ORGANIC: A non-toxic trap to eradicate slugs and snails. Image supplied.

ACCORDING to the economic gurus, the recession is over, so why not celebrate by planting something a little up-market this month – mesclun, aka “the fancy lettuce”.

What does fancy lettuce have to do with slugs and slime? Lettuce is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for hungry slimy critters. And, growing mesclun to full maturity without being attacked by homeless snails is a difficult task for, even the veteran gardener.

Nobody likes the idea of spraying their plants with insecticides, but when the first drops of moisture arrive so too do slugs and snails. However, there is a creative way to keep the slugs at bay — organically.

Mesclun must be positioned in a sunny area that’s sheltered from strong winds. To combat a wet winter, add a bit of lime to the soil because lettuce thrives in soil with a moderate pH and large amounts of rain tend to lower your soil’s acidity level.

Dig a hole 3cm deep and place the mesclun seedlings inside, roughly 30cm apart from one another. Fill the remaining hole with soil.

Lettuce takes between six to eight weeks to grow, so plant new seedlings every couple of weeks to ensure a continuous supply. In warm Auckland gardens the leafy greens will grow year round.

Now for the exciting part! Forget about slug bait and think — beer bait. Simply, cut the top off an empty fizzy drink bottle, leaving approximately 10cm of plastic from the lid. Make sure the lid is tightly screwed on.

Make a hole next to the lettuces large enough for the whole bottleneck to fit in to. The open end of the plastic bottle should sit almost parallel with the soil. Place three sticks approximately 15cm in height around the plastic bottle in the shape of a teepee.

Fill your bottle up to the halfway mark with beer. Slugs aren’t fussy about the type of beer, but kids — ask your parents first. To ensure the beer is protected from rain, take the discarded end of your plastic fizzy drink bottle and cut off a section approximately 5cm from the end.

Balance this section on the three sticks you staked earlier.

This will create a lid to protect the beer against rain. Overnight the slugs will slide their way into the beer.