This is just a few thoughts on what I learnt last year from our first year on the allotment. The main thing I learned was slugs really will eat everything you put in. In fact let that be the main lesson of this article. The slugs and to a minor degree other pests, are the enemy of the gardener. The domain forced off having allotment is a constant battle between you and the slugs. You grow plants in pots to stop the slugs eating the seedlings as soon as they come up, and the slugs eat them as soon as she put in the ground. If you sow directly into the ground the slugs will just eat a lot. That’s not true actually I did have several rows of beetroot, or, and my rats tail radishes came up really well. The parsnips came up quite well to, the carrot is not so good. But I did notice that everyone our screw their carrots in containers up on a shelf somewhere or on top of a compost heap.

The peas and beans needed to be grown in pots. Slugs just love beans and even when they were planted out in pots and quite big plants the wind got them. Although they survived enough to give me quite a lot of beans in fact half a freezer full, I did feel that the should’ve been an easier way of stopping the slugs from getting them. I’m not quite sure what that is though.
I did use the slugs pellets, I tried a couple of brands.. But the slugs seemed to quite like both.

I do know however that seeds need a really fine seedbed if you planting them directly out into the ground. That means plenty of raking to make the soil very fine. I suppose for plants that don’t mind being disturbed, a pot is probably the best way to start them off. If you get those trays where you stand the pots in, then it is easy to move them about in the greenhouse or in a cold frame. Just try to manage a large number of pots moose would be a nightmare.

Someone on the allotment had started off a lot of seeds for me, which I found very useful book I haven’t given enough thought about what I wanted to to be growing. I ended up with some cabbages, when I really published of grown red cabbages. However we live and learn. I was also given a margarine tub filled with leek seedlings. These grew really well into leeks and I was very pleased with them.

I also like to have another go at growing butternut squash. I really like the taste of butternut squash, but apparently not as much as the slugs like the leaves. They were completely by the slugs. Although I did have one plant which flowered these never lasted and I never produced any squashes.

We really did enjoy growing tomatoes and will be doing this again for sure. The taste of freshly picked tomatoes is just something out. And although they take a lot of effort looking after and watering I think the taste is justified. I can barely stand to eat supermarket tomatoes.

It is a lot of work with the allotment, I’m sure you could do quite a lot in a small garden if you tried. You just have to be imaginative space, and decide what you want to grow. I’d very much like damson tree at home, although I think it will take up quite a large bit of garden stop I’ve just started on a jar of jam that I made from damsons grown on my allotment and it is utterly delicious.

This doesn’t mean stop killing the slugs – there are just much nicer ways of doing it than using harsh chemicals that can poison the ground and wildlife.

These slug traps – Slug Trap uses either beer or yeast to attrack the slugs. Slugs love beer. They don’t like cider or lager (Believe me, we’ve tested this out!) but they adore beer. We’ve not used yeast yet though but we might be testing this out shortly!

If you’ve ever needed an excuse to keep a stash of cheap beer in the shed, this is it.

We’ve found that very cheap beer (25p a can) works just fine and is quite palatable to humans.

The beer works by getting the slugs too drunk to get out again – so they drown. However this sounds horrid, it’s more humane than killing them with nasty chemicals. And it’s kinder to any frogs who live in your garden and to any birds who might eat slugs.

We’ve got a couple of green plastic beer slug traps on our allotment and they work quite well, but they do need checking every so often as the beer disappears. I assume there’s a breed of superslug who can get in drink loads and then staggers home … but it is effective at killing quite a lot! We’ve got one near our runner beans and one near our courgette plants.

With all this wet weather we’ve been having the slug po;ulation is bound to increase and we will need to make more effort to save the plants from them.

If you remove large rocks and pieces of wood where they might hide under during the day then this can help reduce the number. Have a pond as this encourages toads and frogs who will eat the slugs.  A pond brings other wildlife into the garden too.

There are also nemotodes which kill slugs – this is very clever science! Just Slug Killer is packed with  12 million nematodes (microscopic worms) which race round your garden eating the slugs and snails! They’re too tiny to see but wil provide protection for siz whole weeks taking only 3 days from application to get started. This is Harmless to all other wildlife, pets and humans which is fantastic news too.

Damp weather does mean the slug will breed more – so if you find shiny clumps of translucent eggs you should probably dispose of them – as this cuts down the numbers too.  If you’re not sure they’re snail or slug eggs you could treat the kids to a bit of wildlife science and put them in a jamjar with some soil and moss and see what hatches.

There are many pests that can affect an allotment. Some of these are human and these can sometimes do the most damage. Children who love to hear the sound of breaking glass often make a game of finding allotment plots with intact greenhouse glass and see it as a challenge. The police should be rung and damage reported even if you don’t see who’s thrown stones. Only by reporting crimes do the numbers get logged enough to get extra resources to combat this sort of thing. You can also hope that more regular patrols by police if there are repeated problems might catch the blighters. If they get on the plot damage can be worse!

Someone reported their rhubarb had been flattened by youths rolling in it! Why? Who knows!

There are many other creatures who will come on to the plot uninvited includes foxes and rabbits. These wild pests may dig and eat plants and roots. Cats may also visit and leave gifts.

The smaller the pest the harder they are to spot, although the damage can be quite obvious. Watch out for aphids (small green winged creatures), white fly (tiny white creatures that fly) and various shades of bug inbetween.

You should try to encourage ladybirds onto the plot as these eat pests. Lacewings are also good at eatting aphids and special houses can be bought to encourage them.

You can buy insect houses here Against plant lice from Westfalia The ladybird lodge is veyr useful for helping encourage ladybirds to stay in your garden!

Of you can buy natural pest control products from Thompson and Morgan Natural Pest Control – Aphid Treatments (Gardening Equipment)
Just Hoverflies is supplied as a card of 25 Hoverfly pupae. The pupae hatch into adults which then lay their eggs into aphid colonies. These eggs then develop into larvae, which can each eat up to 500 aphids!

Just Aphid Killer (Lacewings) contains 200 Lacewing larvae, each of which can consume 300-400 aphids. Lacewing larvae will also feed on other pests such as Red Spider Mite and Thrip.
You can buy nemotodes for killing off slugs for 6 weeks! Natural Pest Control – Slugs (Gardening Equipment) This is an amazing idea – you simply water them onto the ground and they will seek out and kill sligs without harming anything else. Suitable for both greenhouses and outdoors these would be ideal for the allotment and would save you a lot of heart ache and munched plants! The small pack which does 40 square meters is only £14.99. Imagine how much more plants you’d have if you aplied this treatment!
Other treatments are available for whitefly in the greenhouse and Leatherjackets.

If you have a pond on your allotment plot or garden you will probably get some frogs sooner or later. These can be helpful in clearing away slugs!