Prodigious Amount of Poop

Baby starlings produce a prodigious amount of poop.  And they don't appear to be too discriminate about where they deposit it.  The bird feeders are in need of daily cleaning at present, lest they become encased in a quantity of guano that we could mine for fertilizer.

Railways are on strike and F is working from home.  That meant I was forgiven for waking her up at 0530; she could get in three hours of allotment digging before logging onto her computer and doing some work she gets paid for.

Yam-Aunty's photos of the allotment only served to highlight how many pernicious weeds had grown on the site in the two weeks the humans were away.  F is a little (only a little mind) discouraged by the density of infestation of bind weed.  The cooch is manageable; the bind weed less so.  She is also somewhat discouraged to find that all the desirable plants are yellowing - the soil has probably not been fed any compost for decades.  Most of our fellow allotmenteers are not into applying any quantity (let alone significant quantity) of organic material to feed the soil microbes.  We hope that is all that the problem is and that it is not something more toxic (like spray residues).

Next year will be better.  This year energy is being focussed on applying FYM, raked up grass mowings from the common, seaweed, leaf mould, and as much household fruit and veg waste as F can get her hands on.  The neighbours might get roped into contributing to this project yet.

I am supervising office work.


We should contribute to Nature Friday - so I sent F out into that 'nature' front yard of hers and instructed her to photograph flowers.

Her response to that has been geraniums - the storksbill kind that are beloved by bumblebees.  We have lots of these blue ones and they are all grown from one little bit filched out of a garden in Southampton when we lived there about 15 years ago.  It is unfortunate that they don't flower all summer, but they do survive the 'drying out' that is a feature of our front yard when the combination of lime tree in full leaf and summer heat really kicks in, and they come back year after year (and the patches gets bigger and bigger).

The bees don't mind.

You also get a bonus couple of wild aquilegias that were growing on the embankment beside the drive.  F would like more of them but they don't seem to be all that keen on proliferating.


Smaller, pink, storksbill geraniums.

Tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month - that means Repair Cafe for F.  We have been discussing whether I might be invited to supervise but F thinks too many people will want to touch me and that I would probably be happier home alone.  I am not keen on home alone, but I guess there are worse things.

Comments

  1. I admire your supervision skills Mr T. You have the pose just right.

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  2. I love perennial geraniums and aquilegias - well, anything that comes up uncomplainingly every year.
    You look comfortable, Mr T - it's quite right that you should stay at home and keep an eye on things.

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    1. Uncomplainingly - good concept. This year F has even moved some plantains into the 'garden'. They are uncomplaining.

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  3. There is something about English gardens that just can’t be replicated here in Australia- even in places with a similar climate. They don’t look feel or even smell the same. Sad, I tried so many times but never even came close.
    And I think you’ve earned the right to do a little ‘sleeping on duty’ without being slapped on a charge.

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    1. Nor should they look and smell the same. Expats living here miss the looks, smells and sounds of gardens back home. Enjoy all those lovely things we can't replicate here Cathy.

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  4. I think you are going the right way importing compost, manure and seaweed into your allotment soil Tigger. It's like a Bank account you keep taking it out without putting something back in. I like your flowers photos.

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    1. Surprising how many people have gardened for years and still don't understand that Dave.

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  5. Hari OM
    Well, you say home alone, Tigger mate, but you will have all those young starlings to keep an eye on! I must say, when they started arriving in flocks last weekend, it crossed my mind things could get a tad... slick. I do love that Cranesbill Geranium, though I be not a bee... and having witnessed F at work there, I have no doubt at all that she will conquer the issues at the allotment! hugs and whiskeries, YAM-aunty xxx

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    1. Apparently 'where there's muck, there's money' Yam-Aunty. F found a £ in the allotment this morning but we have no takers for fresh guano yet. Xxx Mr T

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  6. Ohhh pretty flowers. I’m sure after a year of love your patch will become even better
    I definitely think being home away from people is the better option

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  7. The geraniums are beautiful, I had no idea they came in these colors, the only ones I have seen are red. they are lovely. Daddy was always dumping stuff in his garden, even worms that came from his worm bed. I do not like mucking about in the garden so did not learn much about it. I was forced by abuse to help mother can the product. LOL... did not learn that either, i just did what she told me and forgot about it. it is a great skill to have, because the world is going to need people who know how to grow things.
    our food grows in stores ha ha.... Tigger, way back 50 years ago, the cat next door used to use my flowerbox that was outside my kitchen window, for a litter box. I can attest to cat pee kills flowers.

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  8. I love these true geraniums, much more than the red horseshoe ones. Thanks for the flowers! And yes you have to keep giving back to the earth. I've always returned veg and fruit waste even to my tiny deck area.

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