Search found 4546 matches

by Monika
Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:04 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: eyed hawk moth
Replies: 7
Views: 2990

Hello vivienz, is it an elephant hawk-moth? Their caterpillars certainly feed on fuchsia (as well as the willowherbs).
Hawk-moths seem to be doing well this year. I have had reports of poplar hawk-moth and lime hawk-moth in the village, not recorded here before.
by Monika
Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:52 pm
Forum: Birds, Animals and Livestock
Topic: Blanketweed on pond
Replies: 10
Views: 6652

Like OH says, barley straw (untreated) will cure it. It depends how large your pond is but you can buy sort of pads of barley straw from many garden centres with aquatic sections. Or introduce some duckweed which will multiply rapidly in the warm weather, thereby exclude the light and "starve&q...
by Monika
Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:47 pm
Forum: Birds, Animals and Livestock
Topic: cuckoo
Replies: 8
Views: 4299

OH, I know it's too late for this year's poor baby bluetits, but if you put a metal disk round the titbox entrance for next year, it MAY deter the woodpecker. Unfortunately, sometimes they just attack the box in other places! We have a number of Schwegler boxes, made from woodcrete (I think, concret...
by Monika
Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:06 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Dem Pesky Slugs - Nematodes Anyone?!
Replies: 27
Views: 11750

I'm afraid we have had to resort to non-biological control, that is, use metaldehyde slug killer. Nematodes are no good here because they don't kill snails and with the garden and the allotment being surrounded by limestone dry stone walls, it's snails we suffer from rather than slugs. But I use the...
by Monika
Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:50 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Rain!
Replies: 4
Views: 1563

Rain!

First real rain for three weeks! I am sitting here listening to the gorgeous sound of pouring rain on the porch roof, particularly as we planted about 150 brassica and other vegetable plants on the allotment this morning. And the garden is suddenly full of frogs, great stuff.
by Monika
Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:05 pm
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: Sad sight!
Replies: 16
Views: 7917

We were so looking forward to the promised rain over the weekend (which we never got), then there were some heavy downpours yesterday in the area and - guess what - we didn't get any again. I planted out some celeriac (Prinz) and dwarf beans (The Prince) today and covered them with fleece. But what ...
by Monika
Thu May 31, 2007 7:04 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Kohl Rabi - to manure or not?
Replies: 16
Views: 6987

Shop-bought kohlrabi, however expensive, are not a patch on fresh, home-grown ones. I agree, please perservere. Purple Delicacy and Lanro are good varieties.
by Monika
Tue May 29, 2007 7:15 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: How to deal with rabbits on our allotment?
Replies: 13
Views: 10377

We had to double fence our allotment against rabbits when we first took it on about 20 years ago and it's still in good nick, so although it's an expense to start, it's certainly worth it. If you buy chicken wire mesh, make sure it's small mesh because baby rabbits get through quite small holes, the...
by Monika
Tue May 29, 2007 7:06 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Metals as slug barriers
Replies: 10
Views: 12636

Angi, when I plant out the giant sunflowers (sown in roottrainers), I always wrap the bottom part of the stems in kitchen foil and that has certainly kept the slugs off the last couple of years when, before, they used to be eaten as soon as they were planted out. So it might be worth trying.
by Monika
Tue May 29, 2007 6:58 pm
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: Sad sight!
Replies: 16
Views: 7917

Sorry, Guy, about your potatoes, but we like, Alan, have had hardly any rain at all over this weekend, just a bit of drizzle but mostly sunshine and a fresh north-easterly wind. I am more worried about the frost forecast for tonight - might gather all our old cloches and flecces and cover the tattie...
by Monika
Sun May 27, 2007 6:57 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Wilting French beans
Replies: 6
Views: 4534

Primrose and OH, you could both be right. Until about four days ago, I took the beans into the unheated greenhouse every night but since then they have been out overnight and the temperature has gone down to 5 degrees. I have also probably watered them fairly copiously. So I'll keep them in the gree...
by Monika
Sat May 26, 2007 8:18 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Recycling household scraps
Replies: 15
Views: 6718

We are very lucky with our local waste collection. We have three large wheelie bins: the general rubbish is collected every week (even at Christmas, Easter etc), the second bin is for waste paper and has two inserts, one each for glass and tins. This is collected every fortnight and alternates with ...
by Monika
Sat May 26, 2007 8:06 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Wilting French beans
Replies: 6
Views: 4534

Wilting French beans

Some of our French beans, still in roottrainers, are developing wilted leaves though the stem and the new leaves emerging seem ok. The leaves look as if they lack water but other leaves on the same plant are fine and they have been watered. There is no sign of slug, snail or any other damage. Any id...
by Monika
Sun May 20, 2007 9:31 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Sweet Peas
Replies: 6
Views: 2293

You nip the tops off so that they form side shoots and therefore give you more stems (and flowers) than just one main stem. I sowed mine in January and they are now planted outside and about 60cm high, not yet flowering. My husband is determined to have some blooms for our village show in September,...
by Monika
Fri May 18, 2007 7:23 pm
Forum: Birds, Animals and Livestock
Topic: Cat problems
Replies: 20
Views: 9473

Cat problems

We've just lost a robin's nest to a marauding cat. It was about 5 feet high in ivy on a sheer wall and the little beast jumped up last night, half pulled out the nest and got two youngsters. We patched up the nest and ivy (with two young still inside) but by this morning this had been destroyed, too...