So, finally I get my hands in the dirt. Life has been all about the animals of late, and gardening became a non functioning part of the system, which has been niggling at me for weeks. If I am unable to sustain us in some small way through the kitchen gardens this season I will be most upset.

The first round of spring planting was lost to neglect, weeds, endless rain and Heavy Weather and… ducks…

Problem.

The ducks are excellent foragers, and so very good for eating slugs and nuisance insects, and they seem to do minimal damage to plants once they have reached a certain level of maturity. They really love some greens, like comfrey and parsley (luckily we grow enough parsley to season the meals of a small nation) and tatsoi and lettuce. They also *love* seedlings.

I have replanted a couple of the kitchen beds with corn, spinach, chard, herbs, rhubarb, beets, zuchinnis, cucumbers, climbing beans, and there are strawberries and tomatos and onions already happening…

I had to prepare the beds all over again, and I’m buggered if I’ll let the same thing happen again.

So I’ve been visioning protective enclosures. Netting draped over polythene piping that is placed in arches at intervals along the garden bed. Alot of work, but effective as all hell I guess. Not doable in the short term.

Perhaps in the short term a simple star picket and netting enclosure… I’ve kept the ducks locked up for some days now because I’m afraid of the destruction they will visit upon my delicate babies. But I hate to do that to them. They need to be free… So whatever needs to happen needs to happen quickly.

The rabbit population here is explosive. They live in huge family groups under the barn, and I’m sure there is no enclosure that will keep them out, but I can live with that if I know I’ve made the best line of defense I can.

As for the slugs, I’m such a fan of baked crushed eggshells mixed with ash and sprinkled around the perimeter of plants as my best slug repellant. Works a treat. Those beer traps never worked for me, or the upside down oranges… They hate to slither their soft bodies over those sharp eggshells…

I have another half bed, a large full bed and a small perimeter bed still to plant out, so will try to raise some of my more exotic heritage and "saved" seeds in the shade house and see what comes of it all.

 I shall post photos of produce and thriving beds once I feel more secure about the future!

Please send expert garden tips and, like, garden reiki and stuff my way. I need all the help I can get!

Much love, brown thumb xx