greenbenchramblings

New Chucks

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 8, 2011

I have acquired a couple of new hybrids to add to our flock. We are getting fewer eggs these days as our bantams are now rather elderly as bantams go. The Hybrids which we have had now for nearly a year are still laying well but these new girls should boost production as the originals begin to age and slow down their egg laying activities. The new chucks are a Sussex cross, who is mostly white apart from her black tail and hackle and a Bluebell, with strange airforce blue and grey plumage with a contrasting amber chest.

Bluebell - still shy in front of the lens.

Tags chickens, garden livestock

garden photography gardening hardy perennials

Golden Spires

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 7, 2011

The massive forked flower spikes of Verbascum bombyciferum in the Chicken Garden.

Each time the sun momentarily burst through the blackened skies which produced sporadic heavy showers all morning, it lit up the golden spires of verbascum and ligularia.

Ligularia in front of verbascum in our "Hot Border.

Tags ligularia, verbascum

garden wildlife gardening

Sharing my coffee break.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 4, 2011

During one of my many breaks for coffee whilst gardening I was joined by this little chap. He stayed for a while – long enough in fact for me to fetch my camera and take his portrait. While I enjoyed my coffee he perched on the seat beside me being fed with chewed up Amelanchier berries provided by his mum.

Tags blackbirds, garden wildlife

allotments community gardening Uncategorized

scarecrows and sunflowers

We have launched our competitions this year at Bowbrook Allotments Community – scarecrows and sunflowers. We will be judging the scarecrows on our National Garden Scheme (Yellow Book) open day on July 17th but leaving the measuring of the sunflowers until late summer. We measure the height to find the tallest grown by a child and by an adult and measure the width of the flowerheads to determine the biggest grown by an adult and a child.

The scarecrow competition last year produced two very worthy winners.

DSCN0644 — These two characters won the adult class.

The Willow Man won in the children’s competition.

Tags allotments, community gardening, scarecrows, sunflowers

allotments garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own

The Green Bench

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 16, 2011

So what will the greenbenchramblings be? The green bench is a rather old faded green plastic garden bench. It is a little brittle now and suffering from age. Its feet are chipped and cracked but it is where I sit to write in my special notebook. This notebook is a “Moleskine” with inviting cream pages inside its soft black cover, and in here I write my thoughts on “green things” – my lottie, my garden, wildlife and conservation.

The green bench currently lives on our allotment at Bowbrook Allotment Community on the outskirts of Shrewsbury, and it moved with us when we gave up our lottie on the far side of town.

It is where I take my rests, drink my tea and coffee during my very frequent breaks and where I nibble my fruit at lunchtime. When I sit I look and think and when thoughts come to me I pencil them into my “Moleskine”.

I have been making greenbenchramblings for a few years now so sometimes my ramblings will be retrospective. So welcome to my ramblings – enjoy them.