Now to enemy No 1: the slugs.
Well there are a number of slugs around and not all are as bad. Here is a short profile of the slug
Slugs can life several years and apparently can eat up to 0.8 kg (13/4 lb) of plants in one season!
Slugs are faster then you think! and Slugs can produce up to 100 eggs per year
In order to catch slugs, you can attract them with beer or dark and moist areas where slugs hide during the day. Empty grapefruit halfs or cabbage leaves seem to be particular attractive which makes it easy to catch slugs.
Slugs dislike anything sharp and dry as it makes it difficult for them to pass. So you can build barriers of crushed egg shells, oyster shells (pet shops) sawdust, coffee grinds or sand paper …. But these need to be replaced after rain or might get washed away when watering.
Traps of beer are best covered , ( keep entrance open) ,use containers sunk in the ground or bought traps) Other barriers include COPPER which gives slugs a shock (tapes, rings, sheets of copper from scrap yard..) and slugs also dislike salt (seaweed )
Another cheap solution is hair, -especially horse hair- placed around the plants , seems to do the trick and keep slugs at bay.
Also spring clean your garden, look for slugs under boards, overhanging branches, bluebell leaves…….
Encourage and invite birds, hedgehogs and frogs into your garden. Also some ducks seem to be popular to reduce the slug population. (make sure you get the right sort of ducks, or they will eat your crop!)
Nematodes (tiny parasites,worms) Buy powder and dissolve in water , works for 6 weeks over and under ground. (organic way)
Go for a torch-lit walk , specially on a rainy night and collect slugs from you favourite plants.
Old clear plastic bottles round the plants can protect them from cold winds and predators when the plants are young. With a sharp zig zag edge they make it very unattractive for the slugs to climb over.
For pot grown plants, use petrolem jelly to make the pots too slippery for the slugs to climb up!
So there are many inexpensive ways to keep slugs away from our food, without harming other animals.
Good luck and please get in touch if you got more ideas!