Posts by Leigh Russell
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Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand, in reply to Lilith __,
how about plants on top of buses?
Wow, these are wild and crazy gardens! Not too fast around the corners, please and go easy on the hills!!! :-) Very nice, I liked them a lot, and the world definitely needs more such fun and ingenuity!
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Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand, in reply to Cecelia,
How do you stop little worms getting into your carrots?
Hi Cecelia! I imagine you’re thinking of wireworm? I've included a photo for identification purposes. I do my best to think inclusively about The Little People with whom I share the garden, but have to admit that I find wireworm rather heavy going!
There seem to be no easy answers to deterring them without resorting to poisons, which I avoid. I’m fortunate that that particular part of the garden has very few, and so little has been lost to them. The potato bed did have a bit of a problem, but not for all that long, and the potatoes that I harvested early – before Christmas, had no problem at all. And then after a month or two the rest seemed to be free of it.
I have read that wireworm is the larval form of the ‘click’ beetle, and my guess is that it goes through the larval stage and then loses interest in the root veg. I don’t know if this is so or not. My sister, who lives nearby, had big losses from her potato crop to wireworm, but when we had prepared the ground before planting the pieces of potato for the new crop, we dug up masses of self sown ones which had no worm nibbles in them At All!!! I have also read that wire worm is endemic in lawn grass, and that after a patch of garden has been cultivated for five years (ie: used for some other purpose than lawn), that they cease to live there. There again I don’t know how true this is – and look forward to seeing how our summers crops fare. Last seasons crops were the first that were ever planted here, and I dug up a lot of lawn in order to achieve that. Thank Heavens I don’t have to do That Again!!! I summed up the first year in this garden in this article: First year in this garden ~ looking back on a season of plenty.
Not sure if I’ve answered your question at all, but maybe some of the above is of interest. :-)
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Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand, in reply to Lilith __,
Long exposure of insects flying around a floodlight.
Impressive and ah, dizzying! In the late afternoon sunlight here I could see a great many tiny flies in the air over the paddock up the back. The day has been so pleasantly sunny and mild it must be perfect hatching and zooming weather. Also two houseflies appeared inside. Spring really has got under way!
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Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand, in reply to Jos,
I made a quick vid from some of the bird pics
Jos, I have immense admiration for your bird pics! Having taken oh-so-many myself I know just how much skill, dedication and hi-spec camera gear it takes to get that quality - wow!!!
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What a delight all these photos are, for which I thank everyone! I've been very disciplined and NOT posted some of the lovely photos I've taken in earlier springs - that was then, this is now. There is not much to see in my garden just at present other than an abundance of weeds, but there are still some carrots and parsnips which I planted last summer which are still delicious - didn't mind a bit being in the ground over winter... In the face of an uncertain tenancy here we have wondered whether to put in a vegie garden again, but what the heck - 'forever' is the foreseeable future, so since the future is entirely unknown, we've opted to plant more crops. Not too much work involved - just a quick dig, tuck in those seeds and seedlings, and the garden does the rest! Meanwhile last years veges continue to feed us which is wonderful. Here is a sample. That massive carrot tasted every bit as good as it looks!
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Good morning Steve, your advice above about concrete pills cheered me greatly.
Bother action certainly can work: at one time in my distant pass when I lived and worked in Auckland the Auckland City workers were taking industrial action and meeting in the town hall for discussion. After the usual puffing and blowing an imaginative suggestion was made that we take our concerns directly to the mayor himself whose office was situated many floors up in a building just across the square. We did. We filed out of the town hall, crossed the square and climbed the stairs en masses, entirely blocking the stair well (let’s not think about floor loading!), as well as the area outside, and requested audience! The mayor, then and now a prominent businessman, wouldn’t front up, and left it to his deputy, who, faced with an intolerable situation said he would meet with representatives of our number. I can’t recall what the outcome was, but found that point deliciously memorable. Previously they would have refused to meet with those same representatives.
People in positions of power do not like public displays of disagreement, especially when the numbers are so overwhelmingly against them.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Lilith __,
I think any political pressure we can generate is a good thing. The erosion of democratic rights affects all of us, not just Christchurch people.
Agreed, with bells on. It could just as easily have been / or could still be Dunedin.
What I keep coming back to is the disbelief that anyone could even begin to imagine that an entire city centre could be design-finalised in 100 days - that, in my view, is delusional, regardless of how smart the brain tank is. Haste makes waste, and all that...
Christchurch people, you have my support. I encourage you to keep asking us other NZers for any support you think could be helpful. Okay, 'nuf said by me.
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Hi Emma and Lilith, I absolutely get the exhaustion factor and the 'how much more can we be expected to bear' factor. Just hope to cheer you people on, and to say I'm with you on this one. Lilith, great idea. I'd thought of that and will do so: Claire Curran seems better at batting for locals than many others I don't hear news of.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Lilith __,
It’s not an opportunity to be part of the decision-making, it’s just a Q and A.
How frustrating! In my wishful dreaming I imagine several thousand people turning up each standing up one after the other and saying things like “My question is ‘where are my democratic rights to be involved in this decison-making process’, And I Wish That To Be Recorded In The Minutes!” At present I live too far away to be directly involved in all this – but hope to encourage others from the sidelines.
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The paucity of people at this public meeting is dismaying. It's the first public meeting about the new plan. Fewer than 25 attended??? What's up, people?
