Wednesday 2 August 2017

In the garden July 2017

Hello

It's been a while since I last posted here but I intend to rectify that and blog at least once a month from now on. So advance warning - this a photo heavy post.
To be honest I have been sad about some of the things that have been happening locally which have affected the wildlife here and that means less to show.  My garden was once busy with birds, butterflies, insects and all sorts during the day and hedgehogs and the odd sighting of bats at night.
But one of the things that happen as you get older or maybe busy with other life things is that it can become hard to maintain a garden and changes then happen to make it easier to look after but sadly it has a knock on effect to wildlife too.

the first problem goes back to 2013 you can read about it here if you would like to see how the garden went .....from this
 
 
 to this
 
The after photo showing the same view with the new fencing.
 
But last year, those shrubs and trees at the border over the fence in the neighbours garden that you can see above (and the whole border of their big garden that you cannot see here) were completely removed leaving no tall trees for the birds.
We are still trying to make our garden both easy to maintain but also have things to encourage wildlife too - an ongoing project.
 
 These are our 2 Nispero trees  (Loquat) which are now probably about 10-12 feet high and somewhere for the birds too sit and hide.
 

 
 Aren't Sunflowers lovely cheerful flowers..
One Sunny afternoon I sat doing a little sketching in the garden
 with my water colours and watching the birds
 
 
I wasn't pleased with my result that day ..
so another day I painted the Sunflower again.
yes... not brilliant ... but I quite like this Sunflower
and while I was sitting outside one of my friendly Woodpigeons was sitting right by me eating... he stayed for about 40 minutes.
 
 
 

 
 

I recognise him by his light feather on his wing
 
When we first moved here I had never seen so many butterflies all at once in a garden; the Buddleias were covered with them.
 Over the years butterfly and bee numbers have dwindled considerably, but this year I have seen quite a lot, so hopefully that is a good sign of things getting better. 
 
 

 
 
 
  
 
  I love Tagettes/Marigolds and have them everywhere.
And there's Tomatoes over the back too.
 


 
 
These are my 'Rike' Tagette seeds that Rike sent me..
you can just see it says that on the label :)
 
 
 
Some birds still visit which makes me very happy



 
 
And there are vegetables growing everywhere

 
 
We ate our first tomato today
but have been eating lots of French beans,
courgette and chard and the rest is in the freezer.
 
 
and we discovered Tromboncini this year

 
The Tromboncini squash can grow up to a metre long
 
 
 
 
 

 
If you like courgettes you will love Tromboncini as
its a bit like courgette but much better.
We have ours diced and steamed and I could eat a plate full..
nice with a little grated cheese on or in a pizza we found too.
 


 Help yourself to a slice of pizza if you like :)
 
all for this time.. 
Thanks for stopping by
Gill x
 
 

6 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

It seems to be the same everywhere, the number of birds and insects is growing less. Trees are being felled and pesticides are being used more and more. Did you ever read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"? Love your painted sunflowers. Hugs, Valerie

Gibby Frogett said...

Thanks Valerie .. and I will look up that book also as I've not heard of that xx :)

Dortesjs said...

waue what a gorgeous garden you have.love love. i will put your link on my garden blog to. thank you. I will follow your garden and your art.

xx
Dorte
http://fastersurtehave.blogspot.dk/

froebelsternchen said...

Your garden is so beautiful and I bet the wildlife will come back. I love all this photos and I would really like to taste this pizza!
Love to see Marigold plants with Rike's seeds.
Your sunflowers are beautiful and your paintings are beautiful as well Gill!
oxo Susi

Let's Art Journal said...

What a shock it must have been for both you and the wildlife when the neighbouring garden was cleared! It looks like you garden is establishing itself again as a wildlife haven with those beautiful butterflies and bees 😁. It's thriving well with all the greenery, flowers and veggies and I notice on your photos that the fence is slowly disappearing behind plants and trees too. Your sunflower paintings are fabulous, I love the shading with the turquoise paints too! Wow, you have so many yummy veggies and I've never heard of or seen tromboncini before. I love courgettes so I think I would love this too, it sounds so delicious on pizza and it's so nice of you to share ... lol 😉. Happy gardening and wishing you a lovely weekend! J 😊

Rike said...

Your garden is sooo beautiful!! Great working you have done on this place, but now you can harvest such wonderful vegetables, and all the beautiful flowers bring sunshine to your heart! Thanks for showing me the little tagetes - I send nice greetings to them and hope that they soon will bloom!
I have never seen tromboncini before, but they look great! Yes, please, a little piece of that pizza for me!
Now your garden brings back the wilderness of nature and allures birds and butterflies again to come in.
I like your painted sketches and the big sunflower!
Liebe Grüße Rike x