Withstanding the Pest of Slime
(Via washingtonpost.com - A Cook's Garden by Barbara Damrosch)
The slug, in theory, is a friend. It belongs to a class of animals, called detritovores, that feed on the detritus of the living world so that it does not pile up endlessly around us. Vegetation that is decaying, or has at least begun its downward descent from the prime of life, is a slug's food of choice. If only fresh, robust plants abound, it will make do. But as an alert gardener will note after thinning a row of seedlings, the plucked ones left to wilt on the ground attract slugs first, not those left standing.
The slug, in theory, is a friend. It belongs to a class of animals, called detritovores, that feed on the detritus of the living world so that it does not pile up endlessly around us. Vegetation that is decaying, or has at least begun its downward descent from the prime of life, is a slug's food of choice. If only fresh, robust plants abound, it will make do. But as an alert gardener will note after thinning a row of seedlings, the plucked ones left to wilt on the ground attract slugs first, not those left standing.
