ARGH bloody slugs!

growing veg has become a passion of mine since trying to become more self sufficient, my garden is not huge and not very tidy but slowly it is becoming better, I'm having lots of ideas and thoughts about what to plant next, and each morning i go out and proudly look at my growing beauties! My runner beans have sprouted up to epic proportions, wrapping themselves around the bamboo wigwams i made, the carrots are almost ready for harvesting and the radishes, well they keep disappearing, those damned slugs!!, I'm becoming obsessed checking morning and night to catch the blighters and keep them from munching my veggies. The lettuces and radishes vanished after a couple of days, we tried the egg shell thing - didn't work, now we have tied copper wiring around to see if this works, it better do or i will be out there with a torch doing night duty!! Any ideas not involving jam jars and beer will be most grateful.On the upside, i got a £15 greenhouse in a sale and the whole family helped put it up in the pouring rain just to make me happy - how lovely! So after slug watch as the kettle boils in a morning, sometimes still in my PJ's i open up the greenhouse and an excited calm comes over me whilst i look at every tiny growing shoot, i know the tomatoes above are still small but i was late planting them anyway i don't care to much as they are growing quite quickly. The label on the side is not in case i forget what they are, its for the boys, it has some facts and tips on it.

Here is chris' (9 yr old) spinach, he only eats spinach and lettuce and the odd carrot and maybe a pea if he is feeling adventurous, so he planted these spinach above and lettuce below pics. This is his second lot of lettuces after the first slug theft we thought it best to keep them in the greenhouse until they are well established.

Turnips! tiny little ones just starting off, I'm waiting till they are a bit bigger to thin them out, to be honest we don't eat turnip that often so i thought it was a good idea to grow some, plus i think they are quite funny! I have been watching carol Klein's programme on BBC2 grow your own veg i love her enthusiasm and passion, its a great programme and she has a fab book too, really easy to follow for beginners like me.

As a family we already do the Eco things like riding our bikes everywhere, we don't have a car through choice, we recycle and reuse, i always say no to plastic bags, we buy as much fair trade and organic food as possible and growing fruit and veg has made me feel so much better not just because its fresher and better for us but because i am proud to see the little seeds turn into lovely plants and bear tasty fruit and veg and to see the boys faces when a new bud appears or how much something seems to grow overnight, its amazing.