Swarms and Weeds

Today I ambled down the plot determined to continue tackling the weeds which are currently on the cusp of overtaking the entire plot. When I arrived, I found Steve kitting himself up in his bee suit – it turns out the weather have it swarm season again! The swarm this time was located on the ground which makes it incredibly difficult to catch. Cliff and I watched closely as Steve attempted to sweep the bees onto a board to transfer them into Hive 7. They were not playing ball and even after Steve had deposited most of the bees into the hive, they regrouped back on the ground. We tried enticing them onto the board with honey but it didn’t work. Eventually, we had to leave them and wait to see what they would decide to do.

I spent some time catching up with Cliff and Geoff as it’s been a while. As we chatted, Alan and Dave the Plod came by. I love the summer when everyone appears down on site. I had originally planned to weed the community garden however the looming rain and wind are not conditions which you will find bees docile and cooperative!

I grabbed the weed bucket and began to clean the patio. Someone has dumped a large yellow container on the patio so I moved it to drain out the rainwater and began to wrestle with the weeds between the slabs. With half the patio clear, I wrestled open the greenhouse door. Inside, the bindweed had turned everything into a jungle. It took me an hour to clear away all of the bindweed and mares tail from the walls and floor and a further half hour to work my way through the raised bed, digging out as much of the bindweed roots as possible.

Pleased with my progress, I headed across to Geoff’s plot and tried to finish off weeding the biggest bed. As I was almost done, I had a call from my husband reminding me that it was well past lunch so I threw my tools back into the shed and headed home.

Later in the evening, I came back to check on the chickens and top up their food and water. Flora has had an ongoing eye issue which I have been treating with antiseptic eye drops. Although she can only see clearly out of one eye – she is still difficult to catch! All the other girls are doing fine despite Mavis continuing to terrorise the other bantams, making sure she gets first dibs on the corn or any treats.

The plan for the rest of the week is to finish clearing Geoff’s beds and help clear the side of his plot which is currently ruled by an unruly forest of nettles. I’d also like to clear the rest of the weeds out of the strawberry bed on our plot and hoe the other beds so we actually have space to plant, assuming the summer weather eventually arrives…