I planted 2 small container gardens late this spring in my first ever attempt at gardening. In total, I have 3 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, 2 strawberry plants, basil, cilantro and 2 cantaloupe plants (because why not?)
I did many hours of research before deciding which plants to buy, which stores to get them from, what dirt to use, what fertilizer to use, etc. I even created my own gardening things board on pinterest. I had many hours of my life wasted invested in this project, so I needed it to go well.
I should also mention that right around the time I was planting my garden, new neighbors moved in next door (this information will be important later).
I have been keeping an extremely close eye on everything that was happening in my garden, watching the weather everyday and making sure all the plants were adequately hydrated, but not too hydrated, and making sure no cats, birds, or squirrels were eating any of it. This obsession is what led me to be out in the yard at 10:30pm on a Wednesday evening. There I was minding my own business, watering my garden, when all of a sudden I noticed several nasty slugs crawling around the patio.
The discovery of the slugs immediately led to me run inside and Google, "are slugs bad for gardens?" Which led me to this website indicating that YES slugs are indeed bad for gardens. ". . .slug(s) attacks from all angles. At ground level it chomps its way through the stems of tender young plants and devours the leaves of vegetables such as lettuce. It climbs to munch the higher leaves, and also the hearts of cauliflowers. Still not content, it burrows deep beneath the soil, attacking root crops such as the potato, carrot and beetroot, and even flowering bulbs."
But not all slugs are bad.
This is a good slug
and this is a bad slug
see the difference? Me neither.
The indication that slugs were bad for gardens only left me with one option: Kill all the slugs. This conclusion then led me to Google "how do you kill slugs?" which led me to this website. Since I was not in possession of Rove Beetles, Lightning Bugs, Toads, or Ducks, and I'm not yet crazy enough to harvest human hair, I decided beer was the way to go. So there I was, at now 11:00pm outside placing bowls of beer all around the garden. It was at that moment that our brand new neighbor came home from work and wanted to introduce himself. I am pretty confident this was not my best first impression. It's very difficult to not sound crazy when describing how you have declared war on all of the slug species.
The good news is that the beer worked! The slugs were definitely attracted to the beer bowls. The even better news is that they sell organic slug insecticide at Lowe's which is safe to use on vegetable gardens that works even better. It's been about 2 weeks and I can confidently say we are now slug free. The very best news though is that last week I picked some of the basil from the garden (for pesto), ate it, and did not get food poisoning. I am pretty sure that officially makes me a farmer.
But not all slugs are bad.
This is a good slug
and this is a bad slug
see the difference? Me neither.
The indication that slugs were bad for gardens only left me with one option: Kill all the slugs. This conclusion then led me to Google "how do you kill slugs?" which led me to this website. Since I was not in possession of Rove Beetles, Lightning Bugs, Toads, or Ducks, and I'm not yet crazy enough to harvest human hair, I decided beer was the way to go. So there I was, at now 11:00pm outside placing bowls of beer all around the garden. It was at that moment that our brand new neighbor came home from work and wanted to introduce himself. I am pretty confident this was not my best first impression. It's very difficult to not sound crazy when describing how you have declared war on all of the slug species.
The good news is that the beer worked! The slugs were definitely attracted to the beer bowls. The even better news is that they sell organic slug insecticide at Lowe's which is safe to use on vegetable gardens that works even better. It's been about 2 weeks and I can confidently say we are now slug free. The very best news though is that last week I picked some of the basil from the garden (for pesto), ate it, and did not get food poisoning. I am pretty sure that officially makes me a farmer.
