What can I do about lots of snails in my organic vegetable garden???

apply food grade diatomaceous earth

Bury shallow tin cans up to their rims and fill with beer. The snails crawl in and drown only downside is you have to dump them out every couple of days.

Sink a few bowls or plates in the ground level with the surface. Fill the bowls/plates with (cheap) beer. The yeast attracts the slugs. They drink their fill and drown. Not their sorrows

Anything you can make it uncomfortable for the slugs/snails to crawl on will deter them. A combination of solutions from everyone here should take care of them.

Broken nutshells work in the same way as egg shells when getting rid of slugs. Break up the nutshells into small pieces, and create a protective barrier around your plants. Any slugs that come near your vegetables will soon turn the other way.

Crushed egg shells work as a great home remedy of slugs. This is because slugs don’t like moving across sharp objects, although it isn’t not impossible for them to do, they just prefer not to. Break up the empty egg shells into small(ish) pieces and place around the flowers, plants, vegetables, and fruits you want to keep safe from slug damage.

Ash and Cinders make a rough protective barrier, and the fine ash also acts as a desiccant that dries the slug out. Wood ash and cinders are preferable. Avoid direct contact with plants.

Grit and Gravel. The sharp rasping edges of finely crushed ‘horticultural grit’ makes an excellent slug barrier. Coarser gravel is largely ineffective, other than for decorative purposes.

Sandpaper. Cut rings of sandpaper and slip them round the stems of vulnerable plants.

Sawdust makes a good coarse barrier around tender plants, also acting as a desiccant that dries the slug out. Hardwood sawdust is most effective, and some people recommend cedar or oak.

Copper Rings or Discs. Solid copper rings/discs of various diameter, used to encircle single or small groups of plants to inflict a mild electric shock on the unsuspecting slug. Look for rings that clip together. These are easy to slip round established plant stems, or join together to form a larger barrier.

Leave a glass of beer. Snails will crawl into it and drown.

Yes beer works. I usually put a small plastic container into the soil with beer in it. Next day it's full of slugs if the birds eat the slugs they get drunk too.

Thank all of you for responding. I am the one who asked the question. I am pushing 87, cleared that 4th of an acre 50 years ago with saw and come-along.....I am from Munich where beer was (supposedly) invented (although I think the ancient Egyptians drank it first) and the embarrassing thing is that I KNEW THIS TRICK and used it years ago ........and then forgot it. I am embarrassed and thank all of you for recalling it to my dusty brain. I was happy and grateful for your responses. Ruth Geier Conner

Hi Ruth, it might sound silly but we have a few overturned flowerpots, with a stone placed under the rim to lift them up a bit, scattered around our garden. We check them every few days for snails. They like crawling inside. Grapefruit and orange halves work too. We also try watering our garden in the morning instead of the evening. Snails and slugs like moist conditions so by watering in the morning it gives the surface soil time to dry out by the evening when snails are most active.