For those of you living in a wet moderate climate, this post is for you. Back in late 2017 to early 2018 I was struggling and fighting to try to grow vegetables in my garden. I had to constantly fight slugs and snails. Because tender winter vegetables are easily prey for slimy creatures, I decided to just grow a hardy cover crop during over the winter.
This has proved to be a very good policy. I would highly recommend tall growing vegetables for anyone wanting to fight slug/snail attacks who lives in wet moderate climates. As slugs and snails are practically unavoidable at ground level, it is best to just grow things that they prefer not to consume. By doing this, in addition to caring for the local ground beetles (which prey on slugs) I have drastically decreased the slug pressure in my garden in the summer months.
Favas have also done wonders for my soil. The nitrogen they provide really feeds my vegetable beds. In the spring, I cut all the fava bean plants to the ground, but do not pull up the roots. Though it takes a little more planning to transplant my spring vegetables around the fava stump, the results are well worth it.
With all this being said, I couldn't help but purchase a 6 pack of lettuce starts at the local big box store. Though this lettuce looked delcious, it tasted worse and turned bitter much faster than the lettuce I grew by seed. In addition, I had to keep up with removing slugs and cabbage loopers in order to ensure I recieved my fair share of the garden's bounty.
This has proved to be a very good policy. I would highly recommend tall growing vegetables for anyone wanting to fight slug/snail attacks who lives in wet moderate climates. As slugs and snails are practically unavoidable at ground level, it is best to just grow things that they prefer not to consume. By doing this, in addition to caring for the local ground beetles (which prey on slugs) I have drastically decreased the slug pressure in my garden in the summer months.
Favas have also done wonders for my soil. The nitrogen they provide really feeds my vegetable beds. In the spring, I cut all the fava bean plants to the ground, but do not pull up the roots. Though it takes a little more planning to transplant my spring vegetables around the fava stump, the results are well worth it.
With all this being said, I couldn't help but purchase a 6 pack of lettuce starts at the local big box store. Though this lettuce looked delcious, it tasted worse and turned bitter much faster than the lettuce I grew by seed. In addition, I had to keep up with removing slugs and cabbage loopers in order to ensure I recieved my fair share of the garden's bounty.
