Slugs? You say ‘throw pellets at em!’

So we asked, what’s your preferred slug killing method and you voted. Here are the results of our poll, The Big Bad Slug.

The clear winner with over a third of the votes was for slug pellets, the second was for ‘other’, but we shall go into that in more detail in a moment. Building barriers came in third followed by salt, skewer/scissors (eeek) and finally feeding to the birds.

Here’s your Slug Killing ideas which nearly a fifth of voters selected showing us that we had not mentioned a number of other deterrents.

• Beer – by far the most popular choice, the ‘sink or swim’ method
• Ducks and Chickens – a tasty snack apparently
• Natural predators and growing other plants for slugs – keeping it organic
• Copper wire and nematodes also got a mention too.

Some of you clearly feel quite strongly, suggesting we ‘pick them up at night and teach them to fly into the main road’, or the suggestion that made us all squirm in the office, ‘cut them up into little pieces and have them for dinner’. Nice.

So there you have it, if slugs are being a problem now you have solutions to try out. Although, I have tried a bit of slug ‘javelin’ in the past but I personally don’t have the stomach for any seasoning, skewering, chopping or even eating for that matter!

All the talk of slugs in the office got everyones creative juices flowing. Below you can find our shocking attempts to try and sketch the ultimate Big Bad Slug.

So you can sleep at night you’ll be happy to know that these nasty pieces of work are no longer on the loose. They were all picked up by the Pellet Police during a midnight raid on Daisy Boots cabbage patch. They’re currently being held at Slugtanamo Bay detention camp. This is a high security facility where these elusive seven slugs will await identification and a relatively fair trial.

Have you seen these slugs before, can you ID them? If you recognise any of these individuals you must act by leaving their names in the comment box below. See these suspects again on the BBC tonight at 10pm – Slug Crime Watch. “Don’t have nightmares”

Well, if you haven’t already seen it, visit the Potty Innovations YouTube Channel (or look under Essential Links on the right) to see our set-up and planting videos for the Cultivation Station and Clover planters.

We were lucky enough to have a lovely weekend last weekend and so I put my plan of action into play. This involved informing my other half that I thought it would be a good idea to expand the raised bed to accommodate the extra plants I had grown. Much to his dismay, he agreed and you can see the results in the video!

The raised bed itself took us about 15 minutes to take apart (with two people) as I had already filled most of the planters, so they were a bit heavy. It then took another 10 minutes to decide on a layout and five minutes to put it together. I thought it would take longer but it really was that quick and easy.

Here’s Daisy Boots Assembling her new 8 Piece Compact Cultivation Station

After finishing the raised bed assembly I realised just how much of a slope our garden is on as the planters are slightly staggered, hopefully they will sink into place soon.

I also realised that the bed is, well quite full of onions. There is something about having a large bag of onion sets that just wants to make you keep on planting them.

I have tried to be super organised this year and have labelled all the planters up so I know exactly what’s growing where. Unfortunately I have noticed that the kitties have been trying to pull the labels out and have run off with some of them, so maybe a mental note would be good too!

In other news I have been reading up on companion planting and have got as far as planting mint near cabbage which should deter the cabbage white butterfly and planting rosemary near carrots which will deter the carrot root fly. I am in the process of adding more herbs to the raised bed, so if anyone has any advice that would be gratefully appreciated.

Found my first snail in the garlic which Rich insists must be French, and also found two lovely little pesky slugs trying to breach the giant mighty walls of Castle Cultivation Station.

“Away with you, you unruly fiends”

I shouted from the Castle tower, before unleashing a wave of pellets.

That’ll show em!

Slugs, seeds, pests and itchy eyeballs – ah…… you know its Spring!

And the weather had looked so promising for the bank holiday. However true to form good old mother nature will be putting a dampener on this, how does five straight days of rain sound?

Anyway less of my rantings just thought I would let you know that we have been busy compiling our favourite Potty Innovations Planting Photos from last year and from this year so far. They can now be found, for your viewing pleasure at the photo site Flikr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49484121@N05/

The site is always being updated so please feel free to leave comments and tweet your favourite photos. If you have any of your own gardening photos, why not e-mail them to us at sales@pottyinnovations.co.uk and we will add them to our Potty fan photos folder!

It’s that time where we are all busy planting seeds and taking care of them. My motivation for growing this year has resulted in a staggering 17 tomato plants (made up of three different varieties), 9 pepper plants and 5 courgette plants.

Plastic or Polystyrene Seed Trays – Which is best?

I have been steadily giving some of these tomato plants away, because as you may have guessed I don’t really need that many plants, especially when I am the only person in a 2 person household that likes them! Unfortunately I made a bit of a boo boo and forgot to label the tomato plants when I re-potted the seedlings. So, in a nut shell I don’t know what variety of tomato each plant is, so they have been given away as ‘pot luck’ plants’!

I have also just planted some cucumbers and gherkin plants, and I think I may need to have my seeds taken away from me to stop me planting any more!

I do quite like having seed trays on the windowsill, they look so organised with their neat and tidy planting sections, which is ironic as I’m not the most tidy person on the planet!

When I was looking for seed trays I did buy some plastic ones but I have to say I didn’t like them very much as they just crumpled when I removed the plants and felt like they were designed for one use only. In fact the floppy nature of the trays caused me to drop a load of plants all over the floor which is probably another reason why I hate them.

I then tried some polystyrene seed trays which are solid, significantly more durable and have handy ‘pushy out’ holes for seedling removal. The seeds seem to grow more happily in them too, but I am guessing that is down to the added insulation. After being used a couple of times the trays still have plenty of life left in them, and I shall be breaking them up when they are no longer usable as seed trays for a lighter drainage option in other pots.

Now that’s what I call recycling!

Okay so I agree the title is a little….odd. But if you are thinking of planting your own sweetcorn, this one is for you!

After being given exactly four seeds by Daisyboots I was tasked to start growing some sweetcorn. I have to admit that unlike Daisyboots I do like to read the instructions and read up fully on whatever I am planting. I would like to claim it was a new years resolution but in reality it’s probably because of last years failures.

So far I have found two tips, summarised they are;

1. Sweetcorn likes to develop a good root base which will help increase the yield of the plant. Use deep containers to sow seeds and even try using a toilet roll.

Wasn’t too sure about this and I hope its not a joke as I have recommended the same tip to my colleagues. Anyway I thought I would give it a go, so I have planted up two toilet rolls and two 3 inch plastic pots.

2. Sweetcorn is pollinated by the wind so it is therefore best planted in blocks.

So in short it doesn’t like to be lonely…

Instructions for the sweetcorn emphasised the importance of warmth during germination. Whilst I have a small patio poly-greenhouse I wasn’t convinced it would be warm so naturally I went hunting to make myself a home-made propagator. Whilst routing through the plastic recycling bin, not something I do on a daily basis I can assure you, I came across a clear plastic container that I thought would nestle perfectly within my biscuit tin (where my containers are), covering up the toilet rolls and pots a treat.

I have to report that the propagation went well and two of the seeds germinated within 8 days and those plants are now looking super healthy!

Looking forward to corn on the cob!

I’m hoping that some of our readers were able to attend the Billing Garden Centre ‘Grow Your Own’ event before the Easter weekend.  

Despite a rainy and chilly Saturday we had a warm and bright Sunday.

We were happy to see many new faces come to our stand and admire our Potty Innovations, and some of you even offered us helpful (and much needed) planting advice for our Clovers.

For those who were not there, why not take a look at our Clover systems which are perfect for growing herbs, flowers and even strawberries. Our blue herb planted Clover proved to be the most popular at the show and an ideal choice for all your kitchen herb needs. The possibilities are endless, we managed to get chives, rosemary, coriander, basil, parsley, thyme, lemon thyme, mint and the yummy smelling chocolate mint all into the Clover.

We were also pleased to see many of you thinking creatively about the Cultivation Station, thinking about the various shapes you could achieve with our modular raised bed system.

You can find out more about our raised bed starter kit shapes here, or if you are feeling creative you can buy the planters separately and create your own shape.

Indeed one creative mind was definitely the over-excitable goat which paid a visit to the garden centre and was taking a keen interest in all plants including our lettuce!

Making a Raised Vegetable Bed the Potty Innovations Way

So you have decided you would like to grow your own vegetables and have even thought about what you would like to plant, but now you are looking for a bed to cultivate your produce!

Building your own raised bed doesn’t have to be mission impossible any more. The Cultivation Station Raised Bed System from Potty Innovations allows you to get setup in minutes rather than days, leaving you more time to get on with the fun of planting.

But you are biased, you would say that!

Well, yes but with good reason! A popular choice amongst many gardeners involves the use of chunky railway sleepers, which although aesthetically pleasing are not ideal as they require back-breaking preparation, huge expense and great deal of time.

Unlike many other raised bed solutions, the Cultivation Station has the very best insulation properties and raises the bed at least 30cm off the ground making them more accessible for you and lets be fair, also more of a challenge (we live in hope) to the midnight snail snacker.

Build your Cultivation Station Raised Vegetable Bed

What will I need?

If you are looking to save space, try the Cultivation Station 8 Piece (compact starter kit), measuring just over a metre square, this is our smallest kit which can be assembled in minutes without the need for tools or glue. You can order this Starter Kit online for as little as £49.36

This kit and other larger ones are all available via our online retailer SCA Online, we even sell the planters separately so you can go crazy and design your own!

Our Planter Dimensions

Standard Planters
600mm long by 300mm wide, and 300mm deep (24” x 12” x 12”).
Weighs 530 grams (19 ounces) when empty.
Holds 25 litres of soil or compost.

Corner Planters
300mm long by 300mm wide, and 300mm deep (12” x 12” x 12”).
Weighs 285 grams when empty.
Holds 12 litres of soil or compost.

Where will I put my Rasied Bed?

Don’t do what the Virgin Gardener did, instead before you begin think about where you will place your raised bed as once it is full of soil it will be more difficult to move.

• Do you want it close to your kitchen?
• Pick an area with plenty of sunlight (as much as the UK will allow!)
• Look for a reasonably flat area –  chasing your veg down the hill isn’t much fun!
• Place in a sheltered area as strong winds which may damage new shoots
  • A wall of your home
  • A bushy hedge
  • A fence

The delivery: What’s in the box?

Once your new delivery of joy and happiness has arrived, you will find four standard planters and four corner planters.
Corner planters have a slightly smaller planting area but allow for different shape construction and are ideal (but not exclusively) for companion planting to encourage natural pest control.

Assembling your new 8 Piece Compact Cultivation Station

Each Cultivation Station planter has a snug tongue and groove interlock which allows the planters to slide together forming a strong and durable planting area.

Putting it together really is child’s play, in fact if you have little ones why not get them involved too? All of our products are child friendly, they are super lightweight and splinter free, we think it’s important that children enjoy growing.

Step 1

On a flat surface begin by aligning each planter ensuring there is a snug fit between the tongue and groove interlock.

Step 2

Placing firm pressure, simply slide the planter down until it is locked firmly and snugly in place.

Step 3

Continue this with the rest of the configuration until you reach the last piece which you will need to ensure snug fits on both sides. That’s it! All done.

Once assembled the 8 Piece starter unit weighs only 3.2kg, just lift it up and place it in your intended position (now you couldn’t do that with railway sleepers).

The planters can be used for germination or growth of seedlings prior to planting out, and remember to use the central area for growing deeper rooted vegetables.

Happy Planting!

The Good Life Event 2010 comes to Northampton

If you are local to Northampton and you like pottering about in the garden, especially if your are into growing your own, then why not get down to Billing Garden Store this weekend.

Event Times
Saturday 20th March 9.00am – 6.00pm
Sunday 21st March 10.30am – 4.30pm
At Billing Garden Store

This event is being held to promote the massive growth in public interest in The Good Life & Growing Your Own Veggies. Why not pop down and visit  Potty Innovations and all the other companies with their products on display, come and see whats new in the world of grow your own. Learn more about growing your own fresh veg and even keeping chickens.

We hope to see you there!

Soil, Seeds and Seed Trays

Just how exciting can a seed be, have I gone too far?

You know it wasn’t that long ago that the mere hint of gardening would send me instantly to sleep, but things have certainly changed since then. I know this because I found myself bizarrely sitting in the dining room one evening with a bucket of soil, a bag load of seeds and some seed trays because I hadn’t gotten around to planting that day and it was far too cold (and dark) to go outside.

Enthusiastic or crazy? You decide!

So as you may have gathered I have really gone to town with the whole growing this year. I have started from scratch at the right time of the year and have even read all of the instructions on the reverse of the seed packets.

If that wasn’t enough I have also commandeered the kitchen wipe board and drawn up an instruction table noting all applicable planting and harvesting times.

Every window ledge in the house is now home to a number of different seeds. Taking ‘growing your own’ to a new level, we have onions and carrots in the bedroom, tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, peppers and cucumbers in the study, seed potatoes ‘chitting’ in the kitchen along with some Dill and Rosemary growing in Hug Pots.

For some reason I get strange looks when I tell people that.

How odd…..

Try, try again.

This post is not going to be long, I’m sure you will recall how I have been wondering about when the onions would be ready to harvest. Well, after seven long months we decided it was time to pull them out and see what was happening. We concluded that if they were indeed growing but needed a bit longer we could always pop them back in and no one would be anymore the wiser! I can hear you laughing, but one of my colleagues will swear by this method!

Admittedly all looked good when we pulled them out as they smelt like really good, strong onions, but unfortunately the stick-like appearance never changed into a nice round onion so we have ended up with onion sticks. Interesting!

It was really disheartening but I am pretty sure it’s because we planted them far too late in the year, pretty much everything too late in year to be fair.

Following on from this we also decided to pull the spring onions, which turned out just as I had feared, that they had never recovered from the vandalising slugs that had attacked them earlier in the year.

So its time for a re-start, we have already made a start on the indoor sowing, including (due to a lack of window sill space) tomatoes growing in the study and onions in the bedroom (nice) and we are preparing to do some more this weekend.

Roll on 2010!