Last sowings

Just a few more sowings this week to keep the supply of fresh greens going.

Lettuce Little Gem & Lobjoits Green Cos. There are loads of lettuce varieties and any are worth trying but these two are hard to beat.

Spring Onion White Lisbon. Again there are lots of varieties including red ones and some that are half way to being an onion. The shop bought ones always seem quite tough compared to homegrown spring onions.

Spring Cabbage. For the more adventurous gardener, it means looking after your cabbage plants through the winter which can be a bit of a challenge here in the north, but worth trying under cover of cloches.

Surviving the rain

We got off to quite a promising start this year with plenty of sunshine and warmth. Then in June it just seemed to be deluge after deluge followed by north winds and a decided drop in temperatures.

The fruit has loved all the rain - the gooseberry branches were all weighed down to the ground with huge gooseberries and have had to be tied up. Not yet ripe - looking forward to some sunshine w.

Beetroots, leeks, peas and all the brassicas were quite well established when the rain came and also have grown well. The beetroots have been thinned and are just about ready to start pulling some baby beets.

Parsnips didn't really germinate this year. Four parsnip seedlings have been counted and of them it looks like there might be one parsnip for the Christmas dinner. I did hear someone else had exactly the same result this year so maybe there is a problem with the seed.

The crops which were still at the small seedling stage when they got waterlogged are either still at the small seedling stage or have disappeared. The carrots have grown about half an inch in the last month but alot of the turnips have disappeared.

If growing veggies is a new venture, waterlogged areas or patches of poor infertile soil will be showing up in these less than ideal conditions. Adding organic matter will improve the soil structure so it stays aerated and keeps nutrients available for roots; this should be an ongoing process from year to year. Although mulching can be done throughout the year, autumn is probably the best time and homemade compost, leaf mould, seaweed, and well-rotted manure are all excellent. The soil may need feeding now with a quick dressing of fertilizer. Vitax Q4 or Blood Fish & Bone will give a well balanced supply of nutrients, or Growmore for fast acting NPK. Growing in raised beds will also help overcome some problems of poor drainage.

During the summer, mulching the bare surface between rows will help to feed the vegetables, keep the weeds down and stop the soil drying out (although that has not been a problem recently) and grass clippings from the lawn work like magic. They give a boost of nitrogen, provide a warm microclimate for plants, get the worms working to produce a fine tilth, keep the weeds from growing and also avoids soil splashing onto strawberries, courgettes or french beans. The one thing to bear in mind is that if you have used lawn weed or moss killer it might not be a good idea using the clippings on the vegetable patch.

Slug Pub Research

Well, after all the hard work put in over the last few weeks to nurture seedlings and plants, you plant them out and overnight, dreams of bountiful harvests can be destroyed by slugs moving in to devour them.

The traditional slug pellets have been withdrawn now because of the toxic effect on other wildlife including some of our favourite garden visitors. Hedgehogs, song thrushes & blackbirds, and beetles are some of the main predators that eat slugs and it is very good news for them that the chemicals have been withdrawn. However they were quick and convenient ways of dealing with slugs - so now the defence against the slimy ones requires a little bit more strategy and planning.

Keeping the ground clear of weeds is a big factor. This deprives the slugs of cover, moisture and breeding grounds. It will allow the predators to find the slugs more easily and make it (slightly) more difficult for them to travel around your cabbage patch. Removing objects that slugs can hide under such as bits of wood, stones, black plastic etc can also help.

There are all sorts of ideas about deterring slugs from getting to the plants as well. Copper strips, barriers made up of prickly or sharp material or material that tends to dry the slugs out.

Biological control involves releasing nematodes which attack and devour the slugs.

Slug Pubs are effective at luring slugs,where they then get drunk and drown in beer. If alot of dead slugs build up they can get really horribly stinky so emptying out regularly is recommended!

Would you like to try out some different ways of controlling slugs?

I would certainly recommend starting with some slug pubs. My findings thus far have indicated that the type of beer used does make a difference. Lager does not seem to be much use in attracting slugs at all. A nice ale is much better, but obviously a bit more expensive. What is the cheapest but most effective recipe to deal with the slug foe?

To get started: You can buy little slug pubs that come with a little roof, but a plastic dish such as an ice cream tub will work fine. It has to be deep enough to keep the slugs from escaping before they drown, probably about three or four inches is fine. The roof is mainly to stop rain from diluting the alcohol, so bear this in mind if the weather turns wet. This is also the time when the slugs will multiply and come out to play in your veggie patch.

Spacing of the slug pubs is also important, set them about four or five feet apart, and put them in the middle of particularly vulnerable crops such as cabbages, lettuces and strawberries.

Currently, The Virtual Veggie Patch beer of choice is Hobgoblin from Lidls - but is it the best? Cider or red wine might also work. If you are breaking open a bottle or can, remember you don't have to give it all to the slugs!

Please let us know if you swear by any of the above methods, or if you have found them to be completely useless and good luck in the war against the slug.