The Garden of Slugs

I am growing food for slugs.

Slugs are a problem for almost every garden in Portland. The wet spring provides the perfect climate for slugs to roam around the garden, eating all of the yummy new greens and Brassica starts typical for April gardens in the Northwest.

I have tried many techniques for preventing slugs:

• crushed egg shells - slugs don't slither across anything sharp, so they theoretically avoid the egg shells. The problem with this method is I do not have enough egg shells to surround my entire garden in a protective barrier. The egg shells also become ineffective quickly as they decompose into the soil.
• slug killers - I have tried lining my beds with natural slug killers. I have seen a few slugs caught in the pellets the next morning, but some still get through. I don't like have to put toxic things in the garden every night in order to keep the slugs away, so I never want to apply enough slug killer to actually work.
• beer cups - if you fill a cub w beer and place it in the garden, slugs will be attracted to it and fall in and then drown in the beer. This method works at catching slugs, but not all slugs. Many slugs are still happy to munch on the yummy starts
• The only method I have found effective is actually going out at night with a flashlight, picking the slugs off of each leaf, and smashing them under my foot. This method works - and is the one I am currently employing at the Mason St. Garden, but it's definitely not my preferred method. Since I started picking slugs off of the plants manually every night, my arugula, spinach and chard starts are starting to grow once again. How can a plant grow if its leaves are continually eaten?!

The slug solution I am working towards takes time. Too many slugs, like many pest, fungal, and bacteria problems for plants, is a result of an imbalanced ecosystem. I am gardening on devastated soil that does not have the proper soil profile full of healthy bacteria, fungus, and micro-organisms. With poor soils, it is hard to grow a diverse plant profile capable of performing multiple pest and disease control functions. Plants such as borrage, comfry, callendula (marigold), and nasturtium are four plans that help control slugs and other garden problems because they help balance the ecosystem and provide habitat for a more balanced and complete ecosystem. I will still have slugs in the garden, but they will be living happily in the comfry with plenty to eat. The best insecticide or fertilizer is a balanced ecosystem within the garden.

In order to move towards a balanced garden ecosystem and soil system is to add organic matter and to seed a variety of plants, that each perform different functions for my garden. Organic matter breaks down and provides food for bacteria, which break down nutrients in the soil and make them available to plants. A garden can never have too much organic matter! Composting, sheet mulching, woodchipping, and other sources of organic material have all been added to my garden this year in an attempt to improve the soil. This spring I am seeding numerous plants and flowers in addition to my vegetable varieties. It is good to plant a diversity of plants that each perform different functions within the ecosystem. For example, cucumbers grow well with arugula, which likes to grow under the cucumbers large leaves in the summer. Sunflowers can also be added to the system so that the cucumbers have a strong structure to grow up. The sunflower attracts insects that help pollinate everything and spread seeds around the garden.

As I get better systems set up, I hope I won't have to be the mass slug murderer that I am today. I don't wear that mask well!