The salads and squashes were growing well on the allotment - but then the slugs appeared.
Taking on an the overgrown allotment meant an initial battle with brambles, nettles and bindweed. After hours of work it looked as if we were winning and we sowed seeds like crazy. However the rain that started in May didn't let up until just a week or so ago - which provided the ideal conditions for slugs.
The wooden edging that we'd carefully placed when we first laid out the plot, seemed to make a great slug hideaway - we went round picking up handfuls of them. We took them to rough ground as far away as possible (apparently they can travel up to a quarter of a mile in a night), then scattered sharp gravel and garlic granules around our tender seedlings (which included a lovely Italian mix of salad leaves). It seemed to work for a while - but as the leaves grew larger the birds began to tuck in, undeterred by either the garlic granules or the gravel. So much for freshly picked salad to go with our pasta this summer. We've now put nets over the salads and hung unwanted CDs above them to act as bird scarers. Luckily nothing - so far - seems to be attacking the rocket, which tastes far stronger and more peppery than supermarket varieties.
It's been scorching hot for the past few days and the pumpkins and squashes have been growing like - well, pumpkins and squashes. We thought they'd be safe from slug attack, but no - one has already been demolished. We've now rushed round with the garlic granules again. The Italians make good use of pumpkin (pumpkin ravioli for example) and I'm determined to try some of my own.
Clearing the ground of brambles and nettles led the way for new species to colonise. One of the prettiest has been borage. This plant has a sturdy, furry stem and leaves and grows like a weed. The flowers are a glorious blue. It's also known as starflower and is increasingly being grown commercially to make starflower oil - which has similar properties to evening primrose oil.
Borage flowers also make a lovely addition to salads. I've been picking them and using them as an edible garnish - together with bright orange nasturtium blooms they really lift a dish. In Italy you'll also often find courgette flowers on the menu - they can be deep fried and are surprisingly tasty.
