Welcome Back
Last week we got some seeds started indoors with BowTied ScapeGoat. I bought an indoor grow kit and started some seeds myself. Many of them have already started to sprout a couple days after I started them.
I started a large variety of vegetables and herbs. I like to experiment with many different types of plants to see what works. I’m still planning to sow seeds for beans and peas directly into soil because they grow easily that way.
If you look closely at the types of plants I started in the tray, you will see I started some herbs. Some of these herbs will serve for pest control, which we will talk about shortly.
SEEDS SOURCING UPDATE:
If you are still looking for seeds, look no further!
I have found a supplier of fresh, non GMO vegetable and herb kits. You can purchase them on my FARM STORE.
Here is what the packaging looks like, they come in nicely labeled envelopes with directions planting instructions.
High Mowing Organic Seeds Affiliate Link
I also have an affiliate partner with a huge selection of organic seeds if you would like to check them out for specific varieties
Garden Pests
Today we will talk about pest control. Pests are one of the hardest things to deal with in your garden, second only to weed control.
There are many different types of pests you will run into when working your garden, they can be grouped into animals and insects.
Insect Garden Pests
Insects are the hardest pests to prevent in your garden. There are many different types of insects that are drawn to your vegetable plants and can quickly cause massive damage. It’s frustrating because one day your plants are fine, and the next day you may notice a small bug eating a leaf on your plant, and the next day, they could be totally infested with bugs! The best way to combat insects in your garden is to be proactive:
Check in and monitor your garden regularly - make it a habit to walk through your garden at least once a day. While you are in your garden, look at each plant and make sure there aren’t any bugs bothering your plants.
Keep an eye out for any signs of pest issues. If you see any evidence of pests in or around your garden you must take action immediately. The only way you can take action is if you notice the signs of pest problems.
Take action. When you see issues get on your phone right then and start looking for ways to combat the problem naturally. Don’t wait long or the problem could get much worse and ruin all of your hard work. You can always reach out to me if you need help with any garden issues!
Bad Bugs
There are thousands of different insects. Each one serves its own purpose in this world. Some bugs are good “beneficial” to our garden and some bugs are bad “pests”. Furthermore, each bug species, whether beneficials or pests, are repelled or attracted to different plants. Usually it is the smell of the plant that attracts the insect to a certain plant.
Unfortunately, pretty much all of the popular vegetables attract pests. Different insects cause problems to plants in different ways. Some pests cause problems because they are actually eating the fruit on your plants, others cause problems eating the leaves, some are sucking the nutrients out of the fruit, and others are simply making their home on or around your plants which causes problems.
Here is a list of unfriendly insects:
Ants
Beetles
Boxelder bugs
Cabbage white caterpillars
Codling moths
Earwigs
Gall mites
Leafhoppers
Sawflies
Slugs and snails
Tomato moths
Vine weevils
Whiteflies
Wooly beech aphids
In order to control insect these pests in your garden you have two options, the natural way, or with chemicals. Chemical pesticides are the easy way out in my opinion, there are many different viewpoints on whether you should use chemicals in your garden.
The biggest issue with chemical pesticides for me is that they are harmful to the friendly insects like HONEY BEES!
The only chemical pesticide you can use that will not hurt the honeybees that I have used in the past is LIQUID sevindust. However I do not even use it in my garden anymore. It’s really pointless to grow your own vegetables and then douse them with pesticides. In my opinion, the biggest benefit of growing a garden is to eat vegetables free from chemicals and pesticides.
Naturally Protecting Your Garden from Pests
So how do you protect your garden from pests naturally? First, you must understand mother nature. The food chain is interesting because there are creatures that eat other creatures.
There are “beneficial” plants and animals that we can use to our advantage. By attracting the “good” insects (and animals) to your garden you can keep the “bad” insects and animals in check. You will develop your very own ecosystem in your backyard that is alive and flourishing, with many different creatures working on your behalf.
You will learn that there are plants that that repel harmful pests, plants that help to mask the scents of plants that are attracting harmful pests, and other plants that attract beneficials to eat the bad insects! You will use these plants as companions in your garden to naturally control harmful insects and animals from your garden.
Some beneficial bugs include:
Assassin bugs
Tachinid Flies
Hoverflies
Lacewings
Ladybugs
Parasitic mini-wasps
Pirate bugs
This is why it is very important to stop using pesticides in your garden. These chemicals are indescriminatory and will kill the beneficial insects as well as the pests. Instead, we want to attract beneficial bugs by creating an environment that they like.
Beneficial insects have definite flower preferences. Most of them have short mouthparts and lack the specialized mouthparts needed to access nectar from deep or tubular flowers, so they need small flowers with shallow, exposed nectaries.
When you add plants that beneficial bugs prefer in order to attract them for pest control, you are practicing a technique called “Farmscaping”.
Here is a list of plants that beneficial bugs are attracted to.
Welcome helpful insects with these plants:
Angelica
Catnip
Dahlia
Dandelions
Dill
Garlic
Goldenrod
Grass and weeds
Hyssop
Marigold
Mint
Sunflowers
White clover
Wild carrot (Queen Anne’s lace)
Yarrow
Repel harmful pests from your garden with these plants:
Basil
Bay leaves
Chives
Chrysanthemums
Fennel
Geraniums
Lavender
Lemon thyme
Lemongrass
Oregano
Parsley
Petunias
Rosemary
Venus flytraps
Keep these in mind when planning your garden. You can add these plants around your vegetable plants in order to help control pests naturally.
Another added benefit to planting flowers around your garden is pollinators. Bees and Butterflies are natural pollinators. You want them in your garden pollinating your plants so that more fruit will be produced. You attract pollinators by planting flowers around your garden.
Garden as an Ecosystem
In order to naturally protect the garden without using chemicals, we think about the garden as a natural habitat. In this habitat, we have good bad insects coming into feed on our vegetables, but they are kept in check by the good insects that are living in our garden. Not only do we have beneficial bugs, there are many other beneficial animals we can attract to our garden area for pest control, including birds, frogs, wasps, lizards, and many other animals.
An ideal scenario:
In order to attract these animals and keep them near our garden, our garden must be well intentioned so that these animals can thrive. We have birdhouses and bird feeders positioned around the garden so that birds are welcomed to make their home in our garden and eat pests.
Bats, Wasps, spiders, lizards, frogs, and toads are also friendly vegetable pest killers. We want our garden to be a welcoming environment by providing a safe habitat surrounding your garden that gives these animals a place to make their home.
Try to position your garden close to trees, bushes, woods, or other natural habitat, so that your garden is close to the homes of many birds, lizards, spiders and other friendly creatures. Keep this in mind when planning your garden and resist the urge to clear brush and trees from around your garden
Wasp nests: it goes against everything you’ve ever known, usually we are spraying wasp spray on nests around the house and trying to kill every wasp we see. However, now that you have a garden, these guys are your friend. You actually want to encourage them to come around your garden.
Wasps like pipes to build their homes in, so you can take pvc pipe and think of ways to position it in various places around your garden. Try to set it about 3 feet off of the ground so the wasps see the pipes and build their home in them. You can also cut bamboo and tie it together to give them a place to make their home. Here is a store bought wasp/bee nest design.
Do your own research on creating environments for other friendly insect eaters like bats. See what other animals you can attract to your garden to work for you!
Lizards like tall grass, so I let the grass around my garden grow tall. You can let weeds and grass grow up in certain areas of your garden to a nice habitat for friendly critters.
Frogs are also good to have in your garden. You can attract these by putting in a water source. Coy ponds add a calming effect to your garden while attracting frogs and toads and many other critters for a cool drink in the hot sun.
You can attract toads to your garden easier than frogs since they don’t need as much water. You can do this by providing them with a shelter like the one below. They also will simply burrow into the dirt around your garden, if you see toads, they are frens!
Animal Pests
Continuing the ecosystem vibe, there are other bigger creatures that can wreak havoc in your garden. Moles, rats, rabbits, deer, groundhogs, and many more will all find your garden vegetables delicious and have the ability to destroy your garden quickly.
The first method of protection for these animals is a fence. You can make a fence with many different materials. I would recommend using something that is easy to assemble and readily available. You don’t have to spend alot of money to make a fence on your first garden.
The second way of protecting your garden from these creatures is with more creatures!
I have 3 cats and a large guardian dog outside roaming around my property all night long. The cats keep rodents at bay while the large dog barks and chases off the larger animals like deer, possum, rabbits, etc. Owls are known rat predators, so again, you want to think of ways to attract friendly animals to your place.
I also put up a fence to keep the dogs, cats, children, and people out of the garden! It’s a good idea to have a fence around your garden even if you do not have a pest problem. It will keep unwanted traffic out of there and keep everything nice and safe.
I put this fence up and allow the grass to grow along the fence throughout the season which will build up a nice barrier and give the friendly creatures a place to live.
Another way to keep animals out of your garden is the old tried and true scare crow. I built a few of these before and they are a lot of fun to put out in your garden.
I’ve built a few scarecrows in my day, if you need help just send me a message or comment below!
There are other store bought gadgets that will help to keep deer and other animals out of your garden if you want to give them a try.
Broox Solar Animal Repeller, Ultrasonic Repellent, Motion Detection, LED Flashing Light, Dog, Cat Repellent, Squirrel, Raccoon, Skunk, Rabbit, Rodent, Fox, Deer, etc.
Alternative Pest Control Methods
Hoops
Another good way to keep pests down is using hoops. These are round rings that stick in the ground and you put a fabric covering over your crops. This allows the plants to grow up and develop while keeping the pests from reaching the plants. These may only work for a few weeks before the pests are able to eventually get to the plants, but these few weeks are enough to allow the plants to mature before the pests take over the young plants.
Greenhouse
Another obvious method for pest control is greenhouses. These can be expensive and difficult to build properly, but they are invaluable for keeping plants protected from pests and harsh weather.
Organic Sprays
I know what you’re thinking! What about the natural “organic” pest control techniques. I recommend working to get your healthy ecosystem set up first. Then when small issues with certain pests arise you may need to use some natural sprays to knock them out.
It’s also important to note that sometimes there is nothing you can do, sometimes the bugs win. And that’s ok, it’s part of life, part of living on this fallen world.
It’s also important to note that at certain stages of the season, you may want to let the pests take over some of your plants and then start some new plants in a new location of your yard, or garden. Keep trying new things until you have success!
When you’re ready to try some chemical free/organic pest spray solututions it’s probably a good idea to buy a hand held pump sprayer and easily mix/apply sprays to your plants.
Flo-Master by Hudson 24101 1 Gallon Lawn and Garden Tank Sprayer, Translucent
Some homemade sprays you can try:
Dawn dish soap (small amount) / water
Dawn/mint essential oil/ water
Dawn / eucalyptus essential oil / water
Dawn / cayenne / water
You can do any combination of these and also try other ingredients like onion, garlic, Salt, etc.
I recommend spraying a small area of the plant and waiting a day to see if there are any adverse reactions to your concoction.
There are store bought organic sprays out there that may or may not work, I would recommend trying them to see if they work for your situation.
Some of the store bought pest control solutions include:
Neem Oil
Spinosad
Insecticidal soap
Horticultural Oil
Diatomaceous Earth
That’s all for this week! Let me know if you have any questions.
WAGMI
Farmer