About this blog

My photo
Wales, United Kingdom
Documenting one couple's attempts to live a more self-sufficient life.

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Humph

That is all I have to say on the subject.


This keeps happening.
I don't think I'll be getting any pumpkins this year.


I'm going to have to get those carrots out of the ground ASAP


OK, this is beyond a joke.
What, apart from humans, eats onions, for goodness sake?

Posted by at
Labels:

8 comments:

  1. louisa @ the really good life31 August 2011 at 11:58

    That keeps happening to my pumpkins too, sigh. I've tried manually fertilising the flowers but it still keeps happening. Maybe I'm bad in (flower) bed.

    Our courgettes have been fine again this year but pumpkins & squash, a flop despite strong starts. I thinl next year I might try different types of summer squash instead. Did your courgettes finally fruit, btw?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rachel31 August 2011 at 12:20

    Bad in bed - lol!

    No, exactly the same thing happens to the courgettes - as soon as there's a tiny fruit, the slugs are in there, tucking in to their hearts' content. I found my squash plant yesterday with its stem chewed right through, and the cucumbers wither as soon as they're an inch or so long. Not a good year for curcubits :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. mrs green @ littlegreenblog31 August 2011 at 14:49

    Oh man, there I am doing my happiness posts all month and now I'm super depressed; I get all sad when people lose their crops to critters. Ok, for slugs I've used neem with enormous success. Just spray it on your fruits, it's safe for you but the slugs (fingers crossed) won't touch it. Do they really munch onions? Are you sure you don't have voles or mice or something?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rachel31 August 2011 at 18:38

    Oh, don't be depressed! I'm sure I'll salvage plenty of carrots and onions, and the pumpkin was just an extra that my neighbour gave me, anyway.

    Do you think it's more likely to be mice or voles than slugs? We have plenty of those and Pebble's had a limp for the last few days, so perhaps they've been getting cocky.

    ReplyDelete
  5. EcoCatLady31 August 2011 at 23:50

    I dunno... that yellow squash certainly looks like it has some teeth marks on it. I'd guess mice or squirrels.

    BTW - my garden is making a comeback... and I finally got one tomato to start ripening. But no sooner did it start to turn pink than a squirrel got it. And the most infuriating part is that it just took one bite and then left it. I mean, if it's gonna destroy it, at least eat the thing! AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!

    I wonder how squirrel meat tastes...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hazel1 September 2011 at 07:47

    Eco Cat Lady: Like chicken, apparently.

    There was an article in my newspaper last year that said a butcher was selling grey squirrel pate for a donation to the Red Squirrel Protection Trust (or whatever it's called. Red squirrels are native to the UK and under threat as a species here.)
    So there's a recipe for you to try!

    Rachel: As I scrolled down the page, my first thought was 'even the onions?!'
    I agree that it looks as though there are teeth marks in the squash, but haven't really got any suggestions, just sympathy! Sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rachel1 September 2011 at 09:11

    A friend of mine is a committed vegetarian, with a few exceptions. She will eat road kill, as it's a shame to waste the meat, and she'll shoot and eat squirrels because she gets so angry with them destroying her garden!

    The fact that there are hazelnuts ripening on trees by the driveway suggests that we don't have squirrels here, though. It must be mice and voles, then. I guess that means I can't expect egg shells to be effective, then. Pebble's leg is better now - I'll have to send her out with strict instructions to guard that bed.

    Hmm, maybe I should think of a strategy that doesn't depend on a cooperative cat!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rachel1 September 2011 at 09:56

    So pleased to hear your garden's recovering, EcoCatLady :-) It's hard to believe anything could survive that hailstorm you had.

    ReplyDelete

I don't know why Facebook thinks this is the most interesting text on the page - it's not, I assure you!

If you'd like to leave a comment, but it asks you to "Comment as" a load of options that don't relate to you, choose "Name/URL". You can type in your name and leave the URL blank.

Do leave a comment (unless the main point of your comment is to advertise your business, in which case it will be deleted). It's always nice to know I'm not talking to myself ;-)

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)