Slug soup and other creative pest measures

I HATE slugs. I know it's somewhat irrational, the fierce feelings these slimy creeping plant eaters conjure up in me, but they really bring out the worst in me. I know there are many very sane ways to attack a slug problem--from ground-up eggshells spread around plants, to flour spread on top of the soil and from commercial slug bait to beer-filled saucers.

This last option reminds me of a swim-up bar and seems a bit too festive for a mortal enemy. I've actually tried this in the past and it does work, but I really got some strange looks when I went to the party store and asked them to point me in the direction of their cheapest beer. Of course, I wasn't going to spend top dollar on an import or specialty brew!

Today I was in the garden doing some clean-up and harvesting some goodies for dinner when I found several families of slugs living in the holes where I pulled carrots from yesterday. Then, when I went to cut some corn mache for salads I found at least three zillion living under the leaves. That's when I became slug-ocidal.


While I know that it probably wasn't good for the soil, I dropped some canning salt down into the carrot holes and found a perverse joy in watching the slugs sizzle. But, beyond that, if they were laying eggs down there, hopefully the salt took care of the next generation as well.


My disdain for slugs is long-lived and I've used multiple methods to control them over the years like the saucers of beer for them to slime-up to, become drunk and drown; stabbing them with random sticks and crushing them with rocks. In addition to the salt in the holes, today's method also included slug soup.

This creative approach started with me scooping them up with a hand shovel and dropping them by the dozens into an empty ice cream pail. I then filled the pail with water, sealed it and placed in an area that gets a lot of sun and that's very hot. As I write this, I realize that I may be taking this loathing to an extreme, but there's something strangely satisfying in finding new ways to get rid of my garden nemesis.

Now that I've calmed down a bit, I decided to do some research about slugs to see if they have any redeeming value whatsoever. Guess what I found out? They don't! Here's a brief primer on the slug:

An information sheet from Cornell says that gray garden slugs were brought to America from Europe in the 1800s. My question is WHY? Why would they do that? The only logical explanation is that the slugs were actually stowaways that made there way to this country on the plant matter the Europeans brought with them when they came to America to make a new life.

Slugs have an average lifespan of nine to thirteen months and if they have enough cover can survive mild winters. Slugs are hermaphroditic, which means they have has both male and female reproductive organs. A slug could start out as a male, then become both male and female,
and finally become solely female. There are also some slug species that can self-fertilize, or, produce offspring without needing to mate with the opposite sex. After mating, the slug will lay 8 - 60 clear, jelly-like eggs in sheltered areas on the ground. An adult slug can lay 300 - 500 eggs during its lifetime. With numbers like these, it's no wonder they get so numerous if left to their own devices.

Garden slugs increase in size during summer and reach sexual maturity in late autumn. According to some information I found on Texas' extension service website, slugs only reproduce in early spring and they tend to reproduce faster on alkaline to neutral soils than on acid soils.

Now that I know that rabbits have nothing on slugs when it comes to procreating, it's time to take a more rational approach to control. Slugs like it cool and damp, which is why mulch in a garden can be a challenge. On one hand, it's great for the plants, but on the other hand it's also great for the slugs.

Slugs do have some natural enemies; and if you're OK with having them in your garden, they're a good way to naturally control the slug population. Toads, garter snakes and ground beetles all enjoy making a meal of these slimy pests. I like this method of control because it's natural and it doesn't require adding chemicals to the garden. Then again, finding them and smashing them doesn't hurt the environment either!



How about you? Do you have unusual ways to ridding your garden and landscape beds of slugs? I'd love to hear about your approach.

A strange edible gardening season

The performance of edible plants varies from year to year. This year is no exception, in fact, it's probably a year that fits one of the extremes - at least in the Northern Midwest.

It's been colder than normal, and as a result, everything is at least one month late. In fact, I'm glad we included Early Girl Tomatoes in this year's plantings. True to their name, they were earlier than the others; but the first two weren't ready until Labor Day! The other tomato plants in the gardens are at least two weeks from having ripe fruit. Hopefully the colder-than- average weather doesn't mean our first frosts will be early, too.

If we do get early frosts, the good news about tomatoes is that they will continue to ripen even after removed from the plant. The flavor isn't as good, but at least it's not a total loss. Once tomatoes are picked, they can be wrapped in newspaper or placed in a paper bag. Either way, add an apple to the package because apples secret a chemical that will speed the ripening process.

Although it's been a disappointing season here, there have been plenty of other areas of the country that have experienced terrific growing seasons. If you're in this camp, check out Rosiland Creasy's blog (the original edible landscape gardener) for a great recipe to enjoy your tomato bounty.

Look for more tips about harvesting this year's bounty on my Examiner pages as well as here on the Edible Garden Landscaping blog.

Free garden stakes, just look around your flower beds

Although I prefer to grow edibles in our landscape, I am a sucker for beautiful flowers and as a result have a variety of lilies - day, tiger, oriental, etc.
Today I was spending some of my garden time cleaning up the spent day lilies and trying to figure out what I could use to stake the pole beans and cucumbers when I had an AHA moment. Daylily stems are sturdy, tall, and free!

Viola, plant stakes. I used them for a cucumber that I have in a container and to help accommodate some of the vines on the pole beans, since the teepee I "built" earlier this season is now much too small.
I gently inserted the stems into the soil and quickly learned to hold them at the bottom or they will bend and break. I also found that I could prop them into an existing planting - the bean teepee to easily increase the height.

Near the top of the picture that's above, you can see the joints at the top of the stem where the lily flowers once bloomed. Now they make a great structure to help train vining plants.
As a frugal (OK, downright cheap) person, I couldn't be more thrilled with the results.

What AHA moments have you had in your garden this season?

A New Use for Nasturtiums

I love this time of year when we're enjoying the incredible fresh flavors from the gardens. This is actually the first year I've grown nasturtiums in my edible landscape, and I'm glad I did. They are pretty flowers that just make you want to smile.
From an edible point of view, the leaves and flowers add a nice tang to salads. However, having the same thing over and over is downright boring, so I went in search of other ways to use Nasturtiums and happened upon a recipe for "Poor Man's Capers" that I'm going to try and want to share with all of you. The recipe came from an article on About.com.

While real capers come from the buds of the caper plant, there's a less expensive version that is made from the still green and firm seeds of nasturtiums. The seeds in this photo came from the flower that has started to dry up. All you need to do is take a look at the wilting flowers for the seeds and harvest away. The seeds have a peppery bite that would also make an interesting addition to an antipasto.

Poor Man's Capers

1 Cup Nasturtium Seeds (still firm and green)
1 Cup White Wine Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
5-8 peppercorns (slightly crushed)

1. Rinse and drain the nasturtium seeds and blot them well on paper towels.
2. Place the seeds into a 1 pint canning jar.
3. Combine wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a small saucepan and bring to a boil
4. Poor the boiling liquid into the canning jar over the seeds.
5. Seal and refrigerate the jar.
6. They need to stay in the refrigerator for about 3 months before they're ready to enjoy.

Use these "capers" any place you'd use ordinarily capers-on salads, vegetables and fish.

I'll keep you posted on the results of my batch and look forward to hearing from all of you about your experiences as well.

Time for Fall Planting & My Spring Lettuce Still hasn't Bolted

It's the time of summer when we start thinking about what to plant for fall harvest. The odd thing this year is that the early season lettuce that I planted in early May is still going strong. In a normal year it should have bolted (gone to seed) long ago.

The lettuce is just another testament to the cool summer those of us in the upper Midwest have had this year. Other signs are the bounty of tomatoes that are still green...oh just a couple days above 80 degrees and sunny would be wonderful.
The cool weather hasn't stopped the proliferation of zucchini though. It's producing abundantly, just as you would expect in a normal summer.

As we start to put this strange summer behind us, I'm planning for fall planting (and praying for a few days of summer). So far I've planted arugula, spinach, chard, and radishes. I've been planting beans every week to 10 days over the last month so we should have a nice harvest to freeze for winter. Still in the works are the snow peas that I'll be planting from seeds harvested from the spring crop; and since it's been so cool, I'm also thinking that I'll try some small cabbage and broccoli to see if they can mature before the first frost. Obviously, I don't need any more lettuce.

How about you? What are you planting for the fall harvest?

Buried in Zucchini

It's that time of year when the zucchini is taking over our lives. Zucchini is a wonderful summer squash that can be among the most prolific plants in your garden. When this plant takes off, it takes over. Once the zucchini starts producing you'd be wise to check the plant a couple times each day. Otherwise, the perfect, cucumber-size squash you decided to give just one more day, may grow to the size of a bowling pin!

One of my summer reads this year was Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. In it she describes zucchini season as the time when you have to lock your car doors even in her small town because otherwise you're likely to come back and find someone was kind enough to leave a zucchini or two on your seat!

I have just one zucchini plant this year, but at this point it looks like I'm still going to need to find some creative ways to use the bounty of the harvest. One thing I know I'll do for sure is give some to the local food shelf to share with others in need of some real, fresh food.

Other than that, there will be the usual zucchini bread, zucchini on salads, grilled/roasted zucchini, and I plan to try Zucchini chocolate chip cookies.
It may just be another way to get my family to enjoy our zucchini bounty.

Check out these other sources for zucchini recipes. You may be able to find them at your local library, or you can purchase through Amazon.com.


Photo from Springhill Community Farm, where you'll also find some great zucchini recipes.

It's Berry Time - How to Beat the Birds to the Fruit

It's time for the wonderful taste of fresh berries...strawberries are just done, or almost there in most of the country. But,raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, gooseberries and all the other wonderful berries are getting into full swing.

There's nothing more frustrating, however, than heading out to pick a few, only to find that the birds and other berry munching wildlife have beat you to them! This photo shows one berry with just a small section left after the birds were finished!

Foil them
Birds can be skittish, so if you hang strips of aluminum foil or a cut up mylar balloon in the bush or around the canes, the light that reflects off the strips will startle them and send them away. If you have fruit trees, like cherry trees for instance, hanging some foil pie tins in the tree will also help keep the birds from having a feast.

Try Tricking Them
Place a short length of old garden hose on the ground near the bushes, but in plain site. Birds arelikely to mistake the hose for a snake and stay away.

Cover Them
A slightly pricier, but more certain method of protecting the fruit in you yard, is to cover it with netting that's specifically made to keep birds from eating the berries. For less than $10 you can purchase a 7 foot x 20 foot net and there are larger mesh nets available.

Depending upon the size of your berry patch, you might be able to cut the larger size down to cover fruits in different locations in your yard. The best thing about this investment, is that it is reusable each year as long is it is carefully removed, folded and stored once the fruit is gone. I like to store these sort of items in a 2 gallon plastic zipper bag, which helps protect them from snagging on something and tearing.

Do you have other methods of keeping the birds from stealing the berries from your yard?