You may have noticed a lack of our very own tasty veg… and smaller shares.  Usually by the beginning of June things are picking up – not this year and it’s not just us.  Reports from farmers across the UK tell of their struggles and lower yields are predicted. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-scottish-farmer/20240316/281797108970713

First we had the rain and then we had more rain and… so it went on from (I think) July to April – that’s 8 months!  All this meant as you’ll have previously read, ground prep was way behind, our carefully nurtured young plants could not be planted out, and trays of seedlings were abandoned to the compost.  In desperation cabbages were planted into water filled holes and up popped… the dreaded slugs!

Lack of winter frosts, plenty of rain, mypex (that’s the black ground cover to suppress weeds), provide a perfect environment for a slug… not one or two but, by all accounts hundreds.  Last week Ian reported planting runner beans, noticing by the time he had reached the bottom of the row, slugs were munching their way down from the top!  In fact in the past month, we lost 100 cabbages and 150 calabrese to the slug – that’s why you haven’t had any lovely early cabbage.  At the moment there is nothing coming off the fields – thank goodness for the poly tunnels!!

During hungry gaps, until we are producing and able to store more veg we supplement our supply and ‘buy in’, as locally as possible and frequently from Yorkshire.  It is sometimes a struggle to find suitable crops for our shares – another sign of how tricky this year is becoming.

So what do we do to protect our crops from the lovely slug?  A topic of much discussion on the field at recent Members Morning.

One answer is nematodes – which surprise, surprise are in short supply, we are hoping some will arrive soon.

Another suggestion from two members, Julie and Gerard, was hedgehogs.  They are in the process of adopting a couple for their garden from Northumbrian Hedgehog Rescue Trust, https://hedgehogs-northumbria.org.uk.  There are some fairly strict rules for adoption since the purpose is to increase the hedgehog population. According to research “The population of hedgehogs in rural Britain is continuing a “steep decline . The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs report found numbers are down in rural areas by between 30% and 75% since 2000.”  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60436607

Whilst hedgehogs do delight in a slug or 2, we would need an army to make dent in our invasion – and as Ian points out, albeit we maintain a bio diverse environment we are too close to the road and fields that may be sprayed with unwanted chemicals.

So next on our list is ducks, the runner variety, and we have experience.  Back in 2013, when we were a new and young enterprise, Ian and Bridget made a trip north of the border, purchasing 6 runner ducks.  A pen (which has subsequently been the Growing Gang or Strawberry area) was erected and the saltire flag proudly flew over the ducks, who, on their first day, decided to fly… all the way to Ovington!  Perhaps they weren’t fully trained runners?  They did return but were considered to be a bit more than we had bargained for and as with any livestock, taking care of ducks requires a 7 day week commitment.  However it may be time to give this option another go.

And the last option is the pellet – organic of course.  For now, along with hand picking! as we uncover the pests, is our course of action.  

We’d love to hear your slug stories and any full proof methods for dealing with these munchers.