Cutting steel beams LIKE BUTTER / Renovating a 110+ y.o. ABANDONED farm in Belgium

How is our garden doing? Why Illia needs to cut the steel beams? Join us this week to watch the latest updates. Episode #160. Subscribe, like and comment to stay on top of our progress. Thanks, you're the best!
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[@Aiko2-26-9]

When I was a child our neighbor had a big garden. He would pay all the neighborhood children one penny per slug. We would all go every day to check for slugs and put them into plastic bags to take to the house and collect our money. Ten slugs would get you an ice lolly/popsicle from the store. Happy memories. Looking back I think that guy was a genius. No slugs and he was so popular with the kids.

[@jeffdayman8183]

Here in Canada we have had slug problems too, in years past. We had good luck collecting them with a small plate of beer set out at night, right in the soil. In the morning the plate is full of slugs which can be dumped out and crushed on the road. The beer can be re-used in the plate next night, if you separate it from the slugs into a container. The birds took care of the road mess. Might work for you, as long as slugs in Belgium like beer...8^) Let's hope so. Cheers! PS for the heavy angle steel cutting - can you rent or borrow a plasma cutter? That is the least tiring and fastest way to do heavy cuts in steel. Does use some electricity, but so does making 426 grinding disks, and running a saw motor to wear them out!

[@AdrienneLouw-hl3fg]

Yes that works as well

[@lynneross5848]

I say do it all, beer in jars, ground egg shells, diatomaceous earth, metal barriers and salt. We sprinkle salt on any hard surface where ever we see them. Good luck and good eating.

[@arjanvogel6444]

Vevor sells good plasma cutter

[@brittawrolson5936]

Yes,,we tried bowls of beer,,it worked pretty well. We also put orange or melon halves upside down on the soil (like a house) and the slugs would gather under there at night so you could easily remove them in the early morning.

[@catherinegregory5836]

I use egg shells around my plants to keep slugs away. Also a plate of beer in the greenhouse will attract and get get rid rid of them. Catherine

[@marieratcliffe4804]

a easy way to get rid of slugs without chemicals is to put some beer into jar lids or saucers and place them on the soil. all the slugs will go for the beer and will drown ad die. using the beer also gives you a good excuse to try more lol. the plants look so healthy and strong. hope your fish are doing better

[@munchkin5674]

Yes! Give you slugs a keg party! No kidding! Put several shallow containers of beer around under your plants. : )

[@gerryhartung736]

After the videos, the beer drinking and no more left over beer.

[@donnamullins2089]

Slugs love beer. Make a beer trap. Bury a can or dish even with top of soil. Add a little beer and here come the slugs. Change it every day. It will be full. I place one outside the raised beds and one or two inside bed. Your garden area is beautiful.

[@MsJakobsen]

You really need some freeranging ducks to take care of the slug problem

[@juliec3965]

THIS ⬆⬆⬆ But keep them fenced in the pasture, away from the pond. You want a breed that can't fly, like a Pekin or runner duck, then your fence will be hidden in the tall grass. Mage sure to fence off your little boardwalk and patio, as well. And you will also get eggs!

[@teepeeX]

Nah ducks poop everywhere lol

[@kentshrader6616]

If more people would adopt a "don't give up doing good" attitude like you have the world would be a better place. "Let's do this" for betterment of the world would do everyone some good. Your gardens look great despite the slugs.

[@auntietara]

I used to have a terrible problem with slugs! “You can tell the difference between a flower and a weed, because the slugs only eat the plants you want to keep!” For many years I struggled. Now? No problem! Zero slugs in my garden. I moved to a climate where there are no slugs. 😂👍🏼

[@sevilnatas]

You may be pasted the need for cutting thick metal, but my recommendation would be getting a metal chop saw, as opposed to the abrasive disk saw you have. I have an abrasive disk saw, myself, and since I got my cold cut saw, it has both started collecting dust and stop producing dust. I got a very affordable Evolution metal chop saw and never looked back. It produces fast, dustless, cold to the touch, cuts with its long lasting, carbide tipped saw blades. The cuts come out super clean, with no need to clean up and instead of the incredibly messy dust, it produces metal chips, that are much easier to contain. Just a suggestion for the future.

[@murraymakesstuff]

We use food grade Diatomaceous Earth and sprinkle all around our plants. The internet says it doesn't kill them, just slows them down, but I have noticed a big difference, especially when I spread it on the wood planer box rails as well.

[@munchkin5674]

Yes, food grade D.E. is another good thing to use. Get a big shaker bottle, like an empty steak seasoning container with a shaker top, or an empty Parmesan cheese shaker bottle. Keep it filled and handy to dust the soil under plants and even on the plants. Just be sure to not dust the blooms so as not to harm pollinators. When filling your shaker bottle, don’t breathe in the D.E. dust.

[@eastafrica1020]

Maybe you should move the berries out of the pots. Use crushed eggshells to keep slugs away.

[@drooplug]

This is what I use and it works well. I buy the brand sluggo. For years I had such trouble trying to grow fruits and vegetables. I couldn't figure out what was eating the plants. It turned out I had tiny slugs. Started to use sluggo and I could finally grow food in the garden.

[@toddylu6869]

Ok Illia could say "brutal" all day in his accent. We chicks dig it. Good job Illia and Marina.

[@marilynlanger1932]

Check out Escape to Rural France to see how he is inserting wood into steel beams.

[@capodicasa4038]

As well as the beer solution, you can sprinkle your coffee grounds on the soil. Also, save your egg shells and break into small pieces, put around your plants. And finally: put some rubber gloves on, take a torch, and go in the evening to pick the slugs off by hand. Oh - and you can get strips of copper to fix around the outside of the the plant boxes. Makes a barrier that they don't like 🤷

[@sserpxee]

You guys inspired me to build my own raised bed. I've been keeping it simple and am growing lettuce, spinach, onion... but it's very satisfying to seee it growing and harvest. Next year I will try to build a greenhouse like you and grow tomatoes

[@RoyHolder]

Get some slug bait, it's iron based so it's organic and won't harm you or your vegetables. Do it!👍👍

[@rickwendling5735]

Ilya, all abrasive cutting discs wear out fast. It’s an expense you must endure… until you buy a cutoff hacksaw, which I’m guessing should be never.

[@emtodd859]

If you sprinkle crushed egg shells around plants the slugs and snails don’t like the cutting edges and won’t bother the plants. It really works. Just save eggshells, rinse them off before crushing, and use on your plants.

[@Hagar2670]

Egg shells wash away in the rain. Go to the fishmonger and ask for oyster and scallop shells. Crush those up and put around the plants and or beds. They last a lot longer, are sharper and stay where you put them.

[@JMeixsell]

For slugs or snails, try a low dish on the ground by your plants half filled with beer. Everything looks great. Remember that things tucked away in your green houses won't be accessible to pollinators unless those doors are open.

[@chrissyfrancis8952]

This would be a perfect time for a manufacturer to send you a plasma cutter to demo. Now that would be like butter!

[@_PJW_]

4:40 : "Brussels cabbage" : Brussels sprout. 🤣 I love those, especially when young. You can very easily make a great soup with it.

[@threellamas16]

I like them steamed, then cut in half and marinated in a glass jar in Italian dressing at least a day or two. Serve as a cold side dish. 😁

[@_PJW_]

@@threellamas16 OK. That one is new to me. Worth a try. Still, love to cook them to perfection. Still a little bite, but creamy centre, add nutmeg, white pepper, and butter or gravy.

[@threellamas16]

@@_PJW_ Just be sure not to over steam them. They need a little crunch. I like them all ways, hot and cold.

[@y.lelivelt2619]

Sometimes the translation suggest the wrong words.But it doesn't matter,I understand him.

[@waynerudiger1756]

It looked like that new abrasive disk had a knock-out to accept the larger diameter arbor. I didn't get a good look but what I did see was a brighter ring in the center which suggests a there is a knock-out. I agree with one other poster here - the way to go is not an abrasive disk but a carbide cuttoff saw (e.g. Evolution). The garden is looking great, despite the slugs.

[@pauletteduncalf9948]

We also used beer to get the slugs, worked well.

[@marilynfranks8995]

Your gardens are so pretty! Such hard work. Beer put in lids so the slugs fall in, nicotine from cigarettes or chewing tobacco work for slugs. We used diatomaceous earth in all the greenhouses I worked in as it is safe for your garden it comes in bags in your garden centers. It shreds the outside of the slugs and snails, which always made me happy. I hate slugs as you can tell.

[@dorothykopaskey9447]

I wish my husband would be this excited about our garden 🤷‍♀️

[@tikonc]

salt is “kryptonite for slugs”...also copper tape

[@auntietara]

Salt kills slugs, but also plants 😳

[@tikonc]

@@auntietara you don't put the salt on the plants...you put it around the planters

[@theviruschimaira534]

Nice work, successful garden project. My family uses crushed lava rock to keep the slugs away + KB Limex Ultimo only on places, where lava rock is not enough. Idea/tip perhaps make a complete border around your raise garden-beds with crushed lava rock. So you can keep the beer for yourself ;) cheers.

[@nativetexson]

👏👏 The garden is doing well.

[@teepeeX]

SALT is ur friend for slugs... put salt all around edges of garden beds ... everywhere... the slugs detest salt ... beer in caps around other plants, copper tape around all boarders, coffee grounds on soil 😂 seal plastic to boxes by putting wood on outside to stop slugs climbing up

[@vickidomanski4277]

Hi from Australia growing up my grandfather used to get beer bottles and leave some beer in it and the would go in there and die he did it all the time and it worked really well Good luck

[@Haven2U]

Be sure to open your green house doors for a while each day so pollinating insects can polinate your tomatoes. Wonderful garden.

[@AdrienneLouw-hl3fg]

Try putting crushed egg shells in your beds, slugs and snails can't move over them.

[@ricobarenschee4369]

The beer trapps are working well. Additionally you can put cat litter between the plants. Slugs don't like to go over it very much.

[@phillipdickinson8557]

Illia that is a lot of brakets to cut with a grinder the gardens all look good lots of fruits and vegetables that you for sharing

[@anitabirrer7076]

Oh, ja die Schnecken...mir fressen sie auch immer wieder die Salate...danke für das neue Video...ihr seid eine tolle Familie.

[@southernboycookin5383]

Dann verwenden Sie bitte eine kleine Schüssel mit Bier, um sie zu stoppen!

[@lulubelle0bresil]

You need chickens to eat the slugs before they climb on the plants! In case you don't know: Lilies are VERY toxic for cats, and beautiful rhododendrons and azaleas make bees produce toxic honey too But anyway you have a very nice kitchen garden already, and beautiful flowers too!

[@scottstephens4587]

Service centers will use carbide saw blades and oil. You're burning up expensive blades. You're a hard worker. Sometimes just let the pros cut it and save blades and time.

[@calypso4554]

I see lots of comments about beer and slugs. I am looking forward for the next beer tasting. Featuring Illia, Marina and Mr. Slug. Cheers! 😊 Btw, it works, but new slugs are coming all the time.

[@susanmayo4524]

😊😅😂😂😂

[@NailahRoberts]

Have you tried stapling copper mesh around the base of your raised beds to stop slugs?

[@niknoks6387]

You can buy copper tape, the slugs won’t cross it, apparently, worked on my pots!

[@julieg6383]

Yes I agree. You can buy copper tape from garden suppliers and place it below the top edge of the outside of your raised beds to stop the slugs from crossing it. It also works on the trunks of your fruit trees to stop them getting to your cherries etc.

[@Valmtg]

I can confirm with many of the other posters, that plates of beer around the garden areas helps as well as diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of the plants.

[@gerryhartung736]

More garden nursery than farm. You have come a very long way since 1st video.

[@ReneeWardRealtor]

Slug pellets works the best. Garden centre's should have them

[@penihavir1777]

Oh no - so sorry to hear about the evil slugs!!! Good luck in the ongoing battle! Good progress on cutting steel. Wow, that really goes through disks.

[@crmlcd]

We have tons of slugs here on the central coast of California. Pour salt around the perimeter of the bed and the slugs cannot cross salt.

[@glenlongstreet7]

I usually see 'Evolution' blades on those big saws. I think they last much longer.

[@annetaylor6395]

I use chopped or cut barley straw around my plants to stop the slugs, it is also good for mulching and keeping the earth moist. I have also done the beer pots in the garden successfully.

[@sharondilloncavalierland954]

I use iron oxide to control slugs. It works immediately but the slugs lay eggs so you get waves of them but over time they disappear. It might take several seasons to be slug free but I have achieved that so I only put it out once a season and have no slugs. We live in the rainy Pacific Northwest of the US so lots of moisture for slugs. Good luck.

[@thatdudeinorange5269]

Was looking for a comment like this. Most likely the 'earth' soil or whatever you call it was already 'poisoned' with those slug eggs and those bastards wake up when it gets warm and cosy and there is free food available. So copper strips as someone else suggested would just be a fence to keep them in. Manually picking them and place in a bucket with some salt on top. Maybe salt they use for roads works, at least it can be bought fairly cheap in 20 or 25kg bags. Ilya should try every and any method until the slugs are gone.

[@sharondillon7149]

Amend my comment to say iron phosphate not oxide. Getting rid of slugs does take time.

[@_bav]

Leaving grapefruit skin halves in your flower beds and veg patches is a natural way to protect your plants from slugs - the slugs are attracted to eat the skins, but it's lethally poisonous for them.

[@gayleparrish625]

Ducks love to at slugs and they will provide eggs for you too. You may have to fence around the garden to keep them in and away from your koi pond, though.

[@sonoflimburg8232]

Hello people, the problem of slugs is really big, you can probably catch them with dark sweet beer, make a hole in the ground, put a preserving glass there and fill it halfway with beer, place some stones around the jar and place it on something which protects the jar with beer against the elements (it is indeed a waste of beer, but the plants are no longer eaten by the snails). Good luck with the garden, it looks beautiful.

[@simplysimon9868]

Illia, get an Evolution blade for the chop saw. One for steel will slice through those easy. Beer traps or copper tape for slugs works well

[@munchkin5674]

Get some sticky insect traps, for flies, fungus gnats and other flying pests. They are yellow and have a sticker surface. I think they come with stakes so you can set them up in your enclosed grow areas. You can also make similar traps with yellow paper or plastic plates or yellow cups, like Solo cups. Apply a light coat of vaseline to them. The yellow color attracts the insects and they get caught in the vaseline.

[@lisakilmer2667]

Illiya, you did very well explaining what it in your garden. I am impressed with your English skills! I hope you try killing the slugs with beer. And then perhaps copper tape on the edges of the planters will repel them. You will need a lot of beer! and be aware that the smell of old beer and dead slugs can be unpleasant!

[@thomasspainhour1112]

So beautiful there, NC USA 🇺🇸

[@bobbiebrandel3152]

I fight slugs, too. This year I surrounded the veggies with crushed eggshells. I hope it works. So far, so good. Unfortunately, I did this after some had already been damaged.

[@MastaTabs]

well, many victories can only be gained through perseverance. Well done Ilja! Or to say it with Garfield: Perseverance is the end of any pizza.

[@brinawitch]

So my father would take tin cans cut the top and bottom out of them and place it around the base of the plants. For some reason it seemed to help keep the slugs off the plants . You could try that. Also a salt concentrate sprayed on the slugs will help kill them. Especially if they are carrying eggs

[@bobbiebrandel3152]

Great idea. I am going to try that. I have the tin cans already. Thank you!

[@donaldviles4406]

My wife said to plant marigold to keep slugs away plant ,some where around your plants also works on horn worm on tomato plants.

[@fannysvensson8511]

Copper tape is great against slugs! Easy to put on your raised beds😊

[@arjanvogel6444]

Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love and bless you guys, good work with the garden 😁👍.

[@susanmayo4524]

We also use beer traps for the slugs in New Zealand. Just need to change the beer after rain as it gets diluted. 😊

[@wayneNtampa]

You should put out some beer traps for the slugs!

[@user-yc3os8hx2j]

put copper tape around the edge of the boxes, the slugs don't cross it.

[@kindafoggy]

Ah ha!! Video day! I check daily hoping to see progress on your wonderful place. So inspiring. Thank you for the update. You might try topping your beds with course perlite to dissuade the slugs. Perlite comes in fine, medium, coarse, and it's too rough for them to slide easily over, even on their slimy trails. "Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently." Ducks will eat slugs more so than chickens, but both are messy and loud (and might also damage your crops!)

[@donaldviles4406]

Green house looks good

[@PMPatte]

If you don’t have left over beer for killing slugs, try sprinkling old used coffee grounds on the soil near the plants they like. The slugs don’t like the feel or smell of the grounds.

[@gavinmclean3174]

The best way to keep slugs and snails off a garden is salt my grandmother had small troughs filled with pool salt around her gardens and never had a slug or snail in her garden. The troughs are made from corrugated steel by my grandfather and when to rusty make new out of second hand stuff or you can use plastic poly pipe up to you what you use.

[@lindakuzze2791]

Against slug methods!!! Salt Pesticides crushed egg shels on the bed Copper tape (they don't like the tiny charge from copper, can be supplied with low volatge with battery, but works good as it is) Reversed spikes ( I tried cutting off spiky bit from cling film package)

[@sootytern1]

you need a tct disk and use french chalk for marking

[@knoppenbrock7282]

You can use sheet metal on all the top edges of the raised beds. Snails cannot crawl over the narrow edge of the sheet metal if it points downwards (bend the sheet metal downwards on the outer sides 2 cm away from the outside of the raised beds). You will never see snails again. 😊

[@legsdiamond4402]

You need to get a metal chop saw blade Eddie from England

[@Flowerdork]

Instead of small green houses you might want to try a high tunnel

[@Arnaud58]

@23:50 Strange maybe, but somehow that pile reminds me of empty mussel shells after eating them.👴☺

[@neomarex]

Powoli wszystko nabiera rumieńców. Pozdrawiam i zdrowia życzę :)

[@Sumo1878_SCO]

Crushed egg shells around, raised beds, deters slugs. 😎

[@patrickamcguire8749]

You might be able to use a copper strip around the raised planters to keep the snails and slugs away. Many growers use a copper paint around the trunk of trees. Check with local growers. It's better than pesticides

[@dDoOyYoOuUtTuUbBeE]

I think a cutting wheel with carbure teeth is more efficient to cut that kind of metal.

[@heidibal255]

Thank you 👍

[@christophercarpenter8031]

You should put rock salt to stop the slugs & snails from eating your plants & vegetables it works great for them all plus the netting you have is the rough size holes in it they must be smaller holes like fly screens is the best Ps I just thought I would share to all

[@howardbarber2451]

We use a flat type dish and put in beer. slugs are attracted to it and die,

[@gunthervanmechelen4358]

Yep, een schaaltje met lekker bier zetten, dat helpt tegen de slakken.👍

[@southernboycookin5383]

I tend to like gardens free of grass so the flowers, vegetables and trees are not choked by the grass. How can you possibly weed this garden? For slugs, put a small dish into the earth there, ground level, and then fill with beer. The slugs will go into this dish and drown. If you have tomatoes that close, trim to one stem, using square foot garden method.

[@angelamuller5616]

❤

[@soilihenriksson3696]

You are blessed with food atleast. Good luck in every thing. Was joy to see.

[@TgWags69]

Wrap a peice of heavy paper cards to keep around the stem about 2-3 inches across about 1.5-2 inches high and fill with diatomaceous earth....hmmm maybe that was for squash vine borers...but a scoop around each plant should slow down the slugs as well

[@MajaZuzia]

I know that some tomato branches are broken off and thinned out, apparently it's good for them, please read about it;

[@wileycoyotesr8623]

My favorite pie is Gooseberry. Tart and will make your forehead perspire. Taste is out of this word.

[@Hagar2670]

The saw is fine its the cutter that is wronge. Put a saw blade for cutting iron/steel in it. Tungsten carbide teeth...

[@dennisreeder6637]

Dry out eggshells, grind them in a coffee mill or blender and sprinkle on top of the soil. It deters slugs and is a lot cheaper than using diatomaceous earth.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

When I saw the tittle I expected something else than a chop saw with sub grade disk and then tedious work with a small angle grinder. I don't see so many slugs in my garden but an enormous amount of Escargot snails. They even creep into the house! Must be the very humid winter and spring we had and have.

[@deliadruhe7156]

Is that a Cross (gold) pen you're using to mark your cutting line. Fancy.

[@colombyvan]

Please,don't spoil Trappist for slugs ! And, obviously too late, save time and machinery you just use once ( plasma cutter) and find some local 'ironman' to do the job. Btw, yes , shape ends of wood beams to fit in iron joists. Before you start burning drills in ... Oh, 45*3 holes... Lots of people are feeling happy to help or suggest, maybe ask before doing the job. Sometimes, followers come with experiences , as tinkerers says ' think twice, cut once.

[@mariekesiers2476]

Even over die slakken. ( hier in in mijn tuin ( én huis) een probleem). Koperdraad zou werken. Ik ben te laat begonnen met het spannen ervan, maar zie nu toch wel resultaat. koperdraad moet je nat houden ( dat lukt ook wel met al die regen).

[@dshey6802]

Here in Oregon we have tons of slugs because I think we have the same climate you have in Belgium. The organic way to kill slugs is with shallow dishes of beer. Yes, try some of that good Belgium beer to drown slugs. They are very attracted to it. In the morning your shallow dish will be full of drowned slugs. Very ugly looking but throw their dead bodies in the compost.

[@kevinfisher1632]

please let me say that i had a severe problem with slugs in my garden eating everything ..i then used a band of copper from the DIY stores to tape around the item the plant was in and hey presto slugs wont cross the line .

[@TheKruizr]

I got tired of going through chop saw discs, I bought a good used handheld band saw, I've been using it for years, still has the same blade..

[@jimdelong949]

Nice garden Wish those bugs weren't bugging you 😊

[@louisescottc6023]

😊

[@juliec3965]

Do you leave the doors of your hothouses open during the days to allow pollinators to enter? If not, you will have low yields -- unless the plant is pollinated by slugs... 🐌

[@seeveson3701]

That's the disadvantage of raised beds. Grow your vegetables normally on the ground and have a few ducks, and you won't have any problems with snails or pests.

[@vickijohnson8151]

Beer traps seem to work