Farming Friends

Today (Thursday 10th April 2008) I spotted the first butterfly of the season. It was a peacock butterfly. I spotted it this morning about 10am in my vegetable garden.

Have you spotted any butterflies this year yet? - Let me know which butterfly you saw, where you saw it and when you saw it.

I received a comment that led me to research whether snails can change their shells. Van & Lilo commented,

“We found a garden snail and brought it home to keep it safe, even though the shell is broken, none of its body is at sight and hes still alive and well. My daughter named it Gary. I was wondering if we find him a new empty shell will it move in or thats just not possible?
thanks
van & lilo”

My research led me to believe that the snails body is attached to the shell so removal of the shell would damage the snail’s body and it would also dry out and die. Since the snail is attached to the shell, I don’t think that it will move into another shell.

So the answer to can snails change their shells is actually no snails cannot change their shells.

Thanks for the interesting question Van & Lilo.

If you have a question that you would like me to try to find the answer to then just leave a comment and I’ll try my best to find an answer.

Craig recently asked, “I was just wondering if I could gather snails from my garden and eat them? And if so how would I go about ensuring they were cleaned out ?”

What an interesting question that I am sure many people have wondered.

I have done a bit of research and found that the Caferouge website states,

“There are many different types of edible snails in the world. The most common are:
Helix aspersa: also called the “small grey snail.”
Helix pomatia: also called “the Roman snail.” If you’re cooking snails it’s advisable to buy them from the supermarket or from another reputable snail retailer…..Garden snails can be eaten, but you have to be very careful that they have not been near harmful pesticides. It is also important to clean and prepare the snails correctly.”

I also found an interesting recipe which explains how to prepare, clean and cook the snails on the bbc website in a food and drink article for BBC Somerset.

“Mendip Wallfish Recipe
This version of the recipe is by Pat and Bob Reynolds

Collect snails, Helix Aspersa, the common brown garden snail.
Put into a container in which they can be kept moist and can breathe.
Feed them on bran or lettuce or cabbage leaves for 7 to 10 days. This cleanses them.
Put in a sieve and dunk them in boiling water for a few seconds to kill them.
Take the snails from the shells with a small fork, wash them off and then cook.
To cook about a 100 you need a pint of water, ¾ pint of cider, a large carrot and an onion cut into pieces.
Make sure the snails are covered in liquid.
Bring to the boil and simmer until tender for about an hour - it may take a little longer.
Rinse in hot water to clean off the bits of vegetables.

The snails need to be fed lettuce for 7-10 days
Meanwhile put the empty shells in a saucepan with salt and water and bring to the boil.
Boil for a few minutes then rinse in cold water.
Do this 3 times more to make sure the shells are clean.
Dry shells in the oven.

Now to the snails.
You will need a pound of butter for 100 snails.
If the butter is salty you will have no need to add any more salt to the recipe.
½ teaspoon of each of the following,
Chervil, Dill, Fennel Seed, Basil, Sage.
1 teaspoon Chives
3 teaspoons Parsley
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper.
You can use dried or fresh herbs for this.
Grind up all the herbs together and add them to the butter and mix in well.

Take a snail shell, put a little bit of the herb butter into it, then a snail and seal off the shell with more herb butter.
To serve, put the snails on a tray and put into a hot oven.
When the butter bubbles they are ready to eat.
Serve with cubes of bread to mop up the herb butter.”

This recipe sounds great. I don’t know if I am brave enough to eat garden snails but I would certainly purchase the commercial eating snails as I have tried snails in France and enjoyed them. Let me know if you have a go as well.

Snails are often found in the kitchen garden.

Cynthia asked, “Should I get rid of the snails in my kitchen garden? Do they do damage?”

• Unfortunately the garden snail is seen as a pest by many gardeners and vegetable growers since the snail predominantly eats leaf and plant materials.
• So yes the snails will damage your kitchen garden crops.
• You will probably never get rid of all the snails in your kitchen garden but you should try to control the numbers of snails to a reasonably low level.
• You can use either natural or chemical pest control. There are lots of organic and chemical products on the market as well as other methods of pest control such as picking the snails off the plants by hand.

I hope that the garden snail does not eat all your kitchen garden plants and that you can get this garden pest under control. Click on the following links for information about snail control in the garden and methods of snail pest control.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

I have just purchased the pyramid slug trap from TopVeg as a gift for a gardening friend.

Although I am yet to see the product in use, I would like to praise TopVeg for their speedy delivery of this item.

I look forward to reviewing this product when my gardening friend has the pyramid slug trap set up in their garden.

In the meantime, if you have any friends or family who are enthusiastic gardeners who are tired of seeing their beloved plants and vegetable crops being eaten by slugs, then why not get them this unusual gardening gift and help them make their garden a slug free place.

Visit TopVeg for more information about the pyramid slug trap.

Latin Name: Parage aegeria.

Description: The speckled wood butterfly has brown wings with creamy-yellow coloured spots on the upper wing with one small dark eye spot near the tip of the upper wing. The lower wings have creamy-yellow coloured spots and a row of three dark eye spots.

Size: The wingspan of the speckled wood butterfly is approximately 50mm.

Habitat: This butterfly can be found in woodlands and hedgerows.

Food: The speckled wood butterfly feeds on the honeydew secreted by aphids. The caterpillar of the speckled wood butterfly feeds on grasses.

Distribution: The speckled wood butterfly is found throughout Europe.

Months Seen: The speckled wood butterfly adult can be seen between March and October.

Did You Know?

• The speckled wood can hibernate as a caterpillar or a chrysallis.

It would be impossible for the gardener to eradicate the snail from the garden completely and some might say unethical, but controlling the numbers of snails to a reasonably low level is necessary for plants and vegetable crops to thrive and survive.

There are many methods of snail pest control for the gardener to choose from. There are lots of organic and chemical products on the market as well as other methods of pest control such as picking the snails off the plants by hand.

I have found that since I have had my guinea fowl the numbers of snails has diminished and I don’t need to use alternative methods of snail control. 

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.