I saved this old thread from when I first started visiting Garden Web - I don't remember what forum it was on. After my post, Spike (the venerable ur-webmaster) pulled the thread. I never knew if it was my fault, the last straw. That also happened to me on another thread. I felt like the little kid who hammered a nail into a telephone pole just as a huge blackout occurred, and thought he caused it. Claire (Note the date of the first post.) ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by Ted - Maine - 4b on Sat, Apr 1, 00 at 18:59 I woke up this morning and went out to check on my primroses. To my horror, they were nearly all gone! After checking around the bed for a while, I discovered two *enormous* yellow slugs slinking away. At six inches long, they're about twice the size of any slug I've seen before! Could these be banana slugs? I've heard horror stories about the way they gobble up perennials. I thought they only bothered gardeners in the Pacific NW, but with global warming, we've been having some unusually mild winters lately in the Northeast. Maybe we're due for an invasion of banana slugs? ----------------- Follow-Up Postings: RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Kerry on Sat, Apr 1, 00 at 21:03 OH dear, they are spreading, these slugs are usually huge and are a puke green to very dirty yellow looking and have dark green to brown spots on them. There are many ways to get rid of them, on it to take you salt shaker out with you to the garden and sprinkle them liberally, when i say liberally i mean it! They have a tendancy to slough off a layer of slime that has been salted and get away, those little buggers, another way, a little more wierd is to put cheap beer in a wider saucer, they LOVE beer and will go into the saucer and drown, and the beer kills them anyway if the drowning doesn't. So keep up the fight, and I hope you win, by the way i heard sprinkling salt around the area keeps them annoyed also. good luck, Kerry ------------------- RE: Delicious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Karen in Toronto - 6a on Mon, Apr 3, 00 at 12:07 Ted and Kerry, since you know that beer attracts slugs, you might be interested in learning that salt, while killing the banana slugs, also makes a very good seasoning for them. While visiting a friend down south(Leamington, Ontario), we had a very tasty meal of banana slugs, dredged in coarse sea salt, dipped in beer batter, and deep-fried. They taste kinda like zucchini. PS - the above story is not true. I don't eat deep-fried food. PPS - Good one, Ted!! --------------- RE: Delicious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Ted - Maine - 4b on Mon, Apr 3, 00 at 16:36 I like the "coarse sea salt" touch. Also, it stands to reason they *would* taste like zucchini . . . ----------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: chris on Tue, Apr 4, 00 at 18:52 Hi, just a brief note, don't go haywire with that salt! I did last year. It killed the slugs. it also killed my lettuce, all of it. I have heard vinegar is another way to get rid of them, however don't know the results on lettuce! ick. Slugs are my most favorite enemy now. Who'd ever think I'd hate a bug? mollusk, whatever, that much! ------------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Nancy - PNW on Wed, Apr 5, 00 at 0:24 If you have kids they can be a great help in slug correction. I invented the "Slug-a-pult" for their removal. It consists of a slender bamboo rod, as long as the person is tall. Secure the slug onto the pointed end, then carefully lift it up and back, so that by whipping the bamboo forward, the slug is flung 100 yards or so. Kids enjoy the competition of seeing who can fling their slug the farthest. There may be a problem if you have neighbors. ----------------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Nadine NY5 on Wed, Apr 5, 00 at 7:42 Vinegar with lettuce sounds like instant salad. Add some olive oil, and you're all set! ---------------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Jan - 7 on Wed, Apr 5, 00 at 21:14 LOL!!!! But seriously, there's a product called Snarol, a powder, I used it last year on the strawberries because the slugs were eating them.. It had to be re-applied after rain. Also, I was told (but never tried) that slugs hate pain, and you can create a "barrier" by spreading that gravel sold for fish-tanks around your plants. ------------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: The Slug - 6a on Thu, Apr 6, 00 at 12:09 You people kill me. Signed, The Slug ----------------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Beverly VA N 5a6b - Shenandoah Valley on Fri, Apr 7, 00 at 0:32 Just stumbled on this web page that you all may find interesting. It recommends killing slugs with vinegar. Here is a link that might be useful: Slugs and Vinegar ------------------------ RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Rhonda - 7 on Fri, Apr 7, 00 at 22:04 I had to smile when I read this, the only memory I have of San Francisco I have is one of the huge banana slugs in a Japanese botanical gardens there. Luckally we didn't have them in Atascadero, where I grew up. Thanks for the memory. Rhonda -------------------- RE: Voracious banana slugs in the northeast! Posted by: Claire - MA 6b on Fri, Apr 7, 00 at 22:13 Banana slugs can also be dried for future culinary use. I find the easiest way to dry them is to hang them from the branches of any smallish tree. If you choose the brightest yellow slugs, you get a good facsimile of a golden chain tree with the slugs dangling down. When they're fully dried, you can harvest them whenever you need a quick, nutritious meal. Claire

Hi everyone hope you had a Happy Easter! I have received one block from Linda. I have not received blocks from Christy and Cindy yet. I got to go view a large display of handmade quilts near Forest Hill, Louisiana, I think it might have been called Longleaf, Louisiana? yesterday - any way they had a beautiful display of quilts in preparation for the Heritage Festival this coming Saturday. So wish I had not forgotten my camera. Gave me lots of great ideas for future quilts. They had a beautiful pink and creme/white log cabin quilt - these were all large quilts, they had one with lighthouse blocks like 2ft x 3 ft blocks, and my favorite was one with flower baskets made of triangles and with flowers appliques coming out of the baskets - one even had a blue shrimp plant in bloom - was just too cool! And they were all local quilts. Is nice to know there are other quilters in central Louisiana. I have not met anyone in my small community who quilts. They have a quilting guild several towns away, but have not had time to go, maybe one of these days. Are any of you in quilting guilds? Best to you, Sandra

Goodevening All, Just brought myself up to date on the postings. Dan, have you had a hard or is your sugar acting up again? I have also recieved all my FG's. It's been a great trade. Faye, I recieved my FG's today. Thank You so much. They are already in my room and put into the box for the next project. So...I can't discribe what they look like, but they are cool. THANKS again. Bev, Have you decided on the water bottle tote? The machine that cuts Applique pieces is called AccuQuilt Fabric-Cutting Machine. When I was a Libraian we had a like machine for cutting paper For projects. I have never used one for material. Thanks to all for making this a great trading stop. It's the only one that I do other than seeds in the fall. Nite All! gmom

Weekend for the grand-kids, so sewing is out. This is the last day for the County Fair so we will take them this afternoon. Tomorrow they might try the pool for the first time this year, I can hear the shrieking already (It's Freeeeezzzzing!) Not for me. I do have a quilt project going, kind of one of those evolving deals with no real pattern. Sometimes these things work and sometimes they don't. It's slow going though, it's been great weather here in Central Florida and it won't last long. In another month it will be too hot for me to do a lot outside and I still have a lot of work to do out there. I suffer chronic lower back pain and this is the first year in probably 3 that I have managed to completely weed and mulch the beds all around the house and also cleaned out the herb garden (or should I say weed garden?) Also the vegetable garden has needed all the preparation for changing out the winter crops to the summer ones. I'm not complaining, we moved on this 5 acre place to do all this stuff but I didn't stop and think about getting older every year. LOL!