Saturday 11 July 2009

Bloodsports in the veg patch


Now I don't really approve of bloodsports, I was the first in the queue to sign petitions to ban fox hunting, and still am against Bull fighting. I will hold my hand up and admit to being partial to a nice pheasant but wouldn't shoot it myself. Anyway I have discovered a new one and it involves Betty whose picture is here, Slug and Snail baiting. Yesterday as I was working in the fruit cage I moved the pots the Blueberries are growing in, underneath were a collection of large 2 inch long yellow slugs. Before I new it Betty and her mates dived in an they were gone. She is just as good with snails eating them shell and all, they reabsorb the calcium from the shell to use in the their own egg shells. Having seen how efficient they are I can forgive them for stripping all the gooseberries off the bushes. They also love it if I do some digging, they fight over who gets to the fresh soil first, I do have to be careful as they stick their heads between the tines of the fork in their eagerness. I am looking forward to their help in preparing the soil on the veg patch in the autumn, grubbing out lavae.

6 comments:

  1. Just wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying your blog!

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  2. I have wanted chickens for a long time. I even have an empty coop waiting to be filled, so I must ask is there a way to prevent them from eating berries?

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  3. Hi, I think it depends on what berries you grow. They don't touch the black currents and can't reach a lot of the raspberries. I think next year I am going to either put a net or chicken wire around the gooseberries. The good bit is they clear a lot of the weed out and enricvh the soil as they go.

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  4. Thanks, I am glad to hear that. I was most concerned about my raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. I already have chicken wire around my gooseberries because the rabbits ate all of the leaves off this spring. The leaves have come back, but they never flowered. Hopefully next year!

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  5. Happy Birthday Gary. Sorry life is so very mixed at present. I wish I had space for chickens. The sounds they make as they potter around is so very homely and peaceful (even if they are engaged in a massacre at the time).

    Lucy

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  6. I would forgive them gooseberries, too... I live in a slug kingdom.

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Thank you for your comments.