16 - Slakken Festival / Slug Fest

 Gisteravond stonden de tuinbonen nog fier overeind, vanochtend lag driekwart plat. Het is dan ook ongelofelijk winderig wisselvallig weer, met van die jagende wolken, soms wit, meestal grijs. Niet bepaald het juli weer waar tuinders van houden.

Maar Puck en ik trekken ons daar niets van aan, een hond moet uit en mijn hond schudt regen letterlijk van zich af. Ik had mijn ontbijt meegebracht, en in Puck's Parlour was het ondanks de windvlagen goed toeven. We kregen bezoek van kraaien en eksters, die druk met elkaar overlegden over Puck. Je hoorde ze gewoon mopperen: " er zit daar een hond, heb je die hond gezien".

Maar goed, de tuinbonen. Gewapend met een zak, handschoenen en 'geholpen' door Puck heb ik zoveel mogelijk bonen geplukt. Al snel had ik kilo's, en ik moest goed opletten geen naaktslakken mee te laten liften. Ik ga morgen veel bonen weggeven, en dan staat het zo slordig als er klompen slakken tussen zitten.

Nadat we klaar waren, heb ik ook even de sperziebonen bekeken en ik schrok me rot. Op het oog zag alles er piekfijn uit, maar vanaf 30 cm afstand bleek het onder de bovenste frisgroene bladeren één groot naaktslakken festival. Hier kan geen slakrapen tegenop! Ik kreeg neigingen stiekum buurman Leo's legkippen te gaan halen. Dit was...ondoenlijk.

Om mezelf op te beuren heb ik een maaltje bietjes uit de kas getrokken en geconstateerd dat ik morgen broccoli eet.

Notitie voor volgend jaar: maak verhoogde bakken en werp slakkenbarrières op! (En plant niet zoveel bonen)

Meer foto's over de tuin en het weer op Instagram @songsmith2962 

Last night my broad beans stood proudly upright, early this morning most lay flat on the ground. It is blustery, wet, with those typically Dutch racing clouds, sometimes white, mostly grey. Not the July weather we Gardeners like.

But Puck and I ignore that, a dog needs to go out, and my Puck literally shakes the wet off herself. I had brought breakfast, and in Puck's Parlour it was nice and cosy out of that wind. We were visited by crows and magpies, and you could hear them complain to each other: "there's a dog, have you seen that dog". 

So anyway, the broad beans. Armed with a bag, gloves and 'aided' by Puck I picked as many as I could. In no time I had kilos, and I really had to take care not to let any slugs lift along. I will gift a lot of beans tomorrow, and it would look sloppy if there were clumps of slugs in there.

After we were done, I took a look at the French beans and almost had a fit. At first sight they appeared fine, but from 30 cm distance, under the fresh green top leaves, there was a slug festival going on. Simply picking them off was no option. I thought about sneaking my neighbour Leo's hens in there. This was a lost cause.

To cheer myself up I pulled up some beetroot in the greenhouse and noticed that tomorrow I'll have broccoli for dinner.

Note for next year: fix raised beds and start war on slugs! (And don't plant that many beans)

More photos of my garden on Instagram @songsmith2962 

6 - Happy Hostas

 Some years ago now, I gave up on hostas. But life changes, in this case for the best.

My happy hosta

Hostas project that lush jungle like vibe that I love. Having grown up in a rural area, surrounded by apple orchards, wheat, sugarbeets and lots of grassland dotted with Friesians (how typically Dutch would you like?), my world was flat, green, and small-leaved. My Mum took me to a hortus botanicus when I was 8, and I fell in love with tropical plants on the spot. Jungle Book became my favourite film, and I dreamed of living in a jungle. Mind you, visiting Aruba when I was 11 quickly made me realise: tropical plants, great, all those venomous insects that thrive there, and snakes, erm...not my thing. "Oh, don't you worry, they won't hurt you if you leave them alone", I was told. Yeah, right. After a very up close and personal encounter with a small scorpion that stung me on the stomach when it had hidden itself in my t-shirt for a nice snooze ("aren't you lucky it was a small one"), I decided jungle life was not for me!

Slugs! Loathe them! 

But the love for large green leaves remained. I wanted a gunnera, was told I was barmy, as it would dominate the entire garden. So planted a pergola kiwi instead. Very lush, very green, and it grew huge. And hostas, must have hostas, as they come as close to a 'tropical vibe' as you can get in this climate. But the many slugs and snails in my old garden came to dinner daily, and nothing worked. I tried coffee grains, sharp sand, sharp grit, beer traps, picking them off twice a day, and was still left with just the veins. 

Balcony garden  

On my balcony though, the picking off method works, hurray! As long as I do it daily. So here I have had two gorgeous hostas for 4 years. They take centre stage, and are admired by everyone that visits. They are blooming at the moment, a month later than usual due to the extremely cold April and May this year. And believe me they are pampered.