We are finding that passing the darker nights with the kids is getting harder, now that we're not playing together until bedtime in the streets. So I have found another engaging activity: SLUG PICKING! Hear me out. I charge 10 cents per slug. That adds up pretty quickly, kids. My youngest just made close to $10 ($5 for posing with the jar).
It's early October and will be 28 degrees for the next few days, which is even hotter in the polytunnel. The slugs are voracious with the warm weather and unlike spring slugs they are full grown. Furthermore, in the spring, the longer days at least allow for the plants to outgrow much of the slug damage and I tend to plant the seedlings before they are active.
I have lost many asian greens seedlings (especially choho, shown above) but as suspected/experienced, the red lettuce is not a favourite.
Good thing my clients like the lettuce but wishing it was more disease resistant and productive in the winter polytunnel. I lost nearly my entire crop last November/December. So slug picking and re-planting it is.
The pill bugs are also nibbling but I have a hard time killing those, which I'll explain in another blog. They also do not pose the potential for spreading diseases like slugs do. That's right, slug slime can make you very sick. I'll spare you the details on why and how but I do not put leaves that have slime trails on them in my bags of leafy things. We wash and cook those.
So if you are local and feeling sluggish, come on over and I'll put you to work!