In re ants: did you know that you can get ant nematodes? Apparently they don't actually kill the ants (shame), just make life sufficiently uncomfortable for them that they pack their bags & remove to Somewhere Else.

We now have *red* ants as well as the regular black sort. If the nematodes don't work I may start considering more drastic action, although no one seems to have any very good ideas for getting rid of ants, sadly :(

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DUDE I totally did not know that about the ant nematodes! I am SO getting some next time I'm up the garden centre. Haha yes we have black ants and sort of maroony-ants - I keep digging their nests up and putting them in the weedy patch at the end of the plot but unfortunately they prefer nice dug-over soil - which we have a *lot* of at the moment.

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I am not sure the garden centre would have them -- I think you'll need to order them on the interwebs (like the slug nematodes) as they're quite a new thing. Let me know if you can't find them & I'll ask doop where he ordered ours from.

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You chopped down a whole tree! Impressive!

When you planted your red kale, did it just go straight into the ground, or are you doing it the way the book tells me, which is to propagate it first and plant out the seedlings? I don't like propagating much, it's too easy for me to kill things :-(

I feel a bit mean about the idea of nematodes; it's like biological warfare on tiny creatures and I get a bit guilt-ridden about it. Especially snails & slugs. They're lovely really, it's just that they really really really like to munch things. Not their fault.

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Wee-eeeelll, the oak tree was only a tiny bit taller than me ;) I felt bad about it (bcs trees are good etc) but to be honest a whacking great oak tree right in the middle of the site is going to piss a LOT of people off. Plus I swear the wasps last year were using its bark to make their accursed nest. So it had to go.

I just popped the kale seeds straight into the ground, having decided that propogating was Too Much Fannydangle. Every time I bloody propogate things they die of shock when I plant them out (with the exception of the runner beans last year) so I decided on tough love ;)

I don't feel marvellous about the nematodes either to be honest, but as Juliet says, the ant-ones don't kill the ants, just irritate them enough that they bugger off somewhere else. Better that than a kettle of boiling water, and the pyrethrin did f*ck all when I cracked and tried it last year. And if the sodding slugs and snails want to eat something, why don't they eat the tasty crapweed? There's enough of it and it's very juicy and succulent. I don't mind a few slugs/snails, but honestly, the numbers in our plot are just RIDICULOUS. Cutting them down a bit will be GOOD for the eco-system.

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propogating was Too Much Fannydangle

MTE! I hope it works, I'll be keeping an eye out to see how it works. Well, ideally.

I'll have to bear the ant one in mind.

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