We have lots of slugs here. I buy slug and snail bait. The bag last for a long time. I have to throw small handfuls out every spring before planting my cucumbers or they get eaten by the first leaf sets. I would sprinkle a couple pellets by your plants then more heavily around the area of your plants. Then you should be good for the season. I broadcast it eight to ten foot. They smell it and come out and eat it after the sun goes down. It works well.

What did you do with the plant matter that died? That could be possibly be showing up in the soil when you dug around. Shouldn't be a concern. Any plant matter that isn't contaminated with herbicides is useful to build good soil. To grow the blackeyed pea seeds the soil should be kept moist to sprout. You can soak the seeds for up to 4hrs before planting to speed germination. The cover crop is just one way to put organic matter in the soil and gives you something to look at. I suggest you amend with whatever compost ingredients is convenient for you. Your soil needs organic matter that didn't come in the bagged products you started the garden with this spring. Add the ingredients and keep moist through fall to speed up the process. If too dry you'll not have the decomposition you're looking for in good soils. Used coffee grounds from coffee shops is a great start plus the worms love them. In your cold climate any layering you do now until freezing weather will help improve the soil for next spring. Eggshells dried in oven as it preheats crushes easily to add to the garden and something not always thought of to include. We put a reused piece of foil in a small baking pan and keep in the oven with the shells. Makes it easier for all family members to save them. Alternatively can just go straight in compost, but when dried & crushed is flatter for layering and doesn't attract any critters. We compost our kleenex, paper napkins, tea bags, coffee filters, junk mail, toilet paper rolls, torn or shredded cereal boxes, etc. to add more browns to the mix. Once covered with another layer of grass clippings, coffee grounds, shredded leaves, chopped vegetable waste, etc. no one notices we have tissues in our garden. One way to collect more is to have a separate waste can in bathrooms & kitchen for the paper waste. Our best compost collector in the kitchen has been a step on trash can lined with plastic bag with bottom layer of papers from bathroom trash to absorb the liquids and prevent odors from mushy melon seeds or spoiled apples. We empty as needed usually 1-3x a week, so it's not much work and stays neat in the can. No more compost bucket on the counter to attract fruit flies in summer. Earthworms will find your rich ingredients and loosen the soil for you free of charge.

I had a total hip replacement in July and did go to a rehab facility, which was great, The hospital social worker asked me for my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. Then its up to which one has room at the time of discharge. What I did beforehand was check out a few of the nearby places I was considering. Two friends had done rehab at one of them right in the neighborhood and highly recommended it. It made me claustrophobic. My surgery was scheduled quickly, so I didn't make formal appointments, just kind of popped in when I could (usually late afternoon, not a busy time for them) just to get a feel for what they were like. They were all good enough to give me a short tour... the rooms for short term rehab, the exercise room, and I asked about meals--where do we eat, the type of menu. I did fill in an application for "the one" I really wanted, and when the SW contacted them, they had a room so I got my 1st choice. I also have Medicare and BCBS. There was a $50/day copay for rehab that Medicare doesn't cover. Came as a surprise, but the place was sooo worth that and more. Doesn't seem to matter if you pick the most or least expensive, the copay is the same. And there is really very little price difference between them! The visiting nurse and PT come to your house when you go home, whether its right from the hospital or do rehab first. You'll do fine.

LOL!! Another of the "I've always done it this way so it must be right" contributions!! If you look at the actual science behind it, it is very clear why amendments like adding topsoil or peat moss does not help lighten or loosen clay soils. Clay is the smallest sized particle of any of the three soil types and because it is just a conglomeration of these tiny particles tightly bound together is why it drains poorly and appears compacted. There are no spaces between the particles so water moves very slowly through it and the soil will appear dense and compacted. Adding more finely grained elements - the topsoil and peat - doesn't open things up and allow for porosity or spaces between the particles large enough to allow oxygen and easy water penetration. And peat tends to retain water to a high degree, which is NOT something you want in an already heavy, slow draininag clay! You need an amendment with some size and texture to it to achieve this and virtually every extension publication and soil based website wil recommend adding quantities of organic matter in the form of coarse compost. The Black Cow will certainly help but may not have been enough to a do a proper job. You can topdress with more compost but it will take longer to alleviate the clay issue compared to that worked into the soil.