#nhmwildlifegarden Spring Wildlife Event

We went to the NHM to attend the Natural History Museum Garden's informative 'Gardening for Butterflies' talk. We came away with a plan to improve Plot57b habitat for butterflies by planting more larval food plants.

We have Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus butterflies as we grow its larval food plants: holly and ivy. The nettle patch we've had established for a number of years in the disused garden incinerator goes some way to attracting Comma Polygonia c-album and Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta. We plan to plant Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica for Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni and Lady's smock Cardamine pratensis for Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines butterflies.

Caddisfly larvae Trichoptera Sp.

WE also made the most of the Spring Wildlife Event pond dipping activity. As you would expect from the nation's wildlife museum, the garden's pond is teeming with wildlife.

Our list tallied:
• 3 Caddisfly larvae Trichoptera
• 1 Lesser Water boatman Corixidae Sp.
• 1 Greater Water boatman Notonecta Sp.
• 5+ mayfly larvae Ephemeroptera
• 1 damselfly larvae Odonata
• 1 Water hog-louse Asellus aquaticus
• 2 Leech possibly Erpobdella Sp.
• 10+ flatworm Dugesia Sp.
• countless phantom midge larvae Charborus sp.
• countless daphnia Cladocera

Leech possibly Erpobdella Sp.

Mayfly larvae Ephemeroptera

#WorldWetlandDay 2016

Wide skies and the wild heronry on a walk organised by the London Wildlife Trust at the Walthamstow Wetlands to celebrate #Ramsar World Wetlands Day 2016.

Walthamstow Resevoir is currently being transformed into a wetland nature reserve, it is undergoing habitat enhancement work and restoration and development of a victorian engine house as a visitor centre. We are gladdened by the foresight and conservation efforts of London Borough of Waltham Forest in partnership with Thames Water and key stakeholders including the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Greater London Authority. The area has SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), SPA (Special Protection Areas) & Ramsar designations and is an ecologogally important site both locally and internationally. We can't wait for the Walthamstow Wetlands to be opened to the public in 2017 when it will be operated by the London Wildlife Trust.

♥ Peasticks ♥

We finally found a local source for hazel peasticks. A big THANK YOU to the Epping Forest Centres Officer: Heritage and Lifelong Learning who arranged for them to be bundled for us to pick up from the View for a donation. We're plucking up the courage to ask if they cut rods for bean poles too.

If you haven't walked Epping Forest, or visted the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge or the High Beach visitor centre - what's keeping you?

Special Memories

Oh joy, the abundance of this tiny garden we spotted aboard this canal boat 'Special Memories' on our walk past Stonebridge Lock to a litter pick organised by the Canal & River Trust. Kudos to the green-fingered gardener.

Wild Walthamstow

Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus on tansy

We spotted these critters on our bike ride around Tottenham Marshes today.

Funnel web of the Giant house spider (?).

Bat Watch

We attended a bat walk at Lloyd Park, Walthamstow. We got to see and listen to Common pipistrelle and Noctule bats under the light of the blue moon.

@CultivateWF

We picked up this generous pack of seeds from Waltham Forest's Cultivate Festival launch party last night. We spent a pleasant couple of hours nibbling on delicious locavorian canapés by Norman Loves and guffawed at Rob Auton's 'Heaven Food'.

Our swag included perpetual spinach, radish Jolly, beetroot Boltardy, tomato Garden Pearl, cucumber Marketmore, chard Bright Lights, climbing French bean Fasold. We'll definitely be adding these to the mix we're growing this year.

The festival runs from 20-29 March and the programme includes a variety of talks, walks and workshops. A big-up to Artillary and Organiclea.

We say get goin' growin'.

Small Business Saturday

Tracklements from Eat17.

A selection of microbrews from Wild Card Brewery.

We've been doing a bit of Christmas pressie shopping; 'tis the season to spread some little packages of awesomeness from our neck of the woods.

Blackhorse Workshop: Bonfire Burning

Bish, Bash, Bosh ...

the Bonfire Man's Barnet

Blackhorse Workshop's fiendish, fawkesian November market activity; teaching tots to bash square pegs through round holes to create a perfectly sculpted coiffure.

WOOooooo Walthamstow

Apple Day at Vestry House

We pootled around the Vestry House Apple Day and brunched on home-baked apple goods.

Our haul. Most importantly we bought a London Pippin tree from the the Heritage Fruit Tree Co.

E17 Pop Up Dim Sum Class

I attended Will Wong's fab Dim Sum class at the Rose & Crown today.

We learnt how to pleat, pinch and fold Har Gow, Chui Chow Fun Gwor in dough skins made from scratch. (In truth Will had indulged us & conscientiously done most of the prep, weighing the dry ingredients for the dough and chopping up the constituent ingredients for the fillings, which meant we had more time to spend on the fun tasks). We also learnt to wrap open top Sui Mai.

Once steamed we washed down those little parcels of delicious goodness with a glass of bubbly. Thanks Will.

I can't wait to try out the vegetarian recipes and practise my pleating skills.

My pretties:

Har Gow

Chui Chow Fun Gwor

Ta-ra, am just orf home to train the KP, er um... Suzy.

Blackhorse Market

We made a quick visit to the very first Blackhorse Market at the Blackhorse Workshops. We're very excited by the opportunities these workshops offer and are looking forward to a future stone carving workshop.

We'll definitely be dropping in for a regular Wood Street Coffee fix. Brunch anyone?

Hyde Hall Flower Show

Lady Hyde

We visited Hyde Hall Summer Flower Show with our Roots and Shoots Gardening Club today. We made sure we visited Lady Hyde in the vegetable garden before we left.

We were impressed by the Patons Twin Giant slumbering under the protective gaze of Lady H (the secret seems to be the mounds mountains of muck ...and compost.)

Wakefield Ironmongers

Wakefield Ironmongers

ironmongery is sold per piece

We popped into our local ironmongers Wakefield's, on Lea Bridge Rd, today to purchase strainer screws for a support for our burgeoning raspberries. We ♥ that you can buy nails by weight and ironmongery is sold per piece so no need to buy more than the job at hand requires.

We ♥ that most purchases are wrapped in newspaper and come with a hand written receipt. No matter our shopping list they've never yet not stocked whatever we've thought we needed.

If You Go Down To the Woods Today

We took a walk through Epping Forest today to take a gander at the Flag Irises; ours in the pond back at Plot 57b are refusing to bloom :(

Canada Geese chillaxing on Strawberry Hill Pond.

We ate our packed lunch in the magical circle that is Loughton Camp...

... and were entertained by this monster beastie; a black arion, Arion ater (?).

The last of the ducklings on Lost Pond.

The Drive

With all the rains the clay pits at Wake Arms were fill to brimming.

A Spring Watch moment! Peacocks perhaps?

We stopped to admire the Red Campion and we spotted a hairy shield bug :)

We passed by Queen Elizabeth's hunting lodge, too late to go in and show you inside. Another day perhaps.

Electrickery

We like to pop into God's Own Junkyard if we're passing by and bathe in the neon glow; we <3 it when they've got the Joy Shed switched on.

Awesomstow

Waltham Forest Farmers' Market

We saved the post lauding our Walthamstow Farmers' Market for the plant fair, market day.

Our haul for the allotment: Hyssop, Rue, Vietnamese Coriander, kale and brussel sprouts (we plant just enough for Christmas dinner and Boxing Day lunch). Now all we need is some sun, bring it on!

We ♥ our local Walthamstow Farmers' Market.

Roots and Shoots Gardening Club Outing

We had a GRAND day out today with our local Roots and Shoots Gardening Club. We attended the Plant Heritage Spring Plant Fair, a RHS National Gardening Week event at Hyde Hall.

We bought this liquorice plant for the allotment (...and won a box of Allsorts in the raffle on the coach journey home! Bonanza!).

Hotel Coleoptera. We ♥ it.