Gardening attempt #1 - fail.
Oh fuck so tired. No sleep last night, 9 a.m. class and 6 - 9 p.m. class with 20 minute commute, 2 mile run, setting my appointment for orientation to work at the clinic (!!! so excited), fighting the slugs and snails that ultimately destroyed my fledgling vegetable garden, and yet, I'm still awake.
Man, those slugs and snails, though! They're sneaky, hungry little bastards. I checked on my plants before class to hand-pick the snails off of them, but by the time I got home they were demolished. It's not even that they eat all the leaves off of my plants. It's that they freaking chew through the tender young stems so that the leaves fall off, then eat the stems AND the leaves! If it wouldn't potentially hurt the rest of the garden, and if I didn't have this really nagging Buddhist guilt about killing bugs, I'd just dump salt on the fuckers and walk away.
This type of snail isn't even native to California! According to one UC Davis agricultural research website link, which I can't find now because of my drunk-like tired state, what many people know as common garden snails were originally imported from FRANCE to use as food. Now they have taken over. Now, I am a tiny bit of a Francophile, but from an ecological point of view (and self serving POV regarding my garden) this makes me sad. Damn you, invasive non-native species.
Tomorrow's going to be another busy day. Go to the doctor's office, maybe hang out with two of my favorite A-named people, pick H. up from the airport, buy more plants for round 2 gardening. 2009 score: garden pests - 1, me - 0. Hopefully my stats will improve.
[Edit] 12:37 a.m.
Okay, never mind. In the end, the Buddhist guilt could not keep my rage in check, and thus did not stop me me from revenge killing my outdoor nemeses. I just went outside to check on my other vegetable plants only to see more slugs and snails demolishing them. Out of pure spite, I salted the hell out of them. My plants may die anyway because of the salt, but after looking at the damage, they probably wouldn't have made it anyway. grr.
As gross as it sounds (and is), I may try the "beer in a pie tin" trap that people seem to always say works so well.
Man, those slugs and snails, though! They're sneaky, hungry little bastards. I checked on my plants before class to hand-pick the snails off of them, but by the time I got home they were demolished. It's not even that they eat all the leaves off of my plants. It's that they freaking chew through the tender young stems so that the leaves fall off, then eat the stems AND the leaves! If it wouldn't potentially hurt the rest of the garden, and if I didn't have this really nagging Buddhist guilt about killing bugs, I'd just dump salt on the fuckers and walk away.
This type of snail isn't even native to California! According to one UC Davis agricultural research website link, which I can't find now because of my drunk-like tired state, what many people know as common garden snails were originally imported from FRANCE to use as food. Now they have taken over. Now, I am a tiny bit of a Francophile, but from an ecological point of view (and self serving POV regarding my garden) this makes me sad. Damn you, invasive non-native species.
Tomorrow's going to be another busy day. Go to the doctor's office, maybe hang out with two of my favorite A-named people, pick H. up from the airport, buy more plants for round 2 gardening. 2009 score: garden pests - 1, me - 0. Hopefully my stats will improve.
[Edit] 12:37 a.m.
Okay, never mind. In the end, the Buddhist guilt could not keep my rage in check, and thus did not stop me me from revenge killing my outdoor nemeses. I just went outside to check on my other vegetable plants only to see more slugs and snails demolishing them. Out of pure spite, I salted the hell out of them. My plants may die anyway because of the salt, but after looking at the damage, they probably wouldn't have made it anyway. grr.
As gross as it sounds (and is), I may try the "beer in a pie tin" trap that people seem to always say works so well.