As you know by now, much of my Spring/Summer has been consumed by weeding nettles with limbs suffering from the consequences. Have I won the battle? No! Nettles continue to invade every part of our land.
Having admitted defeat, I decided to use a chemical weedkiller on them. Then just as I was pouring the liquid over a large patch, I realised that particular bunch was disappearing in front of my very eyes - not due to the weedkiller, but due to hundreds of black caterpillars chewing their way through the leaves. (Red Admirals and Peacocks I believe).
I consider most weeds to be likable, attractive plants and am not a fan of weedkillers, least of all chemical ones. So here I have the perfect solution - caterpillars eat the nettles, nettles die, Red Admiral and Peacock butterflies take their place ... But too late, I had already sprayed them. So I hastily removed the sprayed caterpillars, washed them and placed them on other unsprayed nettles. I hoped they were pleased, but 10 minutes later they had all evacuated the new nettles and appeared to have disappeared for good. A few days later, they were back in abundance having taken up residency on a different patch of unsprayed nettles close to the ones I had already sprayed. What was wrong with the new home I had found them? Clearly those particular nettles did not live up to expectations!
Thanks to all those of you who have suggested nettle recipes, however, where I accept that nettles make excellent caterpillar fodder, I have yet to be sold the idea that they are put on this Earth for human consumption. Meanwhile, the Beast grows on . . .
. . . and is now about 7 feet tall! Where are the caterpillars when you need them?
Will came across a news item stating that nurseries are starting to sell nettles & dandelions to provide for demand by people wanting natural habitats in their gardens. Perhaps I should start a 'Pick Your Own ...'
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We considered leaving our field of bracken as a natural habitat but as it has quite literally taken over and is likely to invade the farmer's fields too, so we decided to destroy that too. There is a very small window of time when bracken can be sprayed, so under the guidance of our friendly farmer and using his loaned spraying equipment, Will has spent the last few days, morning til night, bracken spraying. At last the deed is done, but we won't know the results until next Spring when it does or doesn't grow back.
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We have managed to keep most sheep out of the garden for a good few weeks. That is, except one. Larry is a very determined lamb who continually finds a way into the garden the minute our backs are turned. When discovered, he disappears into the bracken, emerging a few seconds later, bleating for it's mother in the farmer's field. As we exit the field, we turn around and there's Larry again, munching OUR grass. So Will has once again sheep-proofed all our fences. We have since discovered this may not have been necessary as I understand Larry is due to disappear for good over the next week or so.
So next time you are tucking into a good piece of Welsh lamb, watch carefully, as it might jump off your plate the split second your eyes are averted!
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Rabbits are supposed to cause a lot of damage to plants and especially young trees. We have plenty of rabbits here, but fortunately we also have 3 excellent rabbit hunters. I shall refrain from adding the photo of Gizmo half way through a rabbit lunch. So hopefully, once the bracken has gone, I should safely be able to start growing my woodland.
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The cats are on mole No 7, but they still can't catch squirrels. We moved our bird feeder to a better location and now the squirrel baffler works. They have learnt the feeders are now out of reach, so hang around underneath waiting for bits to fall onto the grass below. I hung up the 'Tilt'n'Spin Squirrel Repeller' with a peanut feeder beneath it in the hope that I could watch pesky squirrels flying off in all directions. I think they must have learnt their fate away from human sight, because we have yet to see a squirrel go anywhere near it.
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The cats, especially Gizmo continue to get more than their fair share of tics, which we are now experts at spotting and removing, but they seem to get bigger as the Summer progresses. Yesterday's tic was the size of a peanut!!
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Why were slugs ever put on this Earth? At least snails have pretty shells which can be used as handles when removing them from plants and slinging them over the border!. If the sheep and goats don't eat my plants then the slugs and snails do. Top of my Christmas list? The book: "50 Ways to Kill a Slug" selling on Amazon for £4.00!
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Apparently the collective noun for spiders is a'cluster'. This is far too a gentle term for hundreds of spiders gathering on the house walls. Surely a word such as 'Hitchcock' would be far more appropriate - 'A Hitchcock of spiders'? They are an absolute menace. Why? Because I hate then nearly as much as slugs. At least with slugs I have time to move before they decide to crawl up my arm. I will not open any windows for fear of making their route inside easier. If you get too close to these particular spiders (now what daft person would do that?) they suddenly wake up and speedily dart in all directions like something from a nightmare in a Hitchcock movie. (Sarah, if you are reading, - note to self: 'Do NOT visit during mid August'!)
Next blog - Is the Summer over?