Late Summer Bit and Bobs.

[Geoff]

Don't know what's eating your strawberries but at least it shouldn't be the dreaded vine weevils that destroy strawberries, they eat leaf edges. I was also on strawberries yesterday. I have three beds and burn the oldest every year, change the soil by swapping with potato bed and mixing in plenty of compost, feed with FBB and potash then plant pot grown runners. There was so much leaf on the plants where I had pinned the runners into pots it seemed to take ages to find them all. Not quite finished as got rained off but today looks better.

[retropants]

I hope it's not strawberry chafer grubs Westi? I've had to bin all my starwberries as it was getting worse each year, and the grubs overwinter in the soil. Mine were all in large buckets, so will disinfect them and start again from scratch.

[tigerburnie]

I know what's eating my strawberries...........................................it's me..................................( I have found growing them in pots, mostly inside the greenhouse has removed 99 percent of all ailments my out door strawbs do. I have now binned growing strawberries outside and I'm growing more Raspberries instead, got a nice punnet full yesterday).

[oldherbaceous]

A couple of odd planes just came over, flying side by side.

[Clive.]

Just back from a large extraction from my debit card....and minus a tooth too..!!
Not an easy one, the top came off leaving the rest to be drilled around and levered out in bits....
...and I didn't get it to put under my pillow for the tooth fairy...I could do with making a sixpence back on the deal...



C.

[oldherbaceous]

Bet you are relieved that job is out of the way, Clive!

[Westi]

Thank you retropants, it seems these are a problem this time of year. The plants appear unaffected just the holes in the leaves but I do have to move some so it will give me an opportunity to look closely at the roots.

Also found Loopers or inchworms could be the problem. They only eat the plant leaves not berries or roots, but eats so many leaves they can't photosynthesise correctly. Deerstalker & magnifying glass at the ready then!

[retropants]

The roots and fruits were OK, but, yes,t he leaves were like wire frameworks, no actual leaf left at all.

[Primrose]

Cider Boys it must have felt exciting to see a red kite in your area. These seem to be very successful birds at breeding. I can remember how excited we were years ago when they were introduced into the Chilterns ( a few birds bought over from Spain I believe). How relatively quickly in nature terms things change. Now we look up into the skies and see more kites than almost any other species, includingpigeons and blackbirds.

. And as a result of their increasing numbers they seem to be more aggressive in engaging with humans. We read of increasing reports of them making quick raids to grab the proceeds of picnics and barbeques. And when they descend at such speeds it's like being attacked by a tornedo! By the time you see them coming it's already too late !

[Cider Boys]

That is a good point Primrose, sometimes a recently re-introduced species can become too successful and upset the previous balance. I do often see Red Kites when I go to the Brecon Beacons in Wales where they were also re-introduced. They however, still are a rarish sight in Somerset but I do occasionally see them on Exmoor and around the lowland moors. I had just finished running my collie at a sheepdog trialling club and was pleasantly surprised to see the Kite gliding above me. Somerset is not that far from South Wales as the Crow (or Kite) flies so I should expect to see more of them over time.

Barney

[Primrose]

Well another true sign that summer is over. A large V skein of honking geese flying past the bedroom window this morning. I wonder if they "honk" all the time and what it signals? Any geese experts here?
Is it to help them stay in touch with the flocK on twirling flights?

I was surprised they were flying so low - barely much above roof height. Usually when I,ve ve seen them they're flying quite high. Perhaps it's designed to collect up various "waifs and strays" who might be lurking along the route?

[peter]

Years ago I only used to see them over the M40, when visiting a friend. Then occasionally spotted one Hertford way, they arrived here as occasional visitors a few years later and never saw them east of the M11.
Now they're as common as muck, had two circling on Sunday, way up high, and see them often on our Hatfield Forest walks.

[Westi]

We've had the geese for a few weeks now flying between Pennington Marsh in Hampshire & Stanpit Marsh here in Dorset. We've had the true sign of the end of summer now as they have reversed where they roost. Pennington is an open & exposed bog, but Stanpit has scrub & an escape route onto the Avon river. However also a favourite dog walking place as has 'human' paths, it's a bit like the Crufts walk around of different breeds sometimes!

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Clive, my youngest Son and girlfriend, might visit Gunby Hall tomorrow, as they are in Skegness….they are having a lovely time!

[Clive.]

Hello Old H',

As it happens, by coincidence, I plan to be there tomorrow myself too

C.