Copper garden tools – science versus hippy.
It’s been my day off today and I met my friend Sue (you will know her as the most glamorous potato picker).
We visited Access Garden Products on the way to having lunch to definitely decide which raised bed and frame she wanted. She has chosen a 3 tier 6 ft X 4 ft raised bed with a 4ft X 4ft value frame on top. That way she will have 2ft X 4ft of raised bed outside of the frame. I think that will look very stylish. Isn’t it lovely that you can choose just what you want and they will do their best to provide it for you? You don’t get this from mass produced products from the far east!
After lunch we went to Blooms garden centre to choose seeds and got Sue all the bits she needs to get started. Technical things like string, labels, a mug with ‘glamorous gardener’ on! We discussed soil and how much she needed – don’t get me started!
We even managed to get me some lovely luggage on wheels so I don’t need to struggle with heavy bags when going away! Was that on the shopping list? I don’t think so, but they were a real bargain!
I have phoned the company selling the copper garden tools. Sue and I have decided to have a trowel each. I’m attending a training course in Nuneaton next Tuesday and that is where they are based. It seemed ideal to call and see them and buy a couple.
I tried to explain how the copper garden tools worked against snail and slugs to Mark, and quite frankly got shot down in flames as being complete hocus pocus! I tried to explain that I was merely repeating what I had been told and was making polite conversation. What he felt about it was up to him, I on the other hand was taking all the information in and was willing to try anything to get rid of these veg munching creatures. It may all sound a bit ‘hippy’ but if it works, I’m game.
I’m sure Mel Bartholomew would agree, that when you have gone to the trouble of sowing seeds, watching them shoot and grow, it’s heart breaking to see them disappear overnight to these slimy individuals.
So here goes with the science V hippy argument, you make up your own minds. It’s a free world! But the web site is www.implementations.co.uk
Science
In many ways, copper is the opposite of iron and steel, the metals commonly used for garden tools. Iron is magnetic, copper is conductive. So, whereas iron tools disturb soil magnetism, copper assists the flow of earth energies to nourish the plants. Iron is a base metal, so it rusts when exposed to air. Copper (along with silver and gold) is a noble metal, which does not corrode easily. Iron is hardened when hot. To harden copper and bronze, it is hammered when cold.
Hippy Argument.
We, and all other mammals, have iron in our blood. That is why our blood is red. It enables each of us to have our own independent magnetic field, anchored on our blood. Slugs and snails do not have iron in their blood. Their blood contains haemocyanin, based on copper. This means that they do not have an independent magnetic field. As copper is conductive, they are highly sensitive to the Earth’s field. As they move along the ground, they are subject to the lines of magnetic force generated by the rotating core of the Earth.
Now, imagine that a diligent gardener has carefully transplanted their lettuce seedlings, using an iron tool. As the tool turned the soil, it left its magnetic signature. When night falls, the slugs and snails start on their slimy way, following the lines of force that they detect on the soil surface. When they reach this disturbance around the transplanted lettuces, they are forced to stop. They do not know where to go – the signal is not clear. They have to wait, and while they wait, they get hungry. And there go the lettuces.
Time will tell, because at the moment, I have a very happy colony of snails in my garden that have already eaten pounds worth of plants over the years. There are ways of getting rid of them, some are kinder than others. Beer did seem to be a happy way for them to go, but have you ever emptied the pot after a few days? Not for the faint hearted. Salt is another, but I don’t think salt is good for the soil. The chickens love them and all run to grab the shell, it’s a quick death for the snail or slug, protein for the chickens, but I still feel guilty. So to make them unwelcome due to copper in the ground seems like a plan to me.
Let me know if you have any copper tools and what you think, a load of rubbish, or pro hippy – like me.