Mission: search and destroy

Well, I recently figured out (thanks to The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control) it's the slugs that are causing the holes in my beautiful kale, cabbage and lettuce leaves. So disheartening to see such gorgeous greens being destructed by these tiny, slimy beings. Unfortunately, something has to be done. My 6 year old and I searched the garden high and low for these--hate to say it--pests. We collected about 30-40 in a matter of minutes. We tossed them to the opposite side of the driveway for now (I say this because I'm sure we'll being seeing some of those same slugs again). The Handbook said to use beer in the garden, so my hubby got us three shot glasses half full of beer, which I put in the garden, flush with the soil. About an hour after doing that, we went back out and checked progress. Sure enough, there were 6 slugs by one shot glass (Special Forces shot glasses, to be exact--take that, slugs!). One had fallen in and obviously had drowned. The other 5 were debating their fates. I hate to admit I gave them all a push. I don't like killing living things, but these guys are destroying my (for once) successful little garden. I also researched some more on natural solutions to slug control and found that orange slices act like beer, drawing the slugs to them so that the gardener can dispose of them. So I lined the perimeter of the garden with orange slices. Sure enough, almost immediately more slugs started appearing, either heading toward or were on the orange slices. My daughter insisted that I give the slugs to her and not drown them in the beer. So I did, and she would run them to the opposite side of the yard. Bless her heart; she is so kind!
I need a solution! How can I get rid of these boogers without harming them? But for now I don't have much of a choice... my garden is important! The nutrition for and health of my little family is more important than these slugs, but I would like to find a better solution; a happy middle, if there is such a thing. In the morning, we'll go check things out again. At least there will be a reduction in the amount of destruction to my veggies for now.

Other methods I've read about are copper flashings or coils, crushed egg shells, wood ash and diatomaceous earth, all of which I have read of both successful and unsuccessful stories.


This weekend is the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup. It's so close to me and I'm really hoping to go. I could learn so much from the workshops and demonstrations. I'm sure the wise, experienced gardeners gathered there this weekend could give me some tips and tricks, plus it would just be fun to go and I'm sure worth the $15-20 ticket cost.

So what are your tips for keeping organic garden destroyers at bay? Preferably tips that don't involve chemicals.

Such a newb gardener!

red leaf lettuce up close and personal, red russian kale in the background

When we first moved to Washington last May, I was determined to have a garden. I heard the soil was rich and you didn't need a green thumb in order to get things to grow. In our excitement of renting a house that actually had gardening space, my hubby and I went a little haywire getting seeds and starts going. We planted beans, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, cilantro, parsley, mint, basil, rosemary, tomatoes, onions and a few other veggies. We ended up harvesting a handful of cherry tomatoes. Needless to say, we were clueless. So this season, we got an earlier start (it didn't help last year that we planted in June because of the chaos of moving from Texas to Washington with dogs, a kid and a newborn). This season, we're already seeing the fruits of our patience and newfound gardening wisdom (like the importance of spacing, watering and using compost to help the soil out). We planted red and green cabbage, red Russian kale and some Walla Walla onions. The starts were itty bitty when we first planted them and now they are decently sized and still growing! Several kale and lettuce and a couple cabbage are being attacked by slugs though, but that's a different post. The onions don't seem to be doing as well, only a random few are actually growing. The rest are neither dying nor flourishing. It's like onion limbo out there!

For Mother's Day this year, my hubby got some supplies and made me a backyard compost holder. It's just chicken wire and stakes, but it's the perfect size (3'x3'x3'). I haven't quite filled it up yet, but it's happening slowly and surely. I can't wait to be able to use the compost when it's ready. Meanwhile, my garage composting worms (red wrigglers) are doing their duty --er, dooty. Worm dooty is black gold to my plants! Ooh, speaking of! Hubby and I helped a friend move recently and she paid us by buying us dinner and giving me a plant. It's some kind of succulent, but I can't exactly find it on Google. The closest I got was Moonrocks. But it looks slightly different than that. Any ideas? Anyways, I love it... they look like tiny antique cement roses.