Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
March 31, 2009: busy with bees
Spring has sprung and Terry Walton sets up a home for a solitary bee to move into
Spring has sprung! With the clocks moving forward, it's official - spring is here. Did no one tell Mr Jack Frost of this event? Sunday morning looking out at my garden he had been about bright and early sprinkling the grass with shining ice crystals glistening in the cool morning sun. The birds, desperate to celebrate the dawn were pecking frantically at the solid ice on the water of my bird bath. This is the dawn of spring?
Still, this is a mere hiccup in the strange weather that March threw at us. Let’s rejoice now that April is here. This is the month of gentle showers and warm sunshine. It is the month of the young as the plants and trees begin to blossom and begin their new growing year. The tender, lush foliage welcomes us to a new beginning.
There is a definite 'spring' in the gardener’s step as seed packets appear and are ready for action. These seeds are keen to get a new life. The conditions and the soil are hopefully welcoming and will give them the perfect start to the growing season.
There are furrows being ploughed on the plot to plant those early potatoes eager to leave their place in the shed. They have produced sturdy green sprouts and are 'eyeing' those furrows as their new home. The little brown onion sets are also eagerly waiting to go into their lovingly-prepared, rich bed and get on with the job of producing those magnificent large onions for late summer.
Sowings of carrots, beetroot, peas and many others can now be sown in prepared seed beds. Sown thinly into drills as little specks of dust, they soon show green shoots of life.
Most members of the hardier range of crops can be started to provide early harvests. Don’t let my enthusiasm get you to sow too soon; it all depends on conditions in the area in which you live. The tender crops such as cucumbers, squashes, courgettes and the French and runner beans are best left in their packets a wee while longer and even then can only be sown in the relative safety of a greenhouse.
But now the excitement of what prospects lie ahead start to creep into your gardening visits and soon that barren landscape will be vibrant with new life.
They say beware of strangers bearing gifts but the one that I received last week was gratefully appreciated. It was not a complete stranger who gave me this unusual gift but a gardening acquaintance. What was this unusual gift? It was a home for solitary bees to inhabit and lay their eggs. Many you will by now know that I am a great bee fan and we must all rally to help them flourish. These are one of the gardeners’ greatest allies and I did not know that there were many hundreds of species of the solitary bee. To me these creatures were mostly sociable types living in big colonies.
I have sited this home in the wall of my greenhouse facing south east. Apparently this is the perfect position to encourage them to use this home. I will watch with great expectation in the coming weeks to observe the comings and goings of these solitary insects to see if they set up residence.
Then look out, plenty of help in pollinating my crops and bumper harvests lies ahead - every little helps.
Useful links
- Terry Walton on the plight of the humble bee
- Terry Walton's weekly allotment diaries
- Wildlife watch: the bee
- The honey bee in Saga Magazine
- Saga's 'Beekeeping for Beginners' holiday
- Creature comforts: encouraging biodiversity in the garden
- Chat about gardening at Saga Zone
My Life On A Hillside Allotment
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press. The book is available from Amazon.
