This is a bee fly, which is not a bee at all! It’s a Bombyliidae, which looks and sounds a lot like a bee, but is actually a fly.

To bee or not to bee? Well actually, its a bombyliidae!

Here’s one enjoying some of the lungwort in our garden.

Like this bee, I’ve been busy, but here is a long overdue update on garden shenanagins for ‘Six on Saturday’ with assorted diversions and rambles about the past few weeks…

1. The Garden
2. The tulip pot
3. Bleeding hearts
4. White bluebells
5. Radish, peashoot & fennel salad
6. Caturday

Now we’re well into spring time the sun has returned to the garden, and the new rose bed has lots of yellow and white wallflowers and a few primroses in bloom. There’s a new path from the raised pond to the veg bed, and a few new bird feeders are up.

The wallflowers have done well in pots too, and I’m pleased with the colour combination with these tulips. This pot is in prime position outside the kitchen window to brighten up the view while washing up.

These bleeding hearts are flowering well in the semi-shady side bed. They had a sunnier spot out in the front garden last year, and really seem much happier in a more sheltered and shady spot. It is satisfying when you feel the plant has found it’s happy place.

The white bluebells were from the market last year, they were in flower when I bought them and they’ve come back nicely this spring in the pot by the front door.

Here’s a little salad from the veg patch, with pea shoots, radish and fennel.

We had this with butter beans and tinned squid and it was v. tasty.

Finally, here is the cat in her new favourite spot. Now that the cover is off the garden bench she likes to use it as a little shaded seating area

To see more garden goings on, visit the Propagators blog and search the hashtag #SixOnSaturday

In other news, I’ve been busy with work at Vastern.co.uk and volunteering at SharedEarthLearning.org. Vastern Timber is offering grants to support projects to help UK woodlands and communities, find out more and apply for funding here: https://www.vastern.co.uk/our-pledge-to-give-one-percent-to-help-our-local-woodlands/

Shared Earth Learning is expanding, and we’re now officially recognised as a Charitable organisation. We are still working as a co-op, but as a charitable society, our assets are held for the community rather than for the members of the co-op. Since we’ve never made profit or been about making money this makes no difference to our members, but this restructure means we can claim gift-aid for donations, so if you do have a little to spare and could support Shared Earth Learning forest school and our misson to nurture a love of nature, please visit our website and make a donation. SharedEarthLearning.org

Also, a few weeks ago, I joined Frome’s second Tree Day event, and made a short film about the day. Back in 2019, I joined the Tree Group planting native species trees by the riverside. A few years later, with help & new trees from Frome Town, the community planted a new orchard of fruit and nut trees. It was a great day for tree planting, and ‘a really nice thing for the community.’

I entered this film for ‘The Climates’ – a film festival in Frome for short films about climate crisis, and I’m chuffed to be shortlisted and that this film will be shown in the town hall next week! https://climatefilmfestival.co.uk/

That’s about all from me for now. I hope that whatever you’re up to your plans, plants and projects are coming along nicely…

J x