Run Rabbit Run

The daddy pig comes to investigate

In the last couple of days I have inadvertently killed two gastropod garden pests in bizarre ways. Whoops. On one of my regular morning rounds of checking the mousetraps in the veg garden, I found a snail caught in one. This was doubly weird because it's only the second snail I've ever seen on my land. And on Sunday as I was splitting some larch wood with an axe, I noticed something different about the crack I'd just made. Peering closer I found two halves of a slug which must have been hiding in a crevice. Not likely I'll be able to repeat that trick.

Slugs, mice, moles, shrews, caterpillars, millipedes, flea beetles, aphids, all have helped themselves to my veg at some point this year. But one pest that I'm thankful I don't (currently) have to worry about is the rabbit. These furry bundles of fun are feared by gardeners up and down the land due to their habit of just eating all the veg. Once you have rabbits it's a case of either giving up or investing large amounts of money in rabbit-proof fencing, sunk a foot or so underground all the way round.

Part of Emma's veg garden, with the pigs beyond.

This is what Emma has had to do on her market garden, “Cae Felyn” near Llanidloes, enclosing no less than three acres to keep the bunnies from her crops. There was an organised trip to visit her site last Saturday and I went along, to be both inspired and terrified by the amount of work she does to keep it all going. Everything she's doing is on a much larger scale than mine. Her polytunnel is twice as long and wide, and she's getting another to go with it. Her veg beds are 25 metres long (mine are ten). Her pigs are digging over an area that will soon be put to more veg. She has a large area for flowers to sell cut, and hundreds of raspberry canes (too many for her to manage, she noted.) A young fruit orchard, a soft fruit area, chickens, a huge shed for packing and storage, and a flower meadow to relax in if she had the time. She's only been there four years.

They're a Kunekune cross with something else

Location and aspect are crucial. In Emma's case she benefits from having gentle south-facing slopes but has two massive challenges - strong winds (two valleys meet to the west, both funnelling the wind directly onto her land) and unseasonal frosts (it's about 240m above sea level, whereas my site is at 100m). Most of her young plants were killed this year by a frost in early June. To combat the winds new hedges have been planted in strategic positions but even birch takes a few years to grow tall enough to be effective. Still, she's there for the long haul and her resolve and enthusiasm is impressive.

The 25m-long beds

The 100-feet long polytunnel

Do you have access to locally grown organic veg or fruit? Is there a community farm or cooperative growers veg box scheme, or local farmers market? If so, please consider supporting it. It may or may not be a little more pricey than supermarket veg but (a) it's better for you as the plants will have grown on healthier soil and drawn up a wider range of minerals, (b) the food will have travelled much less far, and (c) you're supporting the local economy. For those of you in South London (and I know there's a few) check out Sutton Community Farm's veg box scheme, and while you're about it why not look into their recently-announced first ever community share offer?