Strange fruit

Another blog in haste - busy harvesting fruit on the allotment in between showers, and then prepping it for jam or freezing in between the sunny spells!
There are currently a lot of wasps in the garden too - a little while ago my Waspinator blew down and shredded itself and I didn't get around to replacing it. No point, I thought - the summer is nearly over ... silly me. The Waspinator usually does a sterling job and I only ever see the occasional solitary wasp passing through: the other day while doing a little digging I suddenly found myself surrounded by a cloud of them. Since then they appear to have taken up residence round the willow tree and the topiary box next to it, swarming all over them and the ground at the foot of them is alive with crawling black and yellow bodies ... Some are absolutely huge. Normally I try to be as organic and eco-friendly as possible, but I really can't have wasps moving in to the garden because of the dogs - whenever Archie gets stung he blows up something horrible. I always make sure that when we go for a walk I have Apis mel. and anti histamine tablets with me ever since he somehow managed to tread on a bee on what should have been a relaxing stroll ...  Calling in the wasp man from the council is out of the question as they just bombard with chemicals, which I don't want to expose my dogs to either.
So following suggestions from the Friendly Gardeners on Facebook, the tree is now festooned with brown paper bags stuffed with newspaper, and wasp catchers, while the remaining Waspinator is hung from the nearby apple tree, Strange fruit indeed. Lets hope it works!

A new toy

Archie found a new toy in the garden the other day,

and pounced on it with glee.

It wasn't really a toy - it was the Waspinator, which had blown down during the night.

It hadn't even been particularly windy, but nevertheless the fabric loop 

it was tied by had torn off.

It is my one complaint about them - they seem to do a good job of discouraging wasps from setting up home, and are perfect when you are trying to be as chemical-free as possible, both for the benefit of wildlife and safety of the dogs.

But they are ridiculously fragile - they never last a whole season and tear as soon as you so much as breathe on them. Okay so you can buy two for a tenner - but when you have to keep on spending a tenner each and every year, it starts to become irksome. And having to get the long ladder out to hang it up is a pain too, when you have other garden tasks planned. 

Would it really be so difficult to produce a more robust version?

Come on, Waspinator, we're sure you could do it!

Buzzzzz .......

All of a sudden, things are starting to happen in the 
garden - and insects are beginning to buzz busily around. I've seen a lot of ladybirds, and some of the most enormous bees.

Although wasps can be an asset to the garden  I prefer to discourage them as Archie has had several run-ins with them in the past, requiring emergency dashes to the vet when his head swelled up to alarming proportions. He has also managed to stand on a bee while out on a walk too, so nowadays I keep both antihistamines and the homeopathic remedy Apis mel close to hand during the summer months.

The arrival of insects means that it's time for the Waspinator to go up before any wasps start prospecting for accomodation: we had a nest a few years ago but since I've been using these, it seems to have encouraged them to go and look elsewhere. Medieval technology at it's best! You can find out more about them at  http://www.waspinator.co.uk/ 

What else has been happening in the garden? Well I found this lovely decorative trellis to ornament the side of the garden shed during those months of the year that the clematis is dormant ... and I'm glad that I took the decision to paint the shed last year too. It has been a nice splash of colour during the winter months, and the stripes remind me of the beach huts at Seasalter and Whitstable in Kent where I spent some of my childhood.

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