To all urban permaculturists who, like me, don’t have a dedicated potting shed (no space!), beware.

I brought some empty seedling pots to clean at home ahead of sowing some more goodies in the new season, only to discover that a young male funnel web spider was in there too. It escapes (I screamed! :) I love nature, trust me!) and it crawled inside the drain hole. I waited, and waited and waited some more. No sign of it coming back! I cleaned my pots in a hot slightly bleached solution, always keeping an eye on the second drain hole (in case it decided to escape through there!). No sign.

I emptied the bleached water and carried on with the day.

Twelve hours later, it had made a comeback and could safely be disposed off outside (by my valorous husband). It was alive and upset (the fangs were impressive!) although a little on the slow side (funnel web spider can leave under water for a long time, but I doubt bleach, although a very weak solution, can do them any good.).

Anyways, I thought it would be a clever reminder to:

-          ALWAYS wear gloves!

-          ALWAYS check before grabbing anything from the garden

-          (Get more land so that you could have a dedicated potting shed!!!)

 :)