Battle of the Berries

June 20, 2014Ashley Korizis
Battle of the Berries

Last summer we planted a blackberry bush. It grew tremendously over the past year, and this past spring, began to show signs of fruit. Each day, the boys and I would check on the blackberry bush to monitor the progress of our growing berries.

Battle of the Berries

Based on my experience with our strawberries, I knew that all sorts of pests can get to your berries before you do. Birds, rabbits, slugs; they’re all very savvy at waiting for just the right moment, the second the berry is ripe, to take a big bite out of it, leaving you with a sad reminder of what you were hoping to savor. 

With our blackberry bush planted under the grape arbor, I was hopeful the birds wouldn’t get to it as easily. Nor had I seen any rabbit activity and thus figured our blackberries were safe; and they were for the first week or two. Not wanting to push my luck, I let the kids pick the berries, which they joyously devoured on the spot.

All was well, until one day… Something was eating our blackberries!

As I inspected the fruit, I concluded that the culprit must be slugs. I had noticed one not too far from the blackberry bush and had already suspected that they might be guilty of eating some of our strawberries. If these little slugs were in fact the perpetrators, they were in for a surprise. Little did they know, I had read somewhere that slugs are drawn to beer (isn’t everybody?). Unfortunately for them, once they make their way into the beer, they can’t find their way out.  And so, I set out to execute my plan. At dusk, I set out 5 different ramekin dishes around the blackberry bush and filled them with beer. Well, it must have been the slug party of the century because the next morning I came out to a slug cemetery!

Battle of the Berries

If you’re feeling sorry for the slugs, hopefully you’ll find comfort in the thought that this was probably a more pleasant way of going than encountering a barrage of salt pellets. Also, think of the birds. They were thrilled with the little beer pickled treat they picked up after I dumped the ramekins into the yard. And if that still doesn’t make you feel better, maybe seeing how much pleasure this little guy gets out of eating his blackberries, will do the trick. Man 1 – Slugs 0!

Previous Post Next Post