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Table of Contents
1) Editor's Comments:Last week we offered a short tip on controlling slugs. Because of the interest this tip generated, we thought it would be a good idea to have a deeper look at this pest and learn how best to control them. Hope you also enjoy the rest of the newsletter. As always, if you do have questions, suggestions or ideas, do not hesitate to drop us a note. Rex Gregor Tom Krueger 2) Slugs & Snails:Last week we gave a short tip about "hiring" your kids or the neighbor kids to rid your garden of slugs by putting a bounty on the little vermin - the slugs, that is. Well, it prompted messages from our readers, and we thought we'd share a more extensive article on slugs.
Both propel themselves by use of a muscle on their underside. If you have them in your garden, you can tell their path because they secrete a mucus substance as they move along. You want to control them because they can be quite prolific. In fact, the brown garden slug will lay 80 eggs up to six times per year. They will mature in about a year. You can see that if you don't control them, you'll be overrun. One of the reasons they are difficult to see is they don't like the sun. In fact, slugs and snails are most active at night or on cloudy days. On sunny days they'll hide from you. During cold weather they'll hibernate in the topsoil. During dry periods they even seal themselves in a parchment like membrane. So how do we control these pesky critters? Of course, there is the "bounty" method or simply hand picking them yourself. The problem is, you need to be vigilant and keep at it. Another method is to place some boards around your garden and keep the soil underneath moist - you can then lift the boards on a daily basis and pick them up. Mid afternoon is the best time to check the boards because the slugs will come out to eat at night. Placing a barrier of dry ashes or diatomaceous earth heaped around the base of your plants can be effective. Unfortunately, as soon as they become damp or it rains they're pretty much useless. One tip we received from a reader is to share your morning coffee with the slugs. This is right on the money. In fact, a study published during June in the Journal of Nature found that snails and slugs are killed when sprayed with a caffeine solution. Unfortunately, you won't get a high enough dose of caffeine from a cup of coffee as they used in the study. But this does help to prove one of the home remedies for controlling slugs and snails. Take those coffee grounds and spread them around the base of your plants. You can also spray the leaves with a coffee solution. Be advised, though, that a coffee spray may yellow leaves on some of your plants, so you may want to test it out first. Our suggestion is to use a combination of methods. (Personally, we are not fond of the use of poisons in our gardens.) Keep your garden clear of debris because the slugs like to hide and this gives them a hiding place. Although, go ahead and place a ten-inch by six or eight foot length board in the garden; keep the soil beneath moist; and as we said, in mid afternoon lift the board and pick ut the nasty pests. One final method is to use beer-baited traps. A friend said this worked best if he sat in his garden and drank the beer. If you have any suggestions that you have found to work, we invite you to share them with our readers. 3) Humor for Today:One day in the hospital, two little boys were lying on stretchers next to each other outside of the operating room. The first boy leans over and asks, "What are you in for?" "I'm here to get my tonsils out and I'm nervous," the second boy says. The first kid says, "You've got nothing to worry about! I had that done when I was four. They put you to sleep and when you wake up they give you lots of ice cream and Jell-O. It's a breeze!" "Well what are you here for?" the second kid asks. "A circumcision." The first kid replys woefully. The second kid says "Wow! I had that done when I was born and I couldn't walk for a year!" 4) Spice Up and Slim Down:
Crave a little heat to the palate and you'll rely less on fat for flavor. |
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In
actuality, snails are also a bothersome pest in gardens around the world,
as well as slugs. In fact, snails and slugs are quite similar except
for the fact that snails have an outside shell.
We
all know that fat adds a lot of flavor to our food; unfortunately, we
also know it adds inches to our waist. But, spices and tangy peppers
also add flavor without adding extra calories and fat grams.
This
is the best time of year for fruit and vegetable gardeners -- being
able to savor our bounty. Thought we'd give some tips regarding tomatoes.