This weekend, we have been making nest boxes for blue tits, great tits and coal tits to be sited in and around our vegetable plot and orchard. This is to encourage the birds to eat sawfly and codling moth caterpillars that damage our soft fruit bushes and apple trees. Pressure is on as blue tits are regularly seen now inspecting our existing boxes so the new ones need to be put up this week.

The boxes make use of offcuts of timber, waterproof roofing membrane and ECOS paint sample pots from our resource centre work.