Saturday 23 June 2012
Tuesday 5 June 2012
Party in the garden
Never mind a long Jubilee weekend, it was a long rainy weekend! There have been street parties and garden parties and big lunches in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubillee though most of them all a bit soggy. A four-day weekend has also meant some extra time in CGC - well, when it hasn't been raining.
Tomato plants are all out in their final positions in the greenhouse, and this year we've also planted some tomato plants outside in the vegetable patch. Not sure how well they will do in comparison to those protected in the greenhouse but we'll see.
We've also planted radishes, beetroots, onions, spring onions and garlic as well as some chillies. We decided not to go for the sweetcorn this year seeing as they take so much space and are quite prone to bugs. As we have our new little helper in the garden, we can't use the same slug pellets as before so we've been trying to go for more natural pesticides though they aren't as effective - though better for the garden, not really better for the vegetable patch in the short term.
Our baby beetroot leaves have already almost all been chewed back down to the ground by slugs. Many of the marigold leaves which we planted in rows on either side of the vegetable patch have also been chewed by slugs and snails. The radish leaves are faring well up until now but is it just a question of time before they fall prey to the killer slugs?
I tried a garlic solution, which I read about on the Garderner's World website, which consisted of one crushed garlic bulb boiled in a litre of water for five minutes and then strained. A teaspoon of the garlic mixture is then added to a litre of fresh water which is used to water the garden and supposed to help deter slugs and snails. Hasn't really worked well up until now. Perhaps, there has been too much rain and the solution hasn't had a chance to take effect...
Looking at the rain falling outside, I'm thinking how much the slugs and snails are partying this Jubillee weekend and how much they are revelling in all of this soggy weather and reaping chaos and destruction in their slimy trails!
Tomato plants are all out in their final positions in the greenhouse, and this year we've also planted some tomato plants outside in the vegetable patch. Not sure how well they will do in comparison to those protected in the greenhouse but we'll see.
We've also planted radishes, beetroots, onions, spring onions and garlic as well as some chillies. We decided not to go for the sweetcorn this year seeing as they take so much space and are quite prone to bugs. As we have our new little helper in the garden, we can't use the same slug pellets as before so we've been trying to go for more natural pesticides though they aren't as effective - though better for the garden, not really better for the vegetable patch in the short term.
Our baby beetroot leaves have already almost all been chewed back down to the ground by slugs. Many of the marigold leaves which we planted in rows on either side of the vegetable patch have also been chewed by slugs and snails. The radish leaves are faring well up until now but is it just a question of time before they fall prey to the killer slugs?
I tried a garlic solution, which I read about on the Garderner's World website, which consisted of one crushed garlic bulb boiled in a litre of water for five minutes and then strained. A teaspoon of the garlic mixture is then added to a litre of fresh water which is used to water the garden and supposed to help deter slugs and snails. Hasn't really worked well up until now. Perhaps, there has been too much rain and the solution hasn't had a chance to take effect...
Looking at the rain falling outside, I'm thinking how much the slugs and snails are partying this Jubillee weekend and how much they are revelling in all of this soggy weather and reaping chaos and destruction in their slimy trails!
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