Unwanted guests

The creepy crawlies are making me lose the plot. A line of spinach is fair game to slugs, snails and rabbits but it is very annoying when these pesky pests take more than their fair share; for example my cabbage has been ripped to bits by caterpillars and gooy greenflies are smothering the broadbeans. 

Should I just leave the allotment untouched and a balance will establish itself with a vast range of creatures that live off and with the vegetables? No, not a bloody chance!

By definition an allotment is an ordered, unnatural place where we humans control. But to blitz all other forms of life because they eat our veg is a bit insane. 

So the pests and I need to come to some reasonable co-existance; a balanced eco-system so to speak. 

I'm no expert and I don't claim to be, but this I feel is the essence of organic farming, finding this balance. So, in descending order, here's my current list of tormentors and some of the organic farming actions I am taking. 

1. Slugs and snails: 

They eat all root crops and most leafy crops, making holes in leaves and often stripping them. Handpick, cover vulnerable veg with plastic bottles and toilet roll tubes. Slug pub bowls work great too, apparently the fermenting smell reminds the slugs of rotting fruit and they dive straight in and drown. 

2. Rabbits: 

The bigger the pest, the greater the devastation. Quick action by Jenny and Peter Young in Castlefarm by fencing and securing the entire allotment area is deterring these four-legged fiends. 

3. White butterflies:

These little fluttery angles of destruction have laid eggs on my cabbages, turnips and radishes. Best cure is prevention, cover with a fine net from the minute they are planted until harvest. I've also heard of people surrounding the plant with carpet. Daily handpicking works too. 

4. The aphid invasion of sticky goo:

Greenfly, blackfly and whitefly. These guys feed of the soft tissue of the plant and suck the sap. The best action here to to encourage ladybirds and hoverflies by planting dill and fennel. Also hand pick the aphids early, use a strong jet of cold water or nettle feed to dislodge them and cut out infested shoots. And if you think it is worth it, use a battery-powered hoover on the adult flies.

5. Birds:

Birds can completely destroy leafy crops, damage seedlings and uproot onion sets. Wire netting or a fleece helps and light reflectors such as CDs. But a good old scarecrow works too. 

6. Wood pigeons:

Other birds rob but wood pigeons are into gratuitous vandalism. Old wire baskets, wire netting and racks can be used to protect seedbed. 

7. Pea moths:

These guys will enter the pea pod and attack the pea, making it inedible. Cover peas with a fleece. 

8. Flea beetle:

The beetle eats small holes in the leaf that can check growth and kill young plants. Coat a piece of wood with heavy grease and pass it along the row of plants. The insects will jump up and stick to the grease. Also cover plants with a fleece. 

9. Humans:

Believe it or not, thieve do operate in vegetable patches. None have been spotted in Narraghmore to date. The prevention is to grow unrecognisable vegetables such as artichokes or fennel and stubborn-rooters such as parsnips and garlic that won't be lifted without a fight!

Caption: The greenfly invasion of sticky goo on my broadbeans

Potato patch

Above: our potato patch today!

Potatoes remain one of the most popular allotment crops perhaps due to its longstanding tradition or because they are so gratifying to grow. The Sarpo Axona seed potatoes we put down in March are maturing nicely. We planted them around  six inches deep and plan to add an extra one inch of soil over the next two weeks. While excessive watering can bring on too much leaf growth at the expense of the tubers, they need to be kept moist. A good dousing every two weeks in dry weather is recommended and when the flowers are forming. 

As they grow, earth them up by drawing soil over them with a hoe to prevent light getting to the tubers. This will encourage a greater yield from the base. When the flowers are open, the earlies are ready, usually after 90 days. They should be eaten soon after harvesting. 

On allotment ground it is important to be extremely careful to avoid potato disease. Problems that can arise are potato cyst eelworm, potato blight, wireworm, scab, blackleg, potato common scab, rust spot and slugs. A breakthrough is the Sarpo Axona variety. It has a near-perfect resistance to blight and good resistance to slugs and wireworm. So fingercrossed for a healthy harvest. 

Slug pub

Now I haven't come across any slugs yet, but this unstoppable pest needs to be kept at bay; prevention is better than cure. I remember the trauma as a child squashing a slug with a glass jar. It was truly gross and it makes me shudder to think about it. I do not want to repeat this torture, but if it comes to slugs vs lettuce, I'll acquire a hammer. But first I'm going to make a slug pub, a dish of organic cider (Mr Carrott's home brew) to lure the slugs to their death.