A Gardening Tip

I am SUPER excited to start gardening next year. I have been spoiled in our military assignments in regards to growing plants... vegetables in Mississippi grow awfully fast and from about March to November. I'm sure with the northern California sun I will get similar results.

Here in Mississippi we don't have an issue with slugs. THANK GOODNESS. Those are awful creatures. I don't know if they are a problem in California, but I KNOW they're a problem in Seattle. I was skimming Pinterest today and came across an article about keeping slugs at bay... and a light clicked on! I did a science fair project about this very same thing in 4th grade, and I should totally have been using this! So be prepared to be wowed if you plan to start a garden and need some tips to keep those pesky pests away.

So the science fair project. My goal was to find a material that slugs will not cross over. We cut up some 2 by 4's, placed beer on top (because slugs are attracted to beer), and wrapped the 2 by 4's in various materials. The only material I discovered that they do not cross is copper. I have no idea why, but not a single slug went past it (and I have about 80 slugs in that container, UGH).

What can we take away with this?

1. Slugs will drink the beer, but it does kill them.

2. Slugs will not cross over copper.

My garden next year will use both of these. The article on Pinterest I saw mentioned burying beer cans into the garden. So here's what I will do:

1. Buy cheap beer, say PBR. That way it's cheap and you won't feel guilty dumping some of it down the sink, since you have to empty about 2/3 of the can. If you want more expensive beer, fine, but realize you do need to leave some in the can.

2. Around the perimeter of your garden, bury the cans, leaving just a little of the top exposed. You can go all around the garden, or just in the trouble areas.

3. Switch out the cans as needed! How easy is that? And it's way better than using pesticides in your garden, especially if you have dogs or kids who could potentially dig in it.

4. Around really precious plants, place a ring of copper. I would suggest leaving it above ground, I don't know if burying it will help.

Also, I have been told that marigolds keep bugs away from vegetables. So for a pop of color in my vegetable garden, I'm going to plant marigolds around it. I LOVE marigolds, they always grow really fell for me. They don't smell all that great, though.

Happy gardening!