Small Garden new plantings and strawberry harvests

[@steves7271]

It's tough at the moment. I hope its reassuring for new gardeners that we're all having difficulties, so hang in there ❤

[@thehulk1234554321]

It's been the same for many years for one reason or the other. Gardening outside really is no fun these days. Buy a big polytunnel and see the smile return to ones face.

[@doras.allotment]

“I’ve lost it a bit with slugs and snails this year” - we’re all with you there Charles!

[@sayadaramdial1700]

Same! I finally gave up and set out some beer traps and it seems to be making a difference!

[@finzosk8]

First year gardening and I was already defeated by those little fellas! At certain moments I was thinking of giving up 🙄

[@doras.allotment]

@@sayadaramdial1700 I’ve found they help… but don’t leave them too long as WOW the smell!!

[@pamelalittlechild2923]

@@sayadaramdial1700 In the first night I did that I had an average 11 to 12 slugs, no wonder my plants where gone

[@danyoutube7491]

@@finzosk8 I have been gardening a few years and this is the first one that made me feel like giving up - my advice would be write this year off, celebrate anything you put in the ground that survives, and hope for better conditions next year.

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

Thank you for being relatable to the struggling gardener.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@lorainemcguire5795]

Your so right fingers crossed we get some lovely summer very soon ❤

[@xaviercruz4763]

What is the most impressed you’ve been in your weather in New York that grows through winter 🥶? Any olives, figs or avocado 🥑? And 2. What animals would you prefer not to be present or as commonly in your area that would make gardening better (foxes, voles, squirrels 🐿, deer 🦌, oh dear?

[@anneasquith9296]

Am now on my 3rd peas sowing attempt, about my 6th carrot sowing attempt, however got given coffee seeds from Peru , thriving , randomly sowed some galia melon seeds , doing well. Just flabbergasted.

[@AntoniaLister]

I've done two huge sowings of carrots and not a single plant has made it! I saw one single seedling that had germinated and it was gone the next day - I think the slugs are having a feast.

[@p.a.6170]

Go strong!❤

[@mauraorourke9849]

Try soaking newspaper in parafin oil or cloth which won't dry out as quickly. Form a barrier around your plants with some lats of wood or border edging. pin the cloth or newspaper to top of this with thumb tacks to keep parifin away from the soil. Slugs are repelled by the smell. When you find the smell fading soak again with paraffin making sure you do not splash soil or cover soil when doing this. An old remedy used by my father far better than beer traps. 😊 Hope this helps & good luck

[@dosquats]

Thank you CD this was about the most relatable gardening video I have seen of yours! Weather, pests, timings, adapting - all in the small garden. Well done on the success you have had and will have, and thanks again!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear and you are welcome

[@kooltube100]

cheers charles! thanks for taking the time to show us what has and hasn't worked for you. It's really nice to compare and know that it isn't just something I've done wrong in the graden, it's just this damn weather and lack of light

[@sewnonny2721]

This is really helpful, thank you, ive bern baffled at the washed out colour of some of my young veggie plants, now i know hoping for more sunshine for everyone 😊

[@jasonwil]

Charles, I’m enjoying this series. I do not have an allotment so this endeavour reflects what I’m trying to do in my backyard. Thanks mate!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear Jason

[@Catsrule7]

I was wondering what was wrong with my butternut squash as they were not growing as well as my other winter squash, so I was reassured by your comments. Thank you.

[@sharonphelps]

Thank you for explaining the issue with yellow leaves. It had been puzzling me with some new planted out plants. I thought it was an issue with nutrients or watering. I had no idea it was the colder temperature that caused the problem.

[@tmd7859]

You're feeling it too. Cloudy with no clouds, blurred Sun and constant hazy horizon.

[@myslicechannel]

Same here. Gee, do you think 'they' don't want us growing our own?!

[@SierraNovemberKilo]

​@@myslicechannelWorse than that. All those 'carbon credits' that THEY create and 'trade'. THEY intend acquiring all carbon (dioxide) so you won't be able to grow anything without "buying" the "use of" THEIR carbon (dioxide). As anyone who grows anything knows the greenhouse warming effect (so-called) is a ginormous s.c.a.m.

[@gmorgan894]

@@myslicechannel Like a 0 and crosses grid by me lately..., i always look up and x marks the spot ...everywhere😞

[@Declanmaceircc]

Trails of a certain type

[@tiarianamanna973]

​@@myslicechannel absolutely 😑 controlling the food is controlling the world. But we wont give up 😊 we can always focus on things like potatoes, dandelions, nettles, quails n meat rabbits, which are all very nutrient dense, space efficient, weather resistant etc 👍

[@sallyannlaw3860]

It's so good to know that I'm not the only gardener struggling this year. If it's not the slugs/snails, lack of sunshine and colder days for this time of the year, then it's the blooming magpies!! All in all, I think that I'm a month behind. We can only be positive, things will pick up and catch up.

[@dorotaguziak8838]

w niebieskim też Pan wygląda świetnie. no i filmik pouczający jak zawsze. dzieki

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

To miło z twojej strony!

[@LePensky77]

I really enjoy seeing the progress of the small garden, as there are lots of parallels with my own garden space (including the siege of slugs and snails this year!). It is comforting to see that I'm not alone in facing some unexpected challenges, during this wet and cooler summer.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it 🙂

[@BlackDogDesigns]

Good to see you my friend, you always encourage me during difficult times❤️

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad 🙂

[@Redhackle]

Thank you. Your videos are inspiring and peaceful.

[@Agui007]

I love your tours Charles! Yes those pesky slugs and the cooler days and nights which is what I realise now, thank you, is slowing my tomatoes growing.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it 💚

[@DaraRich]

Thank you, Charles! I hope your harvest will also be good and satisfying. Here in Sth.Germany, lack of light and the slugs also messed with our gardens. But finally, the plants begin to grow and the gardeners with loop tunnels can harvest broccoli and even the first little cucumbers. My lambs lettuce that was very nice and I hoped for seed, didn‘t resist 5 weeks of constant rain and got moldy which is sad. But like your ones, they‘ve spreaded some seed around them which might come back hopefully. In May there were 1-2 kg of slugs a day to collect in my garden at night😝, and with the returning sun now in June that got better. Since I sell yong plants, I met some customers that bought their tomatoes three times for they twice had been eaten or stem- cut by slugs. Astonishing I must say😳. Thank you also for spreading hope… so many gardeners had been discouraged. Greetings from Germany where we can pick our first cherries ☺️🍒

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Loverly to hear Dara. Cherries!!!!

[@aclementine9928]

didn't know that about yellow leaves and cold soil! been relatively cold here in northern france too

[@scotthodge8690]

Lost four outta eight of my strawberry plants 😞 tbis year. Loving the no dig tho. My allotment looks and grows so much nicer 🙌🏽🎉

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sorry to hear about your strawberry plants but glad to hear of your success with No Dig Scott.

[@bernadette6211]

Thankyou Charles, that was a very encouraging tour. I find in sw Ireland my polytunnel has been invaluable. So far lovely broard beans, peas, mangout, beetroot, salad and potatoes. I've transitioned to beans and heat loving crops now. Your strawberries are amazing, well done getting to them before the slugs!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sounds great Bernadette and my pleasure.

[@Miss_Lexisaurus]

This is really reassuring. It's my first year gardening and I've been struggling so much with the slugs and the weather.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you are reassured, keep going!

[@lyndaturner6686]

Thanks Charles for sharing your slug problem it’s reassuring that someone like you with so many years of experience still gets hit. I’ve tried fleece pellets I put them on my strawberry bed , it may have stopped the slugs getting to them but some fruits got mouldy It’s like you said you just have to try to be vigilant. I love seeing your small garden as it’s more realistic for me.❤️

[@danyoutube7491]

I've tried strulch and wool pellets, neither seemed to do more than give the slugs a moment's pause for thought. The 'strulch' is straw amended with some sort of additive, I think it has an iron compound in it which is supposed to discomfort slugs, but I put it on about a year ago and have not noticed more than a brief pause in the assault for about a day and since then it has been business as usual, they'll crawl over anything, especially when wet. That said, on pots at least I have had some success - copper tape. It won't deter every slug and snail, but definitely has an effect. Ideally I'd have geese or chickens, but that's not possible due to it being a small space, neighbours etc.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That's interesting about strulch. It's also expensive, and I don't like that it's been messed around with by whatever they put in there!

[@Flying-Englishman-fy2ec]

Good one. Some nice veg there despite weather and molluscs etc. Followed for 5 - 6 years now and Radish, Potatoes, Lettuce, Beetroot, Kohlrabi all doing ok. A few miles north of Manchester and Garlic not troubled with rust. Most stuff grown under mesh. 60 module tray a boon. Thanks for posting Mr. D., have a good rest of season - commenters too!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That's so nice of you to say, and I'm happy to hear you have some decent progress, in a climate more difficult than here. Impressive that you have no or only a little rust!

[@ofrecentvintage]

I've had so many plant tops nibbled off this year and I've never experienced that before (this was my first attempt to direct sow some things)! I'm not sure of the culprit but hope I figure it out soon. I'm not certain I have time to re-sow replacements, so have been on the fence about how to proceed, but you've just encouraged me to try. Nothing ventured, etc etc! Also, I'm repeating myself but I love this small garden best (I'm quite fond of all of Homeacres!). It's so much closer to the amount of growing space I have to work with that I always find it encouraging to see what it's up to. I appreciate these little visits very much. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Many thanks! And I wonder if it may be squirrels, sadly one of the most difficult past to keep out

[@ofrecentvintage]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you! Could be squirrels, as they get up to all sorts of squirrelly shenanigans in my garden but I was very surprised to encounter a baby groundhog in my garden yesterday! Wondering if he or she may be the mystery nibbler!

[@oregonfelder1]

It’s so strange seeing your climate and how cool it is. We have been I hitting nearly 100°F in Arkansas and I’m struggling to keep everything cool and watered. I think your summer season will come in strong. Happy planting, Charles.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sounds crazy! Hope your plants come through

[@mwmingram]

Thanks Charles.

[@andyc972]

Thanks Charles for your invaluable advice and encouragement, it has indeed been a very challenging growing year, I've never had so many failures !

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hang in there Andy :)

[@StephenPetit]

Omg I thought it was just me. This growing environment sounds so must like Seattle right now. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and perspective!!!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are not alone!

[@joeoreilly5561]

Similar in Ireland. I planted Dill, Oriental Greens and Spinach seeds using no dig and they are all flying it👍

[@nopelindoputraperkasa5869]

Nice sharing Vidio.. very inspiring and useful 🇮🇩☘️☘️🌱🌶️🌼

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it

[@bertibear1300]

Just plant out even if weather is bad.I am complaining but things come through better than I thought.

[@GrandmomZoo]

A great day to see a Charles video! I needed this today my friend, thank you!❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are so welcome, sending you 💚

[@marking-time-gardens]

Early this year we also have been much cooler, very wet and inundated with slugs and land snails way more than normal. Now a sudden switch for (6/16-6/22) temps of 90' F to 100' F with little to no rain. First high solar day actually sun burned many leaves and blossoms. Very interesting year indeed. Only harvested from perennial plants so far. Always appreciate your videos and insights. 🌻🐛Carolyn in Ohio 🌿💚🙏🙏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I'm sorry to hear that Caroline, and I'm afraid to say that it's engineered weather, not at all what we have been favoured with before. That sounds crazy having sun burning blossom, best of luck.

[@marking-time-gardens]

​@@CharlesDowding1nodigthank you sir... blessings on your growing season as well 🌻🐛🌿💚

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

and to you Carolyn

[@DottieStanley]

Excellent video! So hopeful for a decent garden here in central Texas! You inspire me from across the pond!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you, I am glad you are inspired Dottie

[@yoyo-naratu1515]

I found a beetle in a strawberry yesterday, that's a first 😀 It's the woodlice, millions of them that are eating my everything . . . :)

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh wow!

[@jaspercaelan4998]

Slugs and snails seem to have thankfully mostly gone a couple of weeks ago where I am. It was terrible in April to mid May though and I had to resow things multiple times. Definitely noticed the slow growth too, it really doesn't feel like summer.

[@cachv3808]

I love and regularly follow your channel from Wellington, New Zealand. I have a tiny patio where I can only ever grow vegetables in containers. Seeing your tiny vege patch with the challenges of shade from surrounding trees and structures, as well as unseasonal weather, is suddenly very relatable.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you find it relatable 🙂 and thank you for following

[@rockysomerville8916]

I am on the other side of the country from you in Norfolk (just moved here in Jan) and have just started getting the garden "going", everything apart from dill and nasturtiums is just not growing even the stuff in the greenhouse. Oddly I have not had a problem with snails or slugs. Thanks for all your info it has helped me in designing my new garden.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hang in there Rocky and nice to hear

[@sarahdyer1967]

This is so reassuring - I've invested so much time, patience and I have to say money into creating a larger raised bed no dig garden this year and nothing is growing! Ive been lucky with a lack of slugs so far, but i did have an issue with cup fungus growing everywhere in the new compost which was pushing up seedlings. Ive had success with container gardening in previous summers and over the past four years finally built up the confidence to go for beds and was so disheartened for what i felt was a failure this year. I'm glad it's not just me and I'm going to relax a bit and see how the season unfolds. Thanks as always Charles

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I'm sorry to see this sarah, but I'm also heartened that you feel reassured. That cup fungus sounds like the horrible greasy yellow ones which grow out of decomposing wood and straw, and while they look gross, they are not of themselves harmful. Good luck with summer, which some people say begins only on the solstice, and then lasts for three months.

[@estelasantillan787]

Hola maestro charles dowding excelente video , oohh los caracoles aqui tenemos invasión tratando de controlar , por aquí estamos teniendo días de primavera verano en otoño invierno es una locura por tal motivo me enferme ( vías respiratorias) pero bueno las cosas suceden y hacen que uno reflexione para cuidar mejor la salud , me encanto verlo en la distancia siempre estoy aprendiendo de usted es un genio lo admiro mucho .abrazo infinito desde Argentina muchas bendiciones maestro.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Espero que te sientas mejor y gracias por los amables comentarios.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Muchas gracias Estela, lo aprecio y espero que te sientas mejor pronto. ¡Prefiero tibio a caliente!

[@HughLeDuc]

Very inspiring and full of hope! Thank you for all your advices.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad and you are welcome Hugh

[@rosee941]

Grrr... snails and slugs... my nemesis!!! I sometimes use small netted cages to protect individual young plants until they get bigger... a bit fiddly but great once you have them prepared.. can use them over and over ...

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice tip!

[@yvonnejackson1696]

Thank you for showing your failures as well as successes and for explaining why some of the failures and slow growth are occurring. Failures are often puzzling-Was it weather, location, climate…? Should I give up on this or do something different? I can’t quite believe that some gardeners never fail at anything. Thanks for helping us figure out why these particular plants didn’t do well and what to do to remedy the situation.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are so welcome and some failures are normal - just this year they are more!!

[@BooksUnstitched]

It’s my first year gardening with a proper raised bed (the last years i just had pots). I was excited to grow beetroot for the first time, but even though i sowed them 2 or 3 months ago they are still baby sized plants. i’ve watched them grow some and then get razed to the ground by slugs/snails and leaf miner over and over! So it’s good to hear i’m not the only one with suffering beetroot 😅

[@__Shellspace__]

i find cutting all yellowing leaf and lower leaf helps to prevent snails and slugs plus early harvests you get to eat before they do if your quick

[@lilaclilly198]

I love this video! It reminds me of my small allotment plot. Only a lot shadier. Marshmallow strawberries 🍓 sound and look delicious. Haven’t had much luck with no dig so far. Because the squirrels and foxes dig up the cardboard 😱. C.D I love all your videos. Especially your lettuce patch. So beautiful!🙏🏼👍🏻🍓🥬

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So nice of you. Sorry those animals are spoiling it for you. Maybe it will be better once you have passed through the cardboard phase

[@lilaclilly198]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig So once the cardboard has decomposed? I Am worried the weeds are going to come back up🤔. And also before I put my compost on the cardboard, does the cardboard need to be wet? I am sorry I just want to get it right.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

For sure, if there are vigourous perennial weeds, they will come through and you need to keep removing their attempts at regrowth until the roots give up. I've never claimed the cardboard is 100% weed suppressing! And only in very dry conditions do you need to water the cardboard. That can be the case in summer

[@frankieboy2417]

Well Mr. Dowding within a week finding you on YT I've watched at least ten videos and sold on your methods, which side note it takes me longer to trust info, I am building a compost set up. I have chickens and use both clean smaller size sawdust and hay and as far as green with both my garden and lawn there should be to be and even pile. Basicly thanx Mr. I will buy your book and save videos I like.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Welcome, Lovely to read this, I look forward to hearing of your successes.

[@veggiepatchideas]

Totally agree Charles its a slug invasion, I'm finding new ways to grow to make the most of the season so far. but its a challenge 🙏🙏

[@stevemindham520]

Picked my first strawberries today, most have holes. Been worst year ever for slugs. We also grow a lovely late strawberry called Malwina. Great taste and size. Hoping the slug pressure not so bad when they ripen. Great video thanks Charles.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear your optimism, go Malwina!

[@Maxime-s7r3p]

Merci Charles pour les conseils. Le semi- multiple est très efficace . Depuis un mois j'ai des oignons frais , je les laisse par 3. Et je viens de planter mes plants de choux au milieu. Merci encore Maxime of small garden in brittany!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Et alors Maxime, c'est magnifique 😊

[@luisagarcia3961]

Bom dia Charles obrigado sempre dando o melhor de si ❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

De nada Luisa

[@Im-just-Stardust]

Sorry to hear about your hard season so far. Your garden still looks fantastic.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you

[@riverstun]

Here in Bay Area, CA, June 22, I've had some (very few) Runner beans (Strongly suggest you eat more green, they are sweet and good), Pepino melons are yielding, then there is basil, kale, and the tomatoes are small and green. Sungold will be the first one soon. Yellow now. Its been cold here too. Apricots are crazy this year. With climate change, I suggest people try pushing warmer crops, but still taking in in winter in case. The weather is certainly unpredictable.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks for the tips although warmth-loving crops have started badly here. It's safest to grow the tried and tested. Interesting it's been cold for you, many are saying that.

[@turtle2212]

OMG that's the cause for yellow leaves? Too cold? 😂 I fed my peppers and tomatillos with nettle tea to solve nitrogen deficiency. OK new lesson learned! Dankeschön Sir Charles 😊.

[@travisgraal6437]

I had a legitimate belly laugh at the “volunteer plants” Lambs lettuce, thanks for sharing ❤

[@barrypetejr5655]

We going to have 4 90 degree days here in northern NY State this week... . plants will really jump

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Such a difference!

[@brians1001]

Its hard down here in southern Germany too. Not much is doing well, maybe cabbage. Too cool, too cloudy, too many slugs and snails. My corn is very late, a hard slow start. But, we know sometimes its not all roses, and keep trying anyway, relishing anything the garden presents.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

It's looking better here now thank goodness

[@racheltree7533]

My plot is small & sheltered on clay based soil in a semi urban area. My garden & house is traditional Victorian style layout inherited from a lovely old man two owners back who had laid it all out including cold greenhouse & old conservatory. I found his walking stick in a cupboard when I moved in so feel I owe him to keep the garden as is- natural not modern austere. I have survived the army of slugs & snails by placing washing scourers around the base of my runner beans (I cut a v shape & pull back the flap place it around the base & pull down the flap ), also done with my courgettes & Monster squash- it failed to work with my broad beans but something else got them. I am no no dig yet - but plan to be. I am proud I got this far - am a natural gardener as is I don't use chemicals ( maybe provadol once or twice but that's it) & I do not like to kill things - it is too much. Saturday nights have been me with torch, bucket & gloves collecting snails & slugs religiously...then they go on holibobs to no man's land which is a designated area away from my small vegetable patch. Since 2020 when I first started gardening proper for the first time I have learned so much. Now ready for No Dig. Thank you for your small garden videos they really help me stay +ve. I am +ve because I am learning so much! I make my own compost too! I feel quite intuitive towards gardening is a more wild/ natural way so No Dig here I come! In the words of my late Mum who adored nature & wildlife & this always guides me...Nature wins! So we have to work alongside it!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Impressive Rachel and thanks for sharing

[@KPKENNEDY]

I sowed my parsnips between my lambs lettuce a few weeks before the lambs lettuce went to seed. The lambs lettuce twisted out without disturbing the seeds. I have now a vigerous crop of parsnips growing. It worked really well.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Brilliant!

[@ninemoonplanet]

Thank you for the information about yellowing plants, I kept looking to see what wasn't going on, now you've mentioned lack of sunlight I know what to do. Hail stones today, small and quite a lot of them along with an equal amount of noise. I checked afterwards and most everything is more or less alright. I had just planted out my feeble bush beefsteak tomatoes. They made it through.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Wow crazy weather, good that plants are surviving, should grow soon

[@lifewithlois7262]

Love ❣️❣️❣️❣️

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@heatherbower5539]

I love to see this area! I’d love if you did an update 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I will!, probably in August. possibly as a short

[@camicri4263]

Not always peaches and cream but eventually there will be some crops! We have the oposite problem....way too hot 93°F today and in the 90s most of the past week! So hot, I went to water at 7:30 pm was over 80 degrees. I really don' t want to be outside at all! Thank you Charles! Blessings!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So mad, only extremes! Like political debate 😂

[@hernesc]

Amazing strawberries. It took only a day to a blackbird family to eat half of my strawberries :-). They were faster then me with a net over a bed, so they won this year. Congrats.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh no!!

[@LaHuertaDelAmor]

Beautiful small garden!!!! ❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you

[@rhonapyrke8458]

Good year for gooseberry for me. So thorny though!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Incredibly so!

[@amandar7719]

I think it was Dogontheplot who used sourdough starter on pieces of cardboard that blew me away re slug control. The number of immobile satiated slugs sitting on the cardboard one evening was scary many. I’m having great success catching snails and the hugest of slugs. Cheaper than the beer traps. Easy too. Flour and water, feed the yeast daily and use the discard for the slugs.

[@SMTRodent]

I'm going to try this.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cool thanks

[@lkonny9200]

I am so happy you said that it’s cold for cucumber. I had so many seeds not germinating this year and the crops are so behind. We are in Portugal and the weather here has been similar to England. Most of my veggies are only starting to flower

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh wow even in Portugal. I was just in the polytunnel with my cucumber plants and they look simply awful. I feel that some will just die after such a run of cold nights and cool days. Hope I'm wrong!

[@OriginalRaveParty]

I think my early year is lost 😕 TBH the weather has put me off a bit, and now things are overgrown. I need to plant something, anything that I can keep indoors for a few weeks ... then hopefully we get some heat and sun rather than cold and rain.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I would keep going outside because it's going to warm up and your enthusiasm will then return!!

[@jupaol123]

Brilliant.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you enjoyed it Paul

[@marianneeckertjensen4723]

You need a hedgehog or two to eat the slugs.. I am fortunate enough to have one living here and eating in my garden. That gives a fair level of slugs :)

[@elizabethfairhead3405]

Or a thrush family! They did a fantastic job of keeping down slugs for me this year!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks, and there are hedgehogs in the garden here because we find their poo, but I guess there's only so many they can eat. And thrushes have been decimated by farmers' slug pellets, also sparrowhawks.

[@HelenRullesteg]

I always like seeing videos from the small garden. And interesting to see that you grow your strawberries in compost, most "advice" says don't as it's considered too salty for them. I have struggled with growing strawberries, this year is the first time I'm getting a good harvest, and I have not given them compost. Very strange that yours are doing so well in compost.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear. And they are not growing literally in compost, but there is an inch or so of compost on top, which makes a nice dry and clean surface for the fruit to sit on.

[@kerollo5163]

All plants are having difficulties, except salads and the tomatoes I planted beginning of May. Young tomato plants are sturdy. Slugs devoured peppers, celery, young beans, courgettes and even corn.

[@tinad6812]

The weather in Chicago has been crazy too. It goes from freezing to burning hot. I have some successes though. Thank you for sharing.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I'm in Iowa 28th to ist, wonder what clothes to bring!! www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=murrayfestmidwest.com/&ved=2ahUKEwje9ZLy9uCGAxXEUkEAHUJnCRkQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0T36Mz_8erxJzr2T7YkcUK

[@tinad6812]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig You’ll need a variety of clothes because of the weather fluctuations happening everywhere. It’s 90’s in Chicago this week. I have my shade cloth over my plants. Have a wonderful and safe trip. 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks!

[@sunitashastry5270]

Loved the strawberries. I have still to grow them properly. We in Midwest USA are having it too hot - 38 C 10 degrees above normal. The tomatoes have not had time to settle down! We are hoping for more seasonal temperatures soon. Got my first peas and was so excited - the variety Easy Peasy.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That sounds challenging weather. I'm hoping it cools down before I arrive in Iowa to speak at the festival! I just heard from a friend in Idaho, who just suffered a frost which killed her beans and squash, and that was after 101°F the week before. Nightmare!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

murrayfestmidwest.com

[@glassbackdiy3949]

Good show, cheers Charles. Strawberrys have done really well this yr despite the dull weather. Brassicas have also done well, I havested the main hearts of the Broccoli but left the plants in and in only 2 weeks had a harvest of side shoots that outweighed the main crop, something I'll be repeating in future.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Impressive, good to hear!

[@cocershay]

I had a jostaberry (pronounced yostaberry) plant for a good few years, it was practically a tree by the time I removed it. If I recall correctly the jostaberry is a Dutch plant that is a cross of gooseberry and blackcurrant and they make amazing jam!

[@Catsrule7]

I bought a jostaberry about 15 years ago but was disappointed that the nursery only had one plant available. The nursery owner told me that was all I needed and just to take cuttings. This I have been doing ever since, giving some away, and using the others to replace the older specimens that became too big and leggy. I do, however, find they are very prone to gooseberry sawfly if I don’t catch it in time.

[@cocershay]

@@Catsrule7 yes I noticed that too, but as long as the plant is well established I found that even when it looked decimated by saw fly it hardly seemed to affect the health of the plant

[@gmorgan894]

Slugs are having a proper party in my strawberry patch , as soon as any start to ripen they get munched the same night.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That's horrible and somehow you need to find them to cut or remove them. Best of luck.

[@emkn1479]

I’m trying fava for the first time this year. I just used dried beans I bought at the grocery store. Didn’t realize I’d need to corral them and now they’re all over the place. I may try still. I’ve seen that you can eat the beans at almost any stage, even the whole pods when young if cooked properly (these were grilled). I’d love any pointers on lots of ways to enjoy them! Love when you do the cooking videos too!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear. Those beans you buy for eating are slightly different to these ones because their pods and beans are smaller, not quite so tender when fresh, but still good in the ways you describe. I like these ones when they are quite mature and fat and after cooking 3 to 4 minutes, you can slip the skins of each bean to reveal the creamy centre for eating

[@igorgrigorchuk6752]

Good afternoon, Charles! Have you tried setting traps for slugs? For example, how to pour beer into a container and bury it at ground level?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes sometimes but catch beetles too!

[@karinebutchart7395]

Thank you so much. Interesting about the yellow leaf tomatoes. I've been quite distressed by my very poorly looking tomatoes this year - the first year in about 30 years that they are so weak and sickly. Perhaps it's the low light and cool temperatures - even though they are in a polytunnel.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad it was helpful Karine and yes, I hope you see the difference from tomorrow even

[@antoniustheiler1494]

Good morning Charles, on this occasion I would like to briefly tell you about a new experience. It's about snails. Since I'm always working on not letting my large country garden go wild, I recently mowed down the tall grass at the edge of the fence and threw it into a pile. Since I didn't remove it right away, I feared a snail infestation the next morning, especially since my runner beans were growing nearby and were being eaten extremely heavily by the snails. To my surprise, nothing had been eaten the next day and no snails could be found. Surprisingly, the young pumpkin plants nearby were also spared. My explanation: It's because of the lemon balm, which grew very strongly there and was now lying on the ground. Does it possibly drive away the snails? The experiment is running. Kind regards, Ursula

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear Ursula, you could be onto something!

[@craigmetcalfe1749]

Hey Charles! Where I am in Brisbane, Queensland, we are having such a cold winter. This has resulted in a lot of challenges for warmth loving plants like corn and the larger varieties of tomatoes. This year I am all about companion planting, so for example, every tomato is surrounded by a Marigold, Garlic, Basil and Borage. I love your small garden and am sorry to see the struggles you are having. I would definitely be considering how I can process snails for harvest if there are that many. In my mind, there is nothing better than snails (processed) cooked in butter and garlic. Keep the faith and good times will return to the small garden. Cheers!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Wow Craig, I am sorry to hear that. When I lived in France, we ate snails and they make them fast for 28 days before cooking, it's a long process!

[@maryrogers5269]

I find sprinkling sand around base of plants keeps slugs and rolls polys at bay

[@thelasttaarakian]

Also charles - I cannot believe how cool it is in england. going to be 90-100 here in the states for an entire week. miserable!

[@sayadaramdial1700]

Very relatable about the slugs and the reseeding mâche! (I'm in the northwest US though) I mulched my garden paths with wood chips and it's been a slug metropolis all Spring. I was mostly just leaving them be, hoping something would eventually show up to predate them, and designating a 'slug free bed' by attempting to use copper tape on bricks. Unfortunately that didn't really work out so I finally gave up and put out beer traps. Glad to say they seem to be working! And the mache I left way too long.... there are hundreds of seeds now on the ground so all the ones I also collected I likely won't even need- but I can give them away!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Same spring as here!!

[@sayadaramdial1700]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig We've had a few spurts of warmth at least in between the rainy days like today, so i'm grateful for that at least! But hearing you mention that butternut squash are particularly sad about the cold is reassuring because mine are looking small and somewhat yellow. I hope they take off with enough time for a good fall harvest 😮‍💨

[@isabellehinman6566]

Since we started a new garden from scratch after moving house we had to source manure. We found a local lady with 2 ponies who only get fed organic food. We used that manure (which was probably not rotted enough) and my healthy dark green plants turned yellow. But after reading from different garden fora it looks like it could be more than just the manure with quite a lot of people having reported yellow leaves on their plants up and down the country. Prices in the shops are probably going to go through the roof this autumn.

[@angelamcghee4489]

I've joined some garden groups recently as it my first real try at gardening for a harvest this year ,glad I'm hearing others experiences or I would havd thought I was just no good at it all

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That is frustrating, but as you say, it could well be the low temperatures and I would hope that in the next two weeks as it warms up, you will see healthier green leaves

[@isabellehinman6566]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig I have put cloches over my courgettes to see if they will pick up and I have also put some in pots in my greenhouse. This weather is not only depressing but also very challenging for those of us who are trying to grow plants as naturally as possible. We might have to turn to slugs and snails for our dinners 🙈. Snails in garlic sauce aren't bad but a lot of hard work to prepare. Happy gardening.

[@marymcandrew7667]

My husband doesn't understand why I get so mad about the slugs, but when you've been babying tiny seedlings for weeks, and only have so many of each sown, then slugs come and eat the lot in one night....I have something to be mad about! So I filled many beer traps and caught a lot that way. Also every single morning I went around the garden and lifted every single pot or seed tray and dispatched slugs with the scissors. I have no green house so all seedlings are started right on the garden bed. One lesson we've learned this year, and are currently working to fix, is to remove all grass and plants, flowers etc around the garden perimeter. I liked the flowers but it gets too weedy with grass and buttercups, all get out of hand, so it's going. We will just continue with the woodchips and I decided maybe some big pots here and there of flowers and herbs. I was shocked when I saw the snails on your pallets!! Glad I don't feel so alone with the slug/snail problem! PS. the diligence with the beer traps and scissors hunt has paid off, much less pressure from slugs now.

[@mayaweirauch1739]

Slugs also use woordchips as cover. I read.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

People say that but only if deep and large, in my experience

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice you shared this and I am happy the pressure is less now!

[@pringo572]

I am out every night when i take the dog out after dark ,with a torch a pair of tongs and a bucket with salt and a bit of water in it hunting for slugs if i did not i would have nothing now it's made a big difference IE catch them in the act ( UK Midlands)

[@lauraa4436]

So encouraging, thank you so much for these updates! I am losing a lot of lettuce plants this year to something eating the stems just below the surface of the soil, leaving a brown nibbled tip below and floppy dead leaves above. I wondered if it could be woodlice?! I see a lot of them in the bed.....😢

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sorry to hear that. It sounds more like cutworm, and if you look in the soil close to where that has happened recently, you may find a large white caterpillar/larva and sometimes there's just one moving around.

[@lauraa4436]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig I'll have a good look, thanks so much Charles 😊

[@SMTRodent]

I love to hear you say that it's been dull and wet and sluggy this year. I've got a plank I turn over every week to feed the birds. I can hear thrushes and mistle thrushes so hopefully they do get a feast. It's not been *that* sluggy/snaily compared to the horror of a summer that 2012 was for me. My blueberries have set fruit, which I really wasn't expecting.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That is awesome! We need good news and yes 2012 was not good, but warmer.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hooray for good blueberry news! Yes 2012, so wet.

[@madgardener5820]

I ruined a batch of cider a couple of years ago and now have a few gallons of apple cider vinegar. However mixed 50/50 with water in a sprayer it's a brilliant slug and snail cure.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

This is funny and yes, cider vinegar is so useful! Great work.

[@joannahart1604]

Bay normally grows like crazy anywhere.

[@rebeccawhite2402]

You'll have to tell us what Jostaberry tastes like. I had to pull mine up due to it being absolutely covered in the tiniest of caterpillars at the start of the season. Just couldn't allow it to stay.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh no! And I can't wait

[@jean-pierregesquiere533]

Hello Charles, Un peu difficile cette année mais bon je m'en sors bien quand même 👍 Quand j'ai coupé toute la mâche qui montait en fleur ( mâche dautomnet),il y avait énormément de limaces cachées dessous, c'était impressionnant, c'était de belles limaces orange plutôt marron même 😲 Comme toi,tous mes ails d'hiver ( violets et blancs) ont chopé la rouille mais les têtes sont très belles.. je ne vais pas tarder à les enlever. Mes pommes de terre sont énormes , elles ont eu du fumier de bovins de 2 ans ( très noir et rempli de vers de fumier 😲) et je les butte avec 1/3 de tonte de pelouse et 2/3 de broyat...je croise aussi les doigts afin de ne pas avoir de mildiou. J'ai planté 200 plants de tomates,les dernières il y a 2 jours ( toutes dehors,pas de serre) et je croise les doigts afin que le temps s'améliore 🙏 Jai semé des haricots verts et jaune avant hier aussi J'espère que ce commentaire n'est pas trop long? Allé Charles bon we Pépé JP de ch'nord

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Tout bon Pepe et j'apprécies la commentaire. 200 plantes de tomates!! Vous jardinez si bien :)

[@GARDENER42]

Everything's miles behind this year, even my broad beans, which were sown last October, so now I'm nursing brassicas which were supposed to follow them. As for slugs: I use a single application of nematodes every year & this keeps their depredations down to manageable levels without starving the beetles (they seem to move over to devouring cutworms instead, which is a good thing).

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks for sharing that

[@finnnnn]

Nice to see things still growing, despite the geo-engineering!

[@tmy1065]

In the Pacific Northwest, we call the cool weather you’ve been having “June-uary”. Still, night time temps in the 30s is just wrong 😆

[@xaviercruz4763]

A French restaurant would be happy with those snails 🐌

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

🍽

[@xaviercruz4763]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig they’d pay 💰 you too for them. Take them as a garden crop that likes cloudy ⛅️ moisture and fair temps like mushrooms 🍄:D make some money for the damage they cause :)

[@moirad6579]

Have you thought of taking out or moving that shed? The small garden would thank you 🥰🥰🥰

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Fair point, but no, I want to keep it and shall put up with that light deprivation. It's pretty and also very useful.