Apparently snails and slugs don't drown. I found another snail, and put it in the trug and watched it this time. It definitely crawled back out - slowly mind, no rush. So I put it back. It crawled out again. And the third time. Maybe even the fourth.

Time to come up with a new slug and snail plan. Stamping on them is NOT an option.  

Another mystery however - what is pulling my modules of peas and mange tout out of the ground? And why? 

Last night we went a-slug huntin'. I'm trying to do it most nights in an effort to keep some of my plants in one piece and actually getting some parsley/lettuce/echinacea before the slugs eat it all. GG came with me, and was amazed by the shear number of them all over the lawn. So she went and got our big purple trug thing, and we put a lot of slugs and snails into it, then drowned them.

Yes, it's probably cruel. But I hates them, so.

This morning I checked the trug. Nothing. No shells. No bloated slug bodies. And equally no slime trails all over the side of the trug, or spreading out away from the trug. Just the water, sitting there as though we were washing the trug or something.

There is a neighbourhood fox. Anyone know if they would have carefully fished all those slugs and snails out? Anyway, I've drowned another one this morning. I'll see if that disappears before dark. Motion-triggered IR web cam anyone?! 

A quick post, because I'm supposed to be writing a questionnaire for the dissertation.

It's been a lovely weekend. Yesterday I had a haircut booked for 1.00 in Brighton. It was such a lovely day that we decided we'd ride in rather than get the bus, and I've been wanting to try going in along the sea for a while, so we did! We went down to Rottingdean and along the undercliff walk, in past the marina and right along the front. It was a beautiful ride. We took it comfortably and chatted and stuff all the way. I successfully got my hair chopped off (I've gone asymmetrical - that's what you get for letting the hairdresser choose!), picked up the two balls of wool I was short for my latest project, and bought cornish pasties for lunch. GG successfully didn't totally flip out about all the people, and we went and ate our celebratory pasties on a bench on the seafront. The ride back was just as much fun until the last hill when my lungs decided it's asthma time, but still, made it home. We even caught a bit of sun. Not that you can really tell today!

Today we were both supposed to be playing cricket in different places, so GG was picked up by her dad (who was scoring) while I was trying to get my leeks pricked out quickly before heading off. Managed that and was just about to get cleaned up when I got a phonecall telling me my game had been rained off already. Result! I got my peas and mange tout planted, my penstemon and summer savoury potted on, some of my peppers pricked out, and I'm sure there was more than that. It certainly took long enough. Still, the contents of the greenhouse have changed a bit, and that's always exciting. Now I just have to hope that the plants I've pricked out take to their new surroundings and grow big, strong and beautiful!

Spent too much time this afternoon sitting on the sofa in front of the snooker with my knitting, but have managed to do a very small amount of planning for the dissertation. Now it's time to actually do some of the work, before I get to sit back on the sofa with GG for the evening. Woohoo!

 (Oh, and I got a new job. Monday I hand my notice in. It's very, very exciting!)

Haha! I'm not done yet...

That's a better photo for scale on the bean frame. The two trellis sections at the back will initially be for my peas and mange tout, and eventually I hope to get my winter squash plants to climb up through them. Last year they clambered all over our fence, so I don't think it'll be too hard. The beans are going to be given strings to grow up along the other two edges.

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Updated on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 10:41 by martian77

Excuse the large photo. I wanted to show the terraces as well as the veg!

We spent quite a lot of this weekend out in the garden in spite of the rain. The bean frame on the left went up, and is quite solid. Where I say beans I really mean

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