There are many ways you can keep your slug population under control without resorting to toxic slug pellets:
21.08.2023 - 12:04 / theunconventionalgardener.com / Emma Doughty
Apparently more Brits watch gardening programmes than tuned in for Game of Thrones. I can see why – in the penultimate season of GoT the action was so slow that it would have been more interesting to go outside and watch the plants grow. I didn’t bother watching the latest season (but yes, I know who died, thanks).
The gin gurus from Portobello Road Gin reckon that half of consumers aged 24-44 grow plants in their garden, and so they’re encouraging us to use our garden like a fridge.
True, it can’t keep your drinks cold, but it can provide some tasty treats from which we can rustle up some cocktails for a summer evening.
“The adventurous home bartender can grab a large red wine glass, plenty of ice, a generous measure of Portobello Road Gin, a decent tonic and head to the vegetable patch for ingredients and garnishes that you normally might not consider. We chose ingredients that compliment but don’t overwhelm the flavours of the gin or the tonic. These might not be the first flavours you’d think to use but we think they work really well.”
So, once you’ve got your hands on a large glass and plenty of ice, head out into the garden to put the finishing touches to your drink!
The Vegetable Patch Copa 50ml Portobello Road Gin 200ml Tonic water 25ml carrot juice made from around 8 baby carrots A sprig of basil Juniper berries for garnishing
Pour the carrot juice over the ice, then slowly add the gin and the tonic, give it a gentle stir and garnish with a basil sprig and a sprinkle of juniper berries.
This next one will require a little bit of preparatory shopping and a trip to the allotment…
The Good Life Copa 50ml Portobello Road Gin 200ml sparkling water Pinch grape seed extract (apparently a great source of antioxidants) 1 tsp
There are many ways you can keep your slug population under control without resorting to toxic slug pellets:
I met the Duke of Edinburgh a few years ago. Shame I was stuck in front of a computer at the time, and not somewhere more exciting like the Chelsea Flower Show. Meeting human royalty might be a rare occurrence for most people, but you can surround yourself with royal plants and get that regal feeling every time you step into the garden. To illustrate my point, let me share with you an old joke….
Whether you made a New Year’s resolution to cut your carbon footprint, or the credit crunch is putting pressure on your food budget, now is the perfect time to try growing some of your own vegetables. You don’t need a lot of space, or expensive kit, to get started – and it doesn’t need to take up a lot of your time.
If there’s one thing that makes gardeners gnash their teeth with frustration, it’s watching their favourite plants being eaten by pests. We’ve moved on from the ‘any bug is a bad bug’ mentality, and many chemical controls are being removed from sale amid safety fears, but this doesn’t mean that we have to abandon hope of an attractive and productive garden.
A lot of new gardening and plant books have landed on my mat this spring, and I need to up my book reviewing game! I like to do them justice, and spend some time reading them before I write a review, so that does create a bit of a backlog. Right at the time when the garden is demanding my attention. Anyway, the book that has found itself at the top of the list is one that really encompasses the gardening zeitgeist – The Community Gardening Handbook, by Ben Raskin. I looked him up, and he has impeccable credentials. He’s currently Head of Horticulture for the Soil Association; prior experiences include working for Garden Organic, running a walled garden and being a Horticultural Advisor for the Community Farm near Bristol.
Plastic bottles are everywhere these days, even floating around in the oceans. Fortunately for the environment, recycling facilities are improving (here in the UK at least) but a lot of plastic bottles still end up in landfill, where they just don’t break down. If you would like to give your plastic bottles a new lease of life once they’re empty, and save money too, then try recycling them into something useful for the garden.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (also called the Doomsday vault) in Norway was officially opened in February 2008. During the 3 months prior to the grand opening, engineers pumped refrigerated air into the vault to bring its temperature down from a chilly -5°C to an arctic -18°C.
Now that the days are longer and the first flush of spring is over, gardeners all over the country have a chance to step back from frantic seed sowing, transplanting, digging and weeding and carry on gardening at a slower pace over the summer.
It is one of the big ironies of gardening that the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers we use to keep our lawns green make them one of the least ‘green’ areas of the garden. Many gardeners put a lot of effort into maintaining their lawns, and this diligence can be a real asset if you want to go green, because it requires a fair amount of work to keep your lawn in top-notch condition using organic methods. The good news is that a more relaxed approach rewards you with a beautiful, wildlife-friendly lawn.
One of the hottest gardening topics is how to turn your garden into a wildlife haven. Gardens are seen as a habitat of last resort for many hard-pressed species. Wildlife friendly products abound and you can buy homes suitable for any creature.
Organic gardeners aim to feed the soil, and let a healthy soil take care of the plants. The best way to add fertility to your garden is to make compost, but in most gardens there is never enough compost to go around and there will be times when supplementary feeding is needed.
Climb the cast-iron steps to the roof garden at the Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC) and you can almost forget that you’re in the heart of the city. Just 30 by 6 metres, the garden manages to fill every vista and the breeze through the trees drowns out all but the loudest city noises.