In 2018, Britain's Royal Horticultural Society protected lettuces with five classic remedies: crushed eggshells, copper tape, horticultural grit, pine bark and wool pellets. After six weeks, plants ringed by these barriers had suffered as much damage as unprotected ones. The likely reason: the thick mucus of slugs and snails lets them glide over sharp surfaces. The trial was due to be repeated on other soils and slug populations.
Chlorine on its own is fairly gentle. But when it combines with urine, sweat and other grime from swimmers, it forms chloramines, which cause stinging eyes and that classic 'chlorine smell'. A well-kept pool barely smells at all. Shower before you swim and never pee in the water.
Muscle mass slowly shrinks with age, putting independence at risk. But in 1990, a study had nursing home residents aged 86 to 96 train their legs for eight weeks: their strength more than doubled. Muscle responds to training at any age. Getting up from a chair without using your hands is already an exercise.