Bird pals
It’s starting to feel more like Spring and I can’t tell you how excited that makes me. There is birdsong everywhere which takes my happiness up by a good few notches whenever I hear it. There are still far fewer little bird pals in the garden than I’d like, which I’m (very) desperately trying to remedy. So far the main residents are Pigeons, Seagulls and Magpies, the latter of which are taking full advantage of the one bird feeder they can access and is gobbling up every little creepy dried worm it can. The other bird feeder remains mostly untouched, besides an adorable little robin which visits occasionally and a few other little fellas which I’m yet to get a good look at.
The previous owners of the house did such an amazing job in planting a diverse range of plants for the space, which meant quite a lot of what I really wanted in our garden was already there. As I’m sure many people who enjoy a bit of gardening feel, however, there is never enough, and I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how I can cram even more in.
Having previously lived right on the edge of Dartmoor in a slightly more rural setting, moving to somewhere a little more suburban has meant I’m desperate to try and draw as many creatures, critters and ‘countryside’ into our garden as possible. I’m thinking ahead to summer and the age old saying ‘build it and they will come’, so by jove I’m going to build it as best I can!
After a mixed bag of growing success last year I’m still trying to figure out what I can plant where and how to avoid just creating an instant snail buffet. For the relatively small space we have I was flabbergasted (with a dash of joy) at the amount of snails that decided to call our garden their home. Despite a number of attempts to protect my vegetables in a way that meant no harm to the small snail army, I can quite confidently say that none were a roaring success. I’m open to any suggestions as I brace myself for another year of removing each snail by hand and shedding a lone tear every time I find one has breached the netting once again. There must be a better way…
With that plea and, of course, excitement in mind, there will be much more to come (I hope) from my veg patch tales. So if you, like me, are in the intersection of the venn diagram for gardening and food then stick around, I have a feeling you might have a good time.
