I got a great question from a reader:

"Slugs are becoming quite a problem in my vegetable garden. How can I get rid of these pests? Are there any predators that can help with my slug problem?"

Have you tried setting beer traps for the slugs? This simply involves putting a saucer of beer on the ground. The slugs are attracted to the odor of the beer, crawl in for a drink, and drown. You'll probably have to do this several times, but it does work...sometimes. Another idea for "trapping" the slugs is to set half of an orange or grapefruit rind, round side up, in your garden and leave it overnight. The slugs will gather under the rind, and you can simply pick the whole thing up to dispose of several slugs at once. This can be a hit-or-miss method, but it may be worth a try.

Another method that works well is to lay a board in the garden bed where slugs have been a problem. Check under it regularly to see if any of the slugs have taken shelter there, then just squish them.

You can also try crushing up some eggshells and sprinkling them around any plants they are eating. The sharp edges bother their slimy undersides, and they will avoid that area.

Slug predators include birds and toads. I haven't been lucky enough to have any toads in my garden yet, but American robins are wonderful for taking smallish slugs out of my garden. I have a male robin who never fails to show up when I'm digging or weeding in my garden. I toss slugs and grubs his way when I come across them, and he gobbles them right up. I think we make a pretty good team!

Do you have any tips for dealing with slugs in your garden? Please share them with us in the comments!

_{Photo by Colleen Vanderlinden}

Following up on my recent post about the joys of direct-sowing garden seeds, I thought I'd offer a few suggestions today for easy veggies to direct-sow. Here are my top ten favorite easy veggies:

1. Leaf Lettuce. Simply scatter the seed, cover with fine layer of soil or compost, and keep moist. You'll be harvesting dainty, flavorful leaves in about three weeks. It's a good idea to sow a fresh crop every couple of weeks to ensure that you have a constant supply.




2. Spinach. It is best to harvest spinach young, when the leaves are about two to three inches long. To keep it from bolting in summer heat, try planting a heat-tolerant variety like 'Bloomsdale Long Standing.' As with lettuce, sow a fresh crop every few weeks.




3. Zucchini/Summer Squash. You could start these indoors, but why? These prolific plants germinate very well once the soil has warmed a bit. Direct sow them after your last frost date.




4. Radishes. Sow these anytime to enjoy in salads and on crudite platters. Be sure to give them even moisture. The greens are alos edible, and, if harvested when they are about two inches long, provide a slightly pepper zing to salads and sandwiches.




5. Kale. My favorite kale is 'Lacinato' also known as "dinosaur kale." While kale is usually considered to be a cold season crop, I grow it successfully throughout the summer, harvesting the largest leaves fairly regularly. Young leaves are delicious raw in salads, and mature leaves can be cooked like spinach or added to soups.




6. Beets. I've mentioned before that I don't really like beet roots, but I love the greens. They're very pretty in salads, and provide a bit of sweetness when mixed with other baby greens. Grow beets in loose soil, and keep them evenly moist; beets that are allowed to dry out often develop woody roots. Which is important if you actually plan to eat your beet roots...Please note that each beet seed is actually a cluster of seeds, so you'll have to do some thinning when the greens are a couple inches long. Thin to approximately two inches apart.




7. Swiss chard. This is another green that grows well all summer in my zone 6 garden. Varieties such as 'Bright Lights' are just as beautiful as they are tasty. Chard does very well in containers as well as in traditional garden beds. It can be eaten sauteed like spinach, and the stalks can be eaten raw like celery (but it's tastier than celery as far as I'm concerned!) Give chard even moisture and harvest the outer stalks regularly to keep your plant producing all summer long.




8. Beans. Whether you choose pole beans or bush beans, they are super-simple to grow. You often see recommendations to treat the seed with a bit of legume innoculant to increase yields, but in all honesty I seem to end up with too many beans even when I don't add the innoculant. Plant them after soil has warmed. Pole beans should be planted about six inches apart; bush beans can be planted three to four inches apart. You will need to provide a trellis if you plan to grow pole beans, which will reach six feet tall or more. Keep them evenly moist, and harvest the beans when they are thin and tender. If you leave them too long, they will get stringy and tough. Be sure to harvest regularly. Both bush and pole beans are prolific, and you may well end up with more than you can use. Luckily, beans freeze well, and you'll be happy to enjoy their fresh taste in soups and stews when winter arrives.




9. Peas. Peas need cool weather to grow well, so they're an ideal spring or fall crop. You can select snow peas, snap peas, or shell peas, but they all have the same basic requirements: cool weather, full sun, trellis or other support to climb on, and even moisture.




10. Cucumbers. Plant cucumbers once your soil has warmed in the spring. You can choose bush or vining types, slicers or pickling cucumbers. You'll need to provide a trellis for vining types, and be sure to give your cucumbers plenty of moisture, because cukes that are allowed to dry out often develop bitter fruits. Certain varieties, such as 'Bushmaster' even grow well in containers. For a different change of pace, try growing heirloom 'Lemon' cucumbers, which grow to lemon-sized yellow-striped fruits. They're delicious, and look great in a salad.

    So, there you have it: ten veggies to direct-sow in your garden. In my next post, I'll have a list of annual flowers to direct sow in your garden.

As much as I love playing with all of my gardening gadgets, such as soil block makers, seedling heat mats, and grow lights, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from direct sowing seeds in my garden. I love planting pumpkin seeds with my children, and seeing those fat cotyledons seem to magically appear days later, then flourish into wild, rambling vines. And when planting corn, a good rule of thumb is to plant two for the crows, and one for the gardener. We also direct-sow many annuals, including zinnias, marigolds, calendulas, and sunflowers, every year.

But it's not a guarantee. If we direct sow too soon, we may experience the joy of germination only to be hit with the disappointment a late frost brings. Cutworms are evil incarnate. And slugs....well. Don't get me started on slugs.

There will always be weather and insect life to contend with; that is part of gardening. But we also make things difficult for ourselves at times. We don't mark where we plant, and end up pulling seedlings along with the weeds. We forget to water, and teeny tiny seedlings shrivel to nothingness. We neglect to properly prep the soil, and our seedlings don't grow as well as they should.

Sowing seeds isn't rocket science. Seeds germinate. That's what they do. But we can do our part to make their jobs a bit easier.

Do you have any questions about direct-sowing? Feel free to ask them in the comments, or visit our forum!

I snapped a quick photo of what I thought was a bee on my 'Cranberry' viburnum the other day. When I looked more closely at the photo later, I said to myself, "that's not a bee!"

After some checking around and posting the photo on my Facebook page, I learned that this creature is actually a bee mimic, an insect that uses Batesian Mimicry (read more about it at Deb Hadley's About.com Insects site -- really interesting!). It's not a bee at all, but a type of fly known as a syrphid fly, or, more commonly, as a hoverfly.

So, are they friends or foes?

You want these guys around, even if they aren't bees! Syrphid flies are quite effective pollinators. And their maggots are useful in the garden as well, devouring aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking pests.

Thanks to Jeanie Davis, who identified the hoverfly for me on my Facebook page, and to About.com Insects Guide Debbie Hadley for having a site full of helpful information!