MacAulay and Co. Gardening Blog
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|15:19 UK time, Friday, 15 July 2011
Having successfully lifted the tattie crop as documented in last week's blog, I was soundly criticised by resident garden-guru Craig Holland on this week's garden item on Monday's edition of MacAulay & Co for basking in past glories. Damn cheek! It seems that a week is not just a long time in politics...Apparently I was not doing enough to encourage the germination of the salad crop. In fact, apart from the few rows of onions, the veg patch resembles the now abandoned Balado festival site following this year's T in the Park; well minus the litter and sea of vacated beer-stained tents of course. This wasn't altogether my fault though, as the earth gets very tired producing a crop of tatties and needs to rest a while in order to regain its nutrients. Adding compost can certainly assist in this process, but really leaving it to have a long lie down is the best course of action.
Richard Cadey's 'Garden of Earthly Delights'
Not so much the 'Garden of Earthly Delights' then and more, well... earth really. My knuckles were firmly wrapped and the usual instruction about keeping on top of the weeds followed - they keep coming like some kind of magic hair-restoring potion has been applied. I'm beginning to feel like some gardening King Canute! I swear if I stand still too long I run the serious risk of being completely engulfed within seconds!
Duly reprimanded, it was time for Craig to impart his words of wisdom on the subject of garden pests. First up was of course our old friend the slug, see week one of blog, and I'm pleased to advise you that my beer trap has finally claimed its first victim. Don't worry garden-pest lovers, the slug in question had a big smile on its face when I disposed of the slimey beery liquid; again reminiscent of T in the Park. Then it was time to wag a finger in the direction of the birds who enjoy nothing more than polishing off the fruits of a gardener's hard-earned labour. Nets carefully placed over tempting fruit and veg should provide some protection on this score.
However, much more destructive to a gardener's endeavours are the parasitical aphids. These most commonly manifest themselves as Greenfly. Nasty little things these, they latch onto a plant and quite literally sap it of all strength, the insect equivalent of a half-hour spent in an intensive spin-class! Untreated they do all sorts of damage to your fruit and veg, but happily they can be either destroyed with an organic pesticide, or you can simply wash them off with soapy water applied as seen in the image below. The other picture is an example of an impractical and frankly psychotic solution to the problem. Ladybirds are also a gardener's friend in these matters as they like to feed on aphids, and they can be encouraged to take up residence in your garden by leaving seed heads unattended or piles of bamboo at the end of your garden in which they sometimes like to make their home. Now if you'll excuse me I must refill my beer glass - don't want the slugs getting restless, do we? Until next week, happy gardening!
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