Finally! The Butterflies Arrive to Feast Among the Bees

I’ve had the odd meadow brown, the odd cabbage white (not quite so welcome) and a couple of small tortoishells, and have scanned the borders every day to see what would come to feed. In my last post I shared my frustration at planting so many nectar flowers this year, using the maxim ‘build it and they will come’, but they didn’t. However, today, TWO peackock butterflies inside five minutes turned up on my flowers. Hooray! Numbers this year must be way down, though, for me not to have at least the buddleia covered in the different species we normally see.

verbena bonariensis

The bees, however, are intriguing. I’ve seen new (to me) species of bees I can’t identify, and have a leaf cutter bee nesting in a trough on the patio. Even honey bees are in evidence. The bergamot, calendulas, cosmos and sedums and of course verbena bonariensis seem to be bring them in. We also have plenty of hoverflies and other insects, so hopefully the butterflies that are around will feed and breed, raising numbers for next year. Moths also seem to be coming in, judging by what I can see when sat out in the dark with only background lighting from the conservatory. Something’s working then.

I can also now list frogs, toads, lots of birds species and a visiting hedgehog, so slug numbers are way down on previous years, and I actually get to eat my lettuce! Just wait until I get my pond in there. Damselflies, dragonflies and newts may join us. One of my friends has grass snakes. I wish! There is a woodpile and compost bins at the end of the garden, so you never know.

Watch this space!

What A Beauty!

Magpie Moth

I posted a couple of days ago my astonishment at finding lots of moths visiting my flowers at dusk, and assumed that until I could set up a trap  I wouldn’t get  a chance to photograph them and show you how gorgeous some of them are. Well I was wrong. Throwing the ball for Daisy this afternoon, I spotted this flitting into the grass. A Magpie moth. How stunning! Apparently, according to my book, they do sometime fly during the day, and here’s the proof. Moths can be beautiful, just like their daytime counterparts that we call butterflies.

Have you spotted any in your garden? What could you do to invite them in?

Butterflies Everywhere

Comma Butterfly

I am delighted! The last year’s work to install in my garden plants for the butterflies and bees has been so worthwhile. Today I’ve noted many species of bumblebees, honeybees, comma butterflies, gatekeepers, green veined whites, small whites, peacocks and meadow browns. The marjoram is smothered in both bees and butterflies, and the buddleia of course in butterflies (the peacocks especially). Next year will be even better, as I’m busy making more plants to extend the flower beds and I’m saving seed or cuttings of every flower that’s nectar or food for them. I also intend to make bug houses and a bat box. For now I will of course be adding my sightings to the Big Butterfly Count so that better conservation can be achieved. Come on in wildlife! What are you doing to help wildlife? I’d love to know. And if you’ve any tips….please leave them for us all.

Green Veined White Butterfly

Peacock Butterfly

Gatekeeper Butterfly

Make a Simple Bird Box For Free

Nest Box

I’m not a DIY expert. I’ve only ever used a jigsaw twice, twenty years ago. But yesterday, in an hour, I was cutting straight lines and had made a nest box for robins. It was so easy I wonder why I haven’t done it before. We’ve been fencing the garden, building raised beds and had lots of scrap pieces of gravel board wood, 18mm thick and roughly 15 cm wide. Size is not critical, but the recommended floor area should be a minimum of 10cm x 10cm. The minimum thickness recommended by the RSPB is 15mm for insulation from heat and cold. So, determined to help the birds as much as I can and having been delighted to watch a Robin family being fed by their parents this year, I wanted to encourage them to move in. We have native hedgerow running down one side of the garden so as Robins like plenty of cover, that is where the box will live. Then it’s fingers crossed for next year.

Here are the dimensions I used if you want to make your own.

Back 500mm x 150mm

Lid 150mmx 265mm

Sides (cut two) 150mm x 265mm sloping to 312mm at the back

Front 150mm x 135mm

Base 150mm x 120mm

Cut all pieces with a jigsaw or handblade. To make sure you don’t make mistakes when putting the box together, as I nearly did, check at each stage that the box will sit on the base neatly as you go.

Start by attaching the sides to the back, then the front. secure to the base then the trickiest bit is the lid. I used some old car seat belt strapping to make a hinge so the lid can be opened for cleaning, though this isn’t absolutely necessary for an open box, it will make life easier when the time comes. A hook and eye latch at the side will stop predators lifting the lid.

Perfection, when making nest boxes is not required. some ventilation is needed and some way of rain escaping if it gets in. So don’t glue the box together or try to seal any slight gaps at the joins. This is the perfect project for a beginner! I painted mine on the outside only with the same colour fence paint so it will blend in with the hedge. I used non-toxic wax based fence paint. Do be careful that any paint you do use is safe for animals and birds! You could decorate your box and way you like, but don’t add any perches or paint the inside.

For lots more on birds, bird boxes and conservation try these links

BBC Springwatch website, which is loaded with links and information on birds and all other UK wildlife 

BTO Nest Record Scheme

NTO Nest Box Challenge

Making and siting nest boxes, plus lots more information at the RSPB

I’m Digging For Victory

They did it before I was born. The Germany army was the reason back then. But the concept is relevant now. We have bigger problems than an advancing army. Looming food shortages, a financial catastrophe leaving lots of people cash-strapped, carbon miles piling up with imported food that isn’t fresh and last but not least, health. So despite my aching back, exhaustion and advancing years, I’m digging for victory. My garden, I’m even more determined now, is to be the source of as much of our food as is possible. I can’t raise meat or fish, but I can grow lots and lots of veg if I keep at it. So could you. Small space or large, we can all make a difference.

Dig for Victory! The source of my inspiration. Lime Tree Farm, Yorkshire

We can all make a difference to the wildlife, too. The system has to work in harmony. We need the birds, frogs, toads, newts, worms and other creatures that make our gardens their home. They eat the pests, make the eco system work properly and even help make compost and put nutrients into the soil that will end up in our plants and therefore our food.

I was away on a yearly pagan camp last weekend. I met up with old, like-minded friends and spent a damp weekend in a field dedicated to conservation by a farmer of forty acres who has turn his whole life and farm into a conservation project. We helped him build a stone circle there over ten years ago, and he has, with the help of volunteers, installed a roundhouse, dug wildlife ponds, built a hide and viewing station for badgers, had specialist groups in to monitor progress and developement. On his farm they have found eighteen of our twenty odd species of ladybirds. Marvelous, and just shows what can be done in a few short years.

Lime Tree Farm’s Stone Circle (the gatestones aren’t on this pic)

My conversations with Pete, the unsung hero farmer, about standard food production hardened my resolve, which was weak given the calamatous weather for veg growers this year. Did you know that your five a day isn’t as healthy as it should be? The factory farming of food using chemical fetilisers makes the plants grow even and good looking, but lacks the trace elements and some of the vitaims we NEED to be healthy. The land has not been replenished properly, so we aren’t either. It stands to reason if you can grow your own that food will be fresh, so contain more vitaims. And gardening organically ensures the existence of those trace elements we need. So, I’ve come home and finished digging over my second border, which in the spirit of the late gardener Geof Hamilton, is going to be mixed planting of perennials, annuals and veg. Tomorrow I can start planting. Now I’ve got air back into this tired land, incorporated some compost and cleared the weeds, the soil is starting to dry out. Fortunately, we’re on good, deep soil with a low water table, so as long as the jet stream does stay where it should be for this time of year, I hope we can now grow food!

I’m already getting plans ready for next year, which will be my first full growing year in this home. Not for me are the plastic-packed Kenyan French beans, Egyptian potatoes and other such carbon gobbling, vitamin destroying, far away supermarket veg. I did a little experiment. I bought some radish. If they are anything to go by, it’s all been rinsed in bleach or something. The radish came in plastic and have been in my fridge two months, yet are still LOOKING fresh! Bah humbug to that idea, hello digging for victory!

8 Spring Flowers to Feed the Bees – early nectar plants

I’ve just taken stock of the 8 spring flowers already open in my garden and pots. Some I brought from my old home, others were waiting for me in my new one. All of these will make nectar and pollen available for the early pollinating insects that will soon be emerging for food, especially as a warm spell is predicted later this week.

Bees, hoverflies and butterflies, moths and beetles are all in decline, and are massively important for humans. Without them we would not eat. No apples and pears, no tomatoes or plums, blackberries or raspberries; the list is endless. They pollinate our food for us for free. We owe them a lot, and it doesn’t take much to help them get back their strength. So if you are starting a new garden or trying to improve your garden for wildlife and biodiversity, go to your garden centre and buy things with SINGLE flowers, not flouncy doubles. Plant them out in groups, making them easier for the insects to spot, and watch your garden come alive. If we all do this, we can turn around an alarming decline in our insect population. This is ecologically very important for all of us.

Fifteen days ago my garden looked like this!

Snow covered tree

This morning I went outside to take the photographs you see of spring flowers which are laden with food for the bees and other insects. Isn’t nature wonderful when we give it a chance?

Heather in full bloom. Great bee food.

Grape hyacinth or muscari, another great early insect feast

Primula and snowdrop. Both great early insect food.

Hellebore. Great for early bee food

Crocus. Great early nectar and pollen for insects

Pansies or violas are good early insect food, too

Hebe. Lots of different ones that flower early

Sarah Raven’s Bees, Butterflies and blooms is an excellent programme with lots more information that you can glean to help you make a difference. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01c89vp/Bees_Butterflies_and_Blooms_Towns_Gardens_and_Britain_in_Bloom/

There are many more early spring flowers that will help our insects to recover from the lack of food and habitat we’ve caused for them. You can find more listed here. http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/features/wildlife/plants-for-bees/1107.html

Time to put something back, don’t you think? So get planting. Let me know how you are helping our wildlife.

[Added 28 Feb 2012] Many thanks to the BBC who have highlighted this blog as one of the most relevant to Sarah Raven’s programme, and I’ve since written more on this subject, showing you how to feed the bees and butterflies on the cheap. You can read that blog here.

And here’s my latest offering for bees. Perennials from seed that bees will love.

Taming the Jungle

I’ve taken advantage of the mild weather and spent time today hacking through the jungle that is my border.  I now have a mountain of dead growth culled off the garden. Underneath, I’ve found some little gems, in my book anyway. Sedums, bergenia (in flower!) and ferns galore adorn a badly neglected ‘rockery’ currant bun style. It will need a major overhaul, as it’s choked with couch grass and brambles threaten nearby. But with work and a change of rockery construction I’m sure will look stunning. It’s a border that backs onto our patio, so I want it to look good as well as attract wildlife. My lifestyle as well as the wildlife’s is important!

bird cam goldfinches

I also found, on the other border, a bird’s nest from last year. I feel rather guilty for clearing this area, as the nest site clearly won’t be available for this years birds, but as I’m planning more hedge planting and will be getting the current one into shape there will ultimately be more places for them to nest, not less. We’ve already put a nest box high in a tree and have another one to go up, making four in total.

Bird cam was left on video setting today, and caught a lot of goldfinches and greenfinches plundering the feeders. But the quality wasn’t good. We had a the distance setting a little out, and sunlight staring into the lens, so I need to think more carefully before setting it up next time. It’s all a learning experience! One or two of the jpegs came out OK, so they’re here for you, as is a photograph of the found nest. Anyone know what species made it? The secateurs are there for scale.

bird nest found in the garden

In the trees at the bottom of the garden, I counted 30+ goldfinches. They don’t all come to the feeders at once, but I’m sure take turns in groups of six to ten at a time. A charm of goldfinches, if ever I saw one. They have to be among our prettiest native species.

bird cam goldfinches and greenfinches

12 Wild Flowers To grow In A Nature Garden

I’ve been really busy  the last couple of days actually making a start in my new garden. I’m faced with overgrown, neglected beds that need renovation. Before I can dig them over, I need to wait for spring to assess what’s already there. I’ve been able to dig out some brambles, cut down dead overgrowth and identify snowdrops and crocosmia  so I’ve started at last to be able to see what comes up when spring comes. But of course it’s dark by 4.30pm, so the long evenings are spent blogging to you and dreaming of what I will grow. I brought a lot of stuff from my old garden in containers, and they all sit on the patio awaiting replanting. Many of them are native plants suitable for gardens which will be rich in nectar and pollen for our insects to feast on.

This will help keep a balance in the ecology of the garden and hopefully increase the diversity. I’ve made a wildlife poster to illustrate the 12 wild flowers to grow in my garden. There will be more, but these are particular favourites I wanted to share with you.

wild flower poster

Incidentally,  I’ve put this poster for sale, so if you want a copy just click here.

What wild flower can you add to your garden this spring?

5 Winter Greens to Grow on the Windowsill

Here are 5 winter fresh greens to grow so easily you’ll be amazed and wonder why you haven’t done it sooner. You can buy special sprouting seed trays, which stack and drain very easily, but why not re-cycle a jam or coffee jar and some old tights? That’s all you need to grow these nutritious fresh greens. Add to salads, sprinkle into stir-fires or use as a vitamin packed garnish costing a fraction of those at the supermarket and once you’ve bought a pack of seeds you don’t have to go shopping (carbon and money-saving even more). They’re also organically grown if you think about it. Water and no additives!

All sprouted seeds have a higher concentration of vitamins and minerals than their fully grown counterparts, as the nutrition in concentrated in them so they can grow. The content of each varies, but they’re all great for you and at this stage sweeter, tastier and more crunchy. To see more detail, click into the picture.

sprouted seed winter greens

I grew all of these in less than a week from opening the packet of seeds to putting them on the plate. All you do is place a tablespoon or so of seeds into a large jar or layer of a seed sprouter, covering the end of the jar with a bit of old tights or stocking. Secure this with an elastic band. Rinse them with room temperature water, drain and leave on the windowsill ( but not in bright sunlight). Do this twice a day until the sprouts have reached the size you want to eat. Some have rough seed coats that you might not want to chew, but if you put the grown sprouts into a bowl of water and stir, most of the husks will float and you can scoop them off and put them in the compost bin. Nothing wasted, ecologically!

Some sprouts, such as mung beans, used in stir fries, are better grown in the dark to make the sprouts grow longer and juicier before they go tough and bitter. Just pop them in a kitchen cupboard between waterings. And beware! Not all seeds can be sprouted. Many of the bean family are poisonous raw, so don’t try to sprout runner, French, kidney or other true beans. Check a seed catalogue for the most appropriate ones. Thompson and Morgan and Kings Seeds do good ranges. You don’t have to pay through the nose, though, for tiny packets from specialist seed growers. I buy standard packets of mung beans and whole lentils from the supermarket and they sprout perfectly well. Children would find these sprouts very rewarding as they grow so fast, teaching them how things grow and maybe getting them to eat their greens into the bargain.

But among those you can sprout are:

1. radish
2. onion
3. spring onion
4. mung beans
5. alfalfa
6. lentils (whole or they won’t grow)
7. chickpea
8. sunflower
9. fenugreek

We started with five and ended with nine. There are many more for you to discover. Bonus! Let me know what you grow on your windowsill. Any recipe ideas?

New Home, New life, New Blog

This is my first post on Earth and Hearth. It’s a new blog inspired by the fact that I’ve just found the home I’ve been looking for and hope to move into it in about one months time. It’s going to make a huge difference to my outlook, ambitions and lifestyle. If you’re familiar with my photographic blog, chriscaff’s, you’ll know I have a love of nature and growing things. I wanted to keep my photographic blog and my lifestyle separate, so I’ve created Earth and Hearth hoping that that like-minded souls will join me on my journey as we move into our new place. There I’ll endeavour to grow more food and live in a more ecologically minded way that I’ve been able to in my current residence.

Garden October 2011

My new home has 120ft of garden backing onto fields. It’s a 1940s bay fronted semi with bags of character. It needs work to make it home for us. The energy rating isn’t too good, the kitchen is badly configured for our needs and we want to cut expenditure on wasteful items like energy bills and buying food. So I’ll be growing my own, building a greenhouse, doing up the house and making it our home. Along the way I’ll be learning new things and utilising the knowledge I have. I hope to share all this with you, so expect money-saving tips, ecological information and the odd wry smile at my observations as we go along.

The ethos of this whole change is to live in a much more eco-freindly way than we’ve previously been able to. We can’t go the whole hog and build a straw-bale house, but we can improve the home we’re buying to save energy, grow food to save carbon miles and packaging, re-use and recycle what we have and anything we can find. Why slave to earn money to buy things if you can make or grow what you need? Of course we will have to spend some money and I can’t make everything. Just like you. We can all only do what  we are capable of, and at fifty five I don’t expect to be able to do as much as a younger person with more physical strength. That won’t stop me trying though.

Jimmy lives in my current garden. He's coming with us!

I want wildlife as well as food in my garden, and fruit and flowers as well as vegetables. So there will be many projects, inlcuding bird boxes, a home for my hedgehog and possibly bat boxes. Insects will be encouraged, a herb garden created and all will be documented here. I hope to build pages of information you can plunder to help you make more of your home and garden.

I have over 30 years of experience as an amateur organic gardener, many years as a photographer and was trained in visual art studies, with a love for imagery and interior design. If you’d like to share my journey you are very welcome to follow me as I develop my home, garden and this blog.

We’re still packing boxes, editing out useless old paperwork and items we consider clutter. I’m determined to eliminate anything that isn’t beautiful or useful to make way for our fresh start.