Copper coins have failed !

Hi everyone. Well, after only a couple of days, it would seem that the copper coins have failed in my attempts to deter the slugs and snails. The broccoli plants have been devoured even more now. The little critters ( and that's a mild word for them !) have also decided that they prefer the florets that are just starting to grow as opposed to boring old leaves ! I have now squirted a generous quantity of slug barrier gel around the edge of the raised bed. How effective this will be I don't know. I just found it knocking around the shed and thought it was worth a try. Any other suggestions would be gratefully received !

The runner bean flowers are starting to open. They are such a pretty colour.

On a positive note, the strawberry cage has proved very successful. No damage whatsoever since this was put up. I will make sure that I use this in future. The birds have never touched the ones in the hanging basket. I'm not sure if they don't like landing on it or if they just haven't noticed them. Might be the way to go in future also though.



Tomato plants are all doing well now. Flowers on all of them.



We have had some really hot, sunny weather lately and I was struggling to keep up with watering everything. However last night and into this morning, we had some torrential rain. I think the garden will really benefit from that because it all got a really good soaking. More soaring temperatures are forecast for the coming days though, so I will have to keep an eye on all the plants.



I'm not complaining though ! We have had a couple of really awful summers recently, so this is a very welcome change. It reminds me of the summers we used to have when I was a kid. The seasons seemed to be much more defined then than they are now. Fond memories of some very happy times.

Cucumber pot and wire cage

Anyone for tennis ?

Too much to do and not enough time. There is always a list of chores as long as my arm and I never seem to get everything done. I would much rather be out in my gardening pottering. Just to add to that, it's Wimbledon fortnight. Being a Wimbledon fan, I am now even more torn as to what to do first. Watching that is a luxury that I can ill afford really but I bet I will end up watching more than I should !

Anyway, back to the garden. The runner beans are starting to flower now. I do hope that I get a decent crop of those this year because you can't beat the taste of freshly picked runners. Last year I had only 3 plants and got a fair few from those. This year I have 12 plants and so I'm hoping for a glut of them.

The outdoor cucumber seeds that I sowed have now germinated and will soon be winding themselves nicely around the cage that I have made. I did that last year using old plastic coated wire fencing. I used a big pot and bent the wire fencing into a cylindrical shape which fitted snugly around the pot. The cucumbers thrived in these last year, so I am hoping for similar results this time.

The courgette plants are romping away. This is the first time that I have grown them but I think it will be a similar thing to the cucumbers.

Last night I got my boys to put copper coins all around the sides of the timber raised bed. This was an idea passed on to me by fellow blogger "gp" and I thought it was worth a try. The slugs are still massacring the brassicas ! Anyway, the boys loved doing that job for me, they thought it was great fun. So even if it doesn't work it was a worthwhile exercise. If it does work of course, even better ! Thanks "gp" for that, I will keep everyone informed of the results.

Must go now. All those chores to do. Or shall I watch the tennis ?

Potatoes

The King Edward potatoes that I have growing in two big plastic bins seem to be doing really well. I don't think you can beat them for roasting. I hope they will live up to expectation when they are harvested. I took this photo to show everyone and just as I was about to press the button, Fergus emerged between the two bins ! Think he is a bit vain actually !

I also have Charlotte potatoes which I am growing in old compost bags. I am looking forward to some of those with my salads this summer, covered in melting butter (naughty but nice) yummy !

Photos

The raised bed complete with half eaten broccoli and Brussels sprouts !

The mock orange flowers

The lilies

Strawberries fine, Broccoli on the menu !

At last the netting is over the strawberries ! So far, so good. We made a frame from old tomato greenhouse tubing and secured the netting over the top. I defy anything to get to them now ! However with one problem resolved, another took it's place.

The raised bed was finally ready to plant my Brussels sprout and broccoli plants. My husband dug in lots of well rotted farm manure, compost and top soil and I planted them Saturday evening. They should be very happy and thrive in there. However, something seems to have taken a shine to them (probably slugs and snails). The leaves of the broccoli are quite rapidly being eaten. Strangely not the Brussels sprouts. Maybe they are baby slugs and snails, knowing how kids hate them ! The next project will be to get some copper to put around the edges of the raised bed to see if that stops them. Failing that, maybe barbed wire (just joking !)

The lilies are in flower and look absolutely beautiful. The mock orange flowers are opening and the scent from those is gorgeous. So apart from the broccoli, all seems to be well in the garden at the moment. I wonder what challenge will come my way next ?

More strawberry problems

Have had so little time lately in the garden. I did however manage to put the straw down around the strawberries, but I ran out of time to put netting over. The very next morning I discovered two more half eaten strawberries ! Now either we have some sort of super slugs, resistant to all we can throw at them, or it is birds. I really must find time to put the netting over or else I will end up with no strawberries whatsoever this year ! Apparently we are in for some warm, sunny weather this weekend, so I will maybe get all the garden jobs done. Thought you might like to see a photo of some of the veg I have growing at the moment. Fingers crossed, nothing else seems to be affected by the phantom strawberry muncher !