Two beds of succulent winter salad leaves
in the ground.
Each one surrounded by grit,
with two beer traps filled with Guinness,
strategically placed.
Muddy paths jet washed.
Muddy paths jet washed.
All surrounding weed and plant cover removed.
Let battle commence.
Edited to add:
Two torch patrols tonight
and the enemy's capabilities have not been underestimated.
Both beer traps have been dug up.
One of them moved 30cms and not a drop spilled.
Many, many little black slugs were apprehended while climbing out
from under the boards.
The leopard slugs were patrolling the paths.
But incredibly it turns out they are the gardener's friend.
They eat other slugs! Who knew?
Edited to add:
Two torch patrols tonight
and the enemy's capabilities have not been underestimated.
Both beer traps have been dug up.
One of them moved 30cms and not a drop spilled.
Many, many little black slugs were apprehended while climbing out
from under the boards.
The leopard slugs were patrolling the paths.
But incredibly it turns out they are the gardener's friend.
They eat other slugs! Who knew?
Those pesky slugs and snails will be out in force as soon as it gets damp!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Lucille, all slugs in existence are in my garden! Or they were... :-)
ReplyDeleteA team of slugs shouldered the beer trap like a Cambridge boat team and carried it nearly a foot ?
ReplyDeleteThis and the existence of cannabalistic leopard slugs has given me a new respect for gardeners .
It must have been a fox. The mystery is why it didn't dig up the bed as well. It was very neat. Not one of the plants was harmed. And so far -no casualties overnight.
DeleteI am leopard slug hear me roar. I am now going to don my safari suit and check my veg beds. :-)
ReplyDeleteLove these gardening Triumph of Hope Over Experience posts, Lucille....... Slugs are the devil's spawn. What did work for me on the allotment was to place the top half of a (cut in half, obv.) clear plastic water bottle over my lettuce seedlings, creating tiny greenhouses that seemed to deter slugs. I'd remove them weeks later when the lettuce filled the bottle. Not sure how useful they would be if you have nosy foxes, though!
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, the foxes would have them scattered, but amazingly the lettuces remain untouched in their gravel surrounds. It's raining heavily tonight though and that might be a game changer. (In the slugs' favour).
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