Summer of Discontent

We really are a nation of wingers, all winter long we have being saying “it’s freezing, I hate the rain and snow” so last weekend the sun decided to shine and what did we say “It’s too warm, wish it was a bit cooler”. On a serious note with the sun starting to heat up it can only mean one thing – the start of summer and the onslaught of insects that slide, bite, sting and annoy us.

During the summer season we all love to have that family BBQ. As the BBQ is lit and the drinks are poured it’s not long till we start to see the flying pests such as small flies and wasps, normally, they are attracted by the sweet sugar in fizzy drinks.

As the food is cooking and your busy showing off your vegetable patch – lettuce, carrots and beetroot all growing well, apart from the silvery trail that is all over you leaves. Gardeners hate to see the snail and slug trail as they destroy all your plants.

Some garden snails and slugs can carry the larvae of a parasitic worm, “Angiostrongylus Cantonensis” which is more commonly found in the lungs of rats, hence the name ‘rat lung worm’. As the snails or slug eat the droppings from an infected rat they pass the worm to their new host – vegetables.

This year when you are spraying fly and wasp killer, placing down ant powder, and watching for bees and wasps don’t forget to wash all you home produced vegetables and fruit.