Ravaged by slugs

With all the rain, the garden has become a buffet for the slugs. I went out Saturday morning and the little blighters were everywhere. They have eaten most of the lettuce. They have eaten the radishes. They're slowly taking down the cabbage. They were all over the scallions. Now they're working on the peas.

My beautiful peas which were so thick and lush back before the rains came are now spindly and sad and covered in slugs. I picked picked slugs out of the peas until my glove was slimy and saturated in mucus and didn't get them all. With the forecast predicting rain until Thursday at least, it's time to step up on the slug-battling front.

Since the garden is rife with the slimy creatures, I'm using every trick I can find. I started by raking up any leaves that were hanging around the vegetable boxes and pulling all the weeds. Slugs like weeds and dead leaves to hide in. If it ever stops raining, I'll put out cups of beer and sprinkle hydrated lime in all of the walkways. Eventually, the walkways will have a layer of crushed stone and that will hopefully deter all but the hungriest of the slugs.

I ordered 3 rolls of copper tape from Lee Valley tool. Rumor has it that slugs don't like to touch copper, so if the rims of the raised beds are covered in copper tape, that should keep them out. Now, copper tape isn't cheap and one roll will do one of my raised beds. Since I don't know how effective it will be, I'm going to try it out on three rather than commit myself to coppering all 8 beds at once.

I'll let you know if it works.

Lastly, I've filled a squirt bottle with a 10% vinegar solution that I'm spraying on the slugs. Vinegar can damage plants though, so it needs to be sprayed directly on the slugs themselves.

Now, if only I had some ducks, my war against the slugs would be well in hand.