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| Go greener |
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| With a growing number of gardeners eschewing chemicals in favour of natural alternatives, we can suggest some effective products from our organic gardening selection |
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| Relax and refresh |
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| Good food freshly prepared daily, aromatic coffee, chilled wine and a grassy play area for the children. What more could you need? |
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| Food heaven |
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| Our Farm Shop is heaven for food lovers! Delicious handmade food, top quality groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and stylish cookware and gifts. |
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| The Discovery Walk |
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| As thousands of daffodils herald the spring, stroll or stride around our Walk while the youngsters enjoy the Nature Trail |
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Give your birds a Valentine treat!
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| Thursday, 14th February 2008 |
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IN THE GARDEN WITH PETA MARSHALL
Today (Thursday) is St Valentine’s Day. It’s the time when couples express their love by offering anything from flowers (of course) to chocolates (oh yes!).
A pot plant will do nicely. A garden centre voucher would do even better (although it’s not quite as exciting when presented, so I think it should be given in addition to the chocolates!).
But my message this week is not just to think about your loved one at this time. For St Valentine’s Day falls exactly at the time when garden birds are at their most vulnerable. It’s cold and wet, and February is when there is least natural food about for them. And all this occurs at a time when they need as much food as they can get in order to keep their little bodies warm. Just imagine yourself being consistently cold for several months – and then add starvation to that…I think even you’d be grateful for some seeds and a few strips of fat!
The garden centre offers lots of ideas for feeds and mixtures to give wild birds that visit your garden. In fact, here at Priory Farm we have our own special mixes that have been formulated for us by experts.
Here are the basic food recipe mixes available for the more common of our feathered visitors:
Robins: peanut granules, pinhead oatmeal, sunflower hearts and dried insects
Blackbirds: peanut granules, pinhead oatmeal, sunflower hearts, dried insects, flaked naked oats, flaked wheat, flaked maize, raisins, wheat, mixed seeds, white millet, large cut maize, black rape and aniseed oil and red dari (a seed that is rich in carbohydrates, proteins and oils, and is often used in parrot food)
Blue tits: sunflower seeds (small and black), white and red millet, hemp and large cut maize
Wrens: peanut granules, pinhead oatmeal and micro flaked oats
Sparrows: black sunflower, wheat, white and red millet, mixed seeds, maize, naked oats and red dari
Finches: top quality nyger seeds (which these birds adore)
This list isn’t exhaustive because we don’t have the room to list every type of wild bird. However, by supplying these foods you can attract more of your favourite bird species to the garden. And by choosing several of the mixes, many of the above the birds should be more content with their lot and, hopefully, live to survive another year in your garden.
In addition to our own mixes there are seasonal feeds, and all-year-round feeds, and simple fruit and nut mixes too.
At this point, though, there are a few do’s and don’ts I’d recommend:
DO position bird feeders and tables so that they are not easily got-at by cats, squirrels, rats and other unwelcome creatures hoping for a free meal.
DON’T forget to provide clean, fresh water daily. A birdbath is perfect as it is raised off the ground where the birds will feel safe. Alternatively, place a large dish of water in an open place, where predatory animals can’t hide and pounce without giving the birds a chance to fly away.
DO grow a few plants in your garden that encourage insects, and provide nesting sites for birds. Think about growing plants that produce fruits – if you like, ‘sacrificial crops’ that the birds will go to instead of you prized plants. And try to include some native species, as these tend to attract more insects off which the birds will feed. And finally…
DON’T store your bought bird food in an airing cupboard or attic, as these places are all too hot, and will make the food go bad, or unpalatable.
So if you ‘love’ birds like I do, then give them some attention this Valentines Day – although I doubt they’ll appreciate the candles and soft music! Happy gardening!
This week in your garden
Check that small, newly planted shrubs, like heathers, are still in the ground. Heavy frost can dislodge them.
If you have only a small garden, with little room for vegetables, then shallots would be a better option than onions. They’re flavour is milder than that of onions, and they’re easier to grow, too. Shallot bulbs are available now. Each bulb has the potential to produce upto 10 similar-sized ‘offsets’ by the end of the growing season – that’s 1000% return on your investment!
Clear away spent crops from your kitchen garden or allotment. A tidy-up will not only make the area look better, but it’ll reduce pest and/or disease attacks over the coming year.
Ponds are bare in the winter, exposing fish to cats or herons. Provide sanctuary for the fish by cutting some lengths of black plastic pipe, the wider the pipe the better, and gently drop it into the pond. It won’t be too obtrusive, but it could be the saving of your fish!
Winter gusts will bring down young trees (including fruit trees), so make sure tree ties and stakes are secure.
If you haven’t already pruned your apples and pears, do it without delay. Remove dead, diseased or crossing branches, before tipping back the ends of branches to a clean, healthy bud.
There is no better time than now for giving your garden tools and machinery the once-over. Spades, forks, shears, rakes and hoes could all do with a wipe. Get the worst of any dirt off with warm, soapy water, and then dry them.
Peta Marshall is the plant centre manager at Priory Farm in Nutfield. Website: www.prioryfarm.co.uk
NEXT WEEK: Vegetables in containers
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