Blog takeover: Sunny, 2025 Trainee
Hi I’m Sunny, one of this year’s trainees at the Real Food Garden. During my time here my love of growing, and passion for our native wildlife have blended seamlessly together. I’ve been really lucky in that I’ve had the opportunity to do some surveying for some reptiles and amphibians in the garden and I’d love to share with you why it’s so important that we protect these weird and wonderful creatures.
When people think of a garden that is in balance with nature they may think of buzzing bees, chirping finches, or even snaffling hedgehogs. But nestled between the rows of veg and wildflower borders, a growers best friend can often be found in the quieter form of a toad, lizard, or grass snake, These garden allies are masters of their craft in pest control.
Slowworms
Often mistaken for snakes, we frequently run into slowworms when clearing old beds. These long lived legless lizards can often live up to thirty years old in the wild given the chance, they are also fiercely loyal to basking sites so the chances are you’ve found yourself a long term solution to your slug problems. We love to leave wild corners of the garden untouched and un-mowed, to encourage these illusive and special creatures.
Grass snakes
We take pride in having a strong grass snake population at the Real Food Garden. We often find these impressive but totally harmless snakes incubating their eggs in the manure pile in early summer, they are also are keen swimmers and enjoyers of our multiple ponds on site. These often wrongly characterised occupants of our gardens do an amazing job of keeping the vol and mice populations in check, and indirectly play a large role in keeping nibbling teeth away from our salad leaves!
Frogs and Toads
Cornwall’s mild, damp climate makes it ideal for amphibians, and frogs and toads are some of our favourite visitors in the garden. They’re extremely effective slug eaters, meaning an entirely chemical free form of pest control that also looks really cool in the garden! They bring real character to the place during the breeding season in early spring, as we love hearing their low, rhythmic calls echoing from the ponds. It’s a sure sign the season is turning. We certainly miss them when they tuck themselves away to hibernate for the winter.
Whether it’s a snake or toad, reptiles and amphibians are sensitive to change and pollution, so having a large population of these creatures in our growing spaces is a sure sign that food production can in fact work in harmony with nature. We take their presence as a badge of pride that the way we produce food for your table is actively benefiting and providing a home for the local wildlife. So next time you spot something slithering through the compost or hopping out of the undergrowth, take a moment to appreciate these beautiful, silent workers.