Merry Christmas
Hopefully by now we will all have finished our Christmas shopping and can look forward to the festive season. In case you have forgotten to ask Santa to bring a little something for your allotment here are a few last-minute ideas for your plot in 2015.
A Slug Bell - as seen at Yeo Valley Organic Gardens when we visited back in the summer. An attractive and safe way to use slug pellets. Protects from rain, targets only slugs and snails, safe for children, dogs and other wildlife and helps you to use only the amount required. Not cheap at £10, so you might want to consider making your own version by adapting and painting an old clay plant pot.
A Fleece - large second-hand fleeces available from Riverford for just £4.99 with proceeds going to Send-a-Cow. What's not to like here. Fantastic value protection for your spuds and early crops. Buy one. Buy another one. Tell all your friends to buy one.
A packet of Flower or Herb Seeds - attract pollinators and helpful insect predators such as Bees, Hoverflies, Ladybirds and Lacewings to your plot by sowing some flowers or herbs. Yarrow and Parsley attract a wide range of beneficial bugs. Remember that insecticides will kill the good insects as well as the pests.
A Bird Box - put one up soon and you may encourage blue tits to nest in it come Spring. These little birds eat thousands of aphids and caterpillars when feeding their young. Make sure it's a tit nesting box as you won't want to encourage sparrows (they will eat your runner bean flowers). The less DIY-challenged amongst us can probably make a basic nesting box. Hang it high enough to be out of the reach of the neighbourhood cats, preferably facing North. Again, remember not to use pesticides if you are allowing birds to take pests from your crops.
Above all, nuture and enjoy your plot in 2015. Merry Christmas!
A Slug Bell - as seen at Yeo Valley Organic Gardens when we visited back in the summer. An attractive and safe way to use slug pellets. Protects from rain, targets only slugs and snails, safe for children, dogs and other wildlife and helps you to use only the amount required. Not cheap at £10, so you might want to consider making your own version by adapting and painting an old clay plant pot.
A Fleece - large second-hand fleeces available from Riverford for just £4.99 with proceeds going to Send-a-Cow. What's not to like here. Fantastic value protection for your spuds and early crops. Buy one. Buy another one. Tell all your friends to buy one.
A packet of Flower or Herb Seeds - attract pollinators and helpful insect predators such as Bees, Hoverflies, Ladybirds and Lacewings to your plot by sowing some flowers or herbs. Yarrow and Parsley attract a wide range of beneficial bugs. Remember that insecticides will kill the good insects as well as the pests.
A Bird Box - put one up soon and you may encourage blue tits to nest in it come Spring. These little birds eat thousands of aphids and caterpillars when feeding their young. Make sure it's a tit nesting box as you won't want to encourage sparrows (they will eat your runner bean flowers). The less DIY-challenged amongst us can probably make a basic nesting box. Hang it high enough to be out of the reach of the neighbourhood cats, preferably facing North. Again, remember not to use pesticides if you are allowing birds to take pests from your crops.
Above all, nuture and enjoy your plot in 2015. Merry Christmas!
Submitted by Jane, Plot 9
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