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Thursday 15 November 2012
Had to Have A Go
I saw Monty Don collecting leaves to make compost on TV last week. We don’t have leaves in anything like the same amount as he has but he suggested using a plastic bag to compost smaller quantities.
As it turned out to be a mild afternoon with some sunny spells I thought I’d sweep up the leaves that had fallen from the magnolia tree as they get really slippery on the path when they become wet.
Once swept into a pile the amount looked a little more promising. These were all transferred to a large black plastic bag given a good watering as they were on the dry side. As recommended a few hole were punctured through the bag before it was tied up to be left for the leaves to break down and form a rich crumbly compost. That’s the theory the practice might turn out to be something quite different.
The leaves that fall on the garden border will be left as they fall for the benefit of all the wildlife through winter.
Friday & Saturday 16 & 17 November 2012
A Trip to Cumbria
Friday wasn’t too bad a day with a little sunshine now and again until the rain arrived early in the evening and continued into the early hours of Saturday morning. We’d decided on a trip to Cumbria for Saturday and we didn’t let the wet start to Saturday morning put us off.
The forecast was for an improvement in the weather so we were hopeful the rain would be clear of Cumbria by the time we arrived. Much of the journey north up the A1 was wet but as we started to head west the weather started to improve.
The late morning and afternoon were pretty good with some nice sunny spells but it certainly felt cold when the sun disappeared behind the clouds.
That bit further north and the trees have shed virtually all their leaves now unless they’re nestled in a sheltered spot out of the wind. All too soon the light starts to fade and the chance of more photographs goes with it.
Sunday & Monday 18 & 19 November 2012
Look How Many Birds We’ve Lost
The last couple of days haven’t been too bad. Sunday was much sunnier that Monday. There was a strongish breeze on Monday and the temperature, rather oddly, steadily increased throughout the day.
I saw this report about how many birds we have lost since 1966 and thought it was worth a closer look.
I’ll start checking out our common garden birds just to see how they’re doing in the league tables of winners and losers. By far the easiest birds to start with in our garden are the goldfinches as they’re so easy to photograph happily feeding from the sunflower hearts just outside the window.
These brightly coloured little finches help themselves to sunflower hearts every day. The feeder is set to allow a maximum of three goldfinches at a time to stop the sparrows taking too much advantage.
So how are these little birds doing. Well the answer from the report is not too badly. In the period between 1970 and 2010 their population was up by 1.24 but conversely in the shorter term between 1995 and 2010 their population has decreased by a factor of 0.91. So I’d better keep on supplying them with sunflower hearts.
Their estimated population in Britain in 2009 was 1,200,000. Three years ago it was a rarity for us to see any goldfinches in the garden but since then a steady supply of niger seed and sunflower hearts has attracted them and now they are regular visitors.
You can download the full report from the RSPB’s web site here.
Tuesday & Wednesday 20 & 21 November 2012
Deja Vu
On Tuesday we managed the mildest temperature this month then quickly followed that with the wettest day of the month on Wednesday. That mildest temperature was 15.1°C well above expected for late November and the rain gauge notched up 13.4mm for the day. I’d like to think that will remain the wettest day of November but the forecast is for lots more rain and gale force winds over the next few days.
The rain has certainly brought down a lot more leaves from our magnolia tree. The path alongside the house was once again covered in leaves.
When the rain stopped on Wednesday afternoon I decided to sweep up the leaves and continue my black bag leaf composting trial as recommended by Monty Don on Gardener’s World. I’d got some sound advice from Liz who’d tried this method, not too successfully, and found that normal plastic bags start to break down before the leaves. So Liz recommended using old compost bags which are considerably stronger instead.
The newly fallen leaves were swept up and along with the contents of the previous plastic bag all added into an old compost bag. With a good shake the leaves settled enough to allow the top of the bag to be tied up. A few drainage holes were made and it contents left to produce some (hopefully) magical compost.
On the garden, beneath the magnolia tree, there’s still an amazing covering of leaves. These will all be left where they are to break down in their own time and improve the soil in this area of the garden. The wildlife will enjoy foraging amongst them through winter. I did remove the leaves from the bird bath to leave enough space for the birds to actually have a bath.
