Peas won't be long...

This year I've expanded my selection of veg and touch wood it seems to be doing well, last year I had potatoes (about one bags worth!) a few Radish, some very woody Beetroot and about two very stunted and misshapen Carrots; this year I've added in two additional raised beds on the back slope of the garden and planted Potatoes, Broccoli, Beetroot, Carrots, Beans (2 varieties) Rocket, Lettuce, Radish's (first crop eaten & enjoyed) and Peas.

The Pea's are coming on a storm and the pods are fattening up rapidly - it won't be long until we can harvest the first crop.

I lost the first few plants to slugs & snails within a couple of days of planting, always really annoying & frustrating when you watched a seed poke it's shoots above the soil, full of potential, only to see it mown down by a voracious appetite. I try to avoid using chemicals due to my daughter who loves to help me out in the garden still having a tendency for tasting anything that looks tempting and secondly because I like to think there's always an alternative way. Randomly browsing the web a few days later I came across a tip to use toilet roll tube around the base of Peas, I didn't think it would work, surely the slugs & snails would happily climb up & into the tube to munch the fresh shoot I thought - but clutching at straws I gave it a go anyway and to my surprise have found it works a treat.

I'm now using toilet roll tubes on lots of different plants (should have lots of Sun Flowers this year!) while they get established and as long as the base of the tube is below soil level it works, you can even half the tube so only half an inch is above ground and it still works - no idea why the slugs & snails don't like it and one of these days, maybe when Winter rolls in and the Garden is not so habitable I'll try and find out.