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!Slugs are everywhere, although they hide away pretty well until my back is turned, then come out in force to feed. By sheltering during the day and emerging under cover of darkness, they escape my attention as well as that of many wildlife predators. The occasional

gardens are even more wild and overgrown. Since my main interest is in insects, these are obviously going to feature pretty heavily here, but we also get our fair share of birds and beasts through too. A few days ago I noticed that the lilies growing in a

the parent owls feeding what seems like an unbelievable quantity of meals to their young, and then, in recent weeks, its been fascinating, and I must admit often rather amusing watching the young owls learn to fly, and attempt to balance on the top

greenhouse cucumbers always succumb to red spider mite. Hostas act like a magnet to the local snail population.Well, I'm not having this! I've been fighting back, organically of course, especially on crops I'm going to eat or feed the family.How disappointing

the young leaves were added to peoples' sandwiches; it supports at least 149 species of insect and the berries feed more than 23 species of bird; hawthorn is pollinated by dung flies and midges attracted to the mildly unpleasant smell and the fact

for as long as possible, in order to feed the birds and give the frost something to hold on to, but there comes a time when one has to surrender to weather, nature and decay.As you can see from the picture above, that moment has, I think, arrived. (Just

- David's were all eaten by slugs, while Tamsin's disappeared overnight (probably also eaten by slugs). Despite all the attention I lavished on mine, including extra watering and a weekly nettle feed, just two of the six made it above 2m (2.24m and 2.35m

, bumblebees prefer to nest in messy gardens (although they will feed anywhere with suitable flowers), so I want to give nest-searching queens the illusion that I don't garden at all. The grass will grow long, the borders will rot into themselves

to a cuckoo in the trees. What a beautiful sound, I thought. Then my granny told me that they lay eggs in other birds’ nests and the hatchling kicks out its adopted siblings while the parents continue to feed this monster, oblivious to the fact it

or raise them in pots indoors to transplant later. Sowing direct is generally the preferred method, as the sunflowers don't suffer a 'check' in growth when transplanted. However the young plants are at risk of being eaten by slugs and birds, so I