Wanna trade?

I do believe I've mentioned the Midwest scourge of gardens - BUGS. It's no laughing matter.
I'm used to the Easter-egg seeking thrill of hunting down slugs - big and small - under boards, in potted plants on the patio, on anything green and growing, following those gleaming shiny trails under leaves and along the borders. There's nothing like the satisfaction of sprinkling a good dose of salt on those little slime buckets and watching them melt. There's an art to it. Too thick on the salt and they just slither out from under the crust. Too light on the salt, they wave their stalked eyes at you and smile. And beer traps - what a laugh. Have you ever seen a slug doing the back stroke? With hiccups?
I had slug control down to an art and science, even taught the Cub Scouts Slug ID 101. You live in the Northwest, you get to know slugs.
Fast forward to a typical Midwest garden. Not a slug in sight. What a pleasant surprise. Until midseason. The BUGS appeared. I shudder at the memory of my first encounter with Striped Cucumber Beetles. They didn't even have the decency to be on cucumbers where I could actually figure out what they were. No, no. They were on the zuchinni. And you know no self-respecting gardener would ever sacrifice even ONE zuchinni plant to a mere bug.
So began the quest for a satisfactory WEAPON. The first season was moderately successful in controlling the population. Then came this season. And THESE.

Words fail me.
And this.
So far these replusive things are mostly on the pumpkins and acorn squash. I think the harder rind keeps them from eating through to winter quarters. But they sure do a number on the foliage.
They haven't hit the tomatoes yet. There are other bugs waiting in the wings - especially now that these beauties are ripe and glossy with health. I'm just waiting for the bugs to move in.
Because now I have found THE weapon. The last bottle on the shelf. And by gum, it WORKS.




If you are in the throes of battling local 6-legged garden raiders, give this a try. I've been very happy with the results - 15 seconds puts them on their backs, feebly waving appendages.

And if you're a Northwest gardener - I'll work you a wicked trade....

(PS When all else fails in the Midwest garden - all you have to do is wait until the deepfreeze hits. Minus 20 degrees pretty much takes care of anything not sitting in front of the fireplace.)