The Slug Trap Experiment

Slugs.
Everybody say "Ewwwww".
With seedlings everywhere it's a regular smorgasbord for the slimies and something needs to be done!

Slugs do have an important job to do. Without them (apparently) we'd be up to our elbows in the pooh of every living thing. Somehow though...the fact that slugs save us from mountains of shoite by eating it does little to endear them to me.
I still REALLY don't want them slithering over me dinner.

 

This season, in my garden and in my allotment, I am concentrating on permaculture princples....one of which is to observe and interact with nature. I'm not sure that slug and slimey slaughter is what they they had in mind but too bad. The slugs have got to go.

So my first observation/experiment is to find out what is the best bait for my slug traps. Slug traps are very simple to make....just cut two little trap doors into a milk carton. Fill with a few inches of very tempting liquid. Fold the trapdoors in to make little diving boards and 'plant' the traps about three feet apart.
Yeah, you need a lot of traps.

And that brings me to my first issue.
The tradditional liquid to use in homemade slug traps is beer.

Years ago, when you could still enjoy a fag in pubs, you could get the contents of the driptrays from the landlord for free.

Now, pubs are more sophisticated (or without soul) and my husband  no longer frequents them.
So I am forced to buy booze for slugs and I can't help thinking there is a flaw in this plan.

It's not really cricket is it? To buy the chap a beer and then drown him in it.
It's also bloody expensive!

So how does the beer trap work exactly? that's what I need to know. What attracts the slugs to it? Because if it's the yeastie smell of beer, I can replicate that with some bakers dried yeast sachets or brewers yeast tablets for a fraction of the cost.

  And why do they drown instead of just slithering back out and staggering home with the hiccups?
Are they actually so pis... I mean too drunk to find the exit? If so, I've a sneaking suspicion the yeast won't do the trick.

So here is my first experiment.
One trap with lager in it.
An identical trap (well, bar the witty signage...) with this yeastie recipe in;
1 teaspoon dried yeast.
1 teaspoon sugar.
1 teaspoon flour.
couple of inches of warm water.

 Both traps side by side in a slug ridden raised bed.

Results to follow......

Cottage Garden Project...principle 1

 Permaculture principle one tells us to observe and interact with nature....
Well, the nature in my garden has trashed it.

The main flora in my garden is bindweed. It is more vigorous than anything else, it is a 'pioneer plant' and it really loves the edges and margins.
Fauna in my garden includes three large dogs, five marauding chickens, two kids and my husband (who mends his bikes there).

Permaculture teaches us to view the area as zones.
My garden looks like a war zone.

lattice fence and gate

 Now, I appreciate that every member of the family has their own priorities and uses the space in their own way. But the state of it was making me unhappy. So Wurzel built me this rather beautiful fence to section off the bottom third of the garden. We moved my little, rickety greenhouse down there. No dogs are allowed in 'my' bit. Chickens and children come strictly by invitation only.

 Behind the fence the war zone effect is gradually being replaced. I am taking my time and recycling everything that I can. 

'Pixie path' so named by Willow who helped mummy make it.

 For example,
The four foot high mound of broken up concrete, bricks and rubble in the back left corner?

I am using to build my paths and low retaining walls, stockpiling crocks for pot drainage and building a small rockery.

I had hoped to utilise some of the ancient chainlink fencing we found buried beneath the debris but Wurzel put his foot down.....so that lot went to the rag and bone man.

 I've started planting between the first path and the fence. In true cottage style there is a mixture of herbs, flowers and vegetables.

cottage planting with herbs, kale, onions and flowers.

There is so much work still to do. The bindweed grows faster than I can dig the roots.

 And there is junk to clear, rubble to use and weeds to pull.
I won't be using any chemicals. Just elbow grease and chicken power.....  

But when I'm tucked away in mummy's secret garden, with my little transister radio and a cup of coffee in my greenhouse, it's like the problems of the world don't exist.

Pure Bliss.

HOME MADE SEED TAPES

I've made some seed tapes.

An internet friend from a forum I visit has had great success growing parsnips this way....

So I'm copying him!

home made DIY seedtapes

I had started off my parsnip seeds on wet tissue paper, planting only the seeds that germinated, in the hope of getting a full row (for once in my life).

Sadly though, a grand total of THREE snips made it to the true leaf stage. 

Then I read how easy it is to make make seed tapes that hold the seed where it needs to be, hold the moisture and mean you don't have thin out seedlings.

All you do is place the seeds at the correct distances along a piece of masking tape, fold the tape in half (lengthwise) and plant it.

Can it really be that easy?

parsnip seedtape alongside garlic

I was concerned that the roots would not be able to escape the adhesive in the tape but I'm told it's no problem.

I mixed in some cornflowers and radishes with mine, then made  more tapes for carrots, leeks and flowers.

I started planting the tapes yesterday....I'll let you know how well they get on.

Yesterday also marked the second wave of seed sowing for tenders.

sowing sweetcorn in loo roll tubes

 I always sow sweetcorn in loo roll tubes so they get a good deep rootrun and so I can plant the whole thing to minimise root disturbance come transplant time. 

The top half of a milk carton makes an excellent funnel for pouring compost into the tubes.

And I received all these lovely seeds through the post.... 

seedswap goodies

 They were the result of a seed swap and I am thrilled with them! To have bought all these would have cost a small fortune and some, like Japanese Black Futsu squash, I had never even heard of!
What fun!
These seeds were all sown within an hour of arrival.

I am just loving the internet this week ;-)

The Seedling dance.....

Hands up who's doing the seedling dance?
Every morning carting tray after tray of precious seedlings out to a sunny table....
And every evening rushing home to cart them all back in again before they catch a chill or, worse, get munched by the dreaded slimies? 

  

 My little greenhouse is already packed.
Wurzel and I cobbled together some 'make do' staging from bits and pieces. There is also the shelving from a blow away polythene greenhouse in there....but it's still not enough. 

 

It's not just seedlings.
A cyberfriend suggested putting 
some established strawberry 
plants in the greenhouse for an 
early crop.



One week later there are ten 
flowers open and countless buds.

More evidence of spring (if any were needed) comes from the hen coop 

The girls are back in lay....the elongated white eggs are from Racey Lacey, our little wyandotte bantam. She must be going on ten years old now and still giving us an egg or two a week in sunny weather.

And here is my apple tree, with beautiful blosom. 

Unfortunately this little tree is unlikely to produce fruit anytime soon. She flowers late and with no partner for cross pollination is destined to be purely ornamental for the forseeable future. My brother bought this tree for me. The variety is 'Queen Mary' and the apples are said to be aromatic and juicy, perfect for eating straight from the tree.

Maybe, one day, I'll get to taste one.

couch grass clearance

The cosmos is still really going for it but autumn has definitely arrived.....

Which means that it's time to get to grips with the couch grass.
Back in April, I did a bit of rough digging on the middle section of the plot. The ground was like concrete but I managed to break it up a bit. I chucked down some piles of well rotted horse manure and covered the whole section with black plastic. Then I cut holes in the plastic and planted through it squashes, courgettes, dwarf French beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and sweetpeas; all of which did really well and produced bumper crops.

Now the crops have been cleared and I can clearly see my trio of most tenacious weeds.





The docks and bindweed have

Dock sneaking out

taken advantage of any tiny gap in the plastic, even forcing themselves through the neckhole of a pop bottle. A part of me can't help to be impressed! Isn't it a shame they don't make good eating? The couch grass, though weakened where deprived of light, has redoubled it's efforts along the edges.

I will dig this area now and remove roots as I come across them; maybe border the edges with wood. I plan for this area to become 'no dig' beds in the future.

The docks grew like crazy where the plastic was split

No Dig systems sound so easy but the truth is that couch grass and bindweed will quickly overwhelm them, strangling plants both above and below the surface. The ground needs to be 'cleaned' of perennial weeds first.

Horseradish growing in pipe

In other news, the horseradish in the pipes seem to have taken well. Here at the stoney end of the plot I have planted my elephant garlic and some wallflowers this week. I will edge this bed with daffodil bulbs. Apparently, couch grass hates daffs! (Who knew? ) and won't encroach the bed past them. What's more, a host of bobbing daffodils to greet me will be a welcome sight on a cold February morning.

A less welcome sight is this poor dead rat. I hoped that a fox might come and remove it but no, looks like I'm going to have to overcome my squeamishness and move him myself. What does one do with dead vermin these days? Bury it? On a plot where you grow food? Insights and sage advice gratefully received!

Gorgeous globes

September End

As September came to an end I had a look around the plot.....



mint at the stony end of the plot.

The stony end.

This strip, at the southernmost end of the plot, is where generations of plotters before me have chucked all the stones as they were working the rest of the allotment. It is impossible to dig here with anything but a small hand fork. On the plus side this area is free draining and the stones retain the suns heat. I have decided, then, to make this my herb bed with a few self seeding annual flowers thrown in.

 

Horseradish

I love horseradish sauce. Seriously, I could eat it straight from the jar with a spoon. It's ridiculously easy to

Horseradish growing in pipe

grow....too easy in fact; horseradish is a real thug and will take over the whole herb bed if I let it. This year I'm trying an experiment. I have planted it in 2ft long lengths of pipe. This will hopefully mean that I get long, straight roots (which is the part you use to make the sauce) and will prevent the plants from spreading all over the place.

 

squashes, plastic and pop bottle.

 Squashes and pumpkins

I lost my vines to powdery mildew a few weeks ago. Planting through plastic (while waiting for the couch grass to die) makes it hard to water. I did 'plant' pop bottle funnels by each plant and I have plenty of good sized fruits. Unfortunately, they weren't quite ripe when the mildew struck and so how well they store remains to be seen.

 

globe artichoke year one

 

We've had a long old summer here in London.

September has been the driest on record with high temperatures and plenty of sunshine. I got off to a late start in the spring when I took on this new plot and so it follows that seeds sown late will flower late. As the plot should be winding down for winter, I am being treated instead to a spectacular show! The globe artichoke is more than 5ft high and has thrown out a dozen buds.

Also the cosmos, sown a little late, has waited until now to flower. These sweet peas just won't quit! I stopped picking (and watering) at the beginning of the month to allow seeds to develop for next year but they just won't stop flowering and the scent as you brush past is just amazing.

sweetpeas still flowering
 

Cucumber Pickles

 I harvested the last of the cucumbers and used two different recipes to make sweet pickles and sour dill pickles....

cucumber glut to be processed



 

The first recipe was this one for sweet dill pickles. I do these as slices and they are very popular with Little Flower who will pop a jar and eat the whole lot  while doing her homework....better than sweets I s'pose!

 

Little Flower's pickled Qs

 

250 ml white wine vinegar

salt

1 dessert spoon of mustard seed

1 dessert spoon  of dried dill

130 g ordinary white sugar

250 g sliced onions

450 g sliced cucumber.

 

Put the sliced onions and cucumbers in a bowl and layer with salt.

Leave for four to eight hours, rinse well, strain and turn out onto a clean tea towel to absorb any excess water.

Put all the other ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the cucumber and onions....allow to come to the boil again and immediately spoon into hot, sterilised jars and seal with vinegar proof lids.

 

Leave for at least six weeks before scoffing.

 

 

 

My mum prefers sour pickles. They're not easy to find in the shops but I found this recipe online by the wonderful Delia Smith.

 

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/preserve/sour-dill-pickles.html

 

I left the onions out (mum doesn't like them) and I only had dried dill available but apart from that I stayed true to Delia's recipe.

Now I just have to wait THREE MONTHS to try them and tell you how they taste!

 

Dill pickles

 





I've got a greenhouse!

My neighbour was getting rid of it so he passed it over the fence to me. Marvellous!

Okay, it could do with a bit of a clean.....

damaged corner

And there is the odd bit of damage here and there......but nothing than can't be fixed

grotty greenhouse



The frame is a little bent and some screws are missing. It hasn't been used for four or more years and there is an accumulation of green crusty stuff, immense spiders and the odd snail. Even so, a bowl of soapy warm water and a soft J-cloth......

after washing the right hand window with soapy water

Chili peppers and aubergines are soooo on the menu for next season!

So, here we are again at my favourite time of year...

 Blogger and me are not getting along. This is my third attempt to publish this post  and I'm starting to get the hump. I'm giving it one more go but if it doesn't work this time I'm going to flounce off, slamming the door behind me.

Harvest 20 September

 

The new allotment still looks pretty crappy but is providing a great deal of food. Unable to tackle the couch grass head on I planted through black plastic and in small, roughly cleared areas just to have something (anything) growing while I waited for autumn and the chance to sort it out properly.
I didn't have high expectations so didn't keep an accurate tally but there has been lots to eat and a surplus to store.
Today, for example, I am mainly turning 9lb  of  cucumber into pickle.



 

It's starting to feel like sprrring!

Oh! for goodness sake ....... Get a room......

Designing a new allotment

Where to begin?

Starting a new allotment is at this time of year is tricky.
I am plagued with indecision. Should I wait to see if any useful perennials emerge? Or should I cover everything with black plastic for a bit?
If I go with the plastic, should I rake first to make it lay flatter or leave the bushy tussocks to rot down and eventually add to the humus in the soil?



1st raised bed weeded

 While I pondered these questions I set about making the most of what the last plotter had left me.
I weeded one of the raised beds....this is going to be my seed bed so that at least I can have something growing while I sort the rest out. I'll go over it a couple more times to get the rest of the couch grass roots then fill with a mix of compost and vermiculite for seed sowing



compost bins

I also pulled the couch grass from the compost bin and found underneath some good dirt that will be sieved and used to fill the raised bed. I've started taking veg peelings and chicken poop up to fill the right hand bin so hopefully I'll have plenty of compost/manure ready come autumn.

I have bought some weed membrane and put a couple of strips across the middle of the plot but it might not stay there.
A neighbour mentioned that there was a lovely, established asparagus patch somewhere to the right of this membrane so I'm going to hold on and see if any spears emerge. If they do I'll build the whole plot around them because I absolutely love asparagus and it takes so long to get going from scratch.



Weed membrane

The rent for these plots is astronomical. A ten rod plot costs £200 a year! Fifty odd plots on the site, probably forty or fifty sites in the borough. Must add up to a pretty penny. And for that, the council do absolutely nothing. They will not collect rubbish or provide a skip. They take no responsibility for paths or fences, there is no lighting and we garden at our own risk. It's easy money for them and a pain in the bum for me. I'm having to drive car loads of rubbish to the dump. My car is smelly and there are slug slime trails across the upholstery! I just know a big fat slug is going to land on me one of these days....probably as I'm bombing down the motorway!

And So We Start Again!

After a difficult year I'm back! Picked up the keys to a new allotment last night and I'm ready for the spring rush....

It's a small plot. I haven't measured it yet properly but it's 18 paces by 10 paces on my fat little leggies.
Now...obviously, it doesn't look great just yet....but try to see the potential

It's a little overgrown.........

 

and for some reason there is a bath full of couch grass plonked in the middle



But there's a sturdy looking compost bin....

And a couple of raised beds........

A tree (possibly plum?) and a rusty bar that might do as a bean frame....

And the obligatory piles of crap........

Some of which I might even find a use for!