Slug slime

Excuse me while I scape off a bit of slug slime from my fingers before I start typing.

What a deluge of slugs.  Time was when I used to chortle about other people and their slug troubles.

It was never a bother here. The biggest menace I had to face in the vegetable garden were deer or hares.

But a very mild winter, and a pretty non stop rainy season means that I am infested.

And because the ground is so saturated, the blighters are seeking higher ground. All over my brassicas.

I started the day digging potatoes.

We have half a row that needs to be dug out of the ground before winter sets in.

But I was so distracted by the sight of so many orange coloured slugs decorating the cabbage leaves just beside the potato row that I didn’t work diligently.

I dug two buckets worth. Lovely. But I had to take serious measures to remove the rivals to my winter greens.

You don’t want to know. But if a gardener carries a sharp pair of scissors in her pocket and has the look of mad intent, then draw your own conclusions.

It made me think about what task I needed to achieve today.  I thought I had better go and check the slug infestation on the lower potager as well.

And boy was it a slime fest.  Not only slugs but snails as well.  They were all keeping their slime trails dry by staying up in the upper leaves.

So I devoted a day to a long overdue weeding, clearing and slug removal.  The weather was just gorgeous; I had to go in for morning tea to remove layers and dust off the sunhat.  And Artur couldn’t believe his luck. Keeping me in sight, he slept on the lounge chair by the pool most of the day.  It was a sun fest for all of us.

He did pop up to the potting shed later in the day. And he demonstrated that even though he looks young and spritely now, the clever positioning of the step ladder means he doesn’t have to exert himself too much when he wants to inspect the plants.

I thought I had put the slug drama behind me when I came indoors. But as we had a fantastic feast of yellow chanterelle mushrooms for dinner tonight, I couldn’t quite eliminate the notion that I wasn’t eating delicately scented fungus, but lightly stewed slugs in garlic.  Ugh.