Another good week on the allotment.The rain has made everything look much happier! Got all the bean canes up ready for planting this coming weekend.Rotavated the last 3 beds which we had cleared last week. Leeks planted out, parsnips & swede sown direct. Posts & lines in ready for Tomatoes t...

Hi Kitla I know there are definitely 2 coming by the difference in size, one of them is a whopper!! I have in the past seen 2 at the same time. I have a wildlife camera trap but am hopeless at putting it out to capture anything!! I know on a hedgehog forum there is someone who just studies them for ...

Isn't it a good job some of us are crazy enough to look after the wildlife we have surrounding us as they have a tough time out there. Nice they bought the young into the garden, I like to think they see it is a safe place for them to come. We have young Blackbirds, Dunnocks & House Sparrows at ...

Well we are now seeing hogs nearly every morning & the food is being eaten & no cats getting into the feeding station!! I have named one hog 4.30, yes you guessed it, I see him every morning at 4.30!!!! Saw him/her go into one of the hog houses we have in the garden for a nice long sleep for...

Would you want to be a female Blackbird? 3 broods a year, its no wonder they look worn out!! Funny you say about keeping the worms for them when you garden, we had loads of daddy long legs larve on the allotment last year when we were weeding & the Robin kept coming for them, so when he/she wasn...

We've had 2-3 Swallows around for a couple of weeks now. We have lived here 21 years & year on year have seen the numbers decline which is very sad. Golden Oriole are a stunning bird! Sadly never seen one here in the UK, we went to RSPB Lakenheath a few years ago as they bred there but didn't se...

Congratulations on your potato shoots!! Not sure where you are in the country but there was talk of possible frost in the countryside tonight so it may be wise to throw some soil over your shoots just to protect them,although it doesn't kill them it knocks them back a bit. We shall be doing the same...

A good weekend had on the allotment.Hubby ridged 11 rows (!!) of Potatoes so they are now all done. Finished weeding the last beds so all ready to go now.The Strawberry bed is staying this year as we have enough room for everything without clearing it, thank goodness!! Prepared the bed for the beans...

I saw my first Swift of the year last Friday (5th). I know it is said the first Swallow is a sign of Summer but for me & hubby it is always the first Swift. On Sunday afternoon we sat in the garden in beautiful sunshine & had around 30 circling around & screaming. We are lucky that they ...

We are now down to 4 chicks but Mum is still doing a sterling job on her own. I think she has a bit of OCD as she pushes & prods the poor chicks about to keep the nest as clean as possible!! They should be fledging any day now but don't look ready yet,possibly due to Mum having to feed them all ...

They do usually nest near water so hopefully she has gone to make the next generation to bring to you!!

Hi Gwenoakes,glad your nestbox is being used, you'll have to do a steak-out to see who's using it!!! Dad wasn't around at all yesterday but Mum is still doing a great job & we still have 6 thriving, now starting to preen a little as well. It's tough to watch these things sometimes but I just rem...

I totally agree about buying higher welfare meat,free range eggs & looking for them in cakes & I won't buy meat if it isn't British & I try not to buy veg if it isn't British, we are lucky as we have an allotment & grow most of our own but sometimes like a bunch of grapes!! As you sa...

Update on Great tit chicks is that over the weekend we seem to have lost 3 chicks so we now have 6, there were 2 that looked smaller than the others, its sad but its nature, survival of the fittest. The worry is we haven't really seen Dad much & yesterday I didn't see or hear him at all.Mum is d...

For the last few days we've had a young Song Thrush feeding in the garden which is lovely, he/she is getting brave coming down close to the house as the Blackbirds have their raisins there so he/she comes for some as well!