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22 June 2020
30 Days Wild - 11, 12, 13, 14
in 30 Days Wild
The Wildlife Trusts' 30 Days Wild continues. This week it's the photography, not the writing, slowing me down.
#11 Connect with nature this lunch time
I've been taking most of my lunches inside, as a reprieve from the heat, or occasionally the rain. We have however enjoyed many evening meals on the step outside the front door. I love the fresh air. The song of crickets and grasshoppers in the long grass. The clouds looming with rain then turning inland before they reach us. The gulls crossing overhead. They don't bother us for food, but I have watched one trying to swallow a flat fish on our roof.
Burger, salad, and coleslaw all from our local food market, and all delicious. Shop local, folks!
We have many wildflowers in our unmown garden, and many more popping up in any areas I've tried to clear. These are three of my favourites at the moment. I took some better close ups but I preferred the more to-scale pictures.
i) Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) Appearing in lots of places in our garden at the moment! It's a perennial herb. From The Wildlife Trusts' website: Selfheal is a low-growing, creeping plant that likes the short turf of grasslands, roadside verges or even lawns. Its clusters of violet flowers appear in summer.
ii) Common bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) Currently only living next to my compost bins, it's been stomped on a bit but doesn't seem to mind. From The Wildlife Trusts' website: Common bird's-foot-trefoil has a variety of names that conjure up some interesting images: 'Eggs and Bacon', for instance! Its small, yellow, slipper-like flowers can be seen in all kinds of grassy places.
iii) Scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) It's everywhere! It's one of my favourites at the moment and was my first choice for today's challenge. I've read the book too, just never thought to look up the flower. From The Wildlife Trusts' website: Once considered a weed of cornfields, the Scarlet pimpernel is now in decline due to intensive agricultural practices. It can be found in arable fields, on roadside verges and waste ground, and on coastal cliffs.
#13 Build a pond
Ooh, this is going to take a bit more than a day! I've got a place picked out, next to my designated wild area, that is itself pretty wild at the moment. I considered a small container pond in the interim but in the current endless sun I don't expect it would last long. We've already seen a toad and a huge dragonfly in the garden so my hopes are way up for its eventual success.
I popped out to take a picture of the irises and they've all gone to seed.
I'll be following The Wildlife Trusts' How to build a pond guide, including choosing some of their recommended plants. Yellow irises aren't on the list but they grow in profusion down the road along with reeds - I love they way they turn fluffy when they go to seed.
This part caught my interest as I would definitely not have waited: Step 6 Plants can be introduced to your pond approximately 1-2 weeks after the initial filling with water. Carefully selected native species (see below) will support your local wildlife.
#14 Make a home for wildlife
I made my first bee hotel over a month ago and for a month it sat empty. I thought the holes were wrong, the position, the wood. Then since the brambles I couldn't be bothered to cut back - and many that I did - bloomed and drew the bees back, it has filled up, even the holes I thought were too small. I've just added a second, it's not as neat, and I am preparing a third. It was such a magical moment seeing the first bees in there!
A pile of sticks in a quiet corner would work well as a home for beetles. I'm avoiding this at the moment as we have bit of a flatworm infestation - they're currently munching through my worms and have started on the strawberries. Turns out they love any sheltered damp places, hay, straw, leaves, wood, even plastic compost bags. I have made them a lot of homes.
17 June 2020
30 Days Wild - 8, 9, 10
in 30 Days Wild
I'm still catching up on The Wildlife Trusts' 30 Days Wild. Got the bird feeder up at last and am trying to be patient - while eyeing up a spot in the front garden for another.
#8 Protect Our Sea
Oh gosh, everything is so important. Bees, insects, trees, mental health, a thousand other things, and our oceans. I think it's good to have days like World Ocean Day. Taking care of our environment and our neighbours needs to be a daily responsibility - chore, habit, duty, pick one - but it's also good to take a day and remember why.
The oceans absorb and store more carbon than trees or grass and are precious ecosystems that, if nothing else, we need to protect in order to keep ourselves alive.
Image by Creature Candy, used with permission
Education is one of the keys to saving our oceans and our world. I've just come across the Scottish Seabird Centre, a charity dedicated to inspiring people to care for wildlife and the natural environment. Alas, it was through a Crowdfunder being run by Creature Candy. Like so, so many, they too are struggling right now.
It was all too easy to buy the £15 limited edition puffin print - above - £5 of which goes to the Scottish Seabird Centre. I adore the artwork and the bird. I may also have lined up a bit of a wishlist of items from Creature Candy - they sell beautiful stationary, soaps, and homewares, and donate 10% of all profits to associated wildlife charities, as well as using their art to raise awareness of threatened species in the UK. It's so gorgeous and such a good idea.
Links:
#9 Pledge a patch to butterflies
Some butterflies need grass, not flowers, I learned only this year. We've let a lot of our garden grass go to seed as it was easier than maintaining the whole lot, and now there are butterflies all over it. So I'm pledging the top of our long, narrow, steep garden as a dedicated wild area - with a couple of paths winding through for exploring. I'll be saving and adding any butterfly - and bee - friendly flowers and seeds I find. One tip from Nick Baker on his morning chats was to visit a garden centre once a month to see what was flowering - and what had the most insects attracted to it - and buy those for a continuously flowering, bug friendly garden!
I'll point again to the British Wildflower Meadow Seeds website for locally sourced seeds that are even sold by area. Not all seeds, including wildflower seeds, come from the UK, and not all are suited to your patch. This is a great way to ensure both!
#10 Feel the grass between your toes
As often as I can.
This post was not sponsored in any way.