Lessons from unlikely places

Post categories: carrot

Chris Howard|16:36 UK time, Monday, 18 May 2009

I feel chastened this week, by an animated character. You see, I saw the beautiful animated film Coraline at the weekend. In it, when not being terrorised by people with buttons for eyes, Coraline is constantly nagging her parents to get outside and sort their new garden out, but they're too busy writing about gardening to actually do any. It all sounded a little familiar.

In the past week or two, I've been too busy reading other people's experiences and getting sidetracked while researching their questions to actually do any gardening myself, bar the odd water and checking nothing was dying.

When I finally took some time out with my veg, a mystery presented itself. In the window box I inherited from the Green Balloon Club, there's been a suspicious flattening of my carrots. Did I, like Coraline, have a sinister visitor from another world, calling on my balcony? It looked to me as if Something has been using the carrot tops as a bed. Five floors up, there aren't many suspects, and the flattened area looks suspiciously pigeon-shaped. Is it related to Sara's pigeon perhaps? Or am I just being paranoid? Your suggestions welcome...

Talking of unwelcome guests, thanks for the comment on my last post from thelovelycheesybeans asking what to do to stop foxes fouling the courgettes. Being a zoologist by trade I'm tempted to say lucky you for having a resident fox, but I don't think that's the answer you're after.

You might want to check with fertiliser you're using - if it's a bonemeal-based one it'll be very attractive to foxes, so changing to something else might help. Apart from that, take a look at Ann's reply to your comment - she's been talking to a man who deters foxes for a living.

P.S. If you want to read a blog by a fascinating man who really knows what happens in a small patch, have a look at The Square Metre blog, run by Patrick. I made a film with Patrick for Springwatch a couple of years back, and he is truly an amazing man with a real passion for things at a tiny scale.

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