The important parts of this article can also apply to "DEAR DEER". We have the largest population of deer in the state of Wisconsin I think! Everybody (like gardeners) who is not in the "know and of course the hunters think that they are adorable when young and beautiful and majastic when grown". And that is why I have ugly deer fencing and posts around all of my gardens...I got up one morning prior to the fencing and found that those 4 legged monsters had destroyed at least a dozen of my hostas. Neighbors do think that I am crazy for gardening in the woods and country...but I will prevail!! Vicki

I asked this threads owner for permission and got it, to post a sub-thread on this subject. I, actually, have another attempt at scientific slug killing tests, but for now, here's a recent, VERY UN-scientific run at the mollusks. I was resting on the front porch steps when a slug crawled up one of the runners and onto a step. I just so happened to have a jug of Ortho Bug-Geta Plus within reach, so I got out a pellet and placed it in the path of the nasty. It right away started munching on it. I could actually see it gnawing. It never made it off that porch step. And NO, I did NOT step on it! So why do we still have some slugs? Because the lil' buggars get eggs laid before we get them all gone. The saga WILL continue, but Metaldahyde is allowing a lot of control, and we still have our cats (vole patrol), worms, frogs, tree frogs, and so forth. Using this method has costs. When the first nubbins first start showing in spring, apply. First week of July, apply (adjust for your zone and this years climate). First of September, apply. We have visited several gardens in about a 90 mile radius from us this time of year, and, no bragging, just appreciation of Metaldahyde, ours is obviously still in much better 'touring' condition. An aside, we go for the Bug-Geta PLUS because the PLUS ingredient gits cutworms, thrips, and a few other baddies. From my point of view, the very well buried, information wise, information is that the ingredient that does the cut worms et. al. is also reputed deadly to honeybees. YOUCH! Soooooo, the solution to that is to wait until 'O-Dark Thirty', when the bees are back home asleep, to apply this product. The nasty bee harmful ingredient is only viable for about 8 hours, so if you apply at dusk-thirty, by the time the bees are back at work it's harmless. I know this policy is working because after several years of using this product as described, we still have a plethora of, and many different species, of bees. Now if only I could figure out how to selectively make the sweat bees go 'somewhere else'. Modern living through careful chemistry, fwiw, hh

No pics yet because nothing's been able to be "redone". Still plywood subfloors, no appliances, and a ripped out bathroom. I realized yesterday that the refinished floor has areas that are duller than others, so now I need to get the guy back to recoat. It didn't show up until the floor was fully dry and starting to "cure" but it's very noticeable. :-( The entire finished basement has to be ripped out (walls, ceiling and all insulation) and the floor and all the framing disinfected. Environmental companies don't do this and not many pest control ones do either. I've gotten estimates ranging from $4400 to $9600 for the same job. It involves guys wearing chemical suits, respirators, extractor fans, disinfectant spray, the whole 9 yards. The neighbors will no doubt be appalled at the goings on. Then I have to get an electrician in to examine the visible wiring for damage. I'm sure there will be some. Haven't been able to address the garage floor issue because the old refrigerator is sitting there waiting for my son to arrange to remove it, which apparantly is a more complicated scenario than hosting the Olympic Games. Nobody rents a truck with a power liftgate, nobody we know has a trailer hitch for one of those tow-behind things, and none of his friends have time to assist. When the rest of the house gets painted, the walls will be sealed with BIN first. I realized that the garage floor is actuallly painted (the grey stuff) so I may be lucky and perhaps a good scrubbing with Mex will help. (TSP isn't allowed to be sold in our state) I have to say, the rodent stink is just as bad as the dog smell. Different but equally disgusting. This has been a huge financial sinkhole. What should have been no more than $35K in renovations has already surpassed $65K that in outlay to date, and there is still another $40K committed to (and necessary) but not yet done and paid for. In the end this house will have cost me $100K more than its selling price and neither the house itself nor the area justifies that number. I could have bought any of a number of houses listed at that level over the past 3 years which would have gotten me more square footage as well. And fewer problems!

* Posted by coconut-nj (My Page) on Sat, May 30, 09 at 11:27 Sally, anywhere that has alot of British imports would probably have it. I was checking out who had it online the other day and while you might not want 6 bottles of it.. smiles... Amazon has 6 bottles for $27.05. It's free shipping too. Most places sell it for between five and six or up to eight dollars, so that's a great price. They say they're 15 oz bottles. Maybe somebody else would want to go in on it with you?? I've always heard of it described as a mayo with more vinegar and also with a mustard taste. Sounds good. Smiles. My DW used it when she used to travel to the UK all the time for buisness. Surprised she didn't bring any back. I have a head of savoy cabbage so I'm going to make my easy 'stuffed' cabbage casserole that I described above. It makes it so easy and quick which is just what we want on a Saturday night. Steam the cabbage briefly, layer it with dirty rice, pour some tomato juice mixed with onion and garlic powder between layers and on top and bake for about 40 minutes. I'll see if I can manage to take a picture. I seem to be terrible at that. The camera is always in the other room and it's a kind of big house and by the time I'm done cooking I'm not walking very well. LOL.. We will see. Oh btw, I always make two dishes of this because Christy gets burnt out on "red" since I always have something made with red sauce around I make her a version with just some broth on it. I do stuffed peppers for her the same way. No red. I do love the red on it but prefer tomato juice since it's nice and light although I'll just water down tomato sauce or puree with chicken stock/broth, if I don't have any handy.