Ep166. Revisiting Turtle Island and Slug Remedies
Sat, Jun 22, 2024 8:07PM • 10:38
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
slugs, turtles, garden, dilemmas, toads, turtle island, yucca, miss ellie, world, ugly, column, water, years, grew, hosta, pond, plants, guests, coming, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from Mother Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:26
Hello there. It's Mary Stone on a steamy screened porch. We are in the 90s again, and summer just began the day before yesterday, so we are in the thick of the heat of summer, and it's not even the end of June just yet. But what's been fun is I've been coming across a lot of turtles on the road and in the woods as I've been walking around. And so we are going to revisit a story that we shared a while back about Turtle Island ugly slug remedies, although I'm going to switch that name, I think, because we shouldn't call something ugly because they are beautiful in their function and what they do for our dear Earth. And besides, other slugs think other slugs are beautiful, right? Anyway, we shared this story just before Miss Ellie Mae joined the angels. So there's a throwback to her, which warms my heart, and I hope yours too. And it starts like this...
Mary Stone 01:21
I came across two snapping turtles swimming near the shore at Catfish Pond in Blairstown, New Jersey. Turtles have always fascinated me, but more so since my soulful twin brother passed a few years ago. Bill felt a strong connection to turtles, marveling over their slow and steady behavior and reverence in many cultures dating back centuries, I recently reconnected with an old friend from elementary school who reflected on snapping turtles in their Exton PA pond where she grew up. She referenced the creation myths of Native American tribes that named North America Turtle Island.
Mary Stone 01:58
By the way, growing up as a five-pack of kids, we had five red slider turtles that grew to be so large that they moved from the aquarium into the utility sink, and from there, the only next vessel my mom had in mind was the tub, and the fact that there were five of us sharing the bathroom, she didn't think that would really work too well, and so I'm sad to say that those turtles were let go in my friend's Exton pa pond. And that is not ideal. In fact, red slider turtles are no longer used as pets. I believe we couldn't have furry pets, by the way, because Bill was very allergic to them, so we always had unfurdy ones other than a hamster or two. Anyway, back to my story.
Mary Stone 02:45
I researched the legend and came across a story of how the Earth began on the backside of a turtle. The tale has many versions, depending on the origin of the tribe. The Wyandot legend describes the world was once in two parts. Animals lived in the lower part, which was covered in water. The sky world above was where the glorious mountains and valleys were and where the sky people lived. It is told, a girl from the sky world fell through a crack into the world below after the ground terrifyingly rumbled. Luckily, she was caught by two swans who took her to big turtle, the patriarch of the water, so to speak, who advised how to create a world for the child. He said there is soil deep below the ocean. A muskrat, a beaver, an otter, came forward bantering, who's best suited for the task.
Mary Stone 03:37
A little toad came forward too and was pooh poohed for being too small and ugly to help. Even in folklore, there was bullying. Big Turtle quieted the crowd commanding, everyone is equal and everyone will have a chance to try. As you likely predicted, the others failed miserably, but the little toad succeeded, bringing a few grains of soil back that grew to be our Earth, hence the name Turtle Island, and why turtles remain a symbol of the earth with associations to long life and family.
Mary Stone 04:14
Turtles, box turtles, the most common here are welcome guests in the garden. They eat berries, moss, fungi and insects, including slugs, one of their favorites, toads and frogs are welcome too, each eating up to 10,000 slugs a season and other pests, including grubs. To attract welcome guests, provide plenty of leaf litter for moist hiding spots, and if a pond or bog isn't nearby, a dish of water can do. The most critical thing is to avoid synthetic herbicides and insecticides, as they are particularly devastated by them, with organic practices, healthy turtles, frogs and toads will be garden helpers, keeping pests under control. We could sure use more happy endings. Garden Dilemmas. AskMaryStone.com.
Mary Stone 05:07
It occurs to me, since we talked about turtles and their benefits of eating slugs, I have to share this really fun column about slugs. In fact. Boy, it's one of my early columns, so let me go find it, and I will get back to you. So please stay put and grab a cup of coffee if you'd like, and I'll get right back to you.
Mary Stone 05:31
Hey, there's Miss Ellie. She's staring at me through this sliding glass door. She and I camped last night together, and I sure enjoyed it. Woke up to her fuzzy little face, cherishing every minute of it. Since we talked about turtles and how they eat slugs, I am reminded of a column I wrote about slugs. For those of you who don't know what a slug is, they're kind of like a snail, but without the shell, and they're not really all that beautiful, but maybe to each other, they are, as it turns out, I had written this column years ago. I think it was one of my first, but then I renovated it a bit, so it appears again in my garden dilemmas com website called ugly slug remedies.
Mary Stone 06:13
Hello, fellow readers, the rainy, humid summer has set up the perfect storm for slugs. Always a top nuisance garden dilemma, and one of the first we talked about five years ago when Dave from Hardwick, New Jersey asked, What are the holes all over my hosta? Holy moly, Dave, I wrote back, I'm impressed you've been able to keep deer away from your hosta, deer candy. I call it and slug candy. As it turns out, even the name slug sounds nasty. This year, the slithery suckers have also made their way inside, camping on Ellie's paws and on my garden shoes. Ick. While the horse is out of the barn, as my dear mom would say, it's not too late to intervene, the ugly slug indeed serves an essential role of clearing dead and decaying material and provides food for our friendly toads, garden, snake, birds, turtles and even Fox. Still, I advocate non toxic ways of good riddance.
Mary Stone 07:13
You likely know about the dish of beer trick. Leave a bowl of beer and you'll have a plethora of drunken suckers come morning, sounds like a few Lounge Lizards I once knew. Other slug attractions are planks of old wood between your plants and citrus rinds and human hair, which they all get gnarled up in. I'm not sure about the strength of your stomach, but waking up to a dozen of slimy slugs that must be tossed, tossed where it's nauseating, right up there with slug collecting after dark. I'll pass call me squeamish, but my preferred remedy is products with iron phosphate, which is deadly for a slugs digestion and good for your soil. Brand names like escargot and slug magic. Wrap iron in slug attracting baits, scatter the pellets around your plants every two weeks, and you'll have significant results without tossing bodies much better.
Mary Stone 08:11
I've learned of a 50/50, white vinegar to water solution sprayed on the overnight guests after they culminate on a half of grapefruit works. Then there's sprinkling diatomaceous earth, which, and I quote, consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard shelled algae, writes Wikipedia, who goes on to say it is used as a filtration aid, abrasive in products including metal polishes and toothpaste, absorbent for liquids, reinforcing filter in plastic and rubber. Cat litter, a stabilizing component of dynamite and a thermal insulator. It can also dehydrate slugs and insects, including fleas. What a multitasker, right up there with duct tape.
Mary Stone 08:55
I've heard planting mint, sage, lavender, hydrangea, creeping thyme and rosemary helps deter slugs. Yucca, too perfect. Yucky slugs prevented by yucky yucca. I feel another column coming on. Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com.
Mary Stone 09:14
I never did write the column about yucca, and I really shouldn't call it a name such as yucky yucca, because it does have a place in a tropical garden, such as in California or in Arizona. So anyway, I will maybe someday write about yucky yucca, but I won't call it a bad name. Oh, by the way, would you believe there's a slug resistant plant list? Ironically, it mirrors many plants on deer resistant lists. So could one say there's a correlation between deer and slugs? You betcha, they both chomp the heck out of our gardens, but a baby slug isn't nearly as cute as a fawn. Thanks for coming by. I hope you'll join me again, and please, if you haven't done so already, subscribe t o the column and share with others so more can become part of our community. Thanks so much. Have a great day.
Mary Stone 10:07
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.
