Maybe you learned about making your own bread via a cookbook or video. Even better, maybe you learned from a friend, family member, or attended a Sourdough Bread Making class, like I did.
It turns out there are a great number of steps, and it takes a lot of time. Therefore, I’m likely to skip making my own bread during prime gardening months, leaving the breadmaking for winter while my garden is resting.
Here’s a twist: a bread dough recipe for your garden. It’s no-bake; it’s simple; and it’s perfect for fast-approaching Autumn. It will definitely help you to ready your garden for nearly slug free spring because now is the time when you’ll want to begin preparing your garden for winter. Soon all those slithering garden slugs will come out to lay their eggs for next year.
That makes Autumn the perfect time for making this Bread Dough Slug Slurry. Serve it up soon so you can interrupt the slug cycle to reduce Spring’s slug hatchlings.
Photo: Kati McCrae
Recipe: Autumn No-Bake, Bread Dough Slug Surry
Researcher Rory McDonnell, associate professor and Extension gastropod specialist collaborated with scientists from other states on a study published in a special 2021 issue of Insects that focuses on slugs and snails. He commented, “We gave (slugs) a choice of food, and they consistently went for the bread dough. They really, really like it. They went bonkers
for it. Bread dough outperformed everything”, McDonnell said. In one instance, over 18,000 snails were trapped in 48 hours.
OSU Extension, Corvallis Authors: LeAnn Locher, Master Gardener Outreach Coordinator and Rory Mc Donnell, Assistant Professor.
If interested, take a look at their recipe HERE (Disclaimer: Slimy photos. Those with weak constitutions may not wish to go to this site.)
You’ll find informative pictures and a tutorial that walks you through the steps and ingredients needed to create a slug trap, using bread dough as an attractant. The steps shown are an interpretation of the OSU field research, “made approachable for a home gardener”.
You can do it!
Slurry on!
Christine Pritts
