A Stranger in the Village

Scene One (the only actual scene..)

Time ~ Sunday 24th May 2009, early morning
Location ~ Eden Allotment Gardens, a balmy day in Plot A24a...

[Enter 'Phil' stage left]

Phil -Have you seen them?
Carrie -What?
Phil - The New Zealand Flatworms!
Carrie - No..what do they look like?

Phil - Here, look. [ shows shiny flat black wormy thing to Me] They're Nasties, they eat our Earthworms!!

Carrie- No!!!!!!! [screams in desperation towards the heavens]

[Enter Andrew, stage right]

Andrew - Oh I think I saw a funny shiny black egg thing under the mint pot. Here look...[they look at the bottom of the pot] That must be one of it's eggs.

[Scared silence]

End of scene

Yes my friends, we have been invaded. Albeit by a total of (by the end of the day between Phil's plot and ours) 4 flatworms and an egg, but that's just how a revolution starts. Slowly, innocuously, innocently....Well, we're on to you now! Thank goodness for Phil and is knowledge of bugs.



You can easily kill them by heartlessly throwing them into a jar of salted water, which we did. But they had already done obvious damage. The one I found in the new flower bed in 14b had a circumference of about 30 cms around it devoid of Earthworms. That, in a bed which was coming down with the things. So much so that I really was getting rather upset at the amount of worms I seemed to be cutting in half with very spade dig. I hate chopping them, my Grandfather once told me (I was in tears at the time..) that I had just made 2 worms out of one and all was fine. But, HE LIED. I now know (though mostly choose not the believe) that if you're lucky one half will live and regenerate the part you so callously detached from it, but no, you don't make 2 (yes you do, there, there Carrie, don't cry....).

Well, damn it. It's war now. No one and nothing devours my garden allies indiscriminately (apart from cute Robins and such, as that it the proper way of things). WHO invited this Flatworm to our Lotties; how did it afford the plane tickets from New Zealand? Eyes open my friends and do not be afraid to kill.

Here is a write up of the new enemy, study and go forth with salt water and a clear conscious...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_flatworm