You can take one or all four. They will be held on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m.

I’ll be covering how to start seeds indoors and out, getting the garden prepared for planting, cool weather crops, composting and much more. My goal is for you to have your best garden ever.

Here’s one way to register if you’re on Facebook.

Here are all the classed with individual free registration links-

Gardening with Kids
Thursday, May 20, 2021
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET
Registration link: https://conta.cc/3euemXc

Succession Planting for a Longer Harvest
Thursday, May 27,2021
4:30 p.m. ET – 5:30 p.m. ET
Registration link: https://conta.cc/3vjubGu

*No fee for registration.
*Online registration required.

We are going to have fun!

The post Thursday’s free virtual organic gardening classes with Doug appeared first on Doug Oster.

My garden is heavily mulched, this keeps the soil evenly moist which is great for the plants, but also the best place for slugs to hide during the day.

It’s easy to recognize their damage: Look for the silvery, slimy trail they leave behind. Slugs feed at night and love hostas, marigolds, tomato fruit and any small transplants. They will eat just about anything.

They are easily controlled with baits, but the chemical version uses metaldehyde, which could be dangerous if something else ate it.

As long as chickens can be kept away from the plants, they will eat the slugs too.

There are organic baits made of iron phosphate which are safe for the environment, but still dispatch the slugs.

Probably the most popular are Sluggo and Escar-Go. The first is available locally at any garden center and the second through Gardens Alive online.

There are other ways to control slugs too without reaching for chemicals.

Diatomaceous earth is a natural powder that’s razor sharp on the microscopic level. When a slug crawls over the DE, it’s cut to shreds and eventually dies. Wear a mask when applying DE, it can cause irritation to airways.

Slugs don’t like to crawl on rough surfaces like eggshells or sand.

They also won’t cross copper. The metal has a naturally occurring electrical charge. Some gardeners will use copper wire as a barrier.

Hostas work as a great trap crop, it’s their favorite food. They would prefer hostas to anything.

How about handpicking? I used crawl down a cement block hole that housed our well to collect slugs for bait. We would fish off the bottom for big carp. Handpicking at night works, just wear gloves. Slugs emit a disgusting slime that’s hard to remove.

A pinch of salt will kill them too.

Slugs love the cool temperatures that my thick layer of straw provides them in the garden. But the benefits of the mulch outweighs the downside of the slug damage.

Slugs will not cross copper, as it emits a natural electric charge. Some copper wire around and in between hostas and other susceptible plants will keep the pests at bay.

Of course, they can be trapped in a container placed a ground level filled with stale beer. It’s disgusting to clean that trap out every other day though.

Slugs will slow down when the temperatures cool off and the soil dries out, but for now any one of the techniques above will help you deal with them.

The pests are favorites of toads and snakes, encourage both to hang around in the garden by giving them a place to hide. An overturned, broken flower pot is a great toad house and leaving part of the garden wild will give the snakes some habitat too.

Enjoy the sound of soft rain and encourage nature to take care of the slugs too.

The post Slugs emerge during wet weather, here are organic controls. appeared first on Doug Oster.

Farm to Table of Western Pennsylvania is sponsoring my latest seven week Summer Organic Gardening Webinar Series.

Here’s the schedule. The classes are free for anyone on Medicare or receiving WIC or SNAP benefits. Use the code COMPGARDEN.

Here’s the schedule and links to register-

• 6/25/2020 Fun Projects For Kids In The Vegetable Garden
• 7/2/2020 Summer Vegetable Garden Maintenance
• 7/9/2020 Bargain Hunting For The Vegetable Garden
• 7/16/2020 Summer Planting Tips To Extend The Harvest
• 7/23/2020 Dealing With Summer Pests And Diseases Organically
• 7/30/2020 The Right Way To Harvest
• 8/6/2020 Saving Seeds For Next Season’s Vegetable Garden

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