On a recent visit to Denise Dunne, organic herb grower, I thought I was finally going to learn how to whip slugs without chemicals . But even she is flummoxed: "I often go out after dark with a torch and pick them off, but you could do that four times in the night and it would make very little difference."
She has also tried barriers of thistles, nettles and sand - and other methods so squirm-making that it would not be nice to detail them here. But all were to little or no avail. "By this time I have resigned myself to the fact that the slugs are going to get some of the stuff," she says stoically. "And I know that I just can't grow certain plants, like delphiniums and hostas" - numerous choice specimens of which have furnished expensive dinners for the slippery mob. But she does grow herbs in plenty - about 200 varieties - on her green acre in Naul where a south-facing slope, overseen by a brick and limestone cottage, spills down to the River Delvin, a thin line of water that separates counties Dublin and Meath. In front of the little slate-roofed house, a brash stand of red hot pokers blazes away. Nearby, bees and butterflies attend to fennel, catnip, borage, vervain and a man-size yellow daisy with whopping great leaves called Telekia speciosa (hard to believe that such a characterful plant hasn't got a vernacular name, but it doesn't appear to). The drive is planted with young arbutus - the strawberry tree - grown from seed. In time these will form a rosy-barked evergreen screen, but until then they have been reinforced with shrubs and mother herb plants which provide cuttings for the nursery. Much of the place is still under construction: an oval herb garden has just been laid out, while a vegetable potager, a wetland area and a meadow are planned. Land being reclaimed from weeds is carefully blanketed in black plastic or layers of newspaper topped with grass clippings - no weedkilling sprays are allowed in this earth-friendly patch.
Two polytunnels enclose a propagating area and herbs for supply to restaurants, including mint and basil (several kinds of each), rocket, borage, parsley, chervil and nasturtium. Outside the tunnels, hundreds of potted herbs are raised off the ground on pallets or benches (in an effort to keep them out of snail and slug reach). Some, like the starry white-flowered garlic chives, are in bloom: "A lot of people don't realise that you can eat the flower of herbs. It has the same flavour as the leaf, and it's nice to garnish a dish."
Dunne is an accredited organic grower, a member of the Organic Trust, a body which follows the EU standards for producing organically. "When you decide to do it, you stop using all chemicals and follow the organic standards," she explains. "You go through a conversion period - generally two years - to allow any residues to come out of the soil."
Dunne got her Organic Trust symbol two-and-a-half years ago: "It's a guarantee that the stuff is genuinely organic." Consumers, she says, should look for a symbol when buying "organic" food or gardening supplies - with IOFGA (Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association) and Demeter (the biodynamic organisation) being two other validations that you are likely to see.
She feels strongly too, about the "seasonality of plants. Chervil, for instance," she elaborates, "tastes better in winter than in summer, so why not switch to it for winter use. Why can't we use what's good when it's good and in season, and food that is produced locally?" she continues. "What's the point of food travelling half-way around the world and being pumped with stuff to preserve it along the way?"
Her own garden is largely fed with manure and compost: for the latter she uses a method called "sheet composting" where chopped-up garden waste and a layer of leaves, comfrey and nettles is scattered on the soil and left to rot down. Worm compost, produced by a vermicomposting (now there's a new word!) specialist in Meath is used in the bottom of terracotta pots, "and you don't have to feed them for the rest of the season." Plants that look peaky or start to go yellow are revived with liquid seaweed and comfrey. And best of all, of course, is that "you can just pick and eat, without worrying whether they have been sprayed with something the previous day."
The Herb Garden, Forde-de-Fyne, Naul, Co. Dublin is open April to September, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, 2 - 6 p.m. Other times by appointment only. Potted herbs, cut herbs, dried herbs, herb oils for sale. Herb gar- den design service and large quantities grown to order. Telephone 01-8413907.
Diary date: A few places remain at next weekend's (September 18th 20th) residential gardening course at Altamont Gardens, Co Carlow, with owner Corona North and head gardener Paul Cutler. Topics include year-round colour, pruning, propagation and plant association. Fee: £185 per person sharing, or £100 for non-residential participants (includes lunch). Enquiries: 0503-59302.