Are there any backyard veggie gardeners here?

[astarra]

We are picking plums, tomatoes and zucchini daily ATM - kids are inhaling the plums and toms, only leaving me the zucchinis to cook with!! 

[courton]

How gorgeous! They must taste so good Astarra.

[thermilover]

We planted 6 plants of lettuce and it is flourishing but what is also flourishing with it is the amount of slugs 
Any advice on how to keep slugs away (organic, don't want to use chemicals) ?

[astarra]

sand or crushed egg shells (TM is good for that!!) around the perimeter of your garden, they won't cross it 
And to get rid of the ones that are already there, a spray of water and crushed garlic (another job for TM!!)
Hope that helps


Pickings from my garden over the weekend include plums, apples, blueberries, zucchinis, spring onion and tomatoes!
pic attached of some of the fruit - have frozen most of the blueberries 

[thermilover]

Thanks Astarra, will try that, does the crushed garlic have any effect on the plants?
I was planning to make a mixture for the caterpillars which has garlic in it but wasn't sure, have never tried it before...

BTW, Love your garden produce!!!!

[judydawn]

Your garden is going really well astarra.

[Cuilidh]

Another good slug / snail repellent is used coffee grounds (if you don't have your own, your local cafe will be happy to give you plenty).  Apparently the coffee has the effect of a heart attack on the pests - I don't know if that's true or not, but it does seem to be an effective protection for your plants.

[Cornish Cream]

Fantastic looking produce astarra

[achookwoman]

Beer in a plastic dish set into the soil also works.  They die happy. Coffee grounds are also a good soil conditioner.
Astarra, lovely harvest.
I spent an hour in the veggie garden,  weeding and watering. Lovely stress free activists. Picked Kohlrabi, carrots, tomatoes, small purple cabbage, kale and parsley. Tomorrow will pick a very large bunch of lettuce.

[cookie1]

Great bounty from the garden Astarra.

[thermilover]

Thank you so much Chookie and Cuilidh, will be trying these, I remember my mom putting tea powder after making tea and crushed egg shells into flower pots, probably it had the same effect of conditioning and pest control... Strange how we forget things

[Cuilidh]

Yes, often the old ways are the good ways - especially now when we are all so aware of the destruction all the chemicals are causing to our environment, natural remedies are always worth trying.

[astarra]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but wanted to share (proud  ) .... My pullets started laying on Friday!! 

[Cornish Cream]

Wonderful news Astarra.I bet the girls are happy too

[achookwoman]

Astarra, perfect timing as my chooks have just gone off the lay for Easter.
Today picked silver beet, beans,  carrots, tomatoes, parsley, Zuchinni, and kale. Still lots of onions, basil, rhubarb, lemons, limes.