Hey Gardeners..

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Anonymous

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I guess there must be some keen gardeners on here..

I'm a novice, but I'm trying to plan my veg patch with my new diet in mind (no spuds this year).
The veg patch is 8'x8' and is currently covered in clear polythene, warming up. I should have some cloches being delivered tomorrow which will cover about 1/2 or 2/3 of it. Unfortunately 1/3 of it is shaded by a hedge a bit.

I am thinking some fancy Lettuce (Lollo Rosso maybe), Swiss Chard, Spinach, Rocket (I love Rocket) and Beetroot.

What else ??
 
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dawnmc

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Type 2
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Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Have a look at rocket gardens to give you some idea. Also google square foot gardening loads of info. I grow loads in my patch and pots. And I'm now awaiting an allotment.
 
Sid Bonkers

Sid Bonkers

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Customer helplines that use recorded menus that promise to put me through to the right person but never do - and being ill. Oh, and did I mention customer helplines :)
Slug pellets swimmer, thousands of em :thumbup: I tried growing veg last year and everything I grew got eaten right back to the stalks by snails and slugs
 
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dawnmc

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,431
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Not slug pellets, beer pots but remember to empty them
 
daisy1

daisy1

Legend
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Cruelty towards animals.
Slug pellets are not recommended as the hedgehogs eat the slugs who have eaten the pellets then die :cry: unless someone has now invented slug pellets which do not kill hedgehogs ?
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Depending on what kind of slugs - My hedgehogs doesn't touch those Spanish *#¤%¤*s. Suffering a massive invasion here and read somewhere that hedgehogs eat slugs. Yay!!!
Picked a Spanish *#¤%* with pliers and offered it to one of the hedgehogs last summer. He accepted it and held it in his mouth for a short time. Then he spat it out, gave me a very offended look and marsched right through the hedge in to the neighbour's garden :***:
 
Sid Bonkers

Sid Bonkers

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,976
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Customer helplines that use recorded menus that promise to put me through to the right person but never do - and being ill. Oh, and did I mention customer helplines :)
How do you id what nationality your slugs are Fenix? I've never heard mine speak :wink: Are they a different size or colour?

I seem to have thousands of them here in my garden and although I am no gardener I do try with bits and pieces, like last summer I tried to grow peppers and chillies and also planted a vine, I lost all the veg and the only way I could protect the young vine was to surround it with slug pellets and I am not exaggerating when I say every morning there were 30 or 40 dead slugs around the base of the plant.

I know that hedgehogs do eat slugs and we also have a huge frog/toad that visits us every summer and I suspect he is also feeding on the slugs and would not want to hurt him, does anyone know if the hedgehog friendly pellets actually work?

Our frog/toad, bigger than the width of a house brick :D
toad.jpg
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Love toads! If we have a rainy spring/early summer I dare not thread on the lawn since it's full of jumping babies. :)
You don't have the Spanish *#¤%*s on your isles Sid? They came here with imported plants and has became such a nuisance that even the authorities do research on how to exterminate them. I guess the heat in Spain keep their number at a moderate level but they absolutely thrive in our climate. They multiply at a rate that'd make a rabbit look infertile and they're really hungry little buggars. I my language we call them "Killerslugs", plants are not enough for them - leave a dead one and his so-called-friends all come wearing partyhats.
I use a pair of scissors to deal with them, disgusting but preferable to chemicals and it's a quick death for them. Normally I'm a live-and-let-live sort of person but once they'd finished of the very last of the beautiful dahlias I inherited from my grandmother's garden it's more like NO MERCY :evil:
You have those big black forest slugs? They're very similar to those except that they are brown (shades from rather dark brown to almost orange)
 
clairy clutterbuck

clairy clutterbuck

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Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Sid you are funny! The image of slugs running round my garden with berets and a string of onions on their backs has come to mind! :lol: You can buy copper tape which the slugs wont cross (apparently) I have tried it and we didnt have a problem. Also they dont like crossing small stones, like gravel. And marigolds planted around veg keeps them off too. I think they love the marigolds more than the veg!

I cant believe you all have hedgehogs! I would love to see some. We havent seen a hedgehog here in years which begs the question: why did my husband buy me a hedehog house for Christmas! Cant be for me as I dont fit. :wink:

Anyways, green beans are very easy to grow and so are carrots. Why not plant some rhubarb on the shady side near the hedge as it isnt great in full sun and it is a very low carb fruit.
 
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dawnmc

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,431
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
As we eat so many eggs...slugs hate to crawl over those too. Crush em (the eggshells) and put them round your plants, I can't kill them, the beer pots work for me, we also have a giant toad lurking somewhere. I have a friend who has a special slug knife and does night patrol with a torch, bit much for me, what dedication.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Since we're talking about slugs - and yes I do have problems with slugs - can I ask a sort of obvious question.

Do slugs burrow through soil ?

The reason I ask is that I've ordered some cloches that have seal-able ends. If I protect the perimeter (egg shells, grit, beer traps, bear traps, salt pits etc) can the slimy blighters come up from being 'dormant' in the soil of the veg patch or by tunnelling through from their nissan huts in other parts of the garden?

Oh, and where does one buy a toad ?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
"One individual has the potential to produce about 40,000 offspring."

Fabulous - anyone know of a recipe for slugs? and are they low carb??
 
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catherinecherub

Guest
Another nightmare for gardeners that has not been mentioned is cats. Other people's cats will poo on the soil and plants and nothing I have invested in has ever stopped it. I find a high powered water pistol does the trick but you have to be around to see them. I keep one fully loaded but cannot attend the garden 24/7
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Well one sure fire way of avoiding it is.. your own cats.

I used to have a gravel area in the back garden before I owned my own cat and I used a product that you sprinkled on to the gravel (sort of rubbery green beads) and then raked in. This worked a treat and was called gerroff!! or something.
 
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sweetLea

Well-Known Member
Messages
108
If it is green and leafy I grow it! I also grow cauliflower for mashing ( Yum! ) and celariac for mash and chips ( double yum! ). I do grow a few potatoes but they are for breaking the soil up and for my family who seem to think I have a Tesco sign above my front door. :roll: :lol:
I manage to grow salad leaves and spinach all year round with no trouble so there is always something useful going on in the garden.
Good luck with your gardening and let us know how it goes. :)
 
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