What small DFW things will you do this week? w/c 13/03

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  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    OK, am back on the trail of slugs now....(see what I did there?)
    I would personally not spend any money on things to tackle slugs. I've tried various things in the past & nothing, but NOTHING works as well as vigilance. Barriers work to a small extent....they don't much like coffee grounds, but it goes mouldy & biodegrades quite quickly, so isn't brilliant. Crushed eggshells are good, as pricklier, but you need a lot.....I had some success putting a ring of this round each of my runner bean plants one year, but still lost some, as the b*ggers were scaling the hedge, getting onto the canes & abseiling down to the nearest plants. I have had quite a lot of success with beer traps but you need a lolly stick or coffee stirrer popped in those so that ground beetles (who are your friends cos they eat small slugs) can get out if they fall in. I just used margarine/spread tubs filled with beer, & it was noticeable how much better I did with good beer than some cheapo canned lager I once had left over from a party! You need to empty them regularly because otherwise the smell & sight of them when they are full of drowned molluscs is horrid. If it rains, the beer will be diluted & they won't get sufficiently drunk to fall in & drown. The best method of all is going out at dusk with a torch and the Bucket of Doom (as it's called in our house) & collecting them up.
    I never use slug pellets because we have too much wildlife, including thrushes & hedgehogs, both of which are declining species, so we don't use poisons. Attracting lots of wildlife to your garden is good for slug patrol because lots of things eat them.......beetles, frogs & toads, hedgehogs, thrushes, blackbirds & other birds, etc, so I think we would have a much bigger problem here if we didn't attract other wildlife into the garden.
    Cut down plastic bottles made into bottle cloches can also be helpful for protecting newly planted out stuf from molluscs. I make tons of them, but even with those, you can get a clever snail who works out that he can get in the top if he breathes in!
    They are a total pain, but I think we have to think of them as part of the wider eco-system.
    Talking about creatures, can hear cat yowling his head off....better go & investigate!
    F x
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • foxgloves wrote: »
    You need to empty them regularly because otherwise the smell & sight of them when they are full of drowned molluscs is horrid.

    Horror story:

    I had a whole beer can buried up to the brim for this exact slug-murdering purpose. And there it stayed... fast forward to spring and clf gets out her trowel and starts chuffing weeds out of the soil.

    BANG!!

    Trowel goes straight into beer can full of decomposed slugs and beer

    It BURSTS... nay EXPLODES all over me from head to foot.

    The stench was unholy. I will never feel clean again.
    LBM 11/06/2010: DFD 30/04/2013
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  • allydowd
    allydowd Posts: 4,911
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    foxgloves wrote: »
    OK, am back on the trail of slugs now....(see what I did there?)

    Sounds like you've tried everything except electrocution! :rotfl:
    Debt-free day: 8th May 2015 The Joy Account: £10 "Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck," Dalai Llama
  • Bobarella
    Bobarella Posts: 10,824
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    Horror story:

    I had a whole beer can buried up to the brim for this exact slug-murdering purpose. And there it stayed... fast forward to spring and clf gets out her trowel and starts chuffing weeds out of the soil.

    BANG!!

    Trowel goes straight into beer can full of decomposed slugs and beer

    It BURSTS... nay EXPLODES all over me from head to foot.

    The stench was unholy. I will never feel clean again.

    That made me laugh a lot::rotfl::rotfl::T sorry (not sorry)
    " Your vibe attracts your tribe":D

    Debt neutral :) 27/03/17 from £40k:eek: in the hole 2012.
    Roadkill 17 £56.58 2016-£62.28 2015- £84.20)
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  • Horror story:

    I had a whole beer can buried up to the brim for this exact slug-murdering purpose. And there it stayed... fast forward to spring and clf gets out her trowel and starts chuffing weeds out of the soil.

    BANG!!

    Trowel goes straight into beer can full of decomposed slugs and beer

    It BURSTS... nay EXPLODES all over me from head to foot.

    The stench was unholy. I will never feel clean again.

    paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :rotfl:
    DF as at 30/12/16
    Womblng 2020:
    NSD Jan 2/18 YTD: 2
  • I've emailed my neighbouring plot holder and asked if I can take a couple of cuttings of their redcurrant bushes. fingers crossed!
    DF as at 30/12/16
    Womblng 2020:
    NSD Jan 2/18 YTD: 2
  • angelpye
    angelpye Posts: 995
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    Carrie I think I would be sick! I definitely will be giving the beer a miss! I can't deal with icky stuff, just too weak in the stomach. I think I will try the strultch and ask W@itrose for their coffee grounds. Copper tape on the fence. The bushes are apparently prickly so if they get through all of that I think they deserve a good meal! :D
    Happiness is wanting what you have...
    Debt Jan 2017: £2589.22 DFD: [STRIKE]Sept 2022[/STRIKE] April 2022 but this Marching Minimalist can beat that!
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  • La_escocesa
    La_escocesa Posts: 3,096
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    Tis a fine goal to be sure ;)

    Yay, urge resisted! :D

    I spent my lunch break giving blood rather than shopping so I felt even more smug than a normal NSD :D

    I wish I could add to the slug chat but gosh I am so far behind gardening-wise! :o Even the bit that looked nice last year is so neglected and c rap looking again... :(

    Ewwwww, CLF :rotfl:

    Going to take it easy this eve (on the orders of blood guy :cool:) but I will batch cook a chilli bulked out with grated carrots and mushrooms.

    Also going to watch that 3 parter on tv @ 9pm.

    Night all!
  • PurpleFairy26
    PurpleFairy26 Posts: 3,903
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    Not a bad day. Work was testing but I survived. Didn't get to go out wth DH as worked straight through until 6 :( did manage to rustle up a chorizo and baked eggs dish from stores for tea :D

    Used two of my 'not normal' tea bags. DH has committed to drinking the lemon ones. DH and I both did some surveys, just over £3 away on 1poll. Got £3.65 fracked cashback with a work train purchase.

    £3 p1necone to cash out and move to savings.

    Defrosted beetroot but didn't get chance to blitz it before DH went to bed and dint what to wake him up. Will do first thing. Dried two loads of washing on the line and put another in for overnight tonight. :T
  • Happy_Kitties
    Happy_Kitties Posts: 1,613
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    It's been an interesting day-the shower drama rumbles on, big boss, builders and OT all out for a big meeting in the morning as builders blaming me for messing up the shower, OT has argued my corner as it is mission impossible.
    Had a message and waiting for a letter from three-my details were part of the upgrade security hack in November-first time i've been made aware of it. But.....
    -was chuffed, did a shop this morning, stuck to my list(must be a first), tracked my spending as I was going around and had a coupon for £3 off. Cats all stocked up, and we're well stocked with staples.
    -banking all checked and balanced
    -rang round to book appointments, I still seem to be in that bitty part of the year where everything needs sorting-used mobile free minutes to do this.
    DD has had a cold and seems to have passed it on to me, now completely bunged up so CLF when i read ur post it didn't half put a smile on my face!!
    Decluttering challenge 2023🏅⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
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