourites.  With dark brown plumage for the females or black for the males, they aren't the most eye catching birds and they certainly can't compete with the finches, blue tits and great tits.  I just like them though.

At my old house, I had a pair of blackbirds nesting in my jasmine.  In the spring I would hear the cheeping of chicks in the nest and see the mother flying in and out to feed them.  Now I like watching them in the autumn flying up and down, stripping the honeysuckle of its berries.

Whenever I see a blackbird, I always remember evenings spent in a village pub near Winchester where the landlady would sit at an old piano and lead the assembled drinkers in a raucous singing session.  My favourite song, which was a regular in her repertoire, was "The Blackbird" by the West Country band The Wurzels.  I will never forget the rousing chorus with the landlady singing at the top of her lungs.  Happy days!

[Chorus]Where be it Blackbird to? I know where he be,
He be up yon Wurzel tree, And I be after he!
Now I sees he, And he sees I,
Bugger’d if I don’t get ‘en
Wit a girt big stick I’ll knock ‘im down
Blackbird I’ll ‘ave he!
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
‘Ow’s ‘E Father?
(Audience Answer) Allright!
All me life I’m on the farm, Workin’ for me keep
Tendin’ pigs and chickens, and they cows and sheep
But everywhere I’m workin’, there’s one who always mocks me
He hidin' somewhere in the trees, blackbird I’ll ‘ave he!
[Chorus]
Underneath the open sky in spring we loves to dine
We likes to ‘ear the flappin’ of the missus washin’ line
We listens to a tuneful song, a blackbird or a tit,
But on me vest and underpants he scored a direct hit!
[Chorus]
If I goes out poachin’, a creepin’ through the fields,
With me old retriever, a followin’ at me heels.
If I aim me shotgun at a pheasant in the hay
That bloody blackbird starts his row and frightens him away!
[Chorus]
No longer can I sleep at night, get peace of any kind,
That bird’ll be the death of me, he’s prayin’ on me mind!
If I chase him long enough, I’ll get ‘en by and by,
And celebrate me vict’ry with a girt big blackbird pie!
[Chorus]

Share and Share Alike

I love browsing the aisles of the local garden centres.  We are lucky enough to have a few really good ones near us which not only have a huge selection of plants and gardening equipment but also really good gifts and cafes too.  I could quite happily spend hundreds of pounds on all sorts of fabulous pots and plants.  Needless to say sense and the budget manage to keep a tight rein on me though!

It is surprising how much a few plants add up to.  I needed to restock a few items in my garden following the long winter and heavy snow.  Sadly a few plants in pots didn't make it, neither did the pots for that matter, suffering frost damage.  I was quite restrained and bought 6 geraniums, 3 Moneymaker tomato plants, 12 lobelia, a yellow flowering plant (I need to go and look at label!), a small tray of bedding plants and a bag of compost.  That little lot set me back £33!

I also wanted to get another half barrel as the metal band running around my current one has rusted and snapped causing the sides of the barrel to move outwards and apart.  A new on in the same size was £35 though, so I decided to leave that for now.

A cheap way to add variety to your garden is swapping cuttings with other gardeners.  A couple of the shrubs in my garden were cuttings from my mother-in-law and sister.  This year, I gave some of my surplus red onion sets to my mother-in-law and got a courgette plant, some runner bean seed, some basil seedlings and teasel seedlings in return.

Even if you don't get around to swapping cuttings or seeds, you can share your produce.  It is a great way to deal with gluts of fruit and vegetables, or if you have a small garden, a good way to increase your variety of home grown produce.  Let's not forget either that sharing just makes you feel good!

Does My Bum Look Big In This?

Watching the pigeons trying to squeeze themselves onto the bird table does amuse me. They land in the garden, waddle across the lawn and then somehow manage to fly up and into the bird table.  It is quite a haphazard affair to say the least!

The other day, I took pity on the pigeons and threw a load of stale bread onto the lawn for them.  Sadly my good deed didn't really do one poor pigeon a favour though.  One minute I looked out the back door at my two cats sunbathing on the lawn debating the origins of the saying "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" and literally the next minute I heard a squawk.  I went back to the door and was confronted by one cat mauling a very dead pigeon whilst the other cat was looking on with glee.

The poor pigeon had obviously flown into the garden and quite literally landed on two unsuspecting cats!  I can't begin to tell you how guilty I felt.  I definitely won't be throwing bread on the ground for the birds anymore. 

Potatoes & Plant Pots

No matter how small, or large for that matter, your garden, you can always add interesting features using different planters.  As long as it has drainage, you can use pretty much anything you like to put plants in.  Obviously the size of the planter will dictate the plants that it can accomodate but otherwise, the possibilities are endless.  As well as various shapes and sizes of pot, I have used a pair of old work boots in the past and even had a small pond in a half barrel on my patio.  It was so successful, a frog moved in!

Two of my favourite planters at the moment are a pair of chimney pots and my woven witch hat hanging baskets.  I like hanging baskets but I find the usual half sphere ones a bit traditional.  I found a pair of witch hats at the local dump a few years ago, so recycled them into my garden.  Salvage yards are a perfect place for finding unusual planters too, such as old kitchen sinks.

The chimney pots were a great find.  I have always hankered after a couple but they are really expensive and much sought after.  You can imagine my absolute joy when I found a couple for sale in a local charity shop.  They look fabulous planted up with the purple and white Senetti.  Notice anything odd though?  Well, if you look really closely, you might just notice that the chimney pots are moulded plastic and not terracotta!

The potatoes and onions I planted a few weeks ago are really starting to take off.  Both varieties of potato have come up and true to form I have no idea which is which!  I think the ones at the top of the photo are the salad potatoes.  I'll find out when they are harvested, so no worries.  I was going to plant another batch but I think it is too late.  The seed potatoes in the shed seem a bit soft and I am not sure I can be bothered to be honest.

The onions have also all come up.  I planted them deeper that last year and earlier I think, so I have high hopes for them.  I will definitely plant some more in pots on the patio in a few weeks. 

Really need to crack on with the salads too now that the weather has perked up.  Hopefully I will have a bumper harvest!