The plot is abuzz with wildlife, including ladybirds, lacewings, bumblebees and ground beetles.
The plot is abuzz with wildlife, including ladybirds, lacewings, bumblebees and ground beetles. They're all marvellous for my crops; bees increase my yields by pollinating flowers, and ladybirds and lacewings eat a lot of aphids.
As well as these lovely, helpful insects I've also got a good smattering of the not-so-helpful varieties of wildlife, such as slugs, snails, chafer beetles and assorted aphids.
I've also spotted a few cabbage white butterflies hovering around my brassicas. It's hard to hate them though, as they cavort around with each other, fluttering charmingly above my rickety constructions of netting.
But until last week, I'd never seen anything bigger than a mouse on my plot. It lives in the compost heap and seems to love the warmth generated by decomposing matter.
Then I found a hedgehog. I don't know which of us was more surprised when I nearly ran it down with a wheelbarrow full of weeds. We both stopped dead (I'd spotted him beneath the barrow as I could barely see over the top) and he promptly rolled into a ball. Vic, my neighbouring plotter, grabbed some gloves to move him as he was right in the path, and I took a quick photo with my phone. We put him down by the shed and he scuttled off underneath it. I really hope he's living there as it would be lovely to see him. They eat a lot of slugs, so I'll look forward to a sharp decline in the slug population on the plot.
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