Sometimes the Garden's own mandate changes one's plans.
When you venture out, ya gotta be ready for anything.

LO AND BEHOLD, on the harvest mission I see hundreds of tiny and mid-size SLUGS
are attacking my raised allium rows. In broad daylight!!

Jules-Vern-Scissor-hands
takes back the Allium Grove.

It's NOW prime HUNTING SEASON.
And as we GW-ers well know,
being a gardener is NOT for the squeamish.

Beer doen't begin to make a dent
in Slimy Spring hatchout of the Pacific NW -
Last week's Slug Powder sprinkled around beds
seems to only have sent the little nibblers up higher
in the greens - some even nestled at the TOP of 4' high flowering Purslane!

The ground is wet - and the destroyers of my dinner
are on the march. Small slugs and snails
became easy to see in the diffuse light
of this mild, cloudy day -
(and I was still wearing the power-glasses
that help me get thru the morning...
so - AHA there you buggers are!)

So today, in a moment of necessity,
my weapon of choice for mass killing
became my Allium-loving Kitchen Shears.
I deftly severed front from back of dozens of crawlies.
Got em on flowers, at the stout bases of stalks, under leaves, and on the ground.

The little rolled-up ones get knocked to the ground and stamped quick. In fact, one can rustle a plant a bit and watch a torrent of them fall - ready for the seasoned Hunter to pounch with sharp Shears. They're left to compost in place, as I move on to complete my cole-crop harvest. Gramma Wollan would be proud. (But she'll still not get me to eat those stanky Ruta-babies, cold or hot!)

Having enjoyed another lively moment of Zen in the garden,
I will soon enjoy a lovely organic lunch, of my own
- well - more accurately - of Nature's choosing.

On it goes...

Yesterday - I baked muffins - to warm my kitchen
and to remember seasons spent near Gramma Lottie,
whose home was a bakery for our Montana community for years. I realized recently that I have several polka-dot dresses now - and most of my memories show her in a polka-dot dress, and flour-covered baker's apron.

In my kitchen this week, I battle the skittering noise of frisky squirrels who have AGAIN busted into the attic. (Does anyone wanna harvest these boys for some kind of Wild-meat stew?!) Come to think of it, a Raccoon has also decided that my homey environment offers rewards.
How the heck to deal with HIM -
if he goes beyond munching Scapes?

Enjoy your day - alone or with the critters.

AND - get out there NOW
to prevent the next generation
of SLUGS from destroying your kitchen delights!
Take your Glasses and Shears. Git busy!

It came from this site I think *Safer*,I dont have url but if you want to search the site look under safer I guess.
Bill

Hardnecks did not do as well this year, too warm I suspect but the softnecks are looking like trees. 5th or 6th set of leaves on most.

Shallots, potato onions and multipliers taking over. The Walla walla look pitifull.

Warthog

This time it's serious. Do not be fooled!

It's now fall, and THAT means it's Slug-egg-laying season. As if that wasn't bad enough, the BIG boy hermaphrodites are having orgies on my property, and WORSE - they also out there devouring my WISC 55 tomatoes, just before they turn ripe. I'm drawing a line. Time to get out the Sluggo and dust the perimeter. I hope it's not too late, as I'm planning for more Dahlias in Spring, and I *insist* on a more diverse palate of veggies next season. The buggers got my multi-color eggplant & pepper seedlings, Okra and much more. I *will* win in '06!

Hey mindsmile: Thanx for the Slug-bait recipe! I'm a cheapo & prefer not to buy bait, but I'm also among the many Oregonians who think using a decent microbrew on depraved Slugs is nothing short of Alcohol Abuse.

No matter how gratifying it is to discover 5-6 bodies dead in one's pool of beer, that method just doesn't cut it in a prolific organic garden with ample mulch, compost and planting (er, Slug-birthing) mounds. Slug-Death it is.

Survivors however, do have permission to winter over in my compost piles. By Spring, however, it's Last Rites for Sluggo. I'll be back.