I don’t half get through a lot of bird seed at work. I have a ‘Squirrel-proof’ 😀 bird feeder that is mostly used by the tits, but is also visited by Nuthatches, Robins, Chaffinches and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. For the species that struggle with a hanging feeder I sprinkle a few handfuls of feed on the top of a pile of pallets every morning. The same crowd that frequent the feeder also go on the flat surface and are joined by Pheasants, Pigeons, Jackdaws, Crows, Blackbirds, Dunnocks and the occasional Thrush, amongst others. I sometimes go out and shoo the large birds away to give the small ones a chance, but as soon as my back is turned they return to polish off what’s left of the seeds. The pallet feeder works quite well, because when I scatter the food on the top tier quite a lot of it drops through to the layers below, which is only accessible to the small birds…..and the squirrels!
The squirrels are quite greedy…..no, they are gluttonous. However, I know that they are classed as vermin, and there are far too many of them, but I have an admiration for them and their problem solving capabilities. I have the wherewithal to ‘deal’ with them. I have a high powered air rifle with telescopic sights that I could employ, but I don’t. There is one person, a regular reader of this blog, that will be horrified by my sentimental lily-livered approach to the ‘tree rat’ issue, she has many and varied macabre methods of dispatching those that dare to invade the sacred space of her garden. But I am a softie with a live and let live philosophy, exemplified by the way that I deal with the mice in the potting sheds and greenhouse. I have a daily cycle of baiting and setting live traps for them, taking them 100 metres to set them free by a ditch the following morning, and then racing them back to the shed to begin the whole process again. I’m sure that I have released the same mouse a dozen times. Maybe I’ll dab a spot of paint on its head to test the theory. A few years ago there was a citizen science project that established (using the paint method) that snails have an efficient homing instinct. Gastropods found in gardens were marked and relocated, and unless they were moved more than a certain distance (I can’t remember how far it was) the painted snails would return. I don’t think that it was a huge distance, but the study concluded that you need to move them further away than just a toss over the neighbours garden if you weren’t to see the same creatures munching on your lettuces the next day.
Sorry, I got side tracked. Back to the squirrels. So we have established that I am an admirer of them, marvelling at the way that they contort themselves into positions last seen on the high wire act at Billy Smart’s Circus, just to steal a few seeds from the laughingly labelled ‘Squirrel-proof’ feeder. They are quite bold with it, literally hanging on until the last moment when I approach, before darting off to the safety of the massive oak tree that stands majestically adjacent to the breakfast/brunch bar. I have found the best way to accelerate their departure is for me to stride towards them purposefully while loudly bellowing inane things like “what are you up to Mr Squizzle?!!”. I have found the best tone to adopt is a deep bass – like the voice of the butler in Downton Abbey, that has Mr Squizz scurrying away more promptly than my natural baritone vocal projection. For the crows, which devour seeds at a rapid rate I tend to rush out calling “Hey Mr Crowman Sir!” in a Jon Pertwee Wurzle Gummidge voice. Oh yes that’s very effective. I hope that I am never observed behaving like this, because if caught out I think the the men in white coats would soon be on the scene!
Last Monday I discovered that a large tree had fallen at the bottom of the orchard, and was blocking access to the paddock beyond. As the Beech had fallen it had removed a very substantial bough from a neighbouring Oak tree before crashing to the ground, demolishing an old 5 bar gate, and partially landing on a couple of apple trees that now stand at a jaunty angle. I spent some hours down there clearing the track to the paddock and removing the branches that were entangled in the fruit trees. A large heap of brash is being created for burning, and a pile of oak and beech logs is forming – next winter’s wood-burning stove fuel. I have only scratched the surface, so the chainsaw will be buzzing again tomorrow.
At least it’s the sort of job that you can get on with in this miserable, gloomy, frankly depressing weather. Heavy rain is forecast for Tuesday, so I will probably stay in the greenhouse and prune the peach tree and the three figs. The figs grow so vigorously that you skip a year of pruning at your peril, they are brutes. The dormant period is the time to cut them back though, for as soon as the sap begins to rise you will find that any pruning cuts you make flow with milky sap that irritates your skin if it makes contact with it. Frankly I would rather not have them in the greenhouse, but they are such old and well established trees that it would be a huge task to remove them, so I will just keep hacking them back and muttering under my breath.
On to fruit and veg. There will be Brussels sprouts, red kale, Savoy cabbages, sprout tops, red cabbage, leeks, onions, 2 types of carrots, beetroot, sweet potatoes, parsnips, swede, squash, and celery. Potatoes are Cara and Acoustic again. Disappointingly I have not been able to get any Blood Oranges yet, apparently bad weather in Italy has led to their delay. The Salustiana oranges are quite a good substitute though, and there are Sevilles again this week, but no Clementines. Lemons are Fino – not the massive ones that most of you got last week. I have held back on the Avocados this week because they have been so under ripe. If you don’t mind them like that and are happy to ripen them at home please let me know in the next couple of days and I will order some for the following week. Apples are crimson Crisp.
Right, I had better get back to the tax return, time is running out. Have a good week, and avoid the puddles, you do not knows what lurks beneath. Last week on the road between Clare and Cavendish numerous cars fell foul of a massive pot hole that was obscured by one. At one time there were apparently six cars on the side of the road at the same time in need of wheel changes, and probably with damaged suspensions.
Snowdrops, Aconites, and a few Daffodils are flowering, and the catkins are dripping from the Hazels, so there is some brightness amongst the gloom.
Phil