Polk County Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 10, 2017 9A
Slinky, slimy slugs on the loose
It’s spring, and that means
it’s time to start slugging it
out with one of the garden-
er’s most familiar, frustrating
and certainly slimiest pests.
You guessed it, slugs are
ready to pounce — or, more
accurately, slowly slither —
their way through the gar-
den leaving wreckage be-
hind. As soil temperatures
start to climb, they rise from
their winter hiding place un-
derground to munch tender
seedlings, emerging peren-
nials and even seeds.
“What slugs want is a
place that’s warm and
moist,” said Claudia Groth,
an Oregon State University
Extension Service master
gardener. “That’s why they’ll
be coming out soon. The
soil temperatures are getting
to be above 50 degrees,
which is perfect for them.”
Slugs aren’t crazy about
winter and summer. They
bail from cold or hot weath-
er. But fall and spring are
agreeable seasons for slugs.
In the perfect conditions of
autumn when the heat starts
to wane and the first rains
come, the mollusks lay eggs
in clusters called clutches,
according to Groth, a horti-
culturist who has made slugs
her specialty.
The eggs hatch fairly rap-
idly, and the fast-growing
slugs wait it out, showing up
in spring to scrape and
shred plant leaves with
tongues lined with thou-
sands of tiny, extremely
sharp teeth.
“In fall, you’re trying to
kill them off before they lay
eggs,” she said. “Now that
your plants are poking their
heads up, you need to pro-
tect them, because once the
leaves are nipped, the dam-
age is there all summer.”
The pests are particularly
fond of lettuce and other
salad greens, broccoli,
beans, hostas, strawberries,
primroses and daffodil flow-
Continued from page 8A
—
TUESDAY, MAY 16
• Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) Club — 6 to 7 p.m.
weigh-in, 7 to 8 p.m. meeting, First Christian Church basement,
1079 SE Jefferson St., Dallas. Meetings offer programs and activ-
ities aimed at losing weight. Open to anyone. First meeting is
free.
• Dallas Wingdingers RC Flying Club — 7 p.m., Whitworth
Elementary School library, 1151 SE Miller Ave., Dallas. 503-623-
7288.
• Polk County Coin Club — 7 p.m., Monmouth Senior Cen-
ter, 180 Warren St. S., Monmouth. 503-362-9123.
• Overeaters Anonymous — Noon to 1 p.m., Salem Health
West Valley, 525 SE Washington St., Dallas. Support group
meets in the quiet room/chapel immediately inside the emer-
gency entrance on Clay Street. Dee Ann White, 971-718-6444.
—
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17
• Willamette Valley Food Assistance Program Food Bank
— 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., 888 Monmouth Cutoff Road, Building E,
Dallas. Weekly distribution for eligible community members.
503-831-5634.
• Day-2-Day Diabetes Support Group — 3 to 4 p.m., Salem
Health West Valley (main conference room inside main en-
trance), 525 SE Washington St., Dallas. 503-623-7323.
K YM
P OKORNY
Your
Garden
ers. More sturdy plants like
ferns, sedums, ornamental
grasses, bleeding heart,
heuchera, hellebores and
most herbs fend them off
reasonably well. Woody
plants are also usually un-
bothered.
Since slugs go on attack at
night and look for protected
places during the day, you’ll
find them under ground
covers or mulches and in
thickly planted perennial or
annual borders.
“Many gardeners grow
plants tightly in their beds to
keep weeds from growing,”
Groth said. “That’s an envi-
ronment that provides them
with a 100 percent hiding
place all day.”
Slugs will crawl beneath al-
most anything where it’s dark
and moist, including boards,
bricks, pots, loose stepping
stones and pavers, debris left
lying in the garden.
“So the first thing to do
when starting a control pro-
gram is to clean up the gar-
den,” she said. “Don’t leave
things all over the yard. They
can even hide under garden
gloves.”
Raise pots onto bricks or
“legs” purchased for that
purpose. Pull mulch away
from favorite plants. Re-
move weeds where the pests
like to nestle down. Tidy
under porches and other
raised structures.
Although sanitation is the
first line of defense, there
are plenty of other methods
for control. Get started now.
Young plants are most sus-
ceptible. Here are Groth’s
recommendations:
Water in the morning. “If
you water in the evening, it’s
wet until early in the morn-
ing and you’ve given them
the best environment when
they come out at night hun-
gry,” she said.
Put out beer traps. Use a
pie plate or bury a plastic
yogurt or margarine con-
tainer up to about an inch
from the rim. Pour in beer.
Remove dead slugs daily
and refill with beer.
Don’t use salt. It can build
up in the soil and damage
plants.
Attract predators such as
frogs, ground beetles and,
yes, snakes.
Create an artificial hiding
place by placing a board in
their favorite places. To
make it especially attractive,
grind up lettuce and brew-
er’s yeast (not baker’s yeast)
and put that under the
board. In the morning, lift
the board and remove slugs.
Drop them in a bucket of
soapy water.
Go out at night with a
flashlight or head lamp and
handpick them.
Get a duck, which will
make a quick dinner out of
slugs, but be sure to check
with your city first. Some
don’t allow them and there
are restrictions.
Tape a wide (3-4 inches)
strip of copper around the
top of a pot or the top edge
of a raised bed.
Also, you can use bait.
There are two types. One is a
synthetic bait that contains
metaldehyde, which is toxic
to humans and can be fatal
to dogs if eaten in large
amounts. The other con-
tains iron phosphate, which
is considered very low in
toxicity, according to the Na-
tional Pesticide Information
Center at OSU, but has been
known to sicken dogs in
high amounts. It can be
used in organic vegetable
gardens.
When baiting, scatter
rather than making piles or
bands. “If you use piles or
bands,” she explained,
“slugs can go right by. If you
scatter, they’re likely to en-
counter it.” Also, be sure to
look on the label to see how
much to use per square foot.
It’s a lot less than most peo-
ple think. Using more is not
better.
MI TOWN
The merry month of May
promises to be a busy one
for everyone, with the return
of warm weather, blue skies
and those wonderful seem-
ingly endless twilight
evenings where we can relax
on the deck after a busy day
of working in the yard,
sprucing up the house, or
coming home from a busy
day on the job. The lilacs are
in full bloom, showing their
beautiful shades of lavender,
white and dark purple as we
go about our daily walks
around our communities,
stopping for coffee or tea,
dropping in at either of our
libraries to find good sum-
mer books and seeds for our
backyard gardens.
—
The Polk County Master
Gardeners are having their
spring sale at the fair-
grounds beginning this Fri-
day. Hours for both Friday
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
and Saturday are from 9
a.m. until 4 p.m. Master Gar-
deners will be on hand to
help with purchases of veg-
etable and flower garden
items, and there will be on-
going programs all day —
both days. You’ll be able to
find just the right Mother’s
Day basket or flowering
plant and just about any-
thing you’ll need to brighten
up your home and garden.
—
Veterans and their family
members are invited to the
Monmouth Senior Center
for the annual Armed Forces
Day celebration on May 19.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Veterans from any war, and
men and women who are
now serving in the military
are welcome to share sto-
ries, photographs and other
memories from 10 a.m. until
noon. There will be an ice-
cream social following the
program at 1 p.m. The sen-
ior center is located at 180
Warren St. S. in Monmouth.
—
Mark your calendars early
for Independence-Mon-
mouth Clean-up and Beau-
tification Day, scheduled for
May 20 from 9 a.m. until 2
p.m. at Riverview Park in In-
dependence. Cost is $10 per
load for MI residents and
$12 for those living in Polk
County. Please contact
Shannon at Monmouth
Public Works (503-838-2173)
for more information. Elder-
ly and disabled residents
needing assistance may call
Shannon (above) or the In-
dependence Police Depart-
ment (503-838-1214) by May
19 for information regarding
assistance. Let’s work to-
gether to help keep our
communities looking good
for all of us — and the
springtime and summer vis-
itors to MI Town.
—
Life shouldn’t be all work,
however. How about enjoy-
ing an evening, or an after-
noon at a play? Central High
School’s drama department
presents Walt Disney’s, “Al-
addin Jr.” over the next sever-
a l d a y s a n d e ve n i n g s,
Wednesday (today) through
Sa t u rd a y, a n d Ma y 1 7
through 20. The performanc-
es on Wednesday (today) and
May 20 have special prices
for students, $3 with ID.
There are matinees, a pizza
party where you can meet
the performers, and evening
performances. See you there.
Call us.
The Itemizer Observer can help you expand your market share, and make
your business more profitable. Call Heidi, Rachel or Karen at 503-623-2373.
ADVERTISING THAT WORKS.
Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $8.00
Children $7.00 • Senior $7.25
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
Friday - Wednesday • May 12 - 17
BOSS BABY (Digital) (PG)
(12:10* 2:30 4:50) 7:10
★ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (Digital) (PG13) (2:00 5:00)
★ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (Digital) (PG13)(12:00* 3:00) 6:00
★ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (Digital) (PG13) (12:30 3:30) 6:30
KING ARTHUR:
LEGEND OF THE SWORD (Digital) (PG13)
(1:00 3:50) 6:40
GIFTED (Digital) (PG13)
(12:05* 5:00) 7:20
THE CIRCLE (Digital) (PG13)
(2:25) 9:40
SNATCHED (Digital) (R)
(12:40 2:55 5:10) 7:25
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (PG13)
(12:45 3:45) 6:45
*Not showing Monday-Wednesday, May 15-17.
A RLENE
K OVASH
Columnist
Logan, Utah, in the 1800s. A
good hike was the Wind
Cave Trail in Logan Canyon,
because the so-called cave
was unusual. The trail was
also very steep.
—
Tim Barnhart and Dave
Burbank lead a group of 21
men into the Southern Ore-
gon desert last weekend for
Visit our website,
www.polkio.com
...for local news, sports
and community events.
Follow us on
Pedee Church’s annual Rat
Camp. A focus this year was
a six-event competition that
ranged from open sight .22
rifle shooting, to axe throw-
ing, to long-distance target
shooting. Eric Twenge won a
gift card to Cabela’s with his
superior skill, and Glenn
Mott came in second. These
guys were good. Despite
below freezing tempera-
tures, 10-year-old Alex Rus-
sell kept warm at night in a
hay bale house. Saturday
evening, Eric Schwanke
shared from scripture on
what greatness is in God’s
eyes.
—
9:35
9:40
9:45
Thursday • May 18
BOSS BABY (Digital) (PG)
(2:30 4:50)
★ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (Digital) (PG13) (2:00 3:00)
★ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (Digital) (PG13) (12:30 3:30)
KING ARTHUR:
LEGEND OF THE SWORD (Digital) (PG13)
(1:00 3:50)
ALIEN: COVENANT (Digital) (R)
GIFTED (Digital) (PG13)
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL (Digital) (PG)(5:00)
THE CIRCLE (Digital) (PG13)
(2:25)
SNATCHED (Digital) (R)
(12:40 2:55 5:10)
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (PG13)
(12:45 3:45)
★ Starred Attraction. No Passes.
PEDEE NEWS
Pedee School will be hav-
ing a carnival at their Bridge-
port campus on this Friday.
It will be from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Tickets are four for a dollar.
The event will help sponsor
the seventh- and eighth-
graders who will be going on
their raft trip June 6-8.
—
Paul and Diane Telfer
went on a hiking trip to Bear
Lake, Utah, last week. They
hiked Saw Mill Trail, where
they walked through 6 inch-
es of snow part of the way. It
was so called because of an
old saw mill near the end of
the 4-mile (each way) trail
that furnished lumber to
9:30
8:00
9:00
9:30
7:10 9:30
6:00 9:00
6:30 9:30
6:40 9:35
7:00 9:45
7:20
9:40
7:25
6:45
9:40
9:45
Thursdays!
Laree Jones, 92, died on
May 2. She lived in the area
for years and was a member
of the Pedee Women’s Club.
She and her sisters-in-law,
Ruth Stafford and Nella
Cates, were the originators
of the club candy-making
for Pedee’s holiday fair. They
learned to make candy as
young women living in Utah
and called their business
Nelaru Candies. The women
of the club learned all their
secrets and make delicious
candy, but still didn’t quite
have the touch these three
women had and were sorry
when they no longer had
their help.
Music from the Redgate Winery & Fieldhouse
Fri. May 12, 6-9 PM
featuring
Orvil Ivie
Duo
$5.00 cover
May - September
General Vendors
10:00 am - 3:00 pm
182 Academy St., Dallas
(corner of Main & Academy)
Featuring Growers,
Producers & Artisans
of the Polk County
area & beyond!
LIVE MUSIC!
VENDORS:
• Akha Farm • April Scott - Special
Guest • Bermudez Family Farm
• Beyerle Farm • Birdsong Farm
• Black Rock BBQ • Edie’s Designs
• El Pique • Hound Boy Bakery
• Karl’s Birdhouse & Feeders
• Rosie’s Scottish Goodies
• SW Polk Fire District and Dallas
Fire & EMS • The Soap Store
• Unobtainium Food & Beverage
Seeking: Vendors, Non-Profit
Organizations and Sponsors
Facebook.com/bountymarket
503-623-2564
Must be 21 • Food Available
Tasting fees $10 & glass of wine $5
8175 Buena Vista Road
Independence • 503-428-7115 • www.redgatevineyard.com
http://www.exploredallasoregon.org/bounty-market.html