THIS MONTH is the second anniversary of our arrival here at Damson Cottage. Two years and what have I done? Have I achieved what I thought I was going to in this time and why does time pass much faster with each year?

The truth is that as each year passes living here becomes more about the environment than just producing my own food.

The space that I inhabit here supports a huge variety of wildlife and my appreciation of what it means to be so closely linked to it is growing all the time. For the first time I have seem yellowhammers on the site.

For the Birds

Another family of Moorhens have been raised on the big pond. I’m really pleased and excited to report that a pair of ducks has also taken a shine to the facilities here.

The grain that I put out for the chickens has been attracting the ducks and moorhens to take afternoon tea here at Damson Cottage.

At the moment the ducks are a little timid and as you walk towards them they fly off, circling overhead until they feel safe to land again.

However, they are here every day, eating the chicken feed and are becoming bold enough to go into the runs to get it. I hope this means we will be host to their family too. The chickens, however, are still in rude health. They have been enjoying the sunshine and laying eggs for me. The red hens that are now three or four years old are the exception and do not lay eggs every day.

You Say Tomato, I Say Potato

Last year I had so many tomato plants that I just couldn’t bear to waste them. Every space possible was crammed with tomato plants as I couldn’t bring myself to compost them.

Although this produced a massive amount of fruit, it took every container I had and proved just a little bit too much.

This year I have tried to be more controlled and I am growing just three varieties of tomatoes: Golden Sunrise, Sungold and Ailsa Craig. I am concentrating on getting the best from a few plants and making sure I have the space to grow them.

The new plot alongside the polytunnel is complete. The potatoes in the greenhouse have chitted and are in the ground. By the time you read this I hope I will be eating the first of the early crop. There is a slight problem with space though.

I had anticipated planting the broccoli seedlings, celeriac, bulb fennel and red cabbages in the same plot. However, my potatoes have filled it. I am excited about growing so many potatoes this year, but what about the rest of the seedlings?

My next challenge is to find the space to make sure that I can enjoy cabbages, celeriac and bulb fennel. By the time you read this article I will have resolved the problem.

In the kitchen garden the honeysuckle that grew along the bottom fence is making a strong comeback.

When we moved in it had been smothered by Russian vine, but in less than two years it is on its way reaching up towards the arch over the gate.

I planted more evergreen honeysuckle along the fence in the year that followed and despite the last cold winter they are doing well.

Ex-straw-dinary Natural Planters

This year, I am experimenting by planting my squashes in straw bales. Squash plants are big, blousy and climb so I am hoping this will create more space in the kitchen garden for other crops.

The bales are in place along the fence in the driveway and I will soon be planting them up. If it works the fence will be covered in greenery and squashes.

Plight of the Bumble Bee

Last month I spoke about the part that gardeners play in supporting bee populations. As you may recall, I talked about a study being carried out by the University of Sussex. In fact you may have seen their work in a recent programme by the BBC in its series The Great British Food Revival.

The plight of our pollinators — and in particular bees — is particularly serious as their decline will affect us all. More recently, the United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) has reported that there is a complex cocktail of threats to honeybees. These include: air pollution, systemic insecticide use, habitat loss and the spread of bee pests and diseases.

Furthermore, the UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s. This loss has impacted massively on pollinator numbers.

To try to counteract this decline the Co-operative is donating £60,000 to help set up the first ‘bee roads’ in Yorkshire. The network of corridors are planned to go national and provide a habitat for bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths.

In another report which looked at the plight of the bumblebee, carried out by the University of Stirling our gardens are being recognised as the locations that give bumblebees the variation of plants for foraging that they need and consequently there are more bumblebee nests in those environments.

That’s good news for gardens but bad news for farms, as once again this is showing us how the changes in farming practices have impacted on wildlife.

Bumble and honeybees are the foundation blocks of food production. Their pollination supports the entire farming economy and it seems to us that farming practices would benefit from considering how they can change to support the environment we live in and not the other way around.

British honey is in short supply, and like other foods I believe buying local is important. So, during the summer, I will be visiting a beekeeper in Horncastle to find out if I have what it takes to take up this fascinating activity and to try to produce my own honey in the future.

My only thought is to find out if I have what it takes to find myself ‘up close and personal’ with a hive and not be afraid. Fingers crossed, as I hope to become a local producer!