Wildlife & Gardens

Tough to prevent. There are the feeders with small apertures that are designed to keep out squirrels but crows can usually get their heads through and it can make access difficult for peckers too. May & June are always crazy (and expensive) as all birds are after suet in particular to feed themselves and young. It will calm down in a week or two. I don't mind it because the mess the crows and magpies make of the suet leaves crumbs for the robins and dunnocks. So everyone wins .....except your bank balance.

 

I always leave a little on the floor for ground feeders.

 

Yes goes pretty quick though doesn't it ? The constant corvid action ensures constant shower of crumbs across the day.

 

Can’t agree, love crows. We have loads of jackdaws come to ours. Entertaining. The cat thinks they are scum, but that’s the cat.

Just have hanging feeders for the little birds and place them nearer the house. The corvids won’t come that close.

 

Should have known you'd be a big fan of Jeremy Corvid

 

Beat me to it

 

Nothing to crow about.

 

FFY

 

Been raven about him for months.

 

Come on now lets play by the rook.

 

Not such a fan of Magpie Thatcher?

 

My gang are getting through ten super soft fat balls a day and the crows and magpies cannot get on the feeders so it's the starlings and smaller birds.
Having said that the bigger birds take the pieces that fall off. One crow must have been doing a beak work out,so large was the chunk!

 

Bad news:
Ford Dante Perikles brought in a young, dead tree sparrow at 4.30am. I think it had fallen from the tree or nest as usually he does unspeakable things to them if I cannot rescue them*.
I think it is time for the return of the collar although Mr IBB is convinced they take each other's off as soon as they get outside!
* My success rate is pretty good at about 75%.

 

New footage of a Giant Squid. What an amazing world.

 

Just how deep is the pond in your garden for that sort of wildlife?

 

May cause some issues for your goldfish. I would fish it out and release in the canal.

 

Look, if @Smudger has vultures in his...

 

Keeping up with the @smudgers - that's so arriviste.

 

Goldfish flushed down loo grows to size of small dog
‘This is why you should never flush your fish!’
(BNW/Facebook)

 

Wild excitement in the TuT household .... we shall not go hungry ....in 2 years time when we can harvest the bloody stuff.

 

Midsummer's day (Friday) was the end of harvest... You can take one spear per plant next year. Every year a perennial (ho! ho!) question of GQT is "What's the best length to cut aspargus?" and the answer is "...snap 'em off when they've grown to a comfortable length."

Mine will be getting a very liberal dusting of chicken manure pellets on Monday night to make the most of Tuesday's storm.

FWIW I spent £5 on an asparagus bundle from M&S on Friday - big fat spears that were utterly bland and tasteless compared to my 'sweet' crop.

 

Yes I’d read one spear per plant is in fact ok next year. Thought you could then take all spears in the following year until June but you keep cutting till late June before letting the remainder grow, do you ? Almost an extra month ? Good news if true.

EDIT. Perhaps the “until June” I’d consistently read meant including June.

 

Soltstice - 20th/21st of June. I started 'snapping' rather then 'cutting' recently. Also I was told to firm/build up around the sprouting spears (like you do with celery/potatoes).

 

I think Smudged only has vultures because of the dead elephant

 

Jealous of you all right now. We're 3-4 weeks from completion on our new house. Then I can get back in the garden to start adjusting the landscape.

 

Yes Mrs TuT always snaps the ones we buy. I tried that but couldn’t feel the right spot to snap. Guess it comes with practice.
Never grown potatoes or in fact any veg bar Once grew spuds by planting a bag that had seeded and forgot about them. We spent weeks wondering what these weird plants were that seemed to be taking over the flowerbed. Eventually decided we needed to “weed them out” and hey presto, loads of new potatoes.
Generally can’t be arsed with the hassle of growing vs buying but we love “goose” and had a large veg patch that was an eyesore so seemed a sensible project. Will throw a bit more compost and get some chicken pellets when we get back from San Sebastián.

 

A few wilderbeest calves make a good starter kit and keep the lawn neatly trimmed.

 

Is it too early to start having wealthy Americans come and pay tens of thousands of dollars to trophy hunt them in my garden? We started growing this year's crop in March, so they could be early bloomers.

Great crop of rhino horn this year too.

 

So your caravans have been 'moved on' and you've now set up camp in Whipsnade's car park?

 

Should be just in time for the start of spring weather up there!

 

We don't get spring up here. Just 6 months of autumn and 6 months of winter. Maybe a day of summer if we're really lucky!

 

The current owners took the grass up a few years ago and replaced it with stones as the dog was digging it all up.

I'll be reverting it back to lawn - looks like mid autumn is the best time so will get the stones up in September and prep it all for laying in late October.

Want to put a pond in too.

 

Not one of these though...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/garden-igl...argid=aud-543776533562:pla-697278961843&psc=1

 

Yes autumn is best time to lay lawn. Wet and sun not too hot so won’t dry out. plants and trees focus on root growth rather than trying to flower. Also best time to plant any trees.