Another foodie project ...

... this time a fruit and veg theme.

With little else to knit during the summer I am knitting a collection of fruit and vegetables for our harvest festival.

The patterns are picked from various patterns on ravelry, and so far I am very pleased with how realistic they look!

I am hoping to ask people to help themselves to a knitted piece of fruit or veg, with any donations given to charity.

Blue tits and the dreaded gooseberry sawfly ...

The dreaded gooseberry sawfly, which took a liking to our gooseberry and white current bushes last year, has come back for more ...
Raising two ot three generations during the summer, they can defoliate the entire plant, leaving only the leaf veins and stalks. Although they look like small caterpillars, they develop into a non-stinging wasp-like fly.
So I have started checking daily and picking the green larvae off by hand.


Luckily our resident blue tits are now raising their chicks, and they have discovered this perfect food source so close to their home. So I have a couple of eager helpers!

Here are some pictures of the blue tit parents flying in and out of the nest box. They are taken from my son's bedroom widow. Not the best quality, but you get the idea ...
(I especially like the blurry shape of the bird flying off!)

Things happening in the garden ...

Hedgewitch has inspired me to post my own seedling pictures.

The last year was such a poor growing season, that we have been a little late with sowing our seeds.
But, finally, here they are!
From left to right: cucumbers, runner beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes:



And these dinky things are going to be our salad greens:



And while I was out in the garden, this array of colour by the old wooden stumps caught my eye: