Plant labels

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have used the Wilkos plastic labels with the supplied pencil for years. The writing has never faded in fact the biggest problem is getting the labels cleaned off ready for reuse the next year.

If I didn't know better I would suspect that some peeps are writing on the wrong side of the label, i.e. the smooth side, where the pencil can be wiped of with your finger.

Colin

[Two_Sheds]

the biggest problem is getting the labels cleaned off ready for reuse

Wash the dirt off with soapy water, dry, then rub off pencil with a pencil eraser

[Bren In Pots]

I rub my labels down with a fine piece of 'wet an dry' paper out of Mr Pot's shed that soon gets rid of any writing.

[snohare]

the biggest problem is getting the labels cleaned off ready for reuse the next year.

If I didn't know better I would suspect that some peeps are writing on the wrong side of the label, i.e. the smooth side, where the pencil can be wiped of with your finger.

Hmmm...who's writing on the wrong side ?!

There was one year I simply numbered all my Venetian blind markers by scribing them with a Dremel, and when planting I marked the numbers onto my planting plan in the Gardening Diary I always take to the allotment on my days there. The idea was that I could re-use the markers year after year, never have to remove or decipher writing, the markers wouldn't wear out. That worked really well - until the day it was persisting down with rain and I couldn't write in the notebook, or there was the other time I forgot the notebook and had nothing to write on...
But if you have a shed where you can hang a planting plan, or keep your notebook dry, I can recommend that system - you end up with a single piece of paper which tells you what you have planted where and when, for each year. (Which I of course used to lose when I had an allotment shed ! )

[veggiechicken]

Snohare, why not find a very very big tin can, open it out, mark your plots on it and planting plan numbers with your Dremel and leave it on the plot? Just another weird and wonderful idea from this wacky Welsh woman.....

[snohare]

Have you been reading my mind ?!

Funny you should say that Veggie, I have these sheets of corrugated iron I can't find a use for...I was going to plant through them with a cold chisel, mark on with a permanent marker or a bit of paint...marking, mulching, weeds, and warming, all done in one !

I'm sure there is a flaw in that plan somewhere, I just cannot think what it might be...is it that my digging technique might get a bit rusty ?

[veggiechicken]

Have you been reading my mind ?!

No way - I don't do top shelf stuff
The only things I know that grow under corrugated iron are slow worms and lizards.

[snohare]

I don't do top shelf stuff

Your newsagent keeps the Beano and the Dandy on the top shelf ?!!

So - is there a market for roasted slugs, d'you think ?

[veggiechicken]

When you're my height every shelf seems like the top shelf!
Sun-dried slugs might be a seller. Drop them in a little warm water and watch them swell. Probably quite nutritious to nibble when dried too, like dates. Slip some in your rucksack next time you're out in the mountains.

[snohare]

Probably quite nutritious to nibble when dried too, like dates. Slip some in your rucksack next time you're out in the mountains.

Oh, I pick them up as I go...in fact they are self-loading snacks, anytime you sit down on a damp tussock...
Once upon a time (I have it upon good authority) salted slugs were in fact considered a delicacy amongst crofters and fisherfolk. They would pick them and put them in layers, with a sprinkling of salt between, and keep them for winter when protein was scarce. They were chewy, like liquorice.
I believe it was the big black ones - that would make sense, they are the ones most commonly found on boggy hillsides.
I doubt they ever got the chance to sun dry them though...