what are you doing to protect your garden?

The cauliflower and broccoli had dome type things over top of them. They would only partially protect them from birds. The domes were built out of a wire type mesh... similar to chicken wire. I also used slug and snail bait around the perimeter of the area. I don't have money to go crazy and protect seedlings.

I'm trying to find ways to get some high tunnels or something. Maybe build one with PVC pipes and greenhouse film.

Isn't it awfully late in your zone to be planting those cool weather crops? Are you sure they are getting eaten and aren't burning up?

Yes, I'm sure. I'm on the West coast of BC and our spring has been very cool.

It's only been constantly getting up to around 14-17 C as of late, and that's below normal for this time of year.

It doesn't usually get to the upper 20's or 30's C until the first week of July.

Do you have any idea what's eating them?

No clue, only that I've had Mallard ducks coming to my yard around where the vegetables and I see slugs around the area.

So if you have no clue, how do you know container gardening will solve the problem?

Dan

Because I would keep them on my deck where there are no bugs like slugs, etc.

I know the Mallards and slugs were eating them, but I don't know if those are the same culprits except I know slugs are still eating them even though I have slug bait.

You can lay boards down between the rows, slugs will collect underneath, flip the boards and pick them off next day, put into a jar of salty water or kerosene and kill them off. Or if they are banana slugs you could feed them on cornmeal and steam and eat them.

To keep off Mallards you could get a small dog, large cat, or make a better fence that they can't flatten, fly over or get their bills through. Or get a hunting license and shoot them.

The mallards are eating the slugs and helping you but if you must, get some sheer curtain material from goodwill or the fabric store to use as row covers. Set out slug traps with beer in pans buried at ground level overnight.

You can get nylon tulle netting from the Walmart fabric dept.(or most fabric stores)for really cheap(approx $1.25/yd). It's 72" wide and very light.

The remay I purchase is .45 cents a yard from a garden center.

Boy, your fudged stuffradio! You got it worse than me.

Try parsley, mint, dandelion, purslane, swiss chard, sorrel, beets, lettuces, rasp and blackberry, blueberry, rhubarb, carrots, toms, ground cherries, pots, asparagus. These are the best bug resistant things to grow.

Also plant some trees...put in a mixed orchard of *disease resistant* apples, Asian pears, mulberry, Euro pears, Jap plums, apricots, peaches, persimmon, Maxine pears, nectarines.

Cherries are tough, the birds get them all, but they are pretty to see when flowering.

Plant some brambles such as Heritage, Anne, Caroline, Autumn Brtiton, Kiwi gold. Triple crown Blackberry.

...and go heavy on the Asian pears. They don't fool around. they produce and are hardy. Korean Giant and Raja are 2 great ones.

I already have lots of fruit.

Peaches, Apples, Pears, Persimmons, Grapes, Blueberries, Rhubarb, and Strawberries.

Animals don't touch the plants, but they touch the fruit.

Black Bears enjoyed my grapes last fall as well as some Blueberries lol. The birds enjoy the cherries, but I try and eat lots before the birds do.

I only have a few strawberry plants, all are flowering. I want to get 100 strawberries and 100 raspberries.

Mallards usually just eat aquatic vegetation and things like small fish, tadpole, fish eggs, and grains. They're more likely to stomp on seedlings than eat them. As Tracydr said, they're eating the slugs, just not fast enough.

I live in the wet state of WA, just south of you. There are only two reliable ways to keep the slugs from your vegetables; one is the iron phosphate-based slug poisons like Sluggo, WorryFree and Escar-Go. Sprinkle it fairly thinly, you don't need to pour it on. The slugs are attracted to it, eat it, then go back under cover and die. Very neat.

As I've posted before, even though it is OMRI-certified for organic gardens, it's not totally benign. Scatter it thinly, don't put it in piles for the dog to eat. Don't let your kids eat it by the handful. It can be toxic if eaten in relatively large amounts, but it isn't nearly as toxic as the metaldehyde-based poisons, which are poisonous to everything (and esp attractive to dogs, for some reason).

Slugs can live as deep as 2" (2.5 cm) below ground, under practically anything that sits on the ground, and THEY CLING TO THE UNDERSIDE OF YOUR DECK. Guess how I know that? And they can live two years without eating as long as they don't dry out.

If you don't like poisons at all, get some flat strips of sheet, foil or mesh copper (not coated) and wrap the necks of your pots with it (large paper clips will hold the overlapped ends together if the strips aren't self-adhesive). It should be at least 1" (3 cm) wide. Copper produces a mild electrical charge that juicy slugs won't cross. It still works after it oxidizes and turns greenish.

A link to the mesh is below, you may find other forms locally.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Copper mesh slug repellant

THEY CLING TO THE UNDERSIDE OF YOUR DECK.

Wonder what would happen if you sprayed the underside of your deck with salt water and lemon juice?