Pig Sty Avenue

I had a big ugly "bramble" in the old midden, near the SE corner. There were a number of "berries" amongst the original fruit bush area. I'd come across plants around the boundaries which I partially recognised from their leaves, and wondered, "Are these brambles or blackberries or raspberries or what are they?"  You know, sometimes my own numptiness astonishes me. I've at last, this morning, as drizzle keeps me and the dogs indoors, woken up to the wonderful possibilities of the genus Rubus. First of all, "bramble" according to Wikipedia is a generic term, usually referring to Rubus fruticosus, aka the blackberry. A year ago, I was in too much of a hurry to get everything cleared, taking a Year Zero mentality which I abandoned after a few months when the plot itself, kind of, pointed out its absurdity. But I do recall that, amongst the feral blackcurrants, nettles and thistles, there were both blackberries and raspberries. They ha...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marthaenpiet/10424002606 It was almost dark when I left the allotment last night, after 6pm. As I was having a final look round, a long tailed tit flew into the bedraggled old privet bush which stands by the gate, and looked at me long and hard. This cheered me up no end. Back in the old days of the original Pig Sty Avenue in Jarrow, we had a pair nesting in a bramble at the end of the plot where it backed onto a stream, tributary of the River Don. One of my several reasons for wanting to incorporate gorse into the hedge is to encourage these lovely wee birds into the plot. So now at least I know they are to be spotted in Riddrie. Of course, it'll be 3 years at least before anything in the hedge is mature enough to provide a nesting site for anything, particularly Aegithalos caudatus which likes a nest hidden in dense and jaggy growth. But I've made a start. Last night I finished replanting the soft fruit bushes, which I think are mostly red-...