Right now Christmas is less than a week away. Not that that it bothers me garden wise at the moment with some pretty steady rainfall, and a bounty of some delicious lettuce. However parts of the veggie patch have been looking a bit like a free range snail farm. Any French restaurants interested in a steady escargot supply? Got 'em right here. I must say the beer traps are doing a reasonable job in the face of this slimy onslaught, still, I haven't seen slugs and snails like this in the garden before.
Great weather is forecast over the Christmas period, although I will be in the north east and far east of Victoria at this time but the burst of warmth expected should be an added plus to the veggie patch. As promised there will be photos shortly - when the weather is better!
Cheers,
Merry gardening, merry Christmas and have a happy New Year!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Water, Water, Everywhere
It's been hot, humid and very wet across the eastern Australian states for the last few weeks. Something of a cruel irony for our farmers - after enduring years of drought and what promised to be a great grain harvest the rains have come in a big way, causing floods and ruining crops. Then again it may keep the locusts at bay in Victoria threatening to devour everything green.
Living on high ground in the hills east of Melbourne means floods aren't a problem here and everything is growing like mad, especially the tree ferns and the weeds of course. In the veggie patch the corn, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and cos lettuce are doing well despite the soggy conditions and the ever present threat from slugs and snails (and thank goodness it's not from a locust raiding party).
Speaking of slug and snail control, I've found a safe non-toxic method is to place some take-away containers with openings cut into the sides around sections of the veggie patch. A little beer is added to the containers, which the slugs and snails find irresistable and they get happily drunk and drown. I know chemical slug and snail baits work well but there's always the worry about our cats sampling it and then there's the birds like magpies that may happen to eat a poisoned slug and end up dead too.
Now that I've introduced to you some of the crops in the veggie patch I'll be taking and posting photos (when it stops raining) to show you its progress. Plus, lookout for the Spain garden special coming up soon of photos from my trip to Europe in September this year. You'll be blown away!
That's all for now, happy gardening.
Cheers.
Living on high ground in the hills east of Melbourne means floods aren't a problem here and everything is growing like mad, especially the tree ferns and the weeds of course. In the veggie patch the corn, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and cos lettuce are doing well despite the soggy conditions and the ever present threat from slugs and snails (and thank goodness it's not from a locust raiding party).
Speaking of slug and snail control, I've found a safe non-toxic method is to place some take-away containers with openings cut into the sides around sections of the veggie patch. A little beer is added to the containers, which the slugs and snails find irresistable and they get happily drunk and drown. I know chemical slug and snail baits work well but there's always the worry about our cats sampling it and then there's the birds like magpies that may happen to eat a poisoned slug and end up dead too.
Now that I've introduced to you some of the crops in the veggie patch I'll be taking and posting photos (when it stops raining) to show you its progress. Plus, lookout for the Spain garden special coming up soon of photos from my trip to Europe in September this year. You'll be blown away!
That's all for now, happy gardening.
Cheers.
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