Kezza

Watering the garden your thoughts...

Hi Stuart

Q1: How would you describe the size of your garden?

c) Large

Q2: How do you store rainwater/recycled water in your garden? Please indicate which of the following statements apply:

b)    “I collect rainwater in 2 water butts”

Q3: How do you water your garden? Please mark all of the below methods that apply:

g)    Watering can (filled from a water butt containing rain water)

h)   Other, please specify - hosepipe off a water butt

Q4: If some of the time you water your garden with rainwater what factors make you revert back to tap water?

 if the butts ran dry

Q5: If I was designing a product to water your garden what would the three most important considerations be. Please mark those that are applicable below:

c)    Efficiency: I want to make sure my plants receive adequate water”

g)    Pressure: “I need to ensure there is adequate pressure to successfully water    my garden”

h)   Range: “I need to be able to water my garden at long range without losing pressure”.

 Ta

what do you think is the best make of bird food you have bought?

Ooooh, that's interesting jatnikapyar - fat balls full of Sand ????  I haven't found that yet, so will have to keep a look out, though must say that the gorgeous long tail tits that visit me regularly now scoff them down no end, I counted 8 all at once on my fat ball feeder cage on Saturday, they love the fat balls.  I also like the mix of soaked oats, fruit etc that you put out for the birds.  I'll try that this weekend and see what happens. 

what do you think is the best make of bird food you have bought?

Hi Alan4711

How about grinding up some peanuts til it's near powder to mix with your fat cakes ?  I used to make fat cakes years ago, but found the same problem, that they melt in the summer (I didn't follow my own tip above though, so it may work).  I'm lazy nowadays, and buy fat balls and cakes as I can get them so cheaply in the quid shops.  Hope the above tip is worth a go though.  Or maybe porridge oats, something dry to stabilise the fat content.

what do you think is the best make of bird food you have bought?

I buy the CJ wild bird seed, no mess variety.  I pay around 18 quid at my local pet store.   The only mess makers I find are actually the coal tits.  I've watched them constantly spitting out every single thing til they find what they want, a sunflower seed I presume, so have started buying sunflower hearts separately now.  The chaffinches and collared doves I get do do a good job of clearing up the spat out bits though.  I get a small bag of sunflower hearts for a quid at the local pound store, along with 100g bag of dried mealworms.  The mealworms are far cheaper this way, and also fat balls / cakes.  A pack of 8 balls for a quid, or 3 fat cakes for 75p.  Feeding birds can be expensive so I try to save money where I can, but as Lyn above says, once you start you can't stop, and I also enjoy watching the birds feeding.  The other product I get is Nyger seeds.  I tend to buy these from Pet-Supermarket.com as it's the best price I could find, and with free delivery too.  To hear the gold finches squabbling over the Nyger makes me smile, even if I can't always see them from the other side of the garden.  I love to know that they're all getting a good feed.  Peanuts I get from the local pet shop too, but they're about 36 quid for a ?12.75 / 20kg bag (I forget the weight).  Peanuts are dear, so I try to scrimp on the amount I put out, but with 2 cheeky red squirrels to feed........  I also get a small bag of suet pellets (400g) for a quid from the quid shop, total bargain !

what you find when out walking

Oh that is so sad re:  your cat hopefully that degenerate will get his come-uppance soon !!  I put a fluorescent jacket on my 2 dogs at all times now when out walking, I hate guns, and far too many are trigger-happy in my mind, but it does restrict sometimes where we can walk, and that annoys me.

what you find when out walking

Me neither Glendinning

I often hear shooting from where I live, but it goes with the territory I guess.  I have to bite my tongue very hard

what you find when out walking

About a year or so ago I was walking my 2 dogs in the woods (Blackstank Woods) opposite Ben Rinnes in Banffshire

Came round the bend, and saw a dead deers head in the pathway (well I guess it would be dead I hear you cry)

Didn't phase me, but I thought it quite gross that the poacher / hunter had obviously just taken the carcass minus the head.  Strangely enough also, was that my 2 dogs just walked straight past it

Greedy starlings

Hi all

Yes the starlings will scoff the suet cakes as well, but I also get these for a quid at the pound shop.  Don't know if any of you have 'Home Bargains' near you (unless it's a scottish thing), but I got 3 fat cakes there last night for £1.79, well, actually I got 4 packs, as I tend to stock buy stuff  the pound shop also sells packs of suet pellets (as does home bargains), which are much much cheaper than other retail outlets.  Good luck to all finding the cheaper suppliers, as I agree bird food is so expensive, but it's one of the few hobbies I have, and wouldn't stop feeding the birdies for anything, especially when I watch the woodpeckers and robins, listen to the goldfinches squabbling over niger seed, and have the pleasure of long tail tits passing through on their travels

Greedy starlings

Hi Lavender Lady

Where do you get your mealworms ?  I assume you mean dried ones.  I get mine from the pound shop, you get 100g for a quid - total bargain.  Do you have a pound shop near you ?  A lot of the mealworms I put out get savaged by the starlings too, sometimes I crush them up, the mealworms, not the starlings, so hopefully the smaller birds would get a bit more of a look in, instead of the starlings with their long pointy beaks, as I figure they'd have more trouble picking up all the crumbly bits.

Just an idea.  Good luck !

Starlings not migrating

ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa

maybe Lunarz can see if hers will have a scottish twang to their accent next, then we'll know that it's the same flock going up and down the country - seeing which of us will give in first

Monty's advice on Strawberries ........

grass clippings at base of established azalea