I Really Hate Garden Slugs

I hate garden slugs.  Hate ‘em.  Oh, did I mention I really hate them?  They’re basically snails without any shell, & they are slimy.  And they love to chew holes in my beans & cabbage plants in my garden.

I spread out grass clippings around my plants in the garden as mulch to prevent weeds.  However, that provides a perfect cool, moist place for slugs to hang out.  I might have to rethink that mulch idea.

Slugs only come out at night, so I’ve been going out every night with the flashlight to hunt for them.  I found a non-toxic way to kill slugs on the internet, which is a spray bottle with an ammonia solution of 1 part ammonia to 4 or 5 parts water.  The nitrogen in the ammonia also happens to be very good for the plants.

I’ve been going outside every night for 10 days spraying every slug I could find.  It’s really nice to be in the garden at night when it’s quiet.  The temperature is cool, & there is usually a gentle breeze, but I think I could do without the mosquitoes.

Some nights after a rain I’ll hear the frogs calling to each other in the marsh out behind my house.  It sounds like dozens and dozens of people twanging rubber bands.  One night I heard two groups of coyotes yippin’ and ki-yi’in’ off in the distance; one group would call and the other group would answer.

On another night it was very windy, with clouds blowing across the moon making everything seem extra creepy in the flickering moonlight.  Normally all the firefies would look like points of light, but the wind carried them across the yard turning them into long streaks of light.

Well anyway, I’ve used up the first spray bottle of ammonia solution, so time to whip up some more slug juice.  By the way, any idiot knows that ammonia smells really, really strong.  So don’t be a moron and sniff the jug of pure ammonia anyway, like I did.  (Big mistake.)

(Photo from Wikimedia)

Labels: Home and Garden