My garden ( I say my garden but it’s really our garden as Bob put in a significant amount of prep work) is a veritable jungle. Yet, so far, we haven’t had a single zucchini or cucumber, which I think is due to blossom end rot and slugs. It’s been a wet year here.
I have declared a strict manifesto of “No Mercy for Slugs” in an attempt to remedy the situation. I feel I need to share with you that not all slugs are dumb. Sure, about 80% fall for the beer trap, but a good 20% hang on to the edge of the can wondering what the heck happened to their friends. 80% will sit in the bottom of the bird seed tray, waiting to be eaten (after I pick them off the plants) but about 20% will truck it over the side of the tray and bungee jump on their slime to safety.
I’ve ordered some Escar-Go from Gardens Alive. (See what they did there?) It should control the slugs without harming any other critters.
The good news is we have calendula (my new favorite flower/herb) peppers, tomatoes, dill, and mutant volunteer sunflowers.
I’ve been knitting on The Lonely Heart is a Hunter mystery knit along today. It’s been a long time since I’ve knit lace. I had to pull it out and start over once, but I think I’m on my way now. I’ll post a pic tomorrow!
Snakes & Cranes 
Are you going to whip up some face cream with the calendula or use it in natural dyeing or just enjoy the flowers? We have had drought like conditions for ages, but rain is coming tonight and tomorrow so suspect the slugs will re-appear. In America do you have the ‘if its black put it back, if its brown squish it down’…it isn’t 100% accurate as the leopard slugs also are good and only eat dead things…its the other brown ones that munch on the green. Snails were our main issue last year though, thousands and thousands of them.
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I didn’t know there were different kinds of slugs. I will look into it! I know I saw a giant spotted slug and I though it was spotted because it was so big.
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Sounds like a leopard slug they can get super long and they eat straw and dead grass. Black slugs eat dead vegetation. Regular brown ones eat your green leaves. Well that’s the UK varieties anyway.
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Thanks for the slug education, Liz!
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Also, I’m really enjoying just looking at the calendula. But I might do something with it.
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Oh Poor Alissa – and Bob! Not good results for your 1st big garden adventure!!!!
M.
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Oh, it’s fine. We’ve had lots of peas and more greens than we can eat!
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So sorry about the slug problem, but it sounds like you have some things to try anyway. Your flowers are beautiful! And it looks like the peppers, tomatoes and dill are doing really well 🙂
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I’m reading blogs with Elliot on my lap, and he wants you to know that he is very disappointed there are no pictures of slugs in the post. I’m happy with the flower pictures.
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😂
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Well that is a very good point. I will take some pics of slugs for Elliot next time!
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He says thank you.
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Our slugs seem to be hiding this year, but I am doing battle with the robins, trying to get a few cherries before they do. We are on the lookout for grasshoppers. It’s been so dry here, I’m afraid we have a plague of them this year.
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