Being a gardener is not that simple. Take the pests, for instance. Months ago, I killed all the snails and slugs in our garden. By picking them by hand and sending them to a long, very long trip abroad, all expenses paid. Or by using slug pellets when the situation got out of hand (all snails wanted a free trip abroad!). Then I saw red spider mites. SD said they were only vulgar little spiders. I am sure they were red spider mites, which is far far worse, as they damage the plants. Anyway, I didn't have to do anything in this case. Suddenly our garden got full of ladybirds. They did the job for me. I love ladybirds. Unfortunately, they are not big enough to solve the new problem : caterpillars. There are fat, hairy and black caterpillars eating our primroses. The biological control here would be to wait for birds to eat them, but birds in our area do not seem very interested in caterpillars. I've read about Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria which targets caterpillars, but I cannot find any supplier in the UK. I'll go for the classical bug killer spray, then. I am not going to touch those furry caterpillars, aaaarrghh! Being a gardener is NOT that easy! I'd better not start writing about the weeds. It could take me a couple of weeks of frustrated posts...


Esto de tener un jardin no es nada sencillo. Parasitos e insectos son un ejemplo. Hace meses, mate todos los caracoles y babosas de nuestro jardin. Recogiendolos uno a uno y enviandolos a un largo, pero que muy largo viaje al extranjero, con todos los gastos pagados. Cuando la situacion se descontrolo (todos querian viajar gratis), use la alternativa quimica, pastillitas azules de veneno. Mas adelante vi que habia acaros rojos. SD dijo que nooo, que eran vulgares aranias. Narices! Eran acaros rojos y danian las plantas. Antes de que me diera tiempo a ir a comprar un insecticida, aparecio una colonia de mariquitas que me soluciono el problema. Se zamparon todos los acaros en un santiamen. Adoro las mariquitas! Y ahora han llegado las orugas. Que seran mariposas en un futuro, pero mientras tanto, se estan cargando mis plantas y son gordas, peludas y feas. Los pajaros tendrian que comerselas, pero parece que los pajaros de nuestra ciudad tienen paladares mas delicados. He leido sobre una alternativa natural, la bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, que mata orugas. Sin embargo, no esta a la venta en el Reino Unido. Asi que no me queda otro remedio que irme al garden center y comprar el tipico insecticida para orugas. Porque a mi no me vais a ver recogiendo orugas peludas, eso seguro, ajjjjj, que ascooo! Lo dicho. Esto de tener un jardin no es pan comido, precisamente. Y porque no he empezado a hablar de las malas hierbas, que si lo hago, me teneis aqui durante una semana, despotricando sin cesar!


The weather today:
Cloudy
19C
UV Index: 1 Low
Wind: From the Southwest at 7 mph
Dew Point: 17C
Humidity: 84%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1,005.8 mb