How to keep slugs and snails out of your veggie garden
After we settled in our new home in Germany we had the idea to grow our own veggies. Not to many though, just a few to eat during summer.
We already had lots of fruit trees and currant bushes on our property but in 2017 we added a small raised bed for carrots, shallots and radishes and another bed for tomatoes and cucumbers.
Well, you know how it is….once you started, you like the idea to add more.
In 2018 we planted a few berry bushes and built a roof on the tomato bed (they like their feet wet but their head dry as my dad says).
Still not enough, this year we started creating a little farmers garden. It was such joy and excitement to plan everything.
In spring my husband prepared the area where the veggie garden would go. We included a very old currant bush which still gives us tons of currants.
We built wooden frames for the beds, dug them half in the ground and placed an arch as the entrance.
We figured which plant grow best together and eventually started sowing.
It is an awesome feeling when everything flourishes and prospers and you walk through your garden and gather your homegrown treasures to cook a healthy meal. Of course there comes work with a garden. You have to water the plants and clean the beds from weeds. Also you have to check for plant pests and remove them.
In this gardening season we have learned so much, but still there is so much more we don’t know yet. But we know one thing:
A garden can create peace of mind and contentment!
In 2017 we had the rainiest summer I have ever seen. It just wouldn’t stop raining. There was mud everywhere and the rubber boots were our best friends.
And with the rain these guys came:
SLUGS AND SNAILS
Something had to be done… and we tried an easy solution which would not injure or kill just repel them.
We used simple copper wire!
We got ours from old electrical cable (thanks dad) but you can also buy it at a hardware store. We stapled the copper wire around the two beds we had back then and when we built the new beds this year we did the same to those.
Not one snail or slug was seen again in our garden beds, it really works!
We are looking forward to harvest and enjoy more delicious fruits and veggies and maybe even preserve some if we have enough.
Cheers!
Update on snails and slugs (2021)
This gardening season we noticed watering our plants in the morning would also keep slugs and snails away.
They prefer to come out during evening and night time, when there is dew or rain to search for food and they need the moisture to move on their slime trail, which protects them from injuries and from drying out. If we water in the evening, we will give them the environment they need to feed on our plants.
We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.
Jenny Uglow
LuckyLoreley 
One thought on “How to keep slugs and snails out of your veggie garden”