One of the main units in the wildlife farming models at the Balkan Ecology Project is an Annual Vegetable Polyculture. Prominent species in this unit included Violet Carpenter Bees (feeding on the bean flowers) and various Crickets and Grasshoppers which are preyed on by Red-backed Shrikes. Green Balkan Lizards and Common Toads feed on the slugs, especially during the Spring.
This unit comprise tomatoes, summer and winter squash, runner beans, French beans together with the support species marigolds (Calendula and Tagetes), Narsturtium and Basil
Bean harvesting today
Male Red-backed Shrike, often seen perching on the stakes
Pot Marigold (Calendula) with Grasshopper nymph
Violet Carpenter Bee (here on Salvia sp. but spends most time on the runner bean flowers)
No comments:
Post a Comment