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Wellington Fields Allotments - Hixon.

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The Birds and Bees, Scarecrows and Our Vicar.

The allotments are rapidly coming to life with new growth appearing on most of them. Everybody thinks about the green vegetable type of life, but few think about the animal and insect life that they both attract and sometimes need. Nothing is more important to Runner Beans and strawberries than the industrious bees that have been declining so badly in numbers the last few years. Without them, many of our fruits, (including many fruiting vegetables) wouldn’t be produced. Back gardens usually have flowers that attract them, but frequently allotments are out of the village, a little way, in more rural settings amongst grassy fields. Wild flower meadows are being encouraged and are rich with bees, but ordinary hay fields don’t have many flowers and rarely even have clover for them these days. The Hixon allotments are surrounded by Pony Paddocks, so there probably won’t be many bees for pollination. Many allotments sites have one resident bee-keeper on site with his own hive, but unfortunately, with all of the modern fears over health and safety, the restrictions and rules that have to be followed frequently deter the site operators from allowing them.

Other insect life that will be attracted by the allotments includes butterflies such as the “Cabbage White,” and birds, especially Pigeons. Some plots have covered their Brassicas, (cabbages and the like) with horticultural fleece that will bring them on by keeping them a little warmer and out of the wind that can be quite fierce on the Hixon site as it is constructed on a hillside. The fleece will also have the added advantage though, of protecting the plants from the “Cabbage Whites” and pigeons, or flying rats as they are often known. The plot next to mine is one that has anticipated the arrival of pigeons, because they have erected a wonderful scarecrow. It is the usual shape made out of crossed poles, but dressed initially in bright blue shorts and dinner jacket with a yellow hat and trainers flying around in the wind that are hanging from strings. This week the hat was briefly changed for a very bright orange wig! If that doesn’t scare the pigeons away then perhaps our Vicar will appear on the scene. Not exactly to drive the pigeons away, but he may well be called in to deal with the problem as it is well known that he is very fond of them …………. In pigeon pie! He has certainly reduced the numbers in the rest of the village!


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