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Here are the results for
May
There were no new crops sown this month.
Crop
|
Plot 1 Predation
|
Plot 2 Predation
|
Plot3 Predation
|
Plot 4 Predation
|
ONION
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
SHALLOTS
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
LEEKS
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
CARROTS
|
|
|
none
|
none
|
PARSNIPS
|
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
CABBAGE
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
CAULIFLOWER
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
SPROUTS
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
LETTUCE
|
|
|
none
|
none
|
BEETROOT
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
French Beans
|
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
PEAS
|
|
none
|
none
|
none
|
At Last!
May has been a funny month as well. What passed for Spring
turned out to be a continuation of Winter before going straight into Summer with
tropical storms and an oppressive heat which was more akin to the weather
we normally get in August. Plants were sent romping away only to be
scorched in the sunshine. There were a lot of cooler days in between, however, which made
everything catch up to where I would expect things to be at this time of year.
One of the consequences of the funny weather was that the Judas Tree was two weeks later in
flowering this year.
Pigeons were again making a nuisance of themselves and
have eaten every brassica and pea crop on each of the four plots. Night forays revealed a small number of slugs and snails about but not in the
massive quantities of previous years.
You will see that there has been damage on the
control plot but at the moment it is at a manageable level and about what I
would have expected for all the plots had I not been using the snail ban. Protection to plot 2
was compromised by a large horse chestnut losing it's blossom which fell on the plot
during two days of strong winds. The blossom created a bridge over which
our little friends could safely cross. Now cleared, Plot 2 is again showing no
damage.
Once again, plot 4 continues to out-perform all the other
plots with no sign of any snail damage whatever. Plot 3 is a close second and I
will be using these to provide plot 1 with replacement vegetables when they are
large enough to transplant. Several rows of vegetables in plot 1 will have to be
re-sown as there is hardly anything left to provide a fair comparison although
damage has been mainly due to soil compaction and pigeons rather than as a result of snail
predation.
After five months, this is first time that I have had
to re-apply some of the snail ban to any of the plots. I reckon this is pretty
good going given the rain we have had. Overall, I am delighted with its
performance. There is no doubt in my mind that, in terms of how effective the
snail ban is,
more (snail ban) is definitely less (snail damage)
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