I like runner beans, trouble is so do the slugs & snails. My baby plants are sat under cover in the garden, warm cosy & nibbled! From my packet of seeds, around 15 have taken. I still get a buzz from seeing those first shoots emerge! It is always tempting to root around in the pot, try to see if the seed has germinated – I am always impatient so perhaps it is no wonder that some fail to grow. In fairness this season there was a cold spell which delayed my baby beans. But now they are growing & first to benefit it seems are the snails.

Funny, I always thought snails were slow & well sluggish. As if to prove me wrong they appear as if by magic in my seedhouse. The tray of beans is around three foot off ground level. Here they should be safe, shouldn’t they? There is no sign saying “Hey tasty runner bean leaves this way”, yet somehow they know. And somehow they manage to climb up to nibble away at any leaves they can find.

Today I have carefully removed more snails from my beans cosy home & banished the snails to the top of the garden, in the hope that they will find their way next door. Here the grass grows long & wild, that must be inviting to a snail mustn’t it?