I might have over estimated the size bowl I needed for my first raspberry pick of the season!
Needless to say, these did not get as far as the house! Yum
Let me introduce you to Flub.
Flub is in no way an introduced pest species. (That we rescued)
er…
Ok… he/she doesn’t know that.
Every spring, much to Jeff’s annoyance, the blackbirds nest way up in the light fittings at the top of the carport.
We’ve tried blocking the spaces off with no luck. Plus its dangerously high to get to.
So – the other day I was driving in home and spotted Flub on the concrete carport floor. Jeff got out to pick him up as I didn’t want to run him over.
Sigh. No way to put him back. The great debate about dispatching vs starvation vs pest species.
Of course… neither of us wanted to kill a baby bird so we put him on the hay bales and hoped the parents would find him
That was the first sunny day and I was working in the garden. I could hear him and his parents yelling a lot. Went to check and he had gone – well, got himself lost in the hay. Took ages to find him, esp as he went quiet. Me rummaging through the hay, mice darting out everywhere!
Didn’t realise he was that mobile. Figured he’d be thirsty so held him under dripping tap. Some went down.
Popped him in an ice cream bucket – which he promptly got out of.
So got one of the boxes, put hay in it and thought that was the best I could do and he would have to take his chances!
That was about 4 days ago… we’ve checked on him and he is getting bigger and is really feisty. Looks like the parents are feeding him.
Eyeroll… will be swearing at him next season when he is back digging up my garden with the rest of them! (As long as he learns to fly before any feral cat finds him)
Thats life I guess. 🙂
Oh… just in case you were wondering about his name? Flub?
(Censored) Lucky Ugly Bugger.
That was Jeff – but I was childish enough to find it funny so it stuck.
(And he was super ugly a few days ago… he is getting cuter now.)
Such a difference a few days of sun and lessened wind makes. I think my zucchini plants doubled in size!
The new rocket is going mad, the sunflowers and marigolds are going well… only the sweet peas are floundering. Couldn’t get them going anywhere this season!
A sea of beetroot! (and that rogue broccoli)
Potato plants (first patch) happily flowering and the outside snow peas are looking a little less chewed and actually producing quite well!
Despite weeks of howling wind, so many of the pear babies have survived!
The chooks are in Jeff’s bad books – after all the trouble he went to to fill in the holes – madam has dug herself out a dustbath! Its not like they don’t have the biggest dustbath space ever under the macrocarpas!!
Still reckon we aren’t going to see any of these (cherry plums) to eat. In our experience a late season means the birds will come in and eat them all before they ripen.
Maybe we will get a few. Goodness knows there are enough!!
At least I could use the bowl for something!
And we are eating so much lettuce!!
Bee watering station.
To finish off the day, I spent a couple of hours making more bee wrap.
A local young couple have gone into making it in a big way (apparently they have a big market in Japan!)
To make things really easy, they sell a ‘kit’ which is a nice big lump of the mix of wax, jojoba oil and resin – all ready to melt and put on your material!
They make some beautiful wraps – they had a stall at the same market I was at the other week.
Anway, I got a heaps done and I still have half the above piece to do another batch.
Time for me to snuggle in for a sleep!
Hope you had a great day too!
Cheers!
I laughed way too much at Flub’s name! 🤣 Too cute!
I need you to educate me. What do you do with the bee wrap or I assume wax soaked cloth? I saw it at a grocery store and wondered. Is it used as a food wrap, like wax paper instead of plastic? Can it be wash and reused? I try to be more “green,” but this one is new to me.
Hello! So glad others share our slightly questionable sense of humour!! Flub is still hanging in there.
Re bee wrap. The material used is cotton – not great to use synthetics. The mixture is beeswax, jojoba oil and pine resin (unsure of quantities as this time I was supplied with that lump of wax premixed.) I use it instead of gladwrap (plastic wrap) – fits over the top of a bowl nicely. Also have wrapped sandwiches in it or half an onion or tomato etc.
It can be wiped down with a damp cloth. Not recommended to use directly on meat (as its not something you wash/scrub) After its been used to cover a bowl or something I wipe it down, let it air dry then fold and store again, ready for the next time. Eventually they need recoating but I am not sure how long they will last before I should do that. Apparently you can use it in the freezers too, according to the lady that is a bit of an expert. She made actual bags out of it too! Oh – but don’t use on hot food. Melting the wax back into your food wouldn’t be great 🙂
At first I wondered how it would really work – if it would seal over a bowl properly or sandwiches… but I love them. Keen to make more to have on hand. Love using less plastic and they smell really lovely (doesn’t seem to get into the food either)
Let me know what you think if you get one and give it a go!
Great post! Love Flub! We have crows here and they are so funny to watch. Lots of attitude and personality. Your garden looks great we are in winter mode here. Went to a Watercolor West
Annual Art Showing and guess what we ran into. Bee wraps. Imediately thought of you. We will
be testing them out. Have a super weekend. Love your Blogs. Keep it up please.
Carmen
Crows are fantastic birds. I think ours here are technically ravens but they are awesome. Oh wow – you’ve found some bee wraps! I hope you enjoy using them. I’ve really loved making good use of mine now that I have them. Was pleased to add to my collection yesterday lol
Thanks heaps and you have a wonderful weekend too!! Keep warm!
I laughed too hard at Flub’s name! 🤣
Please educate me on how bee wraps are used. Are they washable and reuseable? I saw something similar and have no idea of their use.