Get to know the slugs and snails in your garden

Source: Heraldnet.com

It’s time to slow down and enter “The Secret World of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane.”

That’s the title of the Adopt A Stream Foundation’s Thursday presentation and also the title of author David George Gordon’s book.

Gordon will present this wildlife event to gardeners and nature lovers and anyone who wants to know more about these critters, who are more than pests.

You’ll learn that these mollusks have been part of history since 50 B.C. in Rome where snails were farmed and you’ll discover they were part of Napoleon’s army whose men carried tins of snail meat for emergency food rations.

Gordon, who is known for his insect-cooking skills and is also the author of “Eat-A-Bug Cookbook” among other books, will also talk about how to grow your own escargot.

Other topics include the love life of the slugs and snails and the manufacture of synthetic slug slime. Gordon will also share gardening tips.

This program is rated PG-13, so not recommended for little kids.

Gordon will sign books after the show. The book lists at $14.95.

“The Secret World of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane” is 7 p.m. Thursday at the Northwest Stream Center at McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE, Everett. Reservations are required by calling 425-316-8592. Cost is $5 for Adopt A Stream Foundation members; $7 for nonmembers.

For more details on this and other Streamkeeper Academy events go to www.streamkeeper.org. For more information on Gordon, go to www.davidgeorgegordon.com.