Category: Nature

Products Have Only Travelled 10 Miles

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Products Have Only Travelled 10 Miles

There are not many products you can buy which have only travelled 10 miles from source to point of sale. But if you bought some of the preserves and conserves from Daisy Graze at the first Wenvoe Farmers Market that is exactly what would have happened. With fruit from our orchards such as crab-apple and bullace, over to Dinas Powys for preparation and back to Wenvoe for sale. Delighted to see Wild Orchard Bullace jam with this uncommon fruit around here picked in the orchard at St Lythans. To buy from Daisy Graze either try Farmer’s Markets or call in at Janine’s house 22 Greenfield Avenue, Dinas Powys, CF64 4BW.

We would like to thank the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Local Nature Partnership team for cutting the Goldlsand and Community Orchards. This year has seen rampant growth of the vegetation, and we have struggled to keep it under control so help like this is most welcome.

We have renewed the Licence we have with the Vale of Glamorgan Council to look after the Upper Orchid Field so this now runs for another 10 years.

Jobs for the month

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

Jobs for the month

 

  1. Depending on the weather, try to lift any dahlias and clean them off; then store in kiln dried sand or dry compost in a frost-free place.
  2. Collect any rose leaves with black spot and bin them. If you don’t do this the spores will infect more plants next year.
  3. Make sure you plant your tulips this month. Plant them deep or you may only get one season from them.
  4. Lift any remaining begonia tubers and dry them, then store as dahlias.
  5. Cut roses down by a third to prevent wind rock.

 

It’s hard to get motivated when it’s gloomy and with less daylight, but anything you can do now will be a big help for next season. Weeds seem to grow whatever the weather, it’s a miserable job in the Summer but seems worse at this time of year. It is an essential task though and cannot be ignored. Mulching is very important, to keep the ground covered and stop soil erosion. This should be laid about 3ins, 75mm, thick to do a good job, which can be expensive if you buy the stuff television gardeners recommend. Grass cuttings, fallen leaves or old compost will suffice. The worms will love you for it and it will improve the soil no end. It’s a fact that if it were not for worms then we wouldn’t have such productive soil so the more worms you have the better the soil. Worms add 5mm to soil depth each year. They are brilliant at breaking down pollutants and turning them into nontoxic molecules. I could go on, but all these facts are available on the Soil Association site. They are the leading charity on the protection of our soil and the way it’s used.

The overall message from the allotment folk is that the year to date has not been good. With the coolest summer for nine years, it has proved to be challenging at Twyn Yr Odyn. Even the prolific Gareth Lewis has had an off year. He has been heard playing Slayer (a rock band apparently) to his plants with no improvement. Some of the older gardeners have seen it all before and love the challenge of tending the soil on top of the hill in a howling gale with rain lashing across – and that’s in June. They are committed to their task, that’s for sure. Even with all this to put up with, they will be planting peas and broad beans to over winter and give an early crop next year hopefully. The National Allotment Association is a membership well worth considering if you’re serious about your patch.

Please remember to check any bonfires you may be lighting, as hedgehogs find them irresistible. If you do cook one accidentally then take salt & pepper with you as they are quite bland.

Take care and happy gardening.

 

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

It Was A Brock,

IT WAS A BROCK,

It was a brock, a grey, a pate or a bawson. They were around in Britain between half a million and three quarters of a million years ago where they co-existed with wolves, brown bears, arctic foxes and wolverines. They live underground in setts and a group of badgers living together is called a clan. To those of you who follow our Facebook Page (Wenvoe Wildlife) you will have seen some great shots of badgers in the parish. We do not reveal where they have been seen as badger baiting (using dogs to hunt and kill badgers illegally) is still a problem.

Badgers are at the centre of a major debate between those farmers who believe badgers can help spread TB (bovine tuberculosis) to cattle and those who believe killing the badgers will not cure the TB problem. In the last 10 years it is believed that around 230,000 badgers have been culled. However in Wales the Government have put an end to culling whilst other options to eradicate TB are considered. To find out more about the pros and cons go online.

Badgers have played a significant role in literature including the Wind in the Willows, the Redwall series, Watership Down and Beatrix Potter books. Sometimes they are friendly, sometimes less so. Going back further, they appear in both European and Asian folklore – Chinese and Japanese tradition have them as shapeshifters. They are meticulously clean animals having latrines a little way away from the sett and changing their bedding of straw, grass or bracken periodically. At times they will take their bedding outside to ‘air’ and kill off any bugs and parasites. They have even been known to bring garlic leaves into the sett to help deter unwanted insects.

Along with the poet, John Clare, 200 years ago we can celebrate:

The badger grunting on his woodland track

With shaggy hide and sharp nose scrowed

With black roots in the bushes and the woods

 

The Veg Gardeners Of Wenvoe Are Still Busy

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

The Veg Gardeners Of Wenvoe Are Still Busy

The RHS have made it quite clear that the use of water butts must be a priority for anyone with a garden. We are asked to be prepared and start storing ready for next year by fitting them to down pipes and add others to them as funds allow. It is said that up to 24,000 litres of rain falls on a roof throughout the year, with most over the Winter period.

Strulch, organic garden mulch, seems to be the next gimmick that advertisers say we can’t do without. It makes fantastic claims, which must be true, or they wouldn’t be allowed to say so. It is expensive and like any mulch will be absorbed into the soil over time. Options to this are plentiful, one could just spread old compost over the ground and even grass cuttings now and again and this time of year fallen leaves will do the same job. This I promise you will do more for your soil and less damage to the bank balance. Leave it on the shelf and buy more plants to cover any bare soil. If you really need to put straw on your beds, buy a bale from a farmer at a fraction of the price.

 

While working in Dyffryn the other week we were cutting back a big shrubbery where each year we leave all the clippings on the ground. This keeps the undergrowth manageable and by the Spring it has all disappeared. All the plants do well, without any other nutrients being added.

 

The gardens look a bit scruffy now. In this part of the country, we are still cutting the grass and weeds are growing as well as ever. Cutting back perennials, pulling out annuals and raking the leaves off lawns are must-do jobs. Take out the trays from under pots and lift them off the floor to stop water logging. You don’t need to buy those pot feet; a few stones will suffice. Cut roses back by half to stop the wind loosening the roots. The main pruning will be done in March when you need to take a little more care.

 

The veg gardeners of Wenvoe are still busy. Nicola will be dividing the rhubarb and adding well-rotted manure. Barry Harper takes hardwood cuttings of currants and gooseberries to replenish the older stock and Bernard cuts back the asparagus stems once they’ve yellowed. Don’t dig up the roots of peas and beans, they are a good source of nitrogen and will rot down in the soil. It’s the perfect time to plant garlic, an inch deep and be sure to label. You can tell it’s October as Northerner Mike Johnson can be seen in the churchyards collecting leaves to make leaf mould for next year. The allotmenteers have not had their best year. They say that the coolest summer for 9 years with only short spells of good weather were the main reasons.

 

There are some vacant plots at the allotments. There is nothing like growing your own fresh produce along with all the free advice you will ever need.

 

Thanks to all who entered the village show, without your participation it wouldn’t happen.

 

Take care and happy gardening

 

 

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

The Leaves Are Putting On Their Autumn Hue

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

The Leaves Are Putting On Their Autumn Hue

 

It’s that time of year again, the leaves are putting on their Autumn hue, the children are going back to school and the garden centres are full of Christmas decorations. The garden puts on an autumn colour with late flowering perennials to the fore. New crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths should be planted now to get the best displays in Spring. Hold back on planting tulips until late October, or they may rot. Keep up with deadheading so we have colour until the first frosts. Divide herbaceous perennials to provide free plants; by doing this it will freshen up the older plants. Take cuttings of fuchsias and pelargoniums, they will take a bit of care over Winter, but they are free.

September is the time when most people will be repairing their lawn. To repair patches, mix some seed with compost and spread over areas that are bare. You will need to keep these patches damp and protected from birds. Annie Bennett will be reseeding her front lawn this month and will be on hand if you need any advice. Do not put a Spring or Summer lawn feed on the grass at this time of year as it’s nitrogen rich and will promote speedy growth which will weaken the grass before winter. We need to use a fertiliser high in potassium to help the root system.

On the allotments and veg gardens harvesting is still going on. Mike Marsh has cut all the tops off his main crop potatoes three weeks before digging them up to prevent any chance of blight affecting his crop. Clear any straw beneath your strawberries to stop pests overwintering in it. Don’t leave any rotting fruit on trees as this will spread disease. Cut back the fruited canes on the summer raspberries and leave the green new ones that will bear fruit next year.

The more ground you can keep covered the easier it will be for you and will stop soil erosion. Hardy peas and broad beans can be planted now along with shallots and onion sets. Any soil not covered can be planted up with a green manure crop or covered in weed fabric. This will save a lot of time come the Spring.

Please enter the Village Show with some of your produce (page 4&5). Take care and happy gardening.

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

The Arnolfini Wedding and Wenvoe

The Arnolfini Wedding and Wenvoe

What connects this famous painting – the Arnolfini Wedding by Jan van Eyck – with Wenvoe?

The garment the bride is wearing is edged with white fur but more on that later. Whilst we prefer our wildlife to be alive and flourishing these days, history confirms how animal fur from earliest times kept us warm and, later, fashionable. Peers of the realm often wore and can still be seen wearing at big state events a white fur with black spots. This is the fur of the Stoat recorded not so long ago near Burdons Farm. The white fur is its winter coat and is called Ermine. The stoat has a black tip to the tail, hence the black spots on ceremonial gowns. Sable is another fur from a weasel-like animal.

Less well-known is Miniver although you may have come across Mrs Miniver, a wartime film of 1942. Miniver is the white fur from the Red Squirrel, and it is this that provides the edging to the bride’s dress in the painting featured. The Grey Squirrel was only introduced to the UK in the nineteenth century, some say from 1876. Whilst there are no Red Squirrels anywhere near Wenvoe these days we do seem to have reasonable numbers of weasels as they have been appearing on our wildlife cameras.

 

Successful Orchard Pruning Course

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Successful Orchard Pruning Course

A successful Orchard Pruning course was organised by the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Nature Partnership group and held at the Community Orchard. Enabling this to happen was a great team effort. The Church Hall was hired for discussions and refreshments and Mike Tucker and members of the Environment Team turned out at the weekend to clear the footpath from Vennwood Close to the Playing Fields. The Council arranged for the Orchard to be cut and the Wildlife Group had the noticeboard repainted. Three members of the Wildlife Group attended the course which covered summer pruning techniques, tool usage and safety. We hope further courses will be organised in the future.

We were delighted to receive a donation of £200 from the new Care Home – Glenburnie Lodge. This followed a nomination by Mike and Glenys Tucker as their chosen local charity. We continue to receive occasional donations from local residents, and we would like to extend our thanks to them for their continued support.

The wildlife cameras are recording some fascinating wildlife including Tawny Owls, Weasels and Badgers

 

Successful Orchard Pruning

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Successful Orchard Pruning

 

A successful Orchard Pruning course was organised by the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Nature Partnership group and held at the Community Orchard. Enabling this to happen was a great team effort. The Church Hall was hired for discussions and refreshments and Mike Tucker and members of the Environment Team turned out at the weekend to clear the footpath from Vennwood Close to the Playing Fields. The Council arranged for the Orchard to be cut and the Wildlife Group had the noticeboard repainted. Three members of the Wildlife Group attended the course which covered summer pruning techniques, tool usage and safety. We hope further courses will be organised in the future.

We were delighted to receive a donation of £200 from the new Care Home – Glenburnie Lodge. This followed a nomination by Mike and Glenys Tucker as their chosen local charity. We continue to receive occasional donations from local residents, and we would like to extend our thanks to them for their continued support.

The wildlife cameras are recording some fascinating wildlife including Tawny Owls, Weasels and Badgers

Grasshoppers And Crickets

Grasshoppers And Crickets

If you have replaced your lawn with artificial turf or keep it close cut through the summer you will probably not see any grasshoppers. However, let the grass grow, even in just a patch or two and you are likely to be rewarded with some. In the first year that the School let the grass in the wildlife patch grow tall the children found (and heard on hot days) several of them. There are a number of species of both grasshopper and cricket that pop up in sympathetically-managed gardens in Wenvoe and we have recorded Field, Meadow and Common Green Grasshoppers along with Speckled Bush Crickets, Dark Bush Crickets (see photo) and Short-winged Coneheads. Bush Crickets are different from ‘true’ Crickets which we are unlikely to see locally. Bush Crickets have long antennae whereas grasshoppers have relatively short ones.

Grasshoppers often appear in literature. One of Aesop’s fables was the Ant and The Grasshopper and Keats wrote a poem entitled On the Grasshopper and Cricket. Charles Dickens wrote The Cricket on the Hearth. And who can forget the dapper Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. Against a backdrop of a decline in our flying insects by 60% over the last 20 years we cannot afford to ignore the plight of many species. A Government report states – ‘Invertebrates are integral to our natural environment, fundamental to the food chain and excellent indicators of the health of our natural habitats’.

Watering, Weeding And Dead Heading

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Watering, Weeding And Dead Heading

Watering, weeding and dead heading are the jobs that need attending to every day at this time of year in an attempt to keep the garden looking it’s best for as long as possible. Some of the late flowering plants, such as dahlias and lilies, will need supporting in the wind and possible rain. Penstemons will need to have the spent flower heads removed to encourage the plant to give one more display before the end of the season. Wisteria whips should be cut back to keep this vigorous plant in check. Rhododendrons and camellias will need extra water at this time of year to encourage next years flower buds to develop. Take cuttings of pelargoniums and fuchsias for propagation. A little care will be needed but they will be free plants for next year. Late August into September is the best time to treat perennial weeds. They will take the weed killer back into the roots as they come to the end of their season.
Garden centres will have some good offers during August on perennial plants that have finished flowering this year. With a little care these will come back next year, bigger and with more blooms. You will know when the offers are on, as the Christmas stuff will be going on the shelves.
If you’re going on holiday in August be prepared for a very different looking allotment when you return, unless you arrange with neighbours to do some watering and to pick some of your produce. It’s better to share than waste. If you stop picking, some crops will go to seed or go past their best.
This time of year there will be a lot of green waste and not enough of the dry brown stuff to stop the compost from being sludgy. By shredding some paper and drying some of the green stuff under the sun you will help keep the compost heap working as it should. It’s a a good time to be turning the compost bins over, as the more heat you can get into it the better.
The village show on September 7th will hopefully be as successful as last year. This, of course, will depend on folk entering their wares and the volunteers.
Take care and happy gardening.

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

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