Bumblebee sex? The Echinops and Sunflower bed in daylight.

This is the flower bed I was talking about last night

 In daylight it is even more smothered in bumblebees and butterflies than at dusk.

I spend ages watching what is going on and find the variety of different bumblebees incredible and I always see something new.

After I watched the bees and the butterfly for a bit, I then saw a most unusual sight - I am not sure what was going on here, whether it was a pair of Bumblebees fighting, or mating.

but a very large bumblebee had a smaller bumblebee on its back and the smaller one on top did not want to get off! Another bee was hanging around them as well. Probably mating related I think.

The pair went round and round this flower head several times in a cinch, until eventually the smaller bee unclasped itself and flew off.

The larger bee stayed on the flower for a few more moments then flew off as well.

Fascinating :)

Taking cuttings

One of the things I love to do is grow plants for free. I have a lot of different herbaceous perennials in the garden and I love taking cuttings and saving seeds. I get a real thrill when I see that a little cutting has rooted and grown :-) or that some free seeds have come up :-)

One of the ways I find easiest is to take soft cuttings and put them in water until I see roots forming and then pot them into growing medium. I do this with all sorts of plants, Basil, Lavender, Rosemary are the ones I have been planting out recently but I have many jars full of cuttings on the go at the moment.

I take the cuttings ( well quite often they are "tearings" as I just pull bits off the plant ) and put them into water  label them and keep them somewhere not to hot and not too sunny.

This is a jar full of Lavender and Rosemary cuttings which I made on 30 April 2013

Can you see how well they have grown roots?

Lovely strong healthy liittle plants

I potted these on into multipurpose Fertile Fibre growing medium

Here is a video I took of me doing it :-) I love my outdoor potting bench

 and I now have 10 Lavender and 3 Rosemary plants growing well

Bumblebees nest in the bird box

 This is the Bumblebee nest on the side of the garage - it is absolutely heaving with bees coming and going :-)

 I took a short video of the activity

 If you can , zoom in on the hole...you will be surprised at what you see.

Edited to add - Apparently these are Bombus hypnorum - its a new ish Bumblebee which has gradually moved across from Europe to the UK - and it is also called the Tree Bumblebee - and likes nesting in holes in trees - which of course is what a nest box looks like :-)

Wilderness

A few photos of the wilderness which is our garden :)

 

Uncut grass and wildflowers on the lawn

There are three main patches of wildflower meadow in the garden area - we will scythe these when the flowers have set seed and then I will mow them again as normal lawn, but for now they are wild and wonderful :)

lots of wildflowers in the flower beds

Moving out into the woodland area the Elderflower is in full bloom now - I need to get on and make cordial!

Walking up the mown path in the pool wildflower meadow

One of the many nettle beds - nettles are very valuable to insect life as well s being a great compost fertility booster

At the back of the polytunnel is a comfrey bed, mixed with a very rambling rose it is smothered in bumblebees and other insects.

And the bumblebee nest on the garage wall is getting buzzier and buzzier (!)

I am making a new bee attracting flower bed and also sowing lots more wild flower seed everywhere - I aim to make Compost Mansion and the garden and grounds as wildlife friendly as I possibly can.

Weed killer found in human urine across Europe

Well done FoE for exposing this outrageous situation.70% of the UK samples contained glyphosate weed killer!

My view? It is absolutely appalling.

Weed killer found in human urine across Europe

People in 18 countries across Europe have been found to have traces of the weed killer glyphosate in their urine, show the results of tests commissioned by Friends of the Earth Europe and released today [1].
The findings raise concerns about increasing levels of exposure to glyphosate-based weed killers, commonly used by farmers, public authorities and gardeners across Europe. The use of glyphosate is predicted to rise further if more genetically modified (GM) crops are grown in Europe [2].
Despite its widespread use, there is currently little monitoring of glyphosate in food, water or the wider environment. This is the first time monitoring has been carried out across Europe for the presence of the weed killer in human bodies.

http://www.foeeurope.org/weed-killer-glyphosate-found-human-urine-across-Europe-130613

On being offered reviews and becoming a Rocketeer.

I am lucky enough to be offered all sorts of stuff to review here on The Compost Bin. Some are really right up my street, others are ..well lets just say completely not me (am being really charitable, here!) To be honest, sometimes I despair at what a company is thinking about when they contact me, given my ethics and the content of my blog - I mean, cheap chicken dinners? Really? Not on my blog. Ever. In case you were wondering, I will only EVER accept stuff to write about that meets my ethics and hopefully will interest you, my reader. I am glad to say I am getting asked to review some interesting items  - recently including wind up radios, interesting plants, organic veg seed sets, gardening books, exotic seeds, garden furniture, bee friendly seedballs. All things which I really like and want to review and then share  my views with you all. I hope you all agree! As some of you might have noticed,  I have today added a new badge on my sidebar. I have become an ambassador for organic plant supplier Rocket Gardens ,  which apparently makes me a Rocketeer :-) ( I love it!) In case you do not know, a Rocket Garden is a box brimming full of baby organic vegetable, fruit, flower or herb plants packed in golden straw and delivered direct to your door. Rocket Gardens say they take out the risk and hard work that comes with growing organic plants from seed and look after the plants when they are young and vulnerable, only letting you have them when they are the perfect size, ready to be transplanted straight into your garden.  All you have to do is pop your baby plants into their new home to begin growing. Sounds great to me! Last year, after a lot of my plants were smashed to bits by heavy rain for the umpteenth time and I finally ran out of spares,  I ordered a herb garden and some extra veg plants from Rocket Gardens - you may remember I wrote about it here I was very impressed with the plants which came, they provided me with some lovely crops and were really great looking and cropping and I loved the Rocket Gardens ethos. So, when they asked me last week if I would let them send me a  Constant Garden to review throughout 2013, I jumped at the chance :-)    Rocket Gardens say on their website Our new range of Constant Gardens are the best and easiest way to ensure you have an amazing and continuous supply of fresh produce bursting from your garden throughout the entire year. Your Small Constant Garden will comprise of a series of 5 gardens delivered throughout 2013. As with all Rocket Gardens we’ve done all the tricky stuff for you, so all you have to do is unpack your plants on arrival, pop them into the ground and watch them grow. A detailed growing guide will be provided with each garden delivery. You will need 10-15 m2 of space to grow this garden. Larger plants which take up more space such as courgettes, pumpkins,potatoes,and tomatoes can easily be grown in containers. The plants get delivered and all I have to do is unpack my plants on arrival, pop them into the ground/final container (or into holding pots until space is available in the ground) and watch them grow. I get sent a detailed growing guide with each garden delivery. So today, I received by courier the first of the five mail outs as part of my Small Constant Garden.  I will post about the contents later this week but for now, here are some reasons why I have agreed to work with Rocket Gardens and review their products and become a Rocketeer ( still loving being called that!) All of their seeds are sourced from Soil Association approved organic seed suppliers. The compost they use to grow the seedlings in is approved for use in Organic systems by the Soil Association. Their  plants are grown naturally under a fully organic regime. The water they use on the plants is rainwater that they collect from their polytunnel roofs and recycle in their own reservoir. Plants are either grown in their own individual biodegradable pots or bare rooted depending upon variety. Unlike most nurseries and garden centres Rocket Gardens don’t use thousands of plastic pots or packaging to grow the plants. All of their packaging systems have been chosen in order that they are as ecologically friendly as possible. Recycled cardboard is used wherever practicable and this in turn can be used again or put onto the compost heap to be broken down. Where non cardboard packaging is required if possible they try to source recycled products. They are a UK business based in Cornwall. They have a really helpful and informative website and really seem to want to get everyone growing organic plants at home - something I totally approve of. They run an excellent scheme for schools and at the moment are giving away a  Spring Garden a day, though out April.

Schools Garden Competiton As part of our 'Dig for the Future' Schools Project we've got 30 Schools Spring Gardens to give away. One each day for the whole of April. Click here to enter your school today. And the final reason? Free organic plants for me and the families I mentor! New veg plants, some which are varieties I have not yet tried, so I can grow even more food. I am still going to carry on growing my own plants from seed but I can try new varieties and also know I have some spare plants, as back up, just in case we have another dreadful summer. And I will have even more spare plants to sell to fund raise for Garden Organic, to share around with friends and to give to the families I mentor as part of the Master Gardener scheme. Really, what's not to like?  Oh, and ...I LOVE being called a Rocketeer ! ( I said that before, I guess...)

An unexpected box of goodies delivery.

						We went to Hereford yesterday to do some shopping and when we got home I found a surprise large parcel on the doorstep, all wrapped up in brown paper and addressed to me at The Compost Bin Intrigued, (I was not expecting any more parcels after my wool order arrived this morning) I brought the parcel upstairs to the Study and opened it up. Removing the brown paper showed me this:- A  Summer Veg Starter pack  from Seed Pantry, for me to evaluate :-) Info taken from their website - Seed Pantry is a family business set up with a small team whose skills help us provide a great value, customer driven service that focuses on an informative sustainable way to shop and enjoy food growing at home. Established in 2009 Seed Pantry wants everyone to enjoy the rewards of nature and to learn about growing your own veg to eat wherever you live. We specialise in providing the expertise, veg seeds, plants and equipment for growing your own food at home and the work place, from inner city spaces to back garden veg patches.  Seed Pantry provides quality locally sourced and sustainable products with a great value service for our customers. We want to have a minimal impact on the environment, so everything is either organic, bio-degradable, recycled (including the packaging), recyclable, or should be re-used for many years - like your favourite trowel! I was immediately impressed with the brown paper wrapping and the stylish and sturdy cardboard box. My inner origami geek loves that it all fits together with tabs into slots ;-) Opening the lid ( love those tabs and slots!) there is a comprehensive set of easy to understand growing instructions as well as a full list of everything which should be in the box. I really felt like I was opening up the gardening equivalent of a fabulous box of chocolates by this stage :-) The Seed Pantry website says of the Summer Veg Starter pack Perfect for balconies, small spaces or a garden veg patch. This great kit shows you how to grow: peppers, mangetout, carrots and courgettes with all the equipment needed to start growing the seeds, including: a mini propagator, bio-degradable pots, dibblet, mini compost disks & wooden labels. When I took them all out of the box there were all these lovely things 50 wooden marker labels for remembering what you have planted & where 1 Coir seed tray 1 FSC oak dibber for making holes to plant seeds 6 coir compost starting disks  for starting seeds like peppers just add water & watch them rise! 6 mini coir posts for starting seedlings like little gem lettuce 3 x 8cm coir pots for seeds that like a bit more room like courgettes 4 x 9cm rice husk pots for seeds that need a bit of depth like mangetout 2 x 1 litre rice husk pots for potting seedlings on like peppers and a 6 cell mini propagator for seeds that like a nice and warm start like peppers(re-use before recycling)   And Summer Carrot Early Nantes, Mangetout Dwarf Sugar, Courgette F1 Clarion and Sweet Spanish Pepper seeds - enough to grow a lot of veg. And • Growing advice booklet for getting your seeds started • A season of on line tips and advice • Expert advice available at the Seed Pantry forum • Seed Pantry pencil for making notes I first came across Seed Pantry when giving away some small Autumn Salad seed boxes they had done for Garden Organic, to promote the "One Pot Pledge", and I was very impressed with the idea and the product then - recyclable, biodegradable, organic kits promoting veg growing in the smallest of spaces - what's not to like! For 2013 Seed Pantry has also launched a new Children’s Seeds Starter Kit, a Chilli Seeds Starter Pack for growing your own fresh chillies at home and a Three Seasons Kit, delivered in three boxes during the year. The Summer Veg Starter box I was sent, retails at £26 and would make a lovely gift for someone starting to garden or for someone more experienced- it is beautifully packaged and presented; contains a lot of seed and all the products are a bit different and compostable or recyclable after their lives have come to an end.     I can't wait to try out actually growing some of the seeds :-) With thanks to Seed Pantry for sending me a free Summer Veg Starter Pack.

Bee Lovely Petition

Bee Lovely Petition: Sign Neal's Yard Remedies #BeeLovely petition to ban the use of deadly neonic pesticides and help save the bees!

Preserving the Harvest - dehydrating

I love my dehydrator! I have a Excalibur 5 tray dehydrator and oh how I wish I had bought a larger version.

I picked a load of Lavender and Sage for drying today - I gave them a quick rinse in water then dried them all gently on a tea towel. Then I laid them out on the dehydrator trays. Three trays of Sage and two of Lavender

It took two nights and a day for the herbs to dry to the point where I could crumble them into clean jars - our house smelt wonderful the whole time :-)

We have our own electricity supply from the pv's on the garage roof, so I use an electric dehydrator. Other people dry stuff  in the bottom oven of an Aga, or similar stove, and if we had sunshine we could use a solar dehydrator ( except of course there has been very little of that around here, this summer!). You can also dry herbs in bunches in an airing cupboard or hanging from the kitchen ceiling. I find stuff up in the rafters gets covered in cobwebs and fly poo, here so do not like doing it that way!

Because the dehydrator heater is on the very lowest setting it used about 2 Kw of electricity so cost about 30 p plus my time, of course - except, of course during the daytime, if we are not using electricity for other purposes we don't have to pay!

And this is what I had at the end - two very small jars of dried herbs. but home grown and organically produced :-) And they smelt terrific :-)

Thank you for dropping by xxx

Fuming about seeds.

Like a lot of home gardeners, I grow a lot of traditional, open pollinated varieties, I save my own seed and buy heritage varieties from small seed companies like RealSeeds, MoreVeg and Kokopelli. I am also a member of HSL, Garden Organic's seed saving, membership organisation. I grow lots of different veg and find the diversity of seeds on offer to be very helpful in the changeable weather conditions we often experience, here in the UK. I also find they taste so much better than "ordinary" varieties.

The tomatoes pictured  in my Lammas post are a good example!

But according to leading organic charities Garden Organic and the Soil Association, the choice of what crops are available for gardeners to grow has been dealt yet another restrictive blow,

"In a recent ruling in the European Court of Justice in Brussels(1) a small French seed company, seeking to defend its sales of old unregistered varieties of vegetables, lost its case. The company, Kokopelli, argued that the basis of the EU Marketing Directive was unlawful and curtailed the right to trade seed freely. However the court opposed this and ruled in favour of the current legislation, which restricts what seed can and cannot be marketed and sold."

Read the full article here 

I suspect quite a few of the seeds I buy to grow will no longer be available to me after this ruling.

As Garden Organic and the Soil Association so rightly point out, every variety lost weakens our ability to create an effective food system that can cope with the increasing challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.”

Bob Sherman, Chief Horticultural Officer at Garden Organic said,

“It is disappointing that the EU has neglected to unravel this controversial Directive to give amateur gardeners freedom of choice. Very few people believe that trade in traditional and endangered varieties threatens the commercial seed world. Despite some recent slackening of the regulation of ‘amateur’ and ‘conservation’ varieties, it appears it is still possible for large corporate businesses to control the market with no hesitation in resorting to law against the minnows of the sector. Fortunately Garden Organic’s Heritage Seed Library is not a seed company and we will continue to work at protecting the availability of many ‘at risk’ varieties by allowing our supporters access to seeds.”

I think this is a serious mistake on the part of the EU. I am not quite sure who to complain to about this - but surely there must be something we can do?

What do you all think?

We don't dig peat - do we?

The chair of the government’s Sustainable Growing Media Task Force (SGMTF), Dr Alan Knight, has recently published his chair’s report and draft ‘road map’, Towards Sustainable Growing Media.

I must admit I do wonder exactly why we need a "road map" about a move towards sustainable growing when, as John Walker has so eloquently written about on his blog  a growing number of gardeners have already found their way to using reliable and consistent peat-free composts with growing success.

But, regardless, this is the interesting bit.

“The Chairman is inviting feedback from all interested parties, whether Task Force members or not, by 30 September 2012. He would like your views on any part or all of the report and would particularly welcome details of specific actions that individuals or organisations would be willing to undertake that can be added to the roadmap. There are no specific questions to be answered and this is not a Government consultation.”
Feedback should be sent by email to the Secretariat: growingmedia@defra.gsi.gov.uk
I am not quite sure if this was the intention, but effectively this is an open invitation for we gardeners and growers to have our say on the issue of peat free growing.

So, if you are one of the many gardeners who grow beautiful flowers and veg without the use of peat, or just don't agree with the destruction of peat bog eco systems to provide peat as a growing medium, perhaps you would consider telling them so?

Just a thought

Useful i.d chart for slugs

If, like me, you have a lot of slugs in your garden - you might find this chart interesting.

I don't kill slugs but instead throw them in the compostbins, where they can eat something and be useful while doing it.

The hens seem only to like very small, tender little slugs - they turn their beaks up at any huge monster sized ones (shame)

Time To Power Down? by John Walker - a really thought provoking post

A timely reminder from John Walker

As concern over Western ‘energy obesity’ moves up the agenda, can we really afford, financially or morally, to continue switching on our propagators and greenhouse heaters?

John Walker is one of my favourite writers. I used to really look forward to reading his column in Organic Gardening Magazine - and am really pleased to follow him on Twitter.  As he suggests in his article, I use our home generated electricity to run my heated propagators in Feb and March - and any shortfall is provided by Good Energy

I also follow his advice about utilising the power of the Sun to germinate seeds and get crops growing.

Even if it was originally published 5 years ago, in the much missed Organic Gardening Magazine, his article is still timely advice.

“John reminds all gardeners that there are some hard choices ahead, and changes we all need to make in the battle to keep the world cool. He writes of what he calls our Western ‘energy obesity’ and outlines a ‘diet’ to address it. There’s much individuals can achieve – how about switching off propagators and greenhouse heaters for a start? Those who throw their green fingers up in horror would do well to read John’s article to understand that a cooler greenhouse need not be the end of the world. In fact, it could help save it."

Judges’ citation, Garden Media Guild Environmental Award 2007.

Original article published in Organic Gardening, January 2007. John is the winner of the Garden Media Guild Environmental Award 2007.