When it rained there were pest problems and when it got dry ....that was another story.Last year we had lots of rain followed by a drought. The first part of the summer when we had lots of rain I battled slugs. The slimy little creatures were appearing on the plants every day. The second half of the summer the deer and raccoons came out of the woods and devoured anything wet. They ate plants which had managed to survive the slug attacks to the ground. It was a very discouraging year pest wise. I got some parsley and a few peas out of the garden and an occasional small summer squash. That wasn't much of a harvest and most of the garden looked like I'd been mowing it.

The Pests While It Was Wet
The slugs attacked in droves. I tried traps with a homemade formula of yeast,sugar and water but the cats liked the smell of the mix and drank it up as fast as I put it out in the trays. I tried bottles turned sideways to drown the slugs but it was hard to keep them tilted at the right angle. The cats were so curious about it they turned the bottles in the night trying to see what it was I had in there. I tried to catch the slugs and pull them off the plants but couldn't seem to collect them all. It was amazing how much damage the little creatures could do in the night and I had to get out there in the early morning before they crawled off to sleep the day away in their nice cool abodes. I found some of their sleeping spots and eliminated the wood around my raised beds. I took bottles of salt water out with me and dropped the slugs in them. I took out salt shakers too and nervously sprinkled salt on them. Nervously, because the salt can make the garden worthless soil if there is too much sprinkled on the soil. I even resorted to stomping on the slugs. It helped me get my frustrations out of my system but the drawback is that it is really pretty hard to stomp the slimy critters to death. Not very effective. They mostly seemed to smush into the soil and then bounce back and crawl off to sneer at me smugly as they planned what to dine on tonight. When the weather got drier, to my delight, the slugs gradually dissapeared from my sunny garden.

The Pests While It Was Dry
But as they dissapeared and I gingerly began to water the garden to make up for the lack of rainfall. The wild animals who were getting mighty thirsty began sneak attacks on the juicy morsels I was trying to nurse back from the edge of despair after their being chewed on by the slimy monsters at the beginning of the summer. As they came back strongly so did the deer and raccoons. I had deer tracks in the garden paths chewing and tasting tracks on the plants. I reinforced the fence around the garden but the deer tore them down. Night after night they broke the fences and came in to taste a bit more of the juicy greens I had grown. Apparently the thought I was growing swiss chard,for them. Then when that was eaten to the ground they started in on the beans, the lettuce,the tomatoes and even the summer squash. By the end of summer there was not much left. I had to go away for a few days. While I was gone I think the deer invited all their friends and relatives.

When I returned it looked like somebody had mowed the garden. I had deer coming up to the front door and eating the plants on the porch too. They had grown so bold I think they believed they owned the place and I was a trespasser into their wonderland. It was definitely a very bad year for a garden unless the reason you planted it was to lure wildlife closer so you could watch them.

Learn more about this author, Candace Williams.
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