Snail hunting after dark

I just finished watching Julie & Julia, a movie about Julia Child and Julie Powell. Julie Powell decides to cook her way through Julia Child's book, 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. It made me want to do the same. I laughed my behind off, screeched with hilarity (worried that my nieghbours might think I was being murdered) and cried my eyes out. It's so beautiful; those two women, devoted to food. Cooking, cooking, cooking...always cooking, always pushing, sticking to a plan they had and not allowing anything to derail them. Inspiring...

Once I had dried my eyes, I thought I had better go slug hunting. Dedicated to the cause, me. I have no idea if there is a better way to do this, but I refuse to use slug pellets. I know there are 'organic' ones, but I haven't gone down that road. Maybe it's stinginess, but my solution to slugs is to go out after dark, preferably after a rainshower. Slugs love damp darkness. They don't love me, with my headtorch on, jar of salty water in one hand.

It truly is disgusting, but I seek them out and grab them between two fingers. They tend to curl up, probably hoping for invisibility. I often have to make several grabs, but eventually they make it into the jar. Sometimes they sort of, hiss...sometimes they die silently. They usually leave a slimy layer on my fingers, which I really hope isn't snail poo, but it does wash off with soap and a nail brush. I know it's cruel, but they've already munched my beautiful red tulip leaves to pieces and I refuse to allow them to do the same to my seedlings.

There are a few other barriers to snails, like copper wire which they struggle to cross. You can wrap it around the top of planters to slow them down. Borage is another good one, they hate furry stems and leaves and borage is wonderfully sticky and hairy. My Dad, the Garden Guru, reckons you need more than one method to really keep them under control. I haven't managed to get my hands on borage yet and the copper wire is waiting on Mountain Man.