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Apparently, slugs hate the smell, feel and energy of copper. Because of this they refuse to slime over it to get to their food source (your vegetables). You can either surround a particular plant, or a whole bed/area with copper wire to prevent them eating your precious leaves. In addition to this, copper creates a positive reaction benefiting the soil.
By embedding a moat made from discarded guttering, around a bed/ area, you will create an impassable barrier between the slugs and your plants. The guttering must of course contain water (preferably rain water), which has the additional advantage of introducing new and beneficial life to your ecosystem.
This is an idea that was passed on by a young man called Paulo at The Big Green Gathering festival in 2003. Use a table in the garden on which you'll put vulnerable potted vegetables or seedlings. Stand each leg of the table in a small pot of water, since slugs & snails can't swim, this will ensure that your vegetables remain slug free.
By sprinkling coarsely crushed egg shells all around your vegetables, you'll stop slugs and snails reaching the plants you don't want them to eat. They hate slithering over egg shells, we've had varying success with this one, mainly because we don't eat enough eggs. Ensure that there is no path to the vegetables and you should be okay.
Slugs and snails tend to come out at night to feast on the wide array of vegetables you've planted for them. During the day they like to rest in dark, damp hideaways in your garden. By laying a damp plank of wood near your vegetable bed, you'll attract them during the day, at around dusk you can lift the plank and scrape your collection of slimey pests into your compost heap. Great for the compost too!
If your vegetables are growing in pots try adding a strip of Vaseline or
something similar around the area just under the rim of the pot. The slug will
not be able to breach this strip leaving your potted vegetables in tact!