Slug-O-Rama

         Spring is the time for slugs.  These mollusks are shell-less but, like their snail cousins, they do a lot of damage.  Slugs eat their way around your garden all night long and can destroy plant starts and seedlings overnight. Their telltale damage is marked by slime trails as well as holes in your vegetation.  If you see slug damage, there is more than one way to lessen their numbers and thus the damage to your crops.

1.  Put out some cozy spaces for your slugs, upturned melon rinds, cardboard, plywood boards, any dark and moist places will attract your slugs.  Once you overturn the melon rinds, plywood, and cardboard, you can discreetly or NOT dispose of your slugs.

2.  Beer traps-When the beer is used for trapping and drowning slugs, it is legally a pesticide.  Beer contains yeast and slugs love yeast. They will follow the aroma of beer, drink it, then drown in it.  Refill your beer trap often and make sure to use the type with a top, so the beer does not get diluted when it rains.  The only downfall to beer traps is the slime that may collect in them.  Blech.....

3.  Make a barrier between your plants and your slugs, eggshells, copper barriers, and more. The scratchier the ground, the more likely they will stay away from your succulent starts.

When all else fails...

4.  Use Sluggo, it is also known as iron phosphate.  OMRI certified, it is a pesticide that kills slugs when they eat the bait.  It turns super mushy when it rains and must often be reapplied to keep the slugs at bay.  Another caution, do not apply the product to the leaves of your plants.  Since this is an iron product, it may blacken the leaves of your greens.

Communing with nature at the garden often involves creepy crawlies. We hope these tips help you manage your slug families in the most productive way!

Asparagus, The King of Spring Vegetables

     Asparagus is one of the first vegetables to emerge in spring. At Marymoor, they are ready for harvest anytime from early April onwards. Being one of the first garden crops makes asparagus especially susceptible to slugs and snails that thrive on cool, moist spring weather.  If you want a good harvest, control slugs early on in the season.  Handpick them, put out beer traps or use an organic slug control product. 

     Harvest your spears when they are at least pencil width or wider.  If you have an established bed, harvest only one-half of your spears so the rest can grow up and turn into asparagus ferns. If you harvest too many spears and do not allow the spears to grow into ferns, the plants will lose the opportunity photosynthesize and make food for next years crop.  These perennial plants can and will live in the same bed for many, many years.  Once established, they are very difficult to move because of deep and very widespread roots. They will live happily in our NW soil and climate as long as they are given decent drainage and plenty of food.  Asparagus is a heavy feeder and needs a good application of compost or manure once a year along with some organic fertilizer.   Even with a bit of neglect, these vibrant, colorful and delicious spears will produce for many seasons to come.

Purple and green asparagus

A perfect asparagus spear

Spears that are a bit past their prime, the spears have begun to open and will form ferns if not picked.