I don't know what would work best for you. But I can tell you what I'm planning to do this year. I planted in wheat straw last year--I think that's similar to your salt hay--so I wouldn't have to do any digging. And it worked out really well for the slugs. I think they lived underneath it in the daytime. Then climbed up and ate my tomatoes at night. This year I'm going to level out the straw, and put some compost on top. And I think I'll be in good shape, as far as the soil goes. But the slugs are still an issue. I'm going to try a combination of things. I did some hand picking last year, and relocated 'em. And it wasn't as bad as I thought. So I'll do more of that this year. And I'm going to experiment with different types of slug barriers. I'm thinking of trying different types of collars around the bases of my tomatoes, to keep them off the vines. I'm hoping that'll minimize the damage this year. Last year they got almost everything. I don't know if my slugs were really bad because of the straw. The wet weather. Or something else. I think they just need some place to hide during the day, and it would be kinda hard for me to remove all the grass and straw.

I till every year. I layer my leaves and grass clippings on the garden every fall and till it in the following spring. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's always worked for me. I have plenty of worms every year, so they don't seem to mind it either. I haven't done a no-till garden, so I can't say if one is better than the other.

I generally don't have any problems with slugs with the exception of last year. They weren't too bad, but they did eat a few potatoes. I think the only reason they got to the potatoes is because that's the only place that I couldn't see them and the only place that was cool enough for them to live. I haven't mulched before and this will be my first year trying it. Weeding doesn't bother me; I find it relaxing, so there hasn't really been a reason to do so. Our water source recently became unavailable, so I'm thinking about drip irrigation and mulch will help in keeping the water in the soil. Slugs don't like heat and we have plenty of that in the summer, so I just had to find their hiding spots and then squish them. That is the most effective way to do it. There are baits and poisons that work to a degree, but you most likely won't kill them all with bait, so hand picking is necessary to control them. If you're feeling sadistic, you can toss one into a jar of pennies for a light show (at least that's what I've heard, I've never tried it). Copper gives slugs a shock when they touch it, so you could lay a bordering strip around your garden to keep any slugs out. Obviously if it gets buried by anything, it becomes useless.

I would till and use it as compost. then sick your ducks and geese after the slugs. If the birds are fed well, then there will be minimal damage to your crop and the slugs will be eliminated.

Why not use Sluggo to kill them? It's just iron phosphate, and many people use it without a guilty conscience since it doesn't put toxins in the environment or kill critters other than slugs and snails when used as directed. In fact, most plants need small amounts of iron phosphate anyway.

I sprinkle it every year in my strawberry patch and anywhere else they are likely to be living.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snail Control

Sluggo or Escar-go! Great products.

Thanks for all the great advice! I rarely saw any slugs on the plants last year, mostly just little holes bored into my eggplants and carrots. Occasionally I'd see a tiny slug, but never a large slug. I did see large slugs in my compost bin, I wonder if I spread the eggs of the slugs into my garden when I spread the compost?? I will try the sluggo this year. We had a very wet season last year in MA, so that was probably part of the problem, also.