Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

[Jim_Campbell]

The buggers are eating my courgettes.

Plastic cup with an inch or so of beer in the bottom. sink the cup into the soil so that it's flush with ground level. Come the morning, you'll have a cup (or several cups, if your veg patch is of a size to require it) full of drowned slugs and, in theory, unmunched courgettes.

Cheers

Jim

[Eric Plumrose]

The buggers are eating my courgettes.

Plastic cup with an inch or so of beer in the bottom. sink the cup into the soil so that it's flush with ground level. Come the morning, you'll have a cup (or several cups, if your veg patch is of a size to require it) full of drowned slugs and, in theory, unmunched courgettes.

If that doesn't work, try sprinkling broken egg shell over the surrounding soil.

[SmallBlueThing]

The buggers are eating my courgettes.

Plastic cup with an inch or so of beer in the bottom. sink the cup into the soil so that it's flush with ground level. Come the morning, you'll have a cup (or several cups, if your veg patch is of a size to require it) full of drowned slugs and, in theory, unmunched courgettes.

If that doesn't work, try sprinkling broken egg shell over the surrounding soil.

And if THAT doesn't work, an all-night vigil with a very small shotgun.

Steev

[House of Usher]

Before strawberry plants completely covered all the soil on my boarders I used to put out slug traps. Glass jars rather than plastic cups. When I had to empty them the stench was terrible. Glad I don't have to do that any more. My tip: stop growing courgettes. Grow strawberries instead. The slugs won't be interested in them until they turn pink. Pick them before they turn red and you'll get to eat them yourself instead of the slugs getting the best of them. Pinkish strawberries ripen up okay indoors, even in the fridge.

Slug traps stink like bloody heck, but they're quite effective. Or you can grow comfrey, which slugs will apparently eat in preference to anything else. So they say.

[Jim_Campbell]

One of my very favourite things about this board, is the way it can take the most unexpected turns. I mean, there's thread drift, and then there's a thread about life's irritations turning into Gardener's Question Time.

Cheers!

Jim

[locustsofdeath!]

Funny story - we had to abandon the fruit and veggie garden this year because my 6 year old daughter started "snail collecting", hunting for snails with pretty shells and keeping them in a small aquarium I bought her (I know, I know, but it's terribly difficult for a daddy to resist his little girl as some of you may well know). Anyway, she was so mortified by the dead snails and slugs that for the sake of her potential pets, I called it quits for this season  .

[Roger Godpleton]

One of my very favourite things about this board, is the way it can take the most unexpected turns. I mean, there's thread drift, and then there's a thread about life's irritations turning into Gardener's Question Time.

Cheers!

Jim

And it's all thanks to me.

[Tiplodocus]

I think most of us thank your mum.

[Jim_Campbell]

And it's all thanks to me.

Like most of this board's pleasures, it's despite you.

Cheers

Jim

[Proudhuff]

You also get various other creatures in you jars...This season I've had a bbay mouse and a small frog, as jim says the smell at emptying time is ripe but worth it for the veggies. An odd slug patrol at night with a torch also helps.

Nonstop fresh salads, and to come: Cauiflower, courgettes (got a great recipe for summer courgette soup if you want it), carrots, Parsnips, onions, basil, leeks, neeps and cucumbers all on the go too

Should be on the other thread, but my first Butternut squash has appeared overnight and I'm strangely proud 

[locustsofdeath!]

And try to attract a hedgehog to your garden. Cute for the kids to watch, and hungry for slugs in the meantime.

[DavidXBrunt]

A colleague and I spent a smashing afternoon yesterday with our clients picking the potatoes we'd planted earlier in the year. A small but satisfying crop for a minute investment of time and energy. We'll be doing it properly next year.

[House of Usher]

I suppose I'm fortunate that the only vertebrates that can get into my garden are birds, as all the gardens in my neighbourhood are walled; so no mice. There was a rat once, but it disappeared again within minutes; presumably it scrambled over a wall. There's a hedgehog hospital in my town and because they're always eager to hear from people who could give a recuperating hedgehog a home it would be possible to borrow one from them. I must do that one day, as we have far too many slugs.

Squashes and pumpkins are very easy to grow, but you need to start them early (in pots until they get big enough to survive in the ground), and they need plenty of soil and room to grow and daily watering. I say get them in early (no later than March) because the more growing time they have the better.

[worldshown]

Cheers for the tips, guys. Anything that prevents another scene like this...

[Bouwel]

The horror!

I'll say I've never had a decent meal incorporating corgette, but that may be down to my mediocre cooking skills.

-Bouwel-