Putting the Environment on the Political Agenda

At the end of September, St John's Church launched a campaign to ask candidates for the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2016 to make an environmental issue one of their headline manifesto pledges.

Too often, environmental issues are buried on p.20 of a manifesto, or shelved under a consensus that 'we all agree mitigating climate change and reversing biodiversity decline are important'. A consensus on aims does not preclude passionate debate between parties on methods: on nuclear and renewables, biodiversity and food security, affordable energy and energy efficiency, rewilding and plantation forestry, marine protection and fisheries, active travel, air passenger duty, land-use strategy.

The result is a conspiracy of silence: voters do not see the environment mentioned on politicians'  leaflets amongst welfare, security, health or education; therefore they do not think to name the environment when asked for their top political issues; therefore politicians do not hear that it is important to voters; and the media, taking their agenda from both, do not raise it as a topic of debate.

Yet 88% of the public believe that biodiversity is indispensable for the production of food, fuel and medicines, and 94% believe we have a moral obligation to halt biodiversity loss.* The environment should be a vote-winner, and a way to engage people disenchanted with politics.

The aim of Environment Agenda is simple: to break that conspiracy of silence, by enabling voters, early in the election process, to ask Holyrood candidates to put environmental issues amongst their manifesto headlines.

Since its launch, members of churches in Edinburgh have written over 100 postcards to their local candidates, and Eleanor Harris, co-ordinator of the campaign, has been delivering them. 'Candidates have been delighted to receive postcards,' she writes. 'It gives them a mandate to speak out about issues they already believe is important. St John's is a politically active church with members representing the whole political spectrum, and all have been keen to get their parties involved in the campaign. The church was a good platform to launch Environment Agenda, but I hope it will be taken up much more widely by community and environmental groups.'

Eleanor Harris (left) delivering Environment Agenda postcards to Alison Dickie, SNP candidate for Edinburgh Central.

Sarah Boyack MSP, candidate for Edinburgh Central and Labour spokesperson on the environment, encouraged church members and others to take part in the campaign: "people underestimate the impact of writing to their political representatives. With the upcoming Paris Talks in December Eco-Congregations can really have an impact when they mobilise their members".

The campaign is still in its early days: many constituencies do not yet have selected candidates. If your church, community group or environmental organisation would like to take part, please get in touch with Eleanor at eleanormharris@gmail.com.

Delivering Environment Agenda postcards to Edinburgh Labour candidates: Kezia Dugdale (Eastern), Sarah Boyack (Central), Daniel Johnson (Southern), Cat Headley (Western), Lesley Hinds (Northern and Leith) and Blair Heary (Pentlands).

* Response for Nature, an important policy document launched in October 2015 by wildlife organisations, which you can download here.

St John's Apple Festival

This year St John's members with apple trees enjoyed a bumper harvest, so for the last two Sundays the Green Ginger Group (which runs Earth be Glad) have organised a stall to sell them to the rest of the congregation, raising over £50 for the Environment Agenda postcard campaign.

If you have bought more than you can eat, or picked out some sharp ones, here is an idea for using them from St John's history.

One of the very first mothers to have their child baptised into our congregation, in 1797 when we met in Charlotte Chapel in Rose Street, was Elizabeth Nourse, daughter of a gardener from Hawick. When her husband died in 1805 she not only continued their New Town catering business but expanded it, establishing a school of cookery. In 1809 she published a recipe book, assuring her customers,

there is not one Receipt in the whole book, but such as she is daily practicing; therefore any person the least conversant in Cookery cannot fail to succeed by following her directions.

Her practical experience gave her collection the edge over the many recipe collections being published by "ladies", and Mrs Nourse's Modern Practical Cookery ran to numerous Edinburgh editions, achieved UK distribution, was still in print in 1831, and in 1845 became one of the first recipe books to be published in Canada. It is thanks to Canadian scholars that her collection is now easily accessible digitally.

There are modern Scottish classics ("Macaroni Pie": hers has chicken rather than cheese), New Town canapé staples ("Vol au Vent"), Empire influences ("Curry Soup") and Bakeoff-style showstoppers ("A Custard in Imitation of a Hedgehog", with red and green spikes). This is all the more remarkable when you remember that only twenty years earlier, the height of culinary excellence for the kind of fashionable classes who attended St John's was cock-a-leekie soup and sheep's heid washed down with too much smuggled French claret.

Modern Practical Cookery deserves the attention of a better cook than me, but one recipe I did try out, and liked so much I've made it again and again, was "Apple Pudding". It's a kind of spicy stewed apple custard. It's rich and warming, delicious hot or cold, hugely indulgent but counts as one of your five a day, and very easy to make.

Mrs Nourse's original is not easy to follow: modern eggs, lemons and apples are different sizes, and we don't measure in gills. So after several experiments, here is my modern version:

• 12 St John's apples (or 4 full size Bramleys)
• 40g butter
• 75g sugar
• Lemon
• Cinnamon
• 3 eggs, separated (I've never been enough of a pig to try it with anywhere near eight!)
• 50ml cream

Peel, pare and stew apples in a pan. Beat them well, then stir in butter, sugar, zest and half the juice of the lemon, cinnamon to taste, and beaten egg yolks. Stir in cream. Scatter some sugar on top and bake in a moderate oven for about 1/2 an hour (oven temp and time not at all crucial).

I usually left quite a lot of white in with the yolk to get the eggy thickness without using too many. But you could also make the whites into meringue and spread it on top, cf. Apple Snow...

Do let me know in the comments if you make it, or if you revive any others of Mrs Nourse Regency Edinburgh recipes. Despite their global influences they are great for using local, seasonal produce: Mrs Nourse lived in a world with no rail freight or refrigerators.

You can read more about Mrs Nourse on the St John's Archive website.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Wild-life Garden Blog

The notes from an Edinburgh wild-life garden featured on this site now have their own blog, mywildgardenyear.blogspot.co.uk.

They are written by George Harris, chair of the St John's Green Ginger Group which runs Earth be Glad as well as working to reduce St John's environmental footprint in practical ways.

George updates the blog most weeks, so follow him on twitter @historylecturer to be sure not to miss any posts.

Environment Agenda: Edinburgh Candidates

Our Environment Agenda campaign asks candidates for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016 to make an environmental issue one of their headline manifesto pledges. You can read more about it here. 

You can come into St John's Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh and write postcards to party leaders and your local candidates for us to deliver. You can also tweet the image below to them, or post it on their facebook page.

These are the party leaders:

Ruth Davidson (Con) @ruthdavidsonmsp;  facebook page.
Patrick Harvie (Grn) @patrickharvie;  facebook page.
Kezia Dugdale (Lab) @kdugdalemsp;  facebook page.
Willie Rennie (Lib) @willie_rennie;  facebook page.
Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) @NicolaSturgeon;  facebook page.

Here is a list of Holyrood candidates announced so far in Edinburgh constituencies. If you have lists of candidates in the rest of Scotland, please let us know and we will add them.

Edinburgh Western
Sandy Batho (Con) @sandybatho.
Cat Headley (Lab) @cat_headley;  facebook page.
Toni Guigliano (SNP) @ToniGiugliano;  facebook page.

Edinburgh Eastern
Nick Cook (Con) @CllrNickCook; .
Kezia Dugdale (Lab) @kdugdalemsp;  facebook page.
Ash Denham (SNP) @ashtenRD;  facebook page.

Edinburgh Northern & Leith
Iain McGill (Con) @IainMcGill;  facebook page.
Lesley Hinds (Lab) @LAHinds;  facebook page.
Ben MacPherson (SNP) @BenMacpherson;  facebook page.

Edinburgh Pentlands 
Gordon Lindhurst (Con) facebook page.
Blair Heary (Lab) @BlairHeary.
Gordon Macdonald (SNP) @re_electgordon;  facebook page.

Edinburgh Central
Ruth Davidson (Con) @ruthdavidsonmsp;  facebook page.
Sarah Boyack (Lab) @SarahBoyackMSP;  facebook page.
Alison Dickie (SNP) @AlisonDickie19;  facebook page.

Edinburgh Southern
Miles Briggs (Con) facebook page.
Daniel Johnson (Lab) @D_G_Johnson.
Jim Eadie (SNP) @JimEadie_msp;  facebook page.


The Liberal Democrat and Green Parties have not yet announced complete candidate lists, so we suggest you contact their top Lothians list candidates:

Alison Johnson (Grn) @AlisonJohnstone;  facebook page.
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Lib) @Alex4Central.

A Forest of Hope for Paris 2015

In Paris in December 2015, world leaders will gather to seek a global agreement on how to reduce carbon emissions and reduce the risk of climate change to safe levels.

During September, members and visitors to St John's Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh, are writing prayers and messages of encouragement and hope on paper leaves, to bring a forest of hope into leaf inside our beautiful and historic church.

By 21 September we had over 100 leaves, and you are still welcome to go in and write one to add to the artwork.

This is one of many actions around the world raising awareness and putting pressure on governments to reach a strong climate deal. We would encourage you to find out about other events over the next three months and participate.

In particular, we would encourage you to participate in Scotland's Climate March, which begins at 12 noon on 28 November in the Meadows, and is organised by Stop Climate Chaos Scotland.

Environment Agenda: Holyrood 2016

Today at its annual green fair, St John's Church, Edinburgh, launched Environment Agenda. This campaign asks candidates in the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections to make an environmental issue one of their headline manifesto pledges.

The aim is to get debates about how to tackle climate change and biodiversity decline onto the political agenda.

Sarah Boyack MSP, Shadow Spokesperson for Environmental Justice, wrote in support of the campaign,

"I think people underestimate the impact of writing to their political representatives. If I get around 10 emails I know there's interest in an issue and I'll check it out. If there are hundreds I'll know it's a big campaign and I'll make sure my party takes note. With the upcoming Paris Talks in December Eco-Congregations can really have an impact when they mobilise their members."

At the launch event, congregation members and visitors wrote over 60 postcards to party leaders and their local candidates.
We hope this campaign will be taken up more widely by Eco-Congregations, Scottish environmental groups, and individuals.

To get involved you can:

1. Come in to St John's Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh (open all day) and write postcards.
2. Post the image below to candidates' facebook pages and twitter feeds (#EnvironmentAgenda). Links to party leaders and Edinburgh constituency candidates are given here.
3. If you would like to distribute postcards at an event or to your members, contact eleanormharris@gmail.com.

Posted with Blogsy

The Wild-life Garden Chapter 7: July 9th

My original intention was to post something about the wild garden once a week. But life is not regular like that. July, in the country, is hay-making time, and if my patches of long grass are ever to behave like traditional meadows they need to be cut. Since my meadow is in two halves, divided by a mown path, I tend to cut the east-facing patch early in July and the west-facing patch late. One reason for this is because the orchid grows in the west-facing long grass, and I would not want to cut it till it has flowered and set seed. The grass is certainly ready to cut.

One reason for the annual mow is to encourage those plants that like that sort of treatment. It prevents them being overwhelmed by nettles and docks and alkanet, plants of the uncut verges. Also, by cutting the grass and removing it to the compost heap the fertility of the area is reduced. The idea is that the grass does not grow so vigorously as to swamp everything else. In a farmer’s hay-meadow the cut sward is left for a few days in the sun to dry out. In the wild garden it is left so that seeds of buttercups and so on can fall off and down to earth, and mini-beasts can crawl away to some other shelter.

I also do start other cutting back now that the nesting should be over. Possibly some wild life would like it if I left the hedges and verges uncut; think what a rich habitat old neglected gardens can be. But this is a medium-sized town garden, meant to be nice to look at and to sit in. Also I try to have a variety of habitats, some cut down in one season, some in another; some left for winter clearance, some left till growth restarts in spring, and some mown or clipped in high summer. I take heart from the fact that edge-of-woodland, with a mixture of light and shade, of short and of long vegetation, is a particularly rich habitat.  

If you are a serious student of the wild life in your garden the unmissable book is “Wildlife of a Garden: A Thirty-year Study” by Jennifer Owen. The author is an academic ecologist who has been able to bring great expertise to the study of her Leicestershire garden. When I say that she has identified in her garden 94 species of hoverflies, 62 species of wasps and 533 species of ichneumons, you will see that she has shown the rest of us, who think we are doing well if we identify two or three species, how rich a garden can be. One of Owen’s conclusions is that “insect numbers declined during the 30-year period 1972-2001; and the likely explanation is the change in agricultural habitats. So the more we town gardeners try to foster invertebrates the better.

At my “two or three” amateur level I find that cutting-time is often when I start noticing things. When weeding my tiny veg patch I came across some snails mating, quite oblivious of me and my fork. Since the garden is full of vegetation I do wish the snails would not pick out my runner beans and my one special dahlia as favourite food. But they seem to have few predators. Slugs are relatively harmless, kept in check I am sure by birds and frogs and newts. I was pleased to see a newt in the pond yesterday. The neighbouring grey squirrel has just learned to dismantle and empty the fat-ball feeder, but I am devising a scheme to get the better of it.

I was even more pleased when a ringlet butterfly spent a long time drifting around the long grass. I was less pleased to get itchy bites from minute creatures, but who am I to pick and choose. The swifts are busy feeding their young, and I guess they each need hundreds of flying insects a day.

Two species of fern have turned up in the garden, neither of them rare, but both of them welcome. One is Polystichum aculeatum, Hard shield fern. The other is Phyllitis scolopendrium, Hartstongue fern. The shield fern makes a formidable growth once established, and I don’t think I shall let any more plants get set.

My father-in-law gave me an Arum maculatum, Lords-and-Ladies from the old ditch behind his house. It has done really well in the dark shade behind the hedge, with more spikes every year.

The flowers of late summer are starting to come on fast, so I doubt if you will have to wait a week for the next chapter.

The Wild-life Garden Chapter 6: July 5th

We returned home after a few days away. Naturally one of my first actions was to look around the garden, and I was rewarded. In the little baby-bath pond three nearly-frogs were crowded at the point where there is a little ramp out onto the lawn. They had long tails, but four good legs. They are yellow and brown, not black. Presumably they are waiting till that moment when their lungs take in air, not water, and they will crawl out. There is no shortage of places for them to find concealment. In the main pond there is no sign of tadpoles, and there is no point hunting for frogs in all the long vegetation around. Occasionally in previous years I have stumbled across a group huddled together under some log, or seen a bold youngster heading across the moss. We shall see. 

While we were away I read a book I was given for my last birthday. It is the perfect book to refer to in this blog: “The Private Life of an English Field: Meadowland” by John Lewis-Stempel. He owns a small farm in Herefordshire and not only manages his meadows in a traditional way, he also is a dedicated and knowledgeable observer of the wild life.

Recommended book

In the year that is chronicled in the book his cutter breaks on a stone, so he is forced to cut the hay with a scythe. This was in July, and reminds me that I must get on with cutting my long grass soon. However, there is no rush, especially as the orchid has reappeared. I think it is a poorish (but much loved) specimen of Dactylorhiza, either maculata (Heath Spotted) or fuchsii (Common Spotted) – or maybe a hybrid. It is another welcome plant that just turned up. I wonder how many are lurking in mown lawns out there.

The orchid in our long grass

The Rosa rubiginosa, Sweetbriar, has blossomed more in the last week. So has the Lonicera periclymenum, Honeysuckle. The blossoms on the Crataegus monogyna, Hawthorn and the Sorbus aucuparia, Rowan are well over, but there is a promise of berries to come. There is also all sorts of promise of interesting flowers still to come.

The Sweetbriar today

I am seeing more and more bees and hoverflies. I must try and do a more detailed study. One flower has come out in time to give them a feast. That is Heracleum sphondylium, Hogweed. It has an aggressive alien relative, Giant Hogweed, which can irritate the skin quite severely. But this is a harmless umbellifer, much loved by insects. It is generally regarded as a weed by gardeners, and I do remove many plants. But a few of these fine plants where I want them add stature to any patch of wild vegetation.

Hogweed

Another so-called weed of which I only leave a few to flourish is Rumex obtusifolius. Broad-leaved Dock.

Dock

With so many nettles around it is useful to have a few dock-leaves to rub on any stings. The leaves really do work. More to the point the flowers and seeds, and overall structure, are very fine. If they were less common they would, I am sure, be treasured.

The Wild-life Garden Chapter 5: June 25th

In theory there is to be a new chapter of this blog once a week. However, I am about to go off again for a week, and there is a lot happening just now, so (in imitation of wild nature if you like) this post is slightly out of time.

But who cares? Summer is the time of great blooming, and there is a lot happening.

Soon after we bought the house we built a cheap garage, an ugly concrete box. To cover it I bought a climbing rose, and seem to have hit the jackpot. The Rosa rubiginosa, Sweetbriar, grows and grows. In late June it is covered in beautiful pink flowers.

Sweetbriar

In theory it is enough of a thorny thicket to provide safe shelter for small birds. This does seem to be necessary, for our garden is a favourite hunting ground for neighbourhood cats. Certainly the thorns are ferocious.

One sweetbriar flower

The managed wild-flower bed is bright with campion. I mentioned the Silene dioica, Red Campion, when it first appeared. Now there is just as much Silene latifolia, White Campion.

White Campion

One of the highlights of the wild-flower meadow in these weeks before it is cut is the great variety of grasses. I thought that writing this blog would spur me on to identify them; but alas this turns out to be more than I can manage. There are too many species and sub-species for me. I am fairly sure that ours include Cat’s tail, Yorkshire fog, Couch, Rye grass and Vernal, but these identifications may be wrong, and there are many varieties of most of these.

Some of our grasses

What has now appeared at the base of the long grass is Trilolium repens, White clover. This is very popular with bees, so beware of walking barefoot. It usually appears on the mown lawn as well. The ordinary daisies are spectacular this year and make the lawn look special, not just green.

White clover

The result of not mowing a patch of lawn for three weeks

Despite the cats the bird-feeders are still much used, though just now they only attract the ordinary, local birds. In five minutes this morning I saw Passer domesticus, House sparrow; Columba livia, Feral pigeon; Columba palumbus, Wood pigeon; Turdus merula, Blackbird; Parus caeruleus, Blue tit; Parus ater, Coal tit; Carduelis carduelis, Goldfinch. There’s nothing there to write home about, or even a blog about. I hope that the birds missing from the list – robin and dunnock for example – have nested successfully and moved away. Let us hope more exciting things can be reported at migration time. But I get as much pleasure from our ordinary locals, and nothing beats the goldfinches for colour.

Most of the books on wild-life gardening promise butterfly-caterpillars if you grow Urtica dioica, nettles. I cannot say that that has been true for me. But they certainly support a wonderful range of invertebrates. They also, I think, look very beautiful when in flower.Those clusters of pale green bobbles would cost you a lot in a garden centre.

Nettles in flower

In the pond we seem to have tadpoles the size of small grapes. They prefer eating and growing to turning into frogs.Let us hope for more news of their development in the next chapter.

The Wild-life Garden Chapter 4: June 19th

Since I wrote the last chapter I have been lucky enough to spend a week in the Lake District. No need for a wild flower garden there; the verges were all a-sparkle with life and colour. I walked a lot of lanes and bridleways, between banks of blue speedwell, dazzling white stitchwort, golden buttercups, feathery pig-nuts, pale pink bistort and bright pink campion. On one day we went to Holker Hall, where the gardens include a magnificent wild flower meadow, where sorrel, plantains, more buttercups, clover and yellow rattle break up the green. I knew my garden could not match any of this, but it was exciting to see what had happened while I was away.

A recent study has shown how vital verges are for wild flowers and their attendant wild life. I have some strips in the garden that I call “verges” for want of a better description. They edge paths and are under walls and hedges. As far as possible they have any old mix of plants and are cut back if they get to be a nuisance. I am sure they provide hiding places for young frogs, and life-support systems for a range of invertebrates.

One of my so-called verges

Now the big Leucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye daisy, has started to flower. These plants spread rapidly and can be very invasive, but they are easily cut back where not wanted. They pop up all over then place, including the lawn. My wild-flower meadow was created by the simple technique of not cutting the grass. This year there is a magnificent show of Veronica chamaedrys, Germander Speedwell. Conventional gardeners go to great lengths to eliminate it from lawns, but its colour is welcomed by me, and by various bees. For the last few years we have had an unobtrusive orchid, but there is no sign of it yet. The Primula veris, Cowslip, is there this year but has not flowered. I see in my flower book that it thrives on lime, so maybe there is not enough of that. If we have some sun I’ll try and take a decent photo of the long grass.

Three flowers I was expecting to come out while I was away have done so. Barring accidents they should brighten up the garden for several weeks. One is Digitalis purpurea, Foxglove. These are biennials, so you get a seedling growing one year and a flowering spike the next.

Foxglove

For some reason they always seed where I don’t want them, but they do not seem to mind being moved. The second is Iris pseudacorus, Yellow Iris. I bought two plants of this when the pond was new and bare. Now they threaten to take the place over, and are very tough to cut out. But when they are in magnificent flower I don’t mind at all.

Yellow Iris

 In the shrubs on both sides are Lonicera periclymenum, Honeysuckle. I suppose they were planted by some previous owner long ago. Now they grow as wild, and their scent on a summer evening can be overwhelming.

Honeysuckle

I saw some in the hedgerows of the Lake District, so it is no surprise to find it blossoming here.

I am told that in some parts of the country it has been hot. Not here in Edinburgh; and the chilly wind has not made for good insect watching. Our grandson spotted a big bumblebee outside the window this afternoon, and said it was his favourite insect. I am trying to grow a few not-wild runner beans, and it was mildly irritating to find one eaten away within is plastic-bottle protector, and a large snail was easily removed to the verge. I reckon that when you can say “Look at my beautiful slugs” you can call yourself a wild gardener. (Couch grass will do as well.) Well, slugs seem to be kept in balance by the various predators. But the snails love it here, and have few enemies. Besides, they do look a lot prettier than my lettuces, or runner beans.

There will be no cuckoos or ring ouzels in my garden, I am sure. But I was woken by a dawn chorus at 3.55 am, so there is active bird life. In fact at times it can be a bit too active. I came home to find a mass of plucked pigeon feathers on the lawn. I doubt if this was the work of a cat - though the neighbourhood cats are my most unwelcome visitors. The plucked feathers made me suspect a sparrow hawk. I know there is occasionally one around, and this plucking is typical. Since no  one saw it, I cannot be certain.

I mentioned last time how frogs like to sit in the cool pond-water during hot weather. We did get one June-like day – June 10^th I think it was – and I saw four frogs in the muddy pond edge without really trying. There were probably several more concealed. Camouflage would be a good study if one was of an observant and scientific turn of mind. I am too lazy to do more than smell the honeysuckle and listen for the splash as frogs jump in.

The Wildlife Garden Chapter 3. June 8th

I began to make the wild garden was soon as we moved into the house, about twenty-five years ago. My inspiration was “How to Make a Wildlife Garden” by Chris Baines. Since then I’ve lent the book to I know not whom, and it has not returned. Paying some heed to his advice I wanted one of the areas to be a naturalised pond. In those days I was young enough to dig, and paid for a top-of-the-range butyl liner. In order to give the liner something smooth to lie on I put down old carpet from a skip, and sheets of thick cardboard, from old boxes (staples removed).

There came the great day when I filled it with a hose. It sat there like a water-supply pond on a building site, and the next day it had a frog sitting in it. Well since then it has had a long time to get naturalised. To become more overgrown, a bit smaller, and leaky round the edges. But it is still the most exciting feature of the wild garden, and here it is:

The only pond-flower in bloom at the moment is Ranunculus flammula, the Lesser Spearwort, but there should be plenty more to report as the summer advances. I bought half a dozen varieties when I was setting up the pond and most of them still flourish. Round the edge quite a marsh has developed, and at the moment some very beautiful Rumex acetosa, Common Sorrel. One often sees it in photos looking pretty coarse but this collection is most elegant, and certainly earns its place.

 I may have said already that I do particularly like plants that have just turned up and stay because they like it. This is a photo I took yesterday, and I think everything you see in it is an uninvited wanderer – including the hawthorn.

With so much growth now going on there is a fair amount of cutting back and selection to do this week. Some dominant weeds of human companionship would possibly take the place over if they were not rationed. This afternoon I pulled out maybe a square metre of Urtica dioica, Common Nettle. There are one or two other plants that apt to take over if allowed. This is not a great estate with real pastures and cart tracks and ruined byres and hay-fields and lakes; it is an attempt to create a feel for them in a medium-sized town garden, and have places where I can sit in the sun and pretend to be in the country.

The hope is that a big variety of plants will support a big variety of invertebrates which will, in their turn, help support larger animals. I saw an Antocharis cardomines, Orange tip butterfly yesterday, but the most conspicuous large insect just now is the bumble-bee. I have not yet spotted a nest, though I often have in previous years. There is certainly more than one variety around, and the commonest seem to be Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebees. If you want to follow this up with some genuine expertise there are two outstanding new books available by Dave Goulson: “A Buzz in the Meadow” and “A Sting in the Tail”. When it comes to identifying insects I’m pretty hopeless. I decided to use Latin names in this blog not because I am readily familiar with them but because looking them up as I go along might move my knowledge of natural history forward a little.

One sort of bee we definitely have in residence is Osmia, Mason bees. I’m not sure precisely which species. But I was given a lovely little insect house to hang on the wall and last year several of the holes were plugged with carefully made mud. Now, over a year later, most of the old plugs are broken and more plugs have appeared. I hope they show up on the photo I took today.

One hopes that the pond will be a real bonus for wild-life. I hope we shall find it so over the year, as it has been in the past. Just at the moment it houses some very large tadpoles; I don’t know what trigger will cause them to grow legs and emerge as little frogs. Is it temperature or some chemical in the water? On the surface are a score of pond-skaters. There is often a frog or two around, though we have not yet had the sort of very hot day that sees them bathe thankfully in the cool water. My plan is to do some intensive pond-dipping and research, and report my findings to you. But this week I’ve had a debilitating summer cold, so that will have to wait. I guess the leeches and flatworms won’t go away.

One thing I have done is make a pond-dipping net. It is not as good as the lovely one my mother made for me nearly 60 years ago, but it should be functional. Below the muslin net, on coat-hanger wire and a bit of bamboo, is fixed a small jam-jar. Sweep the net through the water and even quite tiny life ends up swimming in the glass jar for observation. That’s the idea, anyhow. Watch this space.

The Wild-life Garden Chapter 2. June 1st

The wild garden changes every week, so my plan is to write a post every week. I may not keep it up, of course.

The flowers started all yellow. Then blue appeared. Now there's some pink. As a matter of fact there was Geranium robertianum, Herb Robert, in flower last week, but I forgot it. This does not pretend to be a scientific paper. I brought one plant from a Cumbrian roadside at least 20 years ago and now it is established as a prolific weed that pops up everywhere. Knowing it otherwise only in the wild, I am surprised how big it can grow in a cultivated border. Fortunately it is easy to root up, and to leave where it is welcome. There is a shingly patch behind the baby-bath pond that was supposed to be bought plants, but the dozen or so small, deep pink flowers, amongst their beautiful leaves, are one of the prettiest thing in the garden. I love the way they pop up in odd corners – for example in crack in a wall.

Herb Robert in the wall

The other bright pink just now is the first blooms of Silene dioica, the Red Campion. There is one small area that I call the managed wild flower bed, from which nettles and willow herb and docks are removed. I sowed a mixed pack of wild flower seeds a few years ago and the campions have done pretty well. There is one other plant newly in flower since last week, and that is Geum urbanum, Herb Bennet. It has its own pretty yellow, and flowers of a quite different shape to the other yellow ones. I suppose to many gardeners it counts as a weed, and it is very common in hedgerows. But one of the nice things about wild gardening is that if something looks good you leave it, unless it threatens to take over. A weed is just something that grows where you don't want it. Herb Bennet likes a bit of shade, which means it tends to find corners where it is happy.

I saw on “Springwatch” that in Dundee the first oak leaf came out on May 1^st. Our hedge is now in full leaf. It is not a boundary hedge – there is a good old Edinburgh wall – but I planted it on a bank next to about 20 feet of wall when we first moved in. I seem to remember reading that you can date a hedge by the number of species; ours will puzzle the archaeologists.

Oak in the hedge

I did buy some hawthorn, and the rowan. The beech and the oak were grown from seeds picked up in the wild. The hazel just turned up, and so did the elder, the ash, the sycamore, the raspberries and the brambles. The holly was given by a good friend, when the seedling turned up in his veg patch. Now it makes a living memorial. I am really bad at identifying trees by leaf-shape, so to have them daily in front of me keeps them familiar. Just now they are so fresh and yellow-green that they need no flowers to make them beautiful. The oak was laid flat when it grew far too tall – maybe 12 feet – and it is still doing well.

The hedge is supposed to be a haven for wild-life. Behind it, between it and the wall, is a pseudo ditch, where dead leaves and clippings have made about 30 years worth of detritus for creeping things to explore. I try to walk along the hedge every day, just to see the state of the buds and twigs and leaves.

The Wild-life Garden Chapter 1. May 27th

Last week on Thursday I saw swifts high over EH10 for the first time this year. On Friday, with a sound like a rush of wind, we saw two swifts fly at the house and vanish at speed into the little crack in the eaves. Swifts have nested there since we bought the place, and maybe for decades before that. Who knows? I think I am right that they will not have touched land, and will have been to Africa and back, since leaving the same crack last August.

Their arrival seems a good moment to keep an account of the wild garden year. I hope this will be the first post of many. In a perfect world no doubt it would be illustrated by beautiful photos, but I seem to be having computer/photo issues just now. Let's see how we get on. Anyhow, I'm sure you can imagine grass, sparrows, newts and such like.

The other big event of this week has been the blossoming of the hawthorn tree. It is a special favourite of mine for it just turned up, unbidden and truly wild. It was a year or two before I was sure what it was. Now it is at least eight metres high and covered, just now, with glorious flowers. It seeded itself in exactly the right place, too. I have hardly to touch it, except rub out buds below about 4 feet high.

May blossom in bud

Other plants in flower right now include Ranunculus acris, the Meadow Buttercup; Pentaglottis semepervirens, Green Alkanet; Veronica chamaedrys (I think), Germander Speedwell; and Mecanopsis cambrica, the Welsh Poppy. The Alkanet seeds so easily and widely, has such a tap root and looks so coarse in old age that I spend a lot of time rooting it out. But it is lovely just now. Nothing on that short list of flowers is very exciting, but all the fresh green of new leaves and grass is spotted with blue and yellow. How could I have forgotten Bellis perennis, the Daisy, most prolific of all. There is also another hedgerow tree in flower beyond the hawthorn, a rowan that is in a bad situation and very stunted, but still survives.

Welsh poppies

When it comes to providing hiding places and thickets I have been so successful - the garden is over 25 years old - that I'm not at all sure what is there. Somewhere in the brambles and ivy and behind the sweet briar I am sure there are birds nesting, but I'm not sure what. I'm pretty sure of sparrows and blackbirds, and a robin I think. At the weekend I saw a pair of goldfinches not merely at the bird-feeders but collecting nesting-material from the lawn, so that's good to see. I am fairly sure that there are plenty of tadpoles still in the pond. Last year I set up a little pond - baby-bath sized - where some could mature protected from mallards and herons. They have all vanished but I found, when cleaning out, a pair of newts - palmate I think. It is tough out there.

It is tough, but fun to observe and fun to write about. We shall see what happens next.