[Blowin]

Sue, buy him the Bob Newhart CD containing the skit about Walter Raleigh phoning back to the UK to tell them about his discovery of tobacco. Puts smoking into its proper context. (That's from someone who once earned his living as a sales rep for a tobacco company!).

[Sue Deacon]

We've got that, it's brilliant! Doesn't make any difference, he studied polymer chemistry, he knows better than most of the poisons in cigarettes! Still doesn't stop him.

[Blowin]

From an old book of my Mum's - Metaldehyde. Nowadays (1949) this is considered the ideal slug killer. One ounce of finely crushed M. mixed with 2lb of bran and placed in small heaps near the slugs' haunts will be responsible for the deaths of thousands each day!!! So, I looked up Metaldehyde on the web, expecting it to be an Oh-nasty, but found it labelled as an 'organic compound'. There you go?

[Sue Deacon]

It's still toxic and can cause poisoning of pets and wildlife. Something ELSE I've used in the past, but don't now.

I was reading recently that someone suggested just the bran can be used. They said slugs are attracted to it and stuff themselves. It then expands, bulks out the slug, slowing it down then it is more easily picked off by predators. Well that's the theory. I can see a number of flaws in the plan, but I suppose it's worth a shot?

[Gautama]

[Blowin]

Interesting! By 'leaving cert' you suggest an Irish education and, from the SE of England, I doubt my Mum's book had much to do with this country so I'm wondering if there's a difference between what's taught on our respective sides of the Irish Sea. It would be interesting to know.

[Sue Deacon]

I have a book 'The Fruit Garden Displayed'. My copy is dated 1974 but it was first published in 1951. It has some good old fashioned advice but much of it is mind-boggling out dated. The illustrations are funny enough - man in flat 'at and suit, looking very awkward. The arsenal of chemicals used includes Paraquat and Dichlobenil (which carries a warning not to use too much as it 'can lead to serious damage' (to the plant!) with no mention of rashes and breathing difficulties in humans.

[Good guy]

I've use the slug pellets sold by the Organic Centre and they seem to work quite well but I don't bother, once the plants are growing well. Some of my hostas are getting a bit lacey at this stage, though. I have a very healthy population of frogs and birds - I assume they eat plenty of slugs and I have seen a hedgehog in the garden. I did use Nemaslug at one stage, on a newly cultivated area that was beset by slugs. It worked well, but then the snails took up the available space!

[Sue Deacon]

Same here as far as the slugs are concerned. Two doses of nemaslug put paid to most of them. But the snails .....

[Good guy]

Bring on the blackbirds, thrushes etc! Its so satisfying finding the broken snail shells 👹- makes all
those winter trips to the bird table worth while.

[Sue Deacon]

On a quiet day I often hear our thrush, in the wood, bashing the living daylights out of a snail - does the heart good to hear it!

Can't agree about the bird table though. I feed our birds all Winter (and in the Summer to fatten up the young ones) They get all the peanuts, meal worms, fat balls and 'museli' mix they can stuff in their tiny beaks - and how do they repay me? By scoffing all my raspberries! Ha! Not any more - I have a fruit cage, He, he!

[Good guy]

Ahhhh. Poor dickie birds! Not😁