Seeking to Live in Harmony with Slugs

I have been reading a book by an urban farmer that I have been thoroughly enjoying, until last night. Just before I went to bed I read how she killed slugs in the most horrific way I can imagine. This morning I decided to re-read a post I wrote last year… and share it with you. (Be sure to also read the 2016 addendum.)

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2015 post

I imagine slugs are a problem for most gardeners, they sure have been for me. It is so discouraging to go to the garden in the morning and see only the stalks left on bean plants and other vegetable seedlings. In the “old” days I used to use powdered slug bait to get rid of them. Later on, I used beer to bait them.

I have become increasingly uncomfortable with killing the slugs. Early this year it seemed I had more than ever; especially in my two worm bins. Believe me, good compost and free food can raise some BIG slugs. During the early part of the summer, I relocated them to other parts of the yard and hoped they didn’t make their way back to my garden. Occasionally, when I found them in the worm bins, I just left them there.

Then one day I decided to see if there was any information on the internet about the relationship between worms and slugs. I was very dismayed to discover that slugs EAT worms! I even found videos that showed that happening.

Eating my vegetable starts was one thing, but getting plump from eating my worms was completely unacceptable. From then on I took the slugs to the bottom of the empty lot behind my house, about 250 feet away from my garden and my worm bins. That area is full of blackberries vines but I pulled up a lot of morning glory plants and made the slugs a soft bed of edibles.

Next year I will make a home for them that is more hospitable, but still far away from things I hold dear.

I will also experiment with other ways to protect my seedlings. For example, I like the gutter planters that my friend Saroja created this year. She didn’t put her seedlings into the garden until the plants were big enough to be of no interest to the slugs.

I am happy that I have found ways to protect my garden and worm bins without killing the slugs. I hope to be even more successful in that venture next year. If you have found peaceful ways to deal with the slugs in your garden, I would love to hear about them!

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I found the information in the following articles very interesting:
Fascinating Slug Facts
Slimy Summer Invasion
Earthworms protect against slugs

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2016 Addendum: What I have found interesting this is year is that I have not needed to follow through on my 2015 plan. Other than losing two green bean seedlings at the beginning of the season, I have had NO problem with slugs in my garden or yard this year. There have been a few in my worm bins, and they were big and fat before they came into view, but I have just set them free outside of the worm bins. I don’t know where they go but I do know that all of the plants in my yard have been spared!

Just before hitting publish on this current post, I decided to read the article I mentioned above “Earthworms protect against slugs.” It reported about a study that showed that slugs damage 60% less leaves if earthworms are present. I know my yard has more earthworms than ever before so maybe that is the reason I’ve had no problem this year. I don’t know the “why”, but I definitely appreciate the reprieve and hope it continues.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Light Green

Light Green

Flowering Potato Plant

Tonight, I was looking through the many photographs I took this summer. When I came upon these two pictures I remembered how surprised I was to see these flowers as I walked through my garden. I don’t remember the potato plants flowering in the past, although they must have. Perhaps I planted a different variety of potato this year, or maybe I was just more aware of my environment.

End of the Season and More

It is near the end of the season for most of the plants in my garden, but it isn’t over yet!

It was an interesting year for the blueberry bushes. Four years ago, I planted three blueberry bushes, of different varieties. One died the first year and half of another one died last year. Neither had ever produced any blueberries. The third bush had a few blueberries the second two years. This year it there were many more, but they were very tiny. A few weeks ago it started producing fruit again, and they were full size. I wonder what will happen next year? Maybe I will be able to enjoy eating lots of blueberries!

A few days ago, I noticed some flowers coming out of the play chips in my back yard. I had never seen flowers like them before. Do any of you know what they are?

The other day it occurred to me that it is almost the end of the summer and I have never mentioned my worms. Normally, I would have written several posts about them by now.

I have a small worm bin close to my kitchen and a large one in the back yard. These creatures are very special to me. In fact, I consider them to be my pets!

In addition to providing me enjoyment, they also make vermi-compost, a high quality fertilizer, that I use in my garden. This year I had so many worms in my bins, even after I gave a lot of them away, that I had trouble keeping them fed. My problem was solved when I discovered that the nearby grocery store was more than happy to give me lettuce and other produce that they normally discard.

As the garden season ends, another season begins. This coming Sunday, the Seahawks have their first regular season game. After a life-long dislike of football, I became an avid Seahawks fan in the autumn of 2012. Since then Al, Ramana and I have often come together to watch the games and enjoy a meal. Last year, I told my friends if I am not somewhere that they think I should be, they should assume that I’m watching a Seahawks game. Same thing goes for this year!

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Maltby Garden

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Two weeks ago I took photos of a garden in Maltby, a town northeast of Seattle. I had seen the garden soon after it was started in May and the transformation is remarkable. Seeing and walking through it has certainly inspired me.

(Click gallery to enlarge photos)

More From My June Garden

So much is growing, blooming, multiplying and thriving. (After the photos there is a video.)

And very dear to my heart:

The Dahlias are Blooming

Another garden event I eagerly await each year is:

Even the biggest of these flowers is still opening. There will be more photos to come!

Will They Come? – The Answer is “Yes.”

I grew bee balm for the first time two years ago. That year there were almost no bees in my garden and I never saw any in the bee balm. Last year, I accidentally planted something where the bee balm would come up, so it never had a chance to grow. This year I took care to see that the plant had plenty of space.

Before long, there were more blooms than there have ever been. But where were the bees? There were lots of bumblebees in the garden and some honey bees but none of them came near the bee balm.

Then one day, I saw a single honey bee collecting nectar.

That bee stayed there for quite a while. I have never seen another one.

Earlier this week, I saw glimpses of a hummingbird’s wings, on the far side of the bee balm, three different times. Yesterday was the first time this year that I was able to see one of the birds fully.

In the evening, I discovered if I looked out the front window of my living room, I could view the plant from above.

Today, I looked out the window frequently to see if I would spot a hummingbird. And I did! It visited several different times and I was able to take pictures of it. (In the following photos, the hummingbird is near the center of the picture.)

I hope more bees and hummingbirds will visit the bee balm, but even if they don’t, I believe I will continue to feel as happy and satisfied as I do now.

My Dream is Realized- Part 2 (June 2016)

MA Center Chicago is located outside of the city on 145 acres of land. On my second day there I walked to some of the places that had been pointed out on a tour of the property I took the first day. (Click here to read Part 1 of this post.)

I headed first towards a gigantic greenhouse. Between the greenhouse and me was an area that a local farmer uses to grow alfalfa. Part of the alfalfa had already been rolled into cylindrical bales.

(Click on any gallery to see the photos as a slide show.)

As I walked, I spotted a bird’s house and two bee hives.

I finally made it to the big greenhouse. I believe it is a special kind of greenhouse, it may even have a different name. Maybe some of you will recognize what kind of farming this is… and tell me!

When I left that area, I saw all of the big fields. They were filled with so many different plants. I remembered that we had been told that 34 different medicinal herbs were being grown on the property. There were many other types of plants as well.

I was most eager to see the Echinacea field. Previously, I had seen a video of the fields when they were in full bloom last year. At this time of year, I could see Echinacea flowers at all stages of their growth cycle.

Milkweed, nettles and other beneficial plants are allowed to grow throughout the Echinacea field. Br. Shantamrita had told us whenever they see milkweed on the property they mow around it.

Here is the video of the Echinacea field when it was in full bloom last year.

After leaving the Echinacea field, I discovered there were more fields; many more.

I even saw the new orchard

I didn’t visit all of the fields, but I believe I will have more opportunities to do that in the future. As I walked back to the program hall, tired but happy, these were some of the views I saw.

I was so happy to be at MA Center Chicago that numerous people asked if I was planning to move there. While I don’t know what my future holds, I do not expect that I would do that. I can’t imagine living through the Chicago winters and besides, I love the Pacific Northwest. If and when I decide to leave my house, I would be more likely to move to the Amritapuri ashram in India where my adult children live or to the Center we will soon have in the Seattle area.

I know that part of my excitement is because of my interest in nature and in gardening but I believe it is also because I marvel that a community like this one in Chicago exists. I have been a devotee of Amma’s since 1989. I visited her ashram in India soon after she started her first humanitarian project. Since then, the number and scope of her Embracing the World projects has grown at a phenomenal and mind-boggling rate. This center is one small part of that network. I feel very blessed to be a part of Amma’s world.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Opposites

I love the contrasts that are in this photo. The differences between the yellow squash leaf and the dark green zucchini leaf are enhanced by the shadow between them.