By dodging the showers and intense activity when its been too windy we’ve managed to finish the rebuilding of the fruit cage and some of the more pressing maintenance work. The propagators and cold frames are full of seeds and seedlings, the benches in the polytunnel overflowing with young plants and the growing bed full […]
outer hebrides
From the flowers of the field
We are reformers in the spring and summer, but in autumn we stand by the old. Reformers in the morning, and conservers at night. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson The sight of a mixed cereal field on the machair in the Outer Hebrides is sufficient to give any East Anglian cereal baron apoplexy. You would not be […]
On the trail of the invaders
My last post was a gentle introduction to the topic of INNS (invasive non-native species) and the problems which they can have on vulnerable ecosystems. INNS affect us all and in Britain cost in the region of £1.7 billion each year. The impact of INNS on biodiversity, our environment and infrastructure are severe and growing. […]
Bee Alert
We have five species of bumblebees (Bombus) and two species of solitary mining bees (Colletes) in the Outer Hebrides, some of which are rarely found on the mainland; including the lovely Great Yellow Bumblebee (Bombus distinguendus) which I rely on to pollinate my broad beans. In the absence of honey bees, our bumbles, aided and […]
Fantasies and Follies
Some of us have a fantasy garden, perfect soil with the perfect climate for whatever we wish to grow. There are rolling acres extending beyond the horizon, an unlimited supply of labour and of course a bottomless pot of gold. The reality is a constant battle against the elements, unspeakable soil, plagues of pests, invasions […]