Bug Eyed

Yesterday I did some work in the garden repotting cucumber plants. These are ones that I have grown from seed. I can easily see how gardening teaches important life lessons. Like, you can sow a lot of seeds, but not all of them will bear fruit. Like, some things work, and some things don’t. Take note for the next time, and move on. One of the things that did work was growing runner beans in a repurposed plastic bin which I robbed from a skip. I had gone to the hardware store but baulked when I saw the length of the queue. So I kept my eyes peeled for  a skip on the way home, and lo and behold! I found two large plastic boxes. So I put the beans in one and I used the other to cover it and create a mini-greenhouse. Worked a treat!

I had thought that I was giving the garden enough water but judging by the growth spurt after the rain of the last few days, maybe not. I wandered around looking at the roses and raspberries and I saw six different types of bees. There are 98 different types in Ireland. The ecchium tree, also known as a Bee Hotel, was humming. I lay on my back on the grass looking up at it. I also saw a ladybird! I invited her to stay and to bring her friends. They could have a woolly aphid party. So it’s a win-win: I grow food for the bees and bugs, and they pollinate the plants and eat the pests. Happy days indeed. 🙂