Nature Blog by Jenny Bourne

No frosts so far but a large harvest moon full last night and the first of the tender flower annuals have been casualties to cold mornings. Crops of brassicas, onions, leeks and shallots, fruit and the occasional gigantic courgette plant are all up for harvesting,

It’s the RPA Autumn Show this Sunday, our very popular and well attended annual get together to celebrate all things growing successes of veg, fruit, flowers, preserves and cake making at the highly competitive Produce Show, Tallest Sunflower and Heaviest Pumpkin competitions…

It’s that time of the year again when wasps nests appear in sometimes unwanted places, often leading to consternation from plotholders and sometimes queries about how to get rid of these nests. However, the best advice is to leave well alone if at all possible and value these social insects for their predatory and pollinating uses

This is National Allotment Week (12-18 August) and the National Allotment Society is highlighting the importance of biodiversity on your plot – this year’s theme: ‘Celebrating Biodiversity on UK Allotments’:

Do you know your Speckled Wood from a Marbled White? Your Gatekeeper from your Meadow Brown? The Big Butterfly Count ends on 4th August so there’s still time to dedicate fifteen minutes to sitting down, observing and logging the number of butterflies you can identify in an area of your allotment or garden.