Far Lands

Our strawberries, like everything else we grow, are enjoyed by the slugs. Sometimes, to our almost complete exclusion. So, this year we are trying aerial strawberries in the greenhouse. Early ripening, too. The aerial planter does, however, have a drawback. Everything does, once you start wearing long trousers. The drawback of the strawberry planter is that we keep hitting our heads on it. So, in a few years, if we don't know our potatoes from our tomatoes, our mint from our chives, our jerusalems from our globes, then you'll know the cause.

Remember that? I grafted a pear ( Beurre Hardy ) onto our hawthorn hedge 3 or 4 years ago. Sarah said she would eat her hat if it grew, then when it did, said she 'd meant that she would eat her hat only if an actual pear grew. This year, she might have to develop her excuse further . . . . . . because there looks like there's going to be blossom. The photo's not great but you can see the beginnings of the fruitlets. I think. Will keep you posted.

 The blossom has started - below are the damson and a pear tree. There is also blossom on the Mirabelle, but nothing on the blackthorn (sloe) in the foraging hedge. Not sure why; it's out in the local hedgerows.   'Maybe next year,' said the gardener to the actress.    

Last weekend we sorted out the bee-hives (the WBC on the right hand side is empty). I built a new platform, and we put this in place (1st two photos are before and after). Also removed the Winter cladding, and removed the restricted entrance (NB bottom photo below shows the restricted entrance still there - it's the thin but wide piece of wood with the blue drawing pin). The restricted entrance is meant to keep out mice during the Winter. However, we have found some droppings so we are not sure. Apparently, the bees tolerate a mouse in Winter (although for us it's annoying as they eat the comb) and then eject it in Spring. We shall see. The good news is that the bees are collecting pollen (easy to see in the bottom photo - the yellow balls on the rear legs; often referred to as pollen baskets but actually hairs). This means (hopefully) that there is a queen and that she is laying because pollen is used to feed the brood.

I know, I know . . . but I've kind of always wanted one . . . . . . from when I was very young, before I joined the Job, when I was thinking about joining the Job. I had a dream (I must have been 13 or 14, and I had lots of posters of dogs on my bedroom walls) about becoming a bearded-batchelor police dog-handler. In my dream I called the dog Wolfram . And guess what? We've called our dog  Wolfram ! He's so cute. He is, of course, an Alsatian and a good guard-dog. Which will be good because this is a big place and Sarah's away a lot. (The door-bell went off in the middle of the night last week, no-one there, turned out it was half-pressed in, but it didn't half freak me out.) Anyway, Wolfram is a new type of dog. Specially bred for people like me. He's a veggie. Eats like a horse of course, but and this is the point, he eats just like a horse. CRUCIALLY, he shits like a horse too. So, no smelly piles all around the garden but just the sweet