Monday, November 17, 2008

The good, the bad and the ugly

Yesterday was a perfect day for a spot of gardening. The day was mild with a glint of winter sun. We spent a few hours digging over three of the beds and generally tidying the plot up a bit. A pair of robins kept us company, darting between the hedges excited by the prospect of the worms and grubs revealed by our efforts. I decided to use a soil conditioner before covering over the beds for the winter. It was only after I had liberally applied trowelfuls of bagged organic rotted manure, that I noticed that there were white lavae in the mix. A quick spot of research when I got home revealed that these are the lavae of the onion fly who often lay their eggs in fresh manure. Luckily I didn't spread them on the winter sown onions or the leeks but I have still unwittingly broadcast them quite widely. I hope that they don't make their way over to the onions....