It's been disappointing, with such a long cold spring, that I've lost several of my transplants at the allotment to slugs. If the plants are growing well they can outgrow most slug damage, but some of them need warm weather for this: cucumbers and squash for instance. I've lost about half of my transplants (so far) before they've even started growing. The weather has finally warmed up again to above 20 C, and they seem to be growing a bit now. I have a tray of late sown squash just emerging, so hopefully when I plant them out they will just keep going (have another tray of cucumber but no sign of it).
I have other warm weather plants--corn and tomatoes--that the slugs don't like to eat, so at least they are still all right. The corn only got transplanted last week anyway--really late--but with a pot shortage, I couldn't sow them any earlier. Maybe I should focus more on these two for next year, with squash and cucumbers lower down on the priorities list.
Also late to sow and hence transplant: two varieties of climbing beans (a green podded one and a purple). I've lost of couple of these too, but as they got planted out late it looks like the rest might be able to shrug it off.
The broad beans and snap peas were planted out relatively early, before the slugs were too active; finally they are producing pods for me. I'm also getting the first of the beets, another one unattractive to slugs except as new shoots. None of these are warm weather crops however--if it stays hot, they will go over quickly.
It's not all doom and gloom, even though I like to keep it real here and talk about failures as well as success; I am still writing down my harvest every day. Lately it's been lettuce, broad beans, kale, artichoke hearts, garlic, beets. The son made a deluxe allotment crumble on Sunday with our own rhubarb, gooseberries, raspberries (and some strawberries we picked from a farm). Even with all the setbacks, we're back in business again.
No comments:
Post a Comment