Do slugs drink beer?

Remember when we planted no till potatoes and I talked about the inevitability of slugs since we used so much straw? Well, the good news is that those potatoes are starting to poke through the straw (!!), but the bad news is that there are many slugs just waiting to munch on those unsuspecting tubers.

 This is a picture of a very happy slug...taken by a very unhappy gardener. 

I have already found slug damage on the swiss chard, which made me think it was time for a beer. Not for me...for the slugs. Placing wide mouth, shallow bowls with beer around the garden can keep slugs away. They are attracted by the beer and slime their way into the bowl, where they drown. I will check first thing in the morning to see how many slugs were trapped over night. I will have to keep the beer fresh, at least while the plants are small and susceptible. Check back for updates on the slug eradication efforts!

**Disclaimer: No craft micro-brew was injured on this mission.

Carrots love Tomatoes

Especially "Angela's 'Nelson' Carrots".

(Photo courtesy of Johnny's Select Seeds)

I am planting 4 varieties of carrots this year: Mokum and Nelson are classic orange carrots. And, Purple Haze and Deep Purple are dark purple carrots. I am especially excited for the purple carrots, although I love talking about "My Nelson Carrots". I have already sown 2 succession plantings and am not happy with the spotty germination. I even had row cover over them to aid in germination and lightly watered on most days. Someday I will try the burlap method of germinating carrots. Right after seeding, you lay burlap over the bed. The burlap allows light and water through, at the same time as keeping soil moist and soft for those tiny seeds. Once the carrots germinate, pull back the burlap, taking larger weeds with it, leaving behind beautiful rows of carrots. This cuts down on the weeding too!
I decided, today, to plant more carrots in the tomato beds. I sowed 2 rows on either side of the tomatoes. This may result in way more carrots than I can harvest, wash, sell or eat.

Red Skies at Night, Sailors Delight; Red Skies at Morning, Sailors Take Warning

Or so goes the way I learned it.

The last two mornings I woke up at dawn to see a very pretty pink sky and I knew we were in for some crazy Central NY weather. I was not disappointed. Yesterday winds and a hard, quick rain. Today hail. I am not complaining about this weather, as I love when I don't have to water thirsty seeds. Yesterday, I was able to get radish, beet, turnip, carrot, greens, and sunflower seeds into the ground before being caught in the rain. Already wet, I decided to throw down some clover seed into some beds that I won't plant for a while. Not a typical cover crop, at least alone, but I plan to use it as a "living mulch" under late planted brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, etc) and late planted tomatoes. The clover quickly shades out other weeds and grows low to the ground providing moisture retention. It may need mowing before I transplant the brassicas, but it recovers quickly and clover has been shown to reduce populations of the cabbage looper, aphids, and flea beetle. One drawback is the increase in slugs. But I have some old beer for them (more on that another time).

Things are moving quickly now and we are about 1 month away from the first market!