I Deter Slugs

Sometimes, a conversation has the effect of a tin opener - one of those old-style ones which involves puncturing the can with a sharp blade, running it round the lid without the assistance of wheels or cogs. This type of opener leaves ragged edges, and a sense of jeopardy. I wonder if that is how my Longest-Serving Friend's courgette plants felt after being eaten by slugs overnight last Thursday - it certainly left her feeling ragged, so as I was going to stay for the weekend, I took wine and flowers.

These thoughts - the being opened up by a conversation and the destructive potential of slugs - came together as I planted baby broad bean plants on my allotment this morning. They are not directly comparable situations, and yet something about that conversation came back to me as I thought about holes, and how to protect the broad bean plants from slugs. 

I don't know if it was the effect of either the wine or the flowers, but last weekend my Longest-Serving Friend found the motivation to try again with courgettes, and had the idea of cutting the bottoms out of flower pots to use as shields around the next lot of plants. We imagined the slugs trying to gain purchase, perhaps hurling themselves at the plants, but slipping down the plastic sloping pot sides. Ha!

The conversation I had, the one that's making me think of tin openers, happened ages ago, but it's stuck with me as a painful unkindness. It was about the holes in me and how they are irreparable. In therapy, I learned to use the metaphor of woundedness about these holes, and also learned, with skilful help, how to take care of myself. 

Not wanting to use slug pellets to deter slugs (bad for birds, bad for hedgehogs) I followed my Longest-Serving Friend's example today and made collars out of plastic cups to shield the broad bean plants I've been growing from seed. I cut out the bases, and I made sure to leave a ragged edge. Something about doing this - about being outside on my allotment, pottering about in the sunshine, planting broad beans, and trying to protect them, helped me feel complete.