By Victoria Plum 
By Victoria Plum
If you were “there”, you too will have enjoyed another fascinating and useful talk at the Reepham & District Gardening Club by Joe Whitehead, head gardener at Burghley House, Stamford, in the comfort of your own home, via the wonder of the internet.
These sessions are free to club members and guests, and all I do to access the “meeting” is click on the link in an email sent by programme organiser Jeff Johnson.
His details are on your membership card and he can help you with the next online meeting if you need.
If you would like to invite a guest (the more the merrier), just email Jeff so he can send them an invitation.
Joe showed us ravishing photos of his gorgeous place of work, and we hope to enjoy a gardening club trip there soon.
He reminded us of his top tips: plastic birds of prey and buzz wire (thin plastic strips stretched tightly across your patch that catch the wind and ripples) to discourage pigeons from your cabbages.
Another tip is well-filled bird feeders amongst your sprouts to encourage birds to loiter and eat your aphids and caterpillars, as well as your peanuts.
And his favourite way of making a runner bean wigwam, which is upside down (by which I mean the cane crossover point is low down, rather than at head height, perhaps only one or two feet above the ground).
This allows the ripe beans to hang outside the line of the plants rather than within it, so making picking a lot easier and I suppose exposing the beans to beneficial sunshine.
The huge Burghley House estate, comprising many acres of gardens and parkland, are all managed organically.
If it can be done on that scale then surely we, with our tiny plots, can do the same – without having to resort to the bottle (I mean garden chemicals, not gin).
I am frequently surprised by people I know – “‘nature lovers” – who think it’s ok to pop outside and spray the weeds on the gravel or brick-weave drive with something quick (highly toxic) to tidy it up.
Join us for the next online gardening club meeting on Tuesday 20 October with Dr Tony Leech, county recorder of fungi.
Please log in from 7.15-7.30 pm, to be ready for the talk at 7.45 pm as usual.
For further information on meetings, see the club’s website.
Above: Can anyone identify this mystery mushroom spotted on Cawston Heath in late September? Photo: Tina Sutton
Geoff Fisher