Round the garden in 80 days #70

When I started my ‘Round the garden in 80 days’ series, I expected to finish it by New Year. Yet here we are hurtling towards the summer equinox and still eleven posts to go, including this one.

One the plus side, I’ve collected a few newsworthy items since the last post. For me, the most interesting is the Ribwort Plantain.

Whilst reading this month’s newsletter from Wildfood.uk, I found the name for a new wild flower which has appeared in my back garden: Ribwort Plantain. You can read the details here but the essential tidbit for me is that the flower heads taste a bit like mushroom when made into stock. So, it looks like some experimenting is on the cards very soon.

I also got a surprise in the front garden, though this is of a less pleasing nature. This morning, I went out to dig up the crocosmia

(they are taking over, predictably, and besides I want the space for something else) and discovered a brown which had previously been green. I wondered if my neighbour had decided to have a go with the weedkiller once he’d done his lawns, if it had been an accident or if urine from a pet might do such damage. Fortunately, apart from one tulip, the rest was growth I would like to get rid of but it is a disconcerting situation, nonetheless.

On a cheerier note, here are two different bird sightings which tickled me.

Ducklings at Temple Newsam. We also saw tadpoles but they weren’t as cute.

I’m not sure what the pigeon was doing on the raised bed but now I realised this may have been the bird who has been digging up bits of sheep’s fleece, which had been added to provide nitrogen to the growing medium.