MY GARDEN UPDATE ~ JULY

| gaiainaction

It has been a while since I did serious work in the garden, seeing that I had not sowed nor planted anything this season, I had let the garden be for the bees and the insects, they of course took full advantage of the wilderness, and though there were not as many insects around this summer, I was still able to find some today. I had my little helper with me all day, Ruben, my grandson, came over and we both put on our wellingtons and out we went, we soon started to pull some of the overgrown cleavers away from other plants, also some of the ivy was removed. The two cold frames were totally overgrown some of the plants were pushing up the plastic and some had grown through it! Ruben, being almost 6 and a very enthusiastic worker was lifted into the frame and soon had pulled all the ‘weeds’ out, they then went on to the compost heap. We covered the earth in one of the cold frames with comfrey leaves, that will be good for the soil.

The last of the kale
Comfrey leaves down
Back of garden wilderness
Starting to shape up

Ian came and cut the grass so we could use this for mulching as well.  We spotted quite a few insects and I am happy to say that Ruben does not mind them at all, he is just very interested in the little creatures and seems to quite love them.  Here is one beauty sitting on the flowers of a parsley plant, there were several others on the same plant.

DSCF6902
Then there were all these weevils, and several different types of beetles, spiders, and caterpillars, lots of woodlouse as well. And the snails and slugs could not be counted, so many.

Weevil

We have at this moment quite a few of these most beautifully scented white clover growing, I sowed them last year to improve the soil and they are giving a lovely display this summer.  They will be good for the soil.  The flowers of the parsley are quite beautiful too, they seem to attract many different insects.

And so the summer is moving along, there is more work to do, is lots to prepare before we leave for Gozo in autumn, though the garden will not be unattended while we are gone as there will be people in and out of the place all the time, still, I must make sure that when we return the garden will be ready for me to start more planting.

27 thoughts on “MY GARDEN UPDATE ~ JULY”

  5. Pingback: MY GARDEN UPDATE ~ JULY – agoyvaerts – WORLD ORGANIC NEWS

  9. thanks a lot for sharing your garden and little visitors with us, dear Agnes. Really lovely flowers and insects you have in your garden. I love these macros a lot. The evil weevil is really funny. Hope you’re fine, kind regards from cold and rainy Hamburg, Mitza

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Wjat a great collection of beetles, the photos are so good. Your grandson sounds like a most impressive boy. My mother’s parents were both keen gardeners, I got my love of gardenig from them and you brought back some nice memories with this post. Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I think the orange bug at the top may be a variety of soldier beetle. I’ve sometimes had them in their thousands during particular ?mating seasons, but not every year.

    In any case, they’re supposed to be helpful predators.

    Great pics.

    Cheers,

    Frank

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you Frank, yes I think you are right, thanks for bringing it to our attention, it’s always nice to put a name to a creature, yes they are mating and yes there are quite a few of them this summer. Great to have you on-board 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment