Gardening training and the scavenging herring gull

Last Saturday, Fiona undertook some training of our younger gardening volunteers. 

​She showed them the flowers on a mature betony plant.  She then set them to weed around the recently planted betony plants in the Copper Beech Garden having first instructed them as to what were weeds and what could be left.

During the morning there was a visit from a passing holly blue butterfly that landed on a nearby privet leaf.  It obligingly stayed there long enough to be photographed.

Holly Blue on a privet leaf. Photo by Candice Chen.

At one point Fiona put the pain au chocolat she had bought in the Printroom Café down on the grass and left it for a few minutes.  As she returned she saw a herring gull about to steal it.  She shouted and ran towards it.  The bird released its grip and flew off.  Much laughter ensued.  Chris Wright was on hand with his camera to record Fiona showing Isabelle the dent in the pastry left by the gull’s beak.

Fiona showing the damage inflicted by the herring gull to her pastry. Photo by Chris Wright.