Slugs and snails and proper dug tales

This is the time of year when it all stands still with the sun, but underground is a hive of activity. In the two years since we built the garden beds the slugs and snails have moved in, bred and ravished the seedlings like Viking pillagers, leaving stumps and lacey leaves as they march/slither on to garden domination.

Our challenge, and all advice is welcome, is how to control the mucus trailing spawn of Satan without damaging the soil and the environment. Whatever we use has to be safe for us to eat and, as we don’t put slugs on our toast or in our baby food, we don’t want toxic chemicals near the food we grow and eat.

Currently, we are trialling hand plucking by torchlight, pale ale bowls, gravel, copper tape and cursing.

Compost making is our other underground activity and this time of year we are busy cutting, mincing, chomping and macerating our toxin-free organic matter to encourage the worms and the bacteria to do their digestive duty in preparation for our springtime plantings and growth.

We aim to recycle everything organic and place it under the new seedlings.

Matariki / winter solstice is the prompt for planting kūmara, garlic, fennel and broad beans. The volunteers have also been busy planting out the beetroot, leeks, parsnips and onion seedlings. The strawberry plants are ready for a good feed and the days are at last getting longer.

When the godwits return in September, we can think about planting out the salads, beans and tomatoes

Volunteers are welcome to help Thursday and Saturday mornings 10am-noon at the Ōmokoroa Community Gardens, Hamurana Road at the south end of the school grounds.