There are several crosses between gooseberries and blackcurrants, one of which is the Jostaberry. We had a great specimen, planted winter before last and due to bear its first modest crop this year. However, it has been badly damaged by the most problematic pest of gooseberries, the larvae of the gooseberry sawfly. Their favoured feed… Continue reading Jostaberry attacked by sawfly
Tag: pests
Where are the ladybirds?
I posted recently regarding blackfly on our broad beans. There I mentioned my expectation that our healthy population of ladybirds would soon assist in addressing this pest. However, we have not seen a single ladybird this year; not that we have been looking out for them, specifically, but we are usually inundated with them. I fear,… Continue reading Where are the ladybirds?
Blackfly on the broad beans
Blackfly has arrived on the outdoor broad beans. In typical fashion, there was no sign of them until, seemingly overnight, the hoards moved in and covered the top six inches or more of stem. Their arrival should not, however, cause a rush to spray with any nasty stuff as they are readily dealt with using simple organic… Continue reading Blackfly on the broad beans
The furry fiend has been spotted
Whilst doing my morning rounds – opening the glasshouses and polytunnel, feeding and watering the chickens, checking on seedlings, etc. – the menace that has all but wiped out my cucumbers and glasshouse melons was spotted, if but briefly. It was small; definitely not a mouse, and I think not a shrew either, but most… Continue reading The furry fiend has been spotted
Winter squash planted out but a menace lurks under glass
After a weekend of heavy weeding, the smaller of the ‘wedge’ beds was cleared of the worst of the explosion of spring growth. A nasty assortment of annual and perennial weeds had taken over, including thistles, nettles, couch grass and the ever present creeping buttercup and some as yet unidentified but not quite so invasive… Continue reading Winter squash planted out but a menace lurks under glass