Issues with shade and tree roots, I understand well. That describes my entire garden. Sometimes I wonder how I get any harvest. Been gardening in my home garden for 40 years. I have learned a lot from your channel over the past 5 or 6 years. I appreciate all that you do and marvel at your wonderful gardens. Thanks for being here.
I saw someone use clay pots as slug bates. They like the moist cold feel and you lift the pot and they are all in there. I actually found them in the beginning of the season attached to the sides of grow bags and I got rid of them right away. Love for sweet Minty 💚
@rastanka they are fantastic, they run around hoovering up slugs all day, they seem to be their absolute favourite food and they don't destroy plants like my chickens do, they are a little messier then chickens but easy to keep and fun to have around. I'm really happy with them
Hello Charles, Lots of snails and slugs in my veg garden in Haute-Marne, France. So many in Spring after 6 months of rain: first, I had to cover my beds with plastic for a couple weeks so I could transplant in a somewhat dried up soil and I then protected my 5 planting beds with mesh to keep them away. Still protecting leeks and asian cabbages/mustards. Don't like the way it looks but my harvest is safe so... Only harvested a dozen tomatoes before blight struck and that was sad. Had a hard time with carrots, lettuce and other sowings. This has been the most difficult growing season for me. Was sooooo discouraged last May as my soil looked and felt different but refused to give up. Thankful for my harvest and savoring it. Hoping that 2025 brings us all a decent harvest and tons of pleasure growing vegs. Thank you Charles for sharing your expertise.
Hi Catherine, it's nice, you share that. This year has certainly been a learning experience! And in my main garden, I've had excellent harvests. Is the small one that's suffered and I do think the trees have a lot to do with it, and they are not my trees!
Well that was quite reassuring as that's almost exactly what my garden looks like. I don't have quite so much encroaching root growth, so mostly I'm just trying to get rid of slug camping spaces. I planted broad beans and garlic a month too early, but if they don't survive I shall just have to plant more in the early spring. Every year I learn something new and grow a greater variety. This year I established some echinacea, globe artichokes and woad, so I have lots to look forward to!
Oh I'm in luck. You are in your Small Garden. I love the really tiny one most, though. At this point, watching it snow, there sight of anything growing is a treat. ❤ Thanks
Thank you for the video ! I'm putting wood chips on the beds and leave that all winter. Then in spring, I will take the remaining woodchips off the beds and put it on the paths between the beds. I noticed I have a mole in my beds and I am rather happy about it. I hope it will eat some slugs, and not too many worms !
Hello from Portugal my friend I use diatomáceas "earth" to Control slugs and snails, not much and it has a good result Another method that some friends of mine use is beer traps, a small plate with a bit of beer and the just go for it.
only thing i find gets slugs best is beer traps , you could maybe use some larger beertrap/sluglures between rows just to help gather them , its a chore or can be but in small garden i think its ideal x
It’s actually reassuring that you have problems too, sometimes no matter what the weather or pests or bad seeds can just mean no crops. I just keep trying, keep learning and enjoy the journey x
Wonderful video Charles and editing (Edward the kitty is the star of the video) You have a nice operation going there. About 14 pounds of beetroot in one area is great news. We'll be choosing a different variety. Charles maybe the frogs and birds got to the slugs. Mouse? Win win win. Cheers. 🍻
Are those trees belonging to a neighbour? Could you make a trough along the fence and remove the roots? If that was a real small garden in a town house, that would really affect what little growing space you have. At least the trees aren't overhanging the fence. Santa bought your calendar yesterday. We don't usually buy "merch" and haven't had a proper wall calendar in some years, but have been wanting your calendar for a while, so made a convincing case to put it on the Christmas list! 😁 Hope you and the team have a lovely week!
I’ve tried dogontheplot’s sourdough starter method ….in a bowl with a teaspoon of baking powder mixed in. Really works well! Tried it this summer. Caught loads. Thought you might like to try seeing as the area is next to your back door. I use beer traps early spring to catch the Emerging slugs before they start breeding. But I always forget to do the follow-up a month or so after.
Hi charles, any chance you would have a go at a 1.2m x 1.2m bed to show how productive you could make it. i feel this would be a very familiar size for a lot of uk small gardens.
I can confirm that pekin and rouen ducks do not make much noise at all, if that was one thing holding you back from that particular solution 😇Neighbors wont ever hear them unless they're eavesdropping. You only need 2. They would love and be so cute in your little pond.
nematodes for slugs... make your own by putting a bunch of slugs on a leaf in a bucket; let em crawl over each other, eat the leaf, fall into thew water and then use the resulting brew 20:1 with water on the garden... First batch was pretty successful this year... wish I'd made more throughout the year!!
Starting to get hit by leaf miners , slugs & snails here in Queensland too now mate, one way to help getting them to divert them away from your crops is a about 12 small, deep jars of beer dug into the garden bed, about 10 to 15 cm deep. They go for it, drop into the beer & drown.
Oh Charles, you're always a stickler for keeping the edges tidy and removing potential slug habitat from the main garden. Behind that little shed I can just about see an old water butt and the top of an obelisk through the weeds! Time for a good clear out I think. You know you need to do it, you just keep putting it off 😂
My broccoli are happy for the frost too. Finally all the bugs that came for them are dead. Slugs are the only things I don't get in Northern New Mexico. 12" of snow in one night. I got about 15lbs of beets, not including the cut and come-again leaves. Garlic is tucked in for the winter, and cuttings of dark striped tomatoes are in the studio window on a heating mat till May comes again.
Maybe a strip of stones/gravel right along the property line would discourage slugs from the neighbour's side? A bit of a drier "no mans land" that they might avoid...
Hello Charles, Ah ces limaces,quel fléau 😡 Je pense qu'il est difficile de s'en débarrasser. Afin de les limiter,je mets des tuiles en terre cuite et de vieilles planches que je retourne matin et soir et crack je les coupe en 2! Cruel le pépé JP hein? 😁 Parfois je vois aussi de beaux oeufs bien blancs ( futures limaces) que je m'empresse de les éclater 😲 Une autre astuce Charles est de les ramasser et de les jeter chez le voisin 😂 Avant je les ramassais le soir pendant + d'1 h et les mettais dans des bocaux avec un couvercle mais c'est fini tout ça... J'ai fini par comprendre que la nuit était faite pour dormir 😁 L'année où j'en avais des centaines et des centaines, c'est quand j'avais mis de la paille sur mon sol.... l'horreur 😲 plus jamais ça !! Maintenant, c'est du broyat et/ ou du bois raméal fragmenté (brf) et mon propre compost 😟 Bonne semaine 🙏
I have plenty of small pots so I leave them upside down among the veg and inspect them each day, they seem to capture slugs and snails especially if damp as it is a dark place to hide during the day. They get flung out onto the nature strip or 😊roadside verge! Seems to keep the population down.
Charles, I have the same problem with tree roots moving into my beds and taking away the nutrients and water (we already suffer from a drought). I literally abandoned that area of my garden and moved into a different location. The tree roots are a powerful invasion. I've not got the energy to dig out the soil and remove the roots.
I'm sorry to hear that and I'm feeling rather the same way. I had it once in a previous garden and I did try to dig out the roots, but they very quickly grow back. Trees are powerful!
It got really cold over here this past weekend and will likely remain cold for another week. I hope my crops under plastic survive. Have you eve used a slug/snail bait with iron phosphate to get the slugs under control? It's supposed to be natural so I use it here at times when I have a bad problem and it seems to help.
Sorry to hear that! And I don't like to use that, because it has a chelating agent which is harmful to soil organisms, I'd rather work out a more natural way
Hi mister Dowding, I'm not sure about the onions being eaten by slugs... had an eight meter no-dig bed full of multi-sown White Lisbon and they were all gone, just like yours. We have had pretty much no slug damage anywhere else, so we're kind of guessing what it could have been. Of course you know best with your garden, just mentioning it because it feels too coincidental! Greetings from the Netherlands.
Thank you, Mike, and I've been thinking about it, I have a feeling you are right and it could be the Allium leaf miner, I need to look more closely. But that corner is full of slugs and snails, especially this year!
How to get rid of several hundred slugs a day.? Put down your big sheets of damp cardboard over damp soil and weigh them down with a few stones or something. Check underneather daily, probably for the whole season,and you will find hundreds if not thousands of slugs Probably around 3,000 slugs in a season. You will be horrified. Despatch them them too as there are thousands more in reserve. I got the cardboard trick from you but never had the spare compost to put on top which was a good thing as I would never have discovered the slugs if so. I am now finding Redbacked salamander (Canada) which eat slugs, another bonus, though I have to be careful where I walk.
I have a tricky spot like that - shaded by trees and suffering from slugs. I will try some soft fruits there. Gooseberries and blackcurrants and see how they get on. Remind what is wrong with slug pellets these days. The metaldehyde pellets have been withdrawn and the replacement is touted as organic and sold by people who claim to care about these things....do they work? Do they harm other creatures? I feel as though I should'nt use them but don't really know why.
Hi Charles, A nice video as always when you put out a new one. I love them. I have save carrots and wonder if you know or have notice why they be bitter? I have wonder that for years now. The same bitter taste every year. Best Regards Helene in Sweden
This year I have grow Bolero Carrots, but others too the years back. And after a short time storing the be bitter so we not want to eat them. Helene in sweden
Just lifted my last lot of beetroot. Don't know what's got into my purple sprouting broccoli, as it's giving me a harvest now, rather than next year. Brussels sprouts are small, possibly planted out too late (early July, after garlic). Sadly, I'm turning five of my 1.2x3.2m beds at home over to a small lawn & flower beds, as I want the garden to look as attractive as possible next year when I put the place on the market. Still have the small allotment with 20x10 polytunnel though. On the plus side, the reason is that I'm negotiating the purchase of a 600m² building plot for a 'self build' 2 bed bungalow, which will, needless to say, have a large vegetable plot & greenhouse (20x10).
Great project! I wonder if the broccoli is an autumn type, because otherwise that is annoying! I'm growing Santee which is cropping at the moment, though not in a big way, I think it's just too dark!
Dear Charles, is it true that you have to apply compost several times a year because it sinks? I watched a video of a celebrity who gardens according to your method, no dig. But she said that you have to apply compost several times. ❤
Your small garden area is my reality garden. Shady, mature tree roots from bird cherry trees, slug habitat nearby. Will be loking to you for helpful guidance going forward. Won't your small bean plants get eaten by slugs?
Oh, the slugs and snails are verging on the biblical this year and it's so depressing. I keep thinking "why doesn't Charles suffer in the same way?" but now you're showing that you do! Do you use nematodes? I've started a tiny market garden, selling at my front gate, and I simply cannot believe how little I now have to sell as it's been ravaged by pests. Thankfully, the mushrooms, microgreens and soon to be hydroponically grown greens should be pest free.
I often spot groups of woodlice keeping a slug prisoner. Not sure if they’re farming the gunk the slug emit or they’re just enjoying baiting it. The slugs get a swollen hump from nematodes before they die so I leave them to it to do their thing.
@amandar7719 interesting.... I don't know about all that, but they do eat slug eggs so even though I have lots of habitat and occasionally see giant slugs, typically they are few and far between. The birds might help with that some too, but he seems to have lots of issues with birds already. Mine just eat my worms and leave the plants alone.
In my area we had a too dry year followed by a year almost always raining and too cold (and then imediately 30°C...) I have had success with Ollas for watering in the dry periods (and we have a 1000liter rainwater tank), the bigger Issue I see for the future, are years like this one, where there is way way too much rain and way too many cold days (at my place it got below 10°C at night until mid june, and not over 15°C, normaly it should be above that in mai, with only a few frost days)
I agree that all the headlines were expressing shock at heat and sunshine, but cloud and darkness and excessive moisture is indeed much worse for plant growth. I hope it warms up for you next year.
W tym roku wysypałam na ścieżki trociny, są drobne i ślimaki się oblepiają. Zobaczę jak będzie na przyszły rok. Mam kury ale one nie jedzą dużo ślimaków i nie wpuszczam ich do warzywnika. Pozdrawiam
i only grow beetroot in spring. autumn plantings of beetroot always dissapoint for me. i think the shorter days and cooler temps greatly retard beetroot growth. despite overall average temps still well within beetroot range.
I have decided much of gardening here is about FORTS.... forts made from tubes or milk cartons/bottles for snails and slugs, slater bugs wood lice, esrwigs, larger wire circles for rabbits, insect proof mesh tunnels for moths and caterpillars, full on tree guards for wallabies, deer, huge fruit cages for king parrots, cockatoos.. Forts, Charles... you need forts!! REPEL THE INVADERS!! 😂
You may be joking, it's hard to tell on the Internet. Anyway, I tried that once, a long time ago, and soon learnt that they are very good at growing back!
Why not turn that area into a wildflower bed for wildlife and insects. Do a mixture of flowers that will be happy in cool/wet or hot/dry to cover all summer eventualities. Leave it to self sow, clear late autumn/early winter and mulch at that time
I love the progression of the cat walking around and rubbing on you to being in your lap 😂
Issues with shade and tree roots, I understand well. That describes my entire garden. Sometimes I wonder how I get any harvest. Been gardening in my home garden for 40 years. I have learned a lot from your channel over the past 5 or 6 years. I appreciate all that you do and marvel at your wonderful gardens. Thanks for being here.
Lovely to hear Mary and thank you for support 🙂
I saw someone use clay pots as slug bates. They like the moist cold feel and you lift the pot and they are all in there. I actually found them in the beginning of the season attached to the sides of grow bags and I got rid of them right away. Love for sweet Minty 💚
Nice tip thanks Tina
Oh my goodness...Minty is a darling. I think this is the first time I noticed her in your garden.
She is growing tamer all the time having arrived here as a very wild cat and decided to stay, two years ago
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Its obvious how attached she is to you. She is a beauty.
Hi Charles, thanks for all the advice
you are welcome Francis
Slugs mate. What a year!
Beer traps!
I'm going to try them next year.
I got two runner ducks this year, the ultimate solution to slugs and they make me smile every time they waddle past.. can't recommend them enough
@@mmmmmGuinness runner ducks or rubber ducks?
hi, can you please tell a bit more why can't you recommend enough the ducks? I also was thinking about having ducks to help me with slugs
@rastanka they are fantastic, they run around hoovering up slugs all day, they seem to be their absolute favourite food and they don't destroy plants like my chickens do, they are a little messier then chickens but easy to keep and fun to have around.
I'm really happy with them
@roythompson6137 indian runner ducks
@@mmmmmGuinness great to hear that 😍🤩
Hello Charles,
Lots of snails and slugs in my veg garden in Haute-Marne, France. So many in Spring after 6 months of rain: first, I had to cover my beds with plastic for a couple weeks so I could transplant in a somewhat dried up soil and I then protected my 5 planting beds with mesh to keep them away. Still protecting leeks and asian cabbages/mustards. Don't like the way it looks but my harvest is safe so... Only harvested a dozen tomatoes before blight struck and that was sad. Had a hard time with carrots, lettuce and other sowings. This has been the most difficult growing season for me. Was sooooo discouraged last May as my soil looked and felt different but refused to give up. Thankful for my harvest and savoring it. Hoping that 2025 brings us all a decent harvest and tons of pleasure growing vegs. Thank you Charles for sharing your expertise.
Hi Catherine, it's nice, you share that. This year has certainly been a learning experience! And in my main garden, I've had excellent harvests. Is the small one that's suffered and I do think the trees have a lot to do with it, and they are not my trees!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I watched all of this season's videos at Homeacres and really enjoyed the visits and your generous harvests. Thank you !
I have no idea what you said, cause I was too busy watching your friendly kitty 😁
Slug's 🐌,,hmmm think of raised beds ,,coz loss of nutrients from nearby big trees hopefully be taken care off,,minty is so very adorable cat 😺🐈👍👍
Well that was quite reassuring as that's almost exactly what my garden looks like. I don't have quite so much encroaching root growth, so mostly I'm just trying to get rid of slug camping spaces. I planted broad beans and garlic a month too early, but if they don't survive I shall just have to plant more in the early spring. Every year I learn something new and grow a greater variety. This year I established some echinacea, globe artichokes and woad, so I have lots to look forward to!
Sounds exciting Tim!
Oh
I'm in luck. You are in your Small Garden. I love the really tiny one most, though.
At this point, watching it snow, there sight of anything growing is a treat.
❤ Thanks
I am Vietnamese and I really like this life. Nature here is wonderful❤
Great to hear!
Thank you for the video ! I'm putting wood chips on the beds and leave that all winter. Then in spring, I will take the remaining woodchips off the beds and put it on the paths between the beds. I noticed I have a mole in my beds and I am rather happy about it. I hope it will eat some slugs, and not too many worms !
Beautiful as always Charles!❤
Thank you so much 🤗
Boa noite Charles obrigado pela explicação ❤
Encouraging leopard slugs really helps keep down the less desirable slug species.
Hello from Portugal my friend
I use diatomáceas "earth" to Control slugs and snails, not much and it has a good result
Another method that some friends of mine use is beer traps, a small plate with a bit of beer and the just go for it.
only thing i find gets slugs best is beer traps , you could maybe use some larger beertrap/sluglures between rows just to help gather them , its a chore or can be but in small garden i think its ideal x
You could try to make your own nematodes for slugs, Tony o Neil did a video about it. 👍👌😁
It’s actually reassuring that you have problems too, sometimes no matter what the weather or pests or bad seeds can just mean no crops. I just keep trying, keep learning and enjoy the journey x
Lovely to hear Lucy 🙂
Wonderful video Charles and editing (Edward the kitty is the star of the video) You have a nice operation going there. About 14 pounds of beetroot in one area is great news. We'll be choosing a different variety. Charles maybe the frogs and birds got to the slugs. Mouse? Win win win. Cheers. 🍻
It’s Minty the cat x
Ah thanks. There are toads there :)
It's now Carly filming and editing because Edward is teaching in London
In Texas, it's pretty dry, so we don't have trouble with slugs. It's December 2, and I still have tomatoes out in the garden.
Sounds different! Oddly we are classified same zone as you, 8!
Are those trees belonging to a neighbour? Could you make a trough along the fence and remove the roots? If that was a real small garden in a town house, that would really affect what little growing space you have. At least the trees aren't overhanging the fence.
Santa bought your calendar yesterday. We don't usually buy "merch" and haven't had a proper wall calendar in some years, but have been wanting your calendar for a while, so made a convincing case to put it on the Christmas list! 😁
Hope you and the team have a lovely week!
I’ve tried dogontheplot’s sourdough starter method ….in a bowl with a teaspoon of baking powder mixed in. Really works well! Tried it this summer. Caught loads. Thought you might like to try seeing as the area is next to your back door. I use beer traps early spring to catch the Emerging slugs before they start breeding. But I always forget to do the follow-up a month or so after.
Hi charles, any chance you would have a go at a 1.2m x 1.2m bed to show how productive you could make it. i feel this would be a very familiar size for a lot of uk small gardens.
Thanks and good thought
Minty 😻😻😻
🐈
Minty 😂 someone loves the spotlight!
💚
I can confirm that pekin and rouen ducks do not make much noise at all, if that was one thing holding you back from that particular solution 😇Neighbors wont ever hear them unless they're eavesdropping. You only need 2. They would love and be so cute in your little pond.
Nice to see green,everything here is covered in snow.
Oh boy. Winters in Britain are so grim. Do not forget to thank slugs for their service: give them some cups of beer.
Here in NE Spain I've had/have terrible snail problems this year too...
They are spreading 😮
nematodes for slugs... make your own by putting a bunch of slugs on a leaf in a bucket; let em crawl over each other, eat the leaf, fall into thew water and then use the resulting brew 20:1 with water on the garden... First batch was pretty successful this year... wish I'd made more throughout the year!!
Starting to get hit by leaf miners , slugs & snails here in Queensland too now mate, one way to help getting them to divert them away from your crops is a about 12 small, deep jars of beer dug into the garden bed, about 10 to 15 cm deep. They go for it, drop into the beer & drown.
Cheers GARY, and you are so kind to your slugs!
Bonjour,
Le gros problème avec les pièges à bière,c'est que des insectes utiles au potager se noient également dans la bière !!
Oh Charles, you're always a stickler for keeping the edges tidy and removing potential slug habitat from the main garden. Behind that little shed I can just about see an old water butt and the top of an obelisk through the weeds! Time for a good clear out I think. You know you need to do it, you just keep putting it off 😂
Thanks Steve! Part of me, also, does not want to be too tidy! You are right and let's see what happens this winter…
My broccoli are happy for the frost too. Finally all the bugs that came for them are dead. Slugs are the only things I don't get in Northern New Mexico. 12" of snow in one night. I got about 15lbs of beets, not including the cut and come-again leaves. Garlic is tucked in for the winter, and cuttings of dark striped tomatoes are in the studio window on a heating mat till May comes again.
That all sounds good, and I'm amazed you already have snow like that. I should prefer that to slugs!
Maybe a strip of stones/gravel right along the property line would discourage slugs from the neighbour's side? A bit of a drier "no mans land" that they might avoid...
Hello Charles,
Ah ces limaces,quel fléau 😡
Je pense qu'il est difficile de s'en débarrasser.
Afin de les limiter,je mets des tuiles en terre cuite et de vieilles planches que je retourne matin et soir et crack je les coupe en 2!
Cruel le pépé JP hein? 😁
Parfois je vois aussi de beaux oeufs bien blancs ( futures limaces) que je m'empresse de les éclater 😲
Une autre astuce Charles est de les ramasser et de les jeter chez le voisin 😂
Avant je les ramassais le soir pendant + d'1 h et les mettais dans des bocaux avec un couvercle mais c'est fini tout ça... J'ai fini par comprendre que la nuit était faite pour dormir 😁
L'année où j'en avais des centaines et des centaines, c'est quand j'avais mis de la paille sur mon sol.... l'horreur 😲 plus jamais ça !!
Maintenant, c'est du broyat et/ ou du bois raméal fragmenté (brf) et mon propre compost 😟
Bonne semaine 🙏
I have plenty of small pots so I leave them upside down among the veg and inspect them each day, they seem to capture slugs and snails especially if damp as it is a dark place to hide during the day. They get flung out onto the nature strip or 😊roadside verge! Seems to keep the population down.
Look at that cat. Trying for more advantage 🐈
Charles, I have the same problem with tree roots moving into my beds and taking away the nutrients and water (we already suffer from a drought). I literally abandoned that area of my garden and moved into a different location. The tree roots are a powerful invasion. I've not got the energy to dig out the soil and remove the roots.
I'm sorry to hear that and I'm feeling rather the same way. I had it once in a previous garden and I did try to dig out the roots, but they very quickly grow back. Trees are powerful!
It got really cold over here this past weekend and will likely remain cold for another week. I hope my crops under plastic survive.
Have you eve used a slug/snail bait with iron phosphate to get the slugs under control? It's supposed to be natural so I use it here at times when I have a bad problem and it seems to help.
Sorry to hear that! And I don't like to use that, because it has a chelating agent which is harmful to soil organisms, I'd rather work out a more natural way
Hi mister Dowding,
I'm not sure about the onions being eaten by slugs... had an eight meter no-dig bed full of multi-sown White Lisbon and they were all gone, just like yours. We have had pretty much no slug damage anywhere else, so we're kind of guessing what it could have been. Of course you know best with your garden, just mentioning it because it feels too coincidental!
Greetings from the Netherlands.
Thank you, Mike, and I've been thinking about it, I have a feeling you are right and it could be the Allium leaf miner, I need to look more closely. But that corner is full of slugs and snails, especially this year!
How to get rid of several hundred slugs a day.? Put down your big sheets of damp cardboard over damp soil and weigh them down with a few stones or something. Check underneather daily, probably for the whole season,and you will find hundreds if not thousands of slugs Probably around 3,000 slugs in a season. You will be horrified. Despatch them them too as there are thousands more in reserve. I got the cardboard trick from you but never had the spare compost to put on top which was a good thing as I would never have discovered the slugs if so. I am now finding Redbacked salamander (Canada) which eat slugs, another bonus, though I have to be careful where I walk.
I have a tricky spot like that - shaded by trees and suffering from slugs. I will try some soft fruits there. Gooseberries and blackcurrants and see how they get on. Remind what is wrong with slug pellets these days. The metaldehyde pellets have been withdrawn and the replacement is touted as organic and sold by people who claim to care about these things....do they work? Do they harm other creatures? I feel as though I should'nt use them but don't really know why.
Minty works hard to perform pn camera...maybe you could call the channel Charles and Minty no dig.
She loves it!
Hi Charles,
A nice video as always when you put out a new one. I love them.
I have save carrots and wonder if you know or have notice why they be bitter? I have wonder that for years now. The same bitter taste every year.
Best Regards Helene in Sweden
Thanks that is nice, and I don't know Helene. Are your beetroot sweet?
It is carrots, yes the are sweet
This year I have grow Bolero Carrots, but others too the years back.
And after a short time storing the be bitter so we not want to eat them.
Helene in sweden
Just lifted my last lot of beetroot.
Don't know what's got into my purple sprouting broccoli, as it's giving me a harvest now, rather than next year.
Brussels sprouts are small, possibly planted out too late (early July, after garlic).
Sadly, I'm turning five of my 1.2x3.2m beds at home over to a small lawn & flower beds, as I want the garden to look as attractive as possible next year when I put the place on the market.
Still have the small allotment with 20x10 polytunnel though.
On the plus side, the reason is that I'm negotiating the purchase of a 600m² building plot for a 'self build' 2 bed bungalow, which will, needless to say, have a large vegetable plot & greenhouse (20x10).
Great project!
I wonder if the broccoli is an autumn type, because otherwise that is annoying! I'm growing Santee which is cropping at the moment, though not in a big way, I think it's just too dark!
Dear Charles, is it true that you have to apply compost several times a year because it sinks? I watched a video of a celebrity who gardens according to your method, no dig. But she said that you have to apply compost several times. ❤
O senhor é estar parabéns ❤
Well thanks!
I'd be interested in seeing Homeacres giving slug eating nematodes a go.
Perhaps I shall, but it bugs me, how they're made by Bayer Monsanto, and last for such a short space of time for a temporary respite
@@CharlesDowding1nodig You can breed your own nematodes. A dozen slugs and a bucket is all you need, look it up, it really works.
Your small garden area is my reality garden. Shady, mature tree roots from bird cherry trees, slug habitat nearby. Will be loking to you for helpful guidance going forward. Won't your small bean plants get eaten by slugs?
Thanks and so far, I've always found young broad beans, amazingly strong in the face of slugs!
Does copper tape around the perimeter help/make sense?
Oh, the slugs and snails are verging on the biblical this year and it's so depressing. I keep thinking "why doesn't Charles suffer in the same way?" but now you're showing that you do! Do you use nematodes? I've started a tiny market garden, selling at my front gate, and I simply cannot believe how little I now have to sell as it's been ravaged by pests. Thankfully, the mushrooms, microgreens and soon to be hydroponically grown greens should be pest free.
If you have roly polies or I think yall call them wood lice, try moving some to the corner with slugs.
I often spot groups of woodlice keeping a slug prisoner. Not sure if they’re farming the gunk the slug emit or they’re just enjoying baiting it. The slugs get a swollen hump from nematodes before they die so I leave them to it to do their thing.
@amandar7719 interesting.... I don't know about all that, but they do eat slug eggs so even though I have lots of habitat and occasionally see giant slugs, typically they are few and far between. The birds might help with that some too, but he seems to have lots of issues with birds already. Mine just eat my worms and leave the plants alone.
Would you use nematodes for the slugs?
Only as an experiment for a video!
In my area we had a too dry year followed by a year almost always raining and too cold (and then imediately 30°C...)
I have had success with Ollas for watering in the dry periods (and we have a 1000liter rainwater tank), the bigger Issue I see for the future, are years like this one, where there is way way too much rain and way too many cold days (at my place it got below 10°C at night until mid june, and not over 15°C, normaly it should be above that in mai, with only a few frost days)
I agree that all the headlines were expressing shock at heat and sunshine, but cloud and darkness and excessive moisture is indeed much worse for plant growth. I hope it warms up for you next year.
I thought you could have named the cat Carbon - she's mostly brown :-)
Diatomaceous Earth around the plants stops slugs & snails
W tym roku wysypałam na ścieżki trociny, są drobne i ślimaki się oblepiają. Zobaczę jak będzie na przyszły rok. Mam kury ale one nie jedzą dużo ślimaków i nie wpuszczam ich do warzywnika. Pozdrawiam
Dziękuję, to świetna myśl!
i only grow beetroot in spring. autumn plantings of beetroot always dissapoint for me. i think the shorter days and cooler temps greatly retard beetroot growth. despite overall average temps still well within beetroot range.
us a carrot to attracted the slugs then feed them to ducks or chickens
I have decided much of gardening here is about FORTS.... forts made from tubes or milk cartons/bottles for snails and slugs, slater bugs wood lice, esrwigs, larger wire circles for rabbits, insect proof mesh tunnels for moths and caterpillars, full on tree guards for wallabies, deer, huge fruit cages for king parrots, cockatoos..
Forts, Charles... you need forts!! REPEL THE INVADERS!! 😂
Ah thanks, funny thought, glad you are succeeding!
You have to DIG out the tree roots coming in to Your land.
You may be joking, it's hard to tell on the Internet. Anyway, I tried that once, a long time ago, and soon learnt that they are very good at growing back!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
Not if you insert a subterranean wall of corrugated iron!
Why not turn that area into a wildflower bed for wildlife and insects. Do a mixture of flowers that will be happy in cool/wet or hot/dry to cover all summer eventualities. Leave it to self sow, clear late autumn/early winter and mulch at that time
Ducks?
Ducks for yer slugs