At long last we got to pick our own strawberries! Everyday the angel stands next to the flowers and looks into the sage. This being where I have tried to hide the strawberries from the nasty slugs, who had stolen the first juicy ripe ones! She tries to sneakily take them when they are still white and she does the same with the green tomatoes...
I know the land in the hills of Kerala is perfect for growing strawberries. It's a similar climate to England, without out the grey clouds and drizzle! A place I've dreamt of going to is Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. Renouned for their strawberries, Mahabaleshwar is a hillstation of similar climate to Vagamon or Munnar. So I have high hopes of growing a field (or patch!) of strawberries in the future.
So I would like some advice for expert strawberry growers (more than 3 strawberries counts!) about how to keep the nasty pesty things of my fruit... organically of course.
This is an excerpt from the site where I found this great photo of a
"Strawberrywallah"
"That is exactly what Mahabaleshwar is all about in the Indian summer! A place to escape the torrid heat that grips Mumbai, a place to romance strawberries and mulberries, a place to cool off in the thunderous hailstorms thatshower the hot tin roofs and plunge the temperatures for lovers to revel in!
Mahabaleshwar has something for all young and old, trekker and stroller, shopper and foodie or maybe someone who just loves to laze around. Therefore, you will find families, backpackers, moony honeymooners, all doing their own thing and generally having a good time."
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I'm loving it already!
5 comments:
Hi Emma
Just cover them with green netting and put plenty of straw underneath. That will stop the birds and keep the strawberries from going mouldy but to keep them away from the slugs - maybe try copper tape around where they are growing if you have them in a container. Hope this helps anyway. I've only had maybe 20 strawberries this season but as each one becomes ripe enough I treasure it! Usually two become ripe at the same time and my litle girl and I get to each have one. They are the sweetest strawberries I've ever had....
jen
Thanks Jen, whats copper tape?
It's a sticky tape made of copper that you literally stick around a pot or on the wood of a raised bed to keep slugs off. The copper sends off a charge onto the sticky slug as it tries to cross over it to get to your produce. It doesn't like the charge so it moves away. It's a chemical free / pellet free approach to getting rid of slugs. Also a nightly run to pick them off is necessary for a couple of weeks especially when it rains!
I buy copper tape on ebay just type in 'copper slug tape' and you'll find some. It does work!!
Good luck
Jen
Hi Emma.
Have you seen my post on keeping slugs and snails away from plants? You might find some helpful tips there. You'll find it here.
I'm going to try growing some in a hanging basket next year, although I know from experience that slugs can climb!
Perfect! Thanks Girls... Slugs beware!!!
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