I try to garden as organically as possible, and don't like putting
anything on or in the soil if I can help it... I've been using cloches
for all my young plants to protect them from wee slimy beasties (and
the rabbits!)...

if anyone's interested, there's a new cloche system out that is really
clever (and cheap!!), and means you can build cloches to any shape you
fancy. I found it online at www.cloches.co.uk and the bloke who
designed them is a bit of an old eccentric nutcase but very helpful -
he entertained me with stories of Meridian TV cameramen last summer
who came to film his peas which were growing to an enormous height...
:-)