Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

GQ I saw this and thought of you.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2637973/Bran-flakes-beer-ANYTHING-stop-slugs-Suddenly-slimy-blighters-How-fight-back.html

I saw that yesterday - I feel his pain.

Those of you who were reading my nonsense back in the Summer of 2012 may recall the War of the Gastropod, when I was killing upward of 100 slugs and snails on each visit to the allotment. Caught and killed over 300 on the day I de-topped the spuds when still in the green as blight had arrived. The really big slugs, the ones which are several inches long.......eww!

I was seriously-frightened at what gardening year 2013 would deliver, slug-wise, as we'd had a mild winter. I'd had stuff eaten to rags in 2012 despite my best efforts and thought if 2013 was anything like as bad....it wasn't. I found fewer than 10 slugs the whole season (and killed them).

I'm hampered by derelict plots around my own, but there are some encouraging indications this season that there may be new people who will keep their plots up. I don't like to get my hopes up too much as have seen several people go gangbusters at the start of their allotment tenancies, then lose interest/ other things take precedence, and then it goes backwards into dereliction very quickly.

I also spent a lot of time cultivating the soil after the end of the season, turning it over with the fork to get out the perennial horrors like couch grass and horsetails, and would turn up pesties, inc clutches of slug and snail eggs in the process. Gastropod eggs are found in clumps, and look like tiny seed pearls. But squishable. Chickens would be glad of them.

Righty, time for brekkie, a bit of interwebulation and fashioning an effigy of the neighbour who slammed their front door at 03.20 am - and again at 03.32 am. I'd like to slam it for them at 07.50 am but only if I can put their neck in the doorjamb first.:rotfl:

thriftwizard

There are a lot of the blighters about this year, certainly. I'm afraid I throw any unwary molluscs caught trying to slink into my greenhouse straight to my chickens, who absolutely adore them. It's a win-win situation - slugs & snails magically turned into eggs, happy, well-fed & entertained chickens, happy gardener - although I do have to admit that the molluscs don't get to win anything there.

[Deleted User]

Morning all, am I alone in being sick and tired of politicians from all parties saying they have to 'regain the nations' trust'? They'll collectively never have my trust again, possibly some individuals will appear as sensible people but political parties don't connect with the ground these days. It comes over to me as they think they just have to find the right combination of words and say them often enough and loudly enough for them to pull the wool back over the peoples eyes then it's business as normal with a docile population. Not this one!!!! I don't believe a single thing they say no matter if it's deragoatory to other parties, self praise, of sheer nonsense (seen rather more often than the first two options!) they are altogether untrustworthy and unbelieveable!!! and then there's the BANKS and other financial institutions, and the energy providers well ...... enough unsaid!!!

Butterfly_Brain

Totally agree with you Lyn, they are too much in corporate and banksters pockets, whatever colour rosette they wear

[Deleted User]

We're back to the Bank Holiday weather again, round here.

Butterfly_Brain

DD is at work and DH and DS have gone to an archery open day, so a peaceful Sunday for me
I have been pottering in the greenhouse all morning and have got all the seedlings re-potted.

Found 10 slugs by the raised beds so they have been dispatched with salt............I have no sensibilities of killing them this way

Going to have a word with one of our neighbours whose ruddy cat thinks that our raised bed is a litter box :mad::mad:
I have put cayenne pepper down and it hasn't stopped the little burger, does anyone know how to deter cats?

Perplexed_Pineapple

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

DD is at work and DH and DS have gone to an archery open day, so a peaceful Sunday for me
I have been pottering in the greenhouse all morning and have got all the seedlings re-potted.

Found 10 slugs by the raised beds so they have been dispatched with salt............I have no sensibilities of killing them this way

Going to have a word with one of our neighbours whose ruddy cat thinks that our raised bed is a litter box :mad::mad:
I have put cayenne pepper down and it hasn't stopped the little burger, does anyone know how to deter cats?

Cats are persistent little blighters in my experience, using them for archery or air rifle practice may be seen as excessive. Water pistols can be useful. Look on the bright side, they will deter birds and reduce the small rodent population. The only thing which really puts off cats is to have the territory claimed by a bigger, scarier cat.

I don't know whether to be enthused or depressed by the latest electoral shenanigans. I suspect we would be better off (not higher GDP type better off, personal freedom and less bureaucracy type better off) if we could get out of the EU, but it seems likely that many people who vote for the "kippers" are motivated by petty nationalism and casual racism rather than because they are concerned over the anti-democratic implications of the Treaty of Lisbon.
I've been reading up on types of apples you can grow in pots, the main thing seems to be the rootstock which affects the size of the tree, and whether they are self-pollinating or not. Apparently you get better fruit if your trees cross-pollinate but then you need to have varieties that are in flower at the same time. Research is ongoing.....
About water filters, I think it would be well worthwhile using a homemade pre-filter before putting impure water through a Sawyer or Katadyn type unit. It should be possible to improvise something quite effective using layers of muslin and maybe some sand or charcoal. Filtering out larger particles beforehand would probably extend the lifespan of the commercial unit considerably, indeed a crude filter would probably remove enough contamination that you could then render most water potable with Milton fluid. Useful to think about these things although your Sawyer looks great for a BOB, Bob

[Deleted User]

Just looked up homemade water filters on e.how and the easiest I could see is an upside down 2 litre bottle with the bottom cut off filled with 4 layers the first layer above the neck was shredded fabric, the second layer was cut small pieces of reed, the third layer was sand and the fourth layer was gravel (or it may have been gravel 3rd and sand 4th) the water is then poured slowly through this several times until it clears. You still have to boil it to make it safe to use though, but, perhaps better than nothing in an emergency situation?

[Deleted User]

If you are going to use a micro filter (eg. Sawyer), I would think a few make-up removing pads, or a wad of cotton wool, would be enough, to remove sediment.

Alternatively, carry a pack of chemistry lab filter papers.

[Deleted User]

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

About water filters, I think it would be well worthwhile using a homemade pre-filter before putting impure water through a Sawyer or Katadyn type unit.

I think that would depend how cloudy/clear the water is.

From a fast flowing, clear stream, it probably wouldn't need initial filtering.