Wiggly Photos

The latest Wiggly catalogue has landed and you may have seen (on Page 21) some photos of Farmer Phil's lovely bright sunflowers. The sunflower patches are just down the round from Blakemere Farm in Preston-On-Wye and Bridge Sollers.

Heather asked me if I could take a few photos and since I don't need asking twice when it comes to photography, off I went with my trusty Nikon D90 (best birthday present ever). That few turned out to be 80 plus and if you have the time, you can see them all HERE!

If you were lucky enough to receive a Wiggly box of sunshine, this is where the flowers started life.



I have been interested in photography for quite some time and have owned many different cameras. My current baby is the Nikon D90 which is a DSLR. But I also currently own a Canon Powershot (digital), Canon EOS 3000 SLR and a Lomo which is a mass produced Soviet camera that takes wonderfully retro looking pictures.

Wiggly Podcast 0202

Have you listened to the Wiggly Podcast lately? Go on give it a go!

The Destruction of Indestructible Socks
The main topic of the show is the annual trauma of testing Phil's cows for TB, but Heather can't make it to the Wiggly Sofa so Richard and Phil host the show together for the first time. They introduce some Phil bashing from listener Ken Boulton; a frankly amazing impression of a bunny in distress; full coverage of the visit from the TB vet; and even manage to plug some Wiggly Products. It's as though they had a script...

We love lovely letters!

Here's one that came in just now after one of our mealworm dishes was a little worse for wear when arriving in the post.

Dear Karen,

The postman has just delivered the replacement dish, and it is in one piece. Thank you for your prompt response, the dish is now under my beech hedge full of worms, I will check it later and (if the black birds, robins and local pheasants leave any) add some peanut bits and raisins for my two hedgehog visitors, just in case they are still foraging. I have a small Silver Birch tree about 10 feet from my patio door which is festooned with the apple houses, live food feeder, Suet cake cage, peanut and seed feeders I purchased from you in the summer. I spent a lovely half hour or so about a week ago when I sat at my dinning table and watched: - half a dozen long tailed tits (I had to look these up as I'd never seen any before), a small flock of gold finches, a couple of haw finches, a green finch, robin, a couple of dunnocks and a grey squirrel all at the tree at the same time. The squirrel was taking pieces of suet ball hung in the apple houses, eating some then burying the rest in different parts of the garden (not sure if it will be in tact when he looks for it again later though).

This all started because I bought a 'Can o Worms' from your stall at one of the Gardener's World Live' Shows a couple of years ago (which I might add is going strong) and of course browsed your catalogue. I didn't have any trees in my old garden and even though I rented a property on a working farm didn't see anything like the diversity of wild life I have seen since moving here in March of this year including (for a few weeks just after I moved in) a young fox who visited the garden every morning.

Many thanks again not just for the good service but for the sheer beauty happening outside my patio door, I forgot to mention the two Jays who periodically visit the suet balls and have done all summer.

I would be very happy for you to use this email as a testimonial on your web site if you wished.

All the best
Julia

greenhouse envy

apparantly, the more urban a population, the more romantic their view of nature. or so says radio 4 as i'm washing the dishes. i'm sure this conflicts with a more interesting (and trashier) story about new yorkers having a fear of grass and leaves but i'm willing to admit that as the nights draw in i idealise my little 'yard-en' more and and more.

the victorians (who would have occupied my house -- albeit with 5 children according to the census--where did they *put* them??) had a thing about ferns and i kind of fancy having a go at this myself. they despaired at the inability to grow plants outside because of the thick pervasive smog in most cities and so, to make a long story short, it became fashionable to grow plants and lichens in glass boxes and even in 'living pictures' which could hang on the wall.

as new kinds of glass developed, they went mad for houseplants -- particularly ferns. a fashionable house had to have many plants -- they showed not only status but moral fibre.

i like the victorians. the more i learn about them the more i think this neighborhood must have been absolutely bonkers and nothing like we might think. for example -- whereas we have a fashion for stripped floor boards, they liked to paint them black with tar or resin. i can't imagine a darker colour adding much in the way of happiness to last you though winter though i can imagine it as a fitting context in which to sit and construct myself some bizarre glass boxes with tiny pseudo-tropical environments inside.

well, just about anyway.

for those of you who are tempted -- here is a mad blog i've found about houseplants btw
http://blogginghouseplants.blogspot.com/

Smelly Feet? you NEED goat socks!

I've just received this note in from Christine:

"...anyway, about comfort socks, I wear mine with my walking boots, I've got really smelly feet but they don't take up the smell! I bought for my of the plain ones for my son and girlfriend for wearing in bed, they love them. I've been shopping with you for some years now and always have been pleased with my purchases. Thank you so much, Christine"

She is right you know. They are made of mohair and goat hair is a bit like the hair on your head. It insulates, but breathes. Some people not too far from me now hardly ever wash their goat socks anymore... But of course this is not a Wiggly recommendation! In fact I can vouch for machine washing and even tumble drying (if nec) your Wiggly Goat Socks! ORDER HERE!

Aconbury Wood

Coppicing is a traditional method of managing woodland in which young tree shoots are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. In subsequent growth years, many new shoots will emerge, and, after a number of years the coppiced tree is ready to be harvested, and the cycle begins again. (Note that the noun coppice means a growth of small trees or a forest coming from shoots or suckers.)

The woodland is harvested in rotation, - just as with the crops on our farm. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland. Coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is really beneficial for biodiversity.

Chestnut can be grown in this way and because it is straight and really hard the orginal use was to provide hop-poles to support the hop plants whilst they are growing . Nowadays is it usually cut on a 12 to 18 year cycle to make into cleft chestnut paling fences or stakes.

One of the local woods on the Duchy Estate runs a project, in conjunction with Wye Wood, to encourage people with both physical and mental health problems to learn traditional skills and improve their quality of life. Partly funded through the local Primary Care Trust and the Forestry Commission, people are referred to the project to take advantage of woodland walks or to develop their skills through learning traditional crafts. The result of all this is healthier, happier individuals …and these lovely feeders. Made from Chestnut, a naturally durable hardwood (fence posts made with Chestnut last longer than those made from Oak!), these lovely feeders will last in your garden for many years to come.

phoenix poppies

well, beggars can't be choosers so i've decided that if i can't remove all the stuff my neighbors keep dumping into the shared alley behind our houses, i can at least beautify it! and doesn't it look gorgeous? okay, there's some work to do and even since this pic i've noticed that drainage is a big bad issue but...into this wheelbarrow i've dumped some mushroom compost and 2 packets of poppies and wildflowers. i'm hoping that come spring something beautiful will rise from the ashes. the larger vision is that the same plants will selfseed the whole quarter mile corridor of decorative tellys and beer cans.
if anyone can recommend plants (from seed) that i could throw on the ground and which would probably grow just about anywhere i would be grateful. meanwhile my small and secret mission continues....

The Postal Strike

Following this week's announcement that Royal Mail Strike action will likely affect deliveries across the UK, we have made our decisions on how to ensure we provide an excellent service. This is our top priority...

So:

Where it is possible this week we will upgrade your order to go with a courier (in our case Business Post and APC) so that your deliveries will arrive right on time - no problems. You will already be aware most of our deliveries and ALL of our flowers get sent this way anyway and so will be unaffected.

For small amounts of LIVE food (under 1 kilo) please order today TUESDAY (before 2pm) so that we can get your order in the post and delivered before the strike starts. We will bring all those orders on a multimail standing order basis forward from Wed, Thurs, Friday to today so that these wont get caught up.

Our courier does not need a signature so when you order if you are not going to be in please pop a note to say where you would like your order left and this should minimise the strike action.

Cross your fingers it will all be sorted out in the meantime!

Heather

Thank you Wiggly Wigglers from Kingsley St. John's primary school

Recently Wiggly Wigglers offered the chance of some re-furbished wormeries for organisations and schools. Kingsley St. John's Primary School were lucky enough to be chosen for one and I went along to help set it up and explain the hows, why and what's to the children.

Please visit the following blog post on how the wormery was set up.

And thanks to everybody at Wiggly Wigglers for donating the wormery - it is much appreciated by everybody at the school.

Zagreb Floristry

Here is a spot of inspiration for the Wiggly Florists me thinks...
Rach and I spotted these whilst in Croatia the other day encouraging young potential entrepreneurs to start their own business.
Aren't they lovely?

Hey Mr Robin!

Wiggly customer Dawn just sent in these wonderful photos and describes how her garden birds appreciate their mealworms:

"Our main client is a very friendly robin that has been visiting since last year - he greets us every morning and often sings for his grubs & takes them from the hand.

In the spring he brought his wife along and she also took grubs from us and it was a very hectic time keeping up with their family's demands! We would often work in the garden and have both robins flitting around hoping for grubs - landing on tools and even at the breakfast table!


Keep up the good work of providing these things - although we have some beetles and a large tub with baby wigglers there is no way we can keep up with demand!

It is so wonderful to be able to have the trust of a wild creature and to be able to photograph it without disturbing it - he is a wonderful poser and at times seeks out the lens when he see the camera, I am sure he checks himself out! No doubt he will adorn many a Christmas card.

I have attached a couple more photos that may amuse - for one I turned around and saw him sunbathing next to me after a busy morning feeding his family, the other was taken in early spring when he was wooing his lady."

dark berries

thank you maud hartley on whose grave i have at last found some respectable brambles! collecting them was a treat -- i must have got about 2 punnets but not without considerable odd looks from passers-by. i dunno but i guess it's the ultimate compost?

autumn must be here because i've been missing canada and craving carbs. a blackberry crumble with some lovely cooking apples did the trick. i use weetabix crushed up to add a bit of crunch to the topping.

have any of you got leeks as young as mine? at the DIY shop about 2 weeks ago i saw a box and decided to wack them in amongst my green manure (courtesy of my Wiggly seed box) -- i'm a bit dubious about whether they will survive but as veg go they are pretty stiff-upper-lip so no doubt they will be fine. or at least they won't complain too loudly.

as october is just around the corner i'm kicking myself that i didn't get growing pumpkins -- i'm not really sure where they might fit in our classic victorian terrace garden. ideas welcome. i saw an amazing display of hanging gourds in london once....i'll get there -- now let me see if i can find you a picture...