Got Snails Chomping on Your Veggies?

It is not too late to do some more veggie planting like lettuces, spinach, Brussels sprouts and artichokes. You can also start to plant snow peas or bush peas, carrots, radishes, beets and onions. You can plant your veggies up until the end of September here on the Coastside but be prepared for snails to start showing up in your garden.

Snails are always on the prowl for your yummy vegetables that you have worked so hard to plant.

There are several organic or non-toxic solutions to control snail populations:

• My favorite control of snails the old “night time with a flashlight and a bucket hand collecting method”. Snails especially like to come out and eat after your have watered the garden.
• Ducks and chickens love to eat snails.
• You can purchase Sluggo, a non-toxic snail control. It’s safe around pets and kids.
• I’ve tried shallow containers of beer set out in the garden but had no takers. The snails are supposed to be attracted to the beer and then fall in and drown.
• Snails like to hide under cool dark surfaces. Placing plastic pots or pieces of wood tucked under larger plants provides good hiding places for snails. Check their hiding places often and collect them and dispose of them or feed them to your chickens or ducks if you have them.

It’s time to loosen the soil around larger more established plants. This will help them breathe a little easier by adding oxygen to the soil. You can add some compost around the base of plants that have been growing for a couple of months to boost their production, too.

Since we are having fairly nice summer weather compared to last year and with these tips on how to control snail populations in your garden, your veggies will grow fast and should still be producing for you until December.

Enjoy the fruits of your harves and happy gardening!   

— Julie Mathiasen

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