On a grassy verge at Market Street there stands an stands an old apple tree on the wonk. By a zebra crossing, beneath a red-bricked box-like factory with blinded windows and opposite, across the road, advertising billboards for computer games. The trunk must be at least nine inches across at the fork which forms a [...]
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Posts Tagged ‘wasp’
15 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman AN APPLE TREE ON THE CORNER OF MARKET STREET BRACKNELL
Sunday, November 15th, 200930 September 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman SPIDER VERSUS WASP
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009Sounds of frantic buzzing caused me to stop typing and look up. I scouted round then saw a hapless wasp and spider locked in combat by the handle of a window that is rarely opened above a line of well-thumbed books. I looked closely. The web consisted a net of random trip wires. A smallish [...]
Read More »22 September 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman AUTUMN STARTS HERE?
Tuesday, September 22nd, 200922 September 2009 AUTUMN STARTS HERE? Someone said that autumn starts today. Certainly here in North Dorset you can feel it whispering in on the morning breeze. Either that or maybe I should be wearing an extra jumper? It’s been a dry September and so far warm too. Plenty of chiffchaff’s decorating the sunken [...]
Read More »6 September 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman LAST VICTORIA PLUMS
Sunday, September 6th, 20096 September 2009 LAST VICTORIA PLUMS The last three Victoria plums are in a tray bound for the kitchen. I had been anticipating this day
Read More »1 September 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman IT’S A JUNGLE PARTS 1 & 2
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009IT’S A JUNGLE (PART 1) Wasps are gorging on grapes that hang in pale-green bunches from a rampant vine above the water butt. They hover around, land, find some sweet stuff and get stuck in, head first. I wouldn’t nave noticed except there were four wasps drowning in the circular concrete pool below. I did [...]
Read More »28 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman PESTS & DIEASES
Friday, August 28th, 200928 August 2009 PESTS & DISEASES Consistency of action is vital to gardening success, even at this late stage of the season. I’ve had distractions elsewhere for a day or two but this morning passed a caretaker’s eye over purple sprouting broccoli which I’ve been nurturing with the ‘hungry gap’ next March to early May [...]
Read More »25 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman AUTUMN COMETH
Tuesday, August 25th, 200922 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman SEX ON THE MENU
Saturday, August 22nd, 200922 August 2009 SEX ON THE MENU While sitting on a bench this morning amongst fruit trees with a cup of tea, the distinctive watery, sad-but-sweet sound of a singing robin washed around the garden and my ears. As flies and wasps and other bug-eyed insects circled, danced and landed on the flat umbel-shaped platters [...]
Read More »14 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE ACCEPTABLE & UNACCEPTABLE CONSEQUENCES OF SHARING
Friday, August 14th, 200914 August 2009 THE ACCEPTABLE & UNACCEPTABLE CONSEQUENCES OF SHARING I’ve an apple called Scrumptious down at the far end of my plot. It’s a great little tree, been in six years or so. Not sure of the rootstock, but figure it must be dwarfing as it’s no taller than me and right now is [...]
Read More »13 August 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman APPLE DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, PIGEONS SQUABBLE OVER ELDERBERRIES, SPIDERS AT 10.15AM
Thursday, August 13th, 200913 August 2009 APPLE DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN Just had the first home-grown apple of this season. A Merton Knave. It dangled from a step over tree, or ‘single tier espalier’, which I’ve nurtured for seven years from a maiden whip in front of the south-facing greenhouse as a decorative and productive edge. It just [...]
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