[elibump]

Save them in a sealed container, feed them on one of your lettuces for a couple of weeks then cook with garlic butter and eat, once word gets around they'll not be so brazen about being found red-footed (snails don't have hands) in your cold frame.

Carolyn xx

What's the recipe?

No probs - didn't get this sort of recipe from Jimmy Young in his day did you!

Starve the snails for a week (in a bucket with a lid to stop them escaping).  Wash them carefully, blanch them for 5 mins in boiling salted water.  Take each snail out of its shell, remove the black part of the tail.  Rinse in lots of water, cook for 2 hours in a well-seasoned white wine court-bouillon.  Wash each shell carefully and drain.  Prepare the stuffing: 

60g Butter, 6g shallots, garlic, 10g flat parsley, salt & pepper.
Finely chop all the ingredients and mix thoroughly with the butter, season to taste.

Put a little stuffing in each shell and replace the snail.  Seal with the same butter.  Put the snails in an oven-proof dish with the opening facing upwards and bake well for 8 mins in a hot oven. 

Recipe taken from the French version of Mrs Beeton.

[Debbie D]

fun job for slugs,3ft cane with a darning needle taped to the end.get ya torch and go and do a bit of spear hunting.you can get loads on the needle before you need scrape them off.dont bin them leave lying on the ground Kermit will have a feast lol.

Uuuurghhhhhhhh, Thanks so much for that I will have nightmares now.

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Could someone tell me more about the coffee grinds option? We drink a lot of coffee made from the inexpensive Arabica ground coffee from Lidl (£1 a pot this week!) so have a daily supply of this. Is it a tried and true barrier?

[violet61]

Nope! never worked for me, nor the eggshells I also read somewhere that coffee also makes the soil acidic, so I just add to my blueberry pots!

[Beejay]

Save them in a sealed container, feed them on one of your lettuces for a couple of weeks then cook with garlic butter and eat, once word gets around they'll not be so brazen about being found red-footed (snails don't have hands) in your cold frame.

Carolyn xx

What's the recipe?

No probs - didn't get this sort of recipe from Jimmy Young in his day did you!

Starve the snails for a week (in a bucket with a lid to stop them escaping).  Wash them carefully, blanch them for 5 mins in boiling salted water.  Take each snail out of its shell, remove the black part of the tail.  Rinse in lots of water, cook for 2 hours in a well-seasoned white wine court-bouillon.  Wash each shell carefully and drain.  Prepare the stuffing: 

60g Butter, 6g shallots, garlic, 10g flat parsley, salt & pepper.
Finely chop all the ingredients and mix thoroughly with the butter, season to taste.

Put a little stuffing in each shell and replace the snail.  Seal with the same butter.  Put the snails in an oven-proof dish with the opening facing upwards and bake well for 8 mins in a hot oven. 

Recipe taken from the French version of Mrs Beeton.

Thanks elibump, I will try that the end of this month!

[cathangirl]

Yep, slugs and snails have an excellent homing instinct, so lobbing ocer the hedge or road just does not work.
cathangirl

[strangerachael]

But if you're lucky a thrush might find it before it finds its way home. 

[violet61]

Or get squished by a car, my car!!

[violet61]

I just wish the sheep would eat the damn things!!

[HLS]

I tried coffee grounds round my radishes last year - the number of slug bites diminished but I didn't get any radishes either!  It wasn't exactly a scientific trial, as I had just chucked a bit of multipurpose compost and some seeds in a bit of ground next to the lawn that had obviously previously been under a flowerpot or something, so the radishes may not have succeeded anyway.

[elibump]

Beejay

Please let me know how you got on - if this recipe doesn't work let me know and I'll ask around the village for other recipes (just never sure with these 'older' type of cookery book, tastes have changed rather)

Good snailing!!

[joyce c]

First season with raised beds.  Does anyone know if those dreaded shelled creatures attack raised beds.  We're using torch method, and get about 20 per night.  They're on my flowers only, which are in a walled bed.  Hense my search is around this wall.  I have 2 hens, but they don't seem interested in the snails.  (Maybe put a little salt on them will make them tastier    )

[Yorkie]

Well I've had them climb walls to a hanging basket, so I'd imagine raised beds would present no difficulty 

[sunshineband]

Sorry Joyce, snails ( and slugs) can climb almost anything  The torch light parade is quite effective though -- the more you get now, the fewer breed ...... 

[barney rubble]

Well I've had them climb walls to a hanging basket, so I'd imagine raised beds would present no difficulty 

Yes.....they're quite happy on ceilings too. Guess they practice upside down on all our leaves for that stunt