So many native ladybirds!

Posted on June 10, 2026 by james

For ten years or more we’ve been “overrun” by Harlequin ladybirds and sighting a native variety has become quite uncommon. For some reason however, this year things have all changed. I don’t think I’ve actually seen a Harlequin at all this year, but we have so many native ladybirds. At one point today I counted nine on the vegetation I added to the compost heap yesterday, though by the time I managed to take this photo I think four or five had become shy and hidden themselves.

I have no idea why this particular reversal has taken place, but it’s certainly very nice to see.

It’ll be quite nice not to have the Harlequins invading the house at the end of Summer, too.

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No dig diary, 10th June 2026

Posted on June 10, 2026 by james

There were many heavy showers this morning, so first job of the day was to cut up some of the left-over water pipe from last year’s mains leak into lengths for hoops to use in the veggie plot, which I could do under cover in the workshop. These should keep me going for a short while.

Then as the day dried out a little I cut the polycarbonate for the polycrub door and fitted it which, as ever, turned into a fair bit more work than I thought. The polycarbonate sheets were previously used in a now-defunct cold frame that my father-in-law made years ago and has succumbed to the damp, but I needed to remove at least some of the hinges. Unfortunately being exposed to the elements the nuts and bolts retaining the hinges had corroded, some needing aggressive application of one or more of mole grips, a Dremel and a drill. Then I had to find the plastic fittings that retain the window which involved braving the brambles and nettles that are trying to invade the barn where I’d left them.

Got it all done in the end though, and I suspect that there’s enough polycarbonate left over to fill in the open section above the door.

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No dig diary, 9th June 2026

Posted on June 10, 2026 by james

Yet more weeding today 😀 This time mostly in the cut flower bed which I’ve mostly ignored so far this year due to lack of time. The compost heap is looking rather full once again. It could well be time to stop feeding this one and move on to the next.

I also planted out most of my sweetcorn plants — those that I felt were tall enough. I still have nine plants that were late germinating to come. Every year something seems to nibble at the young plants, so this year I’ve temporarily put some netting over the top. I’ll replace it once I’ve cut some more support hoops or remove it when the plants have grown tall enough, whichever happens first.

And to finish off I planted out some bush borlotti beans. I’ve never tried this variety (Stregonta) before as I’ve always grown climbing ones.

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Plant spacing

Posted on June 8, 2026 by james

I read a few days back that the plant spacings given on packets of seeds for vegetables owe more to commercial production than addressing the needs of the domestic gardener and that it may well be possible to plant at a greater density when one doesn’t have to worry about the size of cultivating or harvesting machinery and suchlike.

I’ve been searching without success for a bit more information on the topic, but haven’t really found anything useful as yet other than one video on YouTube that wasn’t particularly convincing.

Sounds like it could be a good idea though, so as I still have some brassicas to plant out, I might give it a try.

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A pretty weed

Posted on June 8, 2026 by james

No idea where the seeds came from for this, but it started flowering about a week ago in my “edible flowers” bed. I had no idea what it was though I thought it looked vaguely reminiscent of a mallow. Turns out I wasn’t wrong: I’m told it’s actually a common mallow.

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Blood pressure variability

Posted on June 8, 2026 by james

Readings from the last few days. I’m not aware that there’s any obvious reason for the differences. Seems bonkers that they’re so radically different.

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No dig diary, 8th June 2026

Posted on June 8, 2026 by james

Bit of an unpredictable day today, but I decided I’d risk any rain showers and get everything set up for my climbing beans. First that meant doing yet more weeding, and of an area that I only weeded a couple of weeks back! This bucket is almost entirely creeping thistle.

In fact it’s “proto-compost” now 😀

Weeding done I got the frame set up, in the centre of this picture which also shows some of the weeding still to be done 🙁

Whilst I was watering in the polytunnel this evening I also started stringing up tomatoes whilst waiting for the watering can to fill. I’m perhaps halfway there. Still quite a few to do though.

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No dig diary, 7th June 2026

Posted on June 8, 2026 by james

Another compost-spreading day, today. This time in the polycrub, where my “overspill” tomatoes and peppers will go (amongst other things, probably).

I started it some time back, but the polycrub isn’t finished yet. Unfortunately events have caught up with me and I’ve not had time to think through the designs for the end walls yet. I do have some polycarbonate sheet to put into the door frame though, so I’ll try to get that done this week.

At least all the compost is spread now, so I can get on with planting when I’m ready.

There’s precious little compost left from last year now. Probably half a dozen wheelbarrow loads. Just as well I don’t need much more for anything.

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Squash lucky dip

Posted on June 7, 2026 by james

I had perhaps two dozen squash seeds in the propagator when the weather was ridiculously hot a couple of weeks back. Unfortunately everything in it ended up getting cooked. I just couldn’t control the temperature enough. As none of the squashes appeared to have germinated at that point despite being sown several weeks previously I decided to abandon them and re-sow. No point in wasting the compost though, so I emptied out the pots to use it again. I found quite a few seeds that had gone mushy and removed them.

The following day I potted up fresh seeds and in the process found eight that appeared to have germinated, but not fully emerged from the seed case. Not wanting to waste anything, I potted them back up as well and returned them to the propagator.

A few days later and here we are. Of course at this point I have no idea what the plants will be. There must be at least four possibilities. I’ll just have to stick them in the ground and see what happens.

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Such a fun guy to be with

Posted on June 7, 2026 by james

Whilst working in the veggie plot yesterday, I noticed this little mushroom in the grass, all by itself.

And then in the polytunnel, this one.

I assume they’d been triggered by the large swings in temperature (and rainfall, come to think of it) that we’ve had recently.

By the end of the day, the first had developed further.

No idea what type of mushroom they are, but even if they are edible there’s not exactly a lot of eating on either 😀

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