Chewed Slow Worm - Monday 24.5.10

When I got to The Plot today, this Slow Worm was basking in the shade. 

WEIRD,  I thought.

So I picked it up, like you do. It went crazy, wiggling and squiggling like a mad thing. When it flipped onto its' back I took a good look and a picture.

It had small marks on its' belly. Nibbled by a cat I expect. I let it go and hoped it wasn't the one I found the other day.

I keep coming across these little critters; don't yet know what it is, or does, apart from live underground. Will find out.

Didn't expect to find this on a piece of fallen wood. The underside had droplets of water on it.

Better Late Than Never - Putting In The Spuds

Well what a great way to spend the day: 
putting in spuds.

They're going to be dropped into the green area next to my broad beans. Look how sunny it was today.

The bed will be a rectangle, which meant lifting some of the plastic sheeting to give me a top corner.  It's done a great job at keeping weeds down and weakening the big stuff. 

Found 3 amazing creatures inside 10 minutes. 

This big toad was under the soil, I flipped it out of the ground. I thought I had speared it on the prongs of the fork. It's OK, it didn't have a mark on it.

Then I almost stepped backwards onto this......

It's a Slow Worm, small, but perfectly formed.

As if to keep me on my toes, this little critter was leaping about all over the place. I scooped it up, took it's mug shot and released it. How perfect it was.

A Frog

Sill, I got on with my digging  and finally managed to get 4 rows in, out of 10. looking good.

I can taste them now, yummy!!

Me and My Gardening Day.

The customers had me running around cutting their lawns. PHEW!!

One customer showed me his dead looking BANANA PLANTS. I'm in the same boat, sadly. It was a nasty winter.

On the bright side, he showed off his pride and joy.  A Slow Worm, one of a pair, that snooze in the top of his compost heap. 

This is pretty normal around here at this time of year and one of the best things to see in a garden. For a different view of this beastie, go to http://muddygirly.blogspot.com/

In the same garden, quietly unfurling, are these fern fronds. Mine are still completely asleep and I live just down the hill.. NOT FAIR!

GARDEN PLOT

 Getting the Peas In.

Still in the loo roll centres and looking ready to be popped into hte warm soil.

Found quite a few of these CENTIPEDES hiding in the peas. Also found a Millipede, but it scarpered before I could get a piccy.

The other thing I found a few of was this - snails eggs ..... or are they slugs. As I can't see hoe snails would get inside the loo roll tubes, i reckon on them being slugs eggs. I put them, what ever they were, in the compost.

2 rows planted and 2 to go in.I took them out of the loo roll tubes, despite the fact tat the person who gave me the white tubes, said there's no need to as the roots push through the card easily. I didn't see any evidence of that happening.

Unwrapped seedling. I used last years used grow bag compost to start them off. Peas are power packs and don't need loads of rich compost to start with.

All in. The last 6 were left in the tubes, as an experiment to see how they compare with the other ones.

I made a small dip on the uphill side of each plant as a reservoir for watering.

My work here is complete. I head home for a nice cup of tea and a mooch around my own garden.

So WHAT'S NEW?

This reed is flowering. It has a lovely variegated leaf too.

Not a Forget Me Not!!

  This is a Forget Me Not!

My first Tulip of the year. I love Tulips.

Daffs are going over, Tulips are on their way, and everything else is zinging with colour. PUKKA SPRING BED.

Small, but perfectly formed.

AND my Plum's in bloom.

TIME FOR ANOVA CUPPA