Healthy Self Reliance
Deal with pests and diseases naturally, organically.
Home gardeners often use more pesticides per square foot in their gardens than farmers do in the fields, thinking that if a little is good, more will be better. This is a serious mistake. Over-use of pesticides has a number of adverse effects: It makes your food less safe to eat, especially if there are …
Organic gardeners have known it for generations. But scientists have now proved it. Black pepper, used as a pesticide, discourage insect pests from laying eggs on leaves and pose lower risk to humans and the environment than other pesticides, according to a University of Ottawa researcher. Biologist Ian Scott and his research team have tested …
Most people think only of pests when they think of insects. But, the beneficial insects found in gardens do not feed on or harm plants. The typical backyard contains hundreds of species of insects, yet only a fraction can even be observed because many are microscopic and/or hidden below ground or within plant tissue. Most …
Everybody’s Favorite Bug! The Lady Bug Works Hard! Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybird beetles, are a very beneficial group of insects. Ladybugs are natural enemies of many insect pests and it has been demonstrated that a single ladybug may consume as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime. Ladybug adults have a very …
Quick Facts… Many disease problems can be prevented or controlled without pesticides. Always choose plants that are adapted to your local growing conditions. Avoid bringing diseases into the garden or moving them around within your it. Eliminate the disease-causing organism after it has become established on a plant. The Garden as Ecosystem Twenty five years …
A trap crop is a plant that attracts agricultural pests, usually insects, away from nearby crops. This form of companion planting can save the main crop from decimation by pests without the potential issues and controversy involved in using pesticides. Trap crops can be planted around the circumference of the field to be protected, or …
What IS an earwig? There are more than twenty species of earwigs in the United States. Some species produce a foul smelling liquid that they use for defense. Earwigs also produce a pheromone (scent). Scientists believe that this pheromone is the reason that earwigs cluster together in large numbers. Everyone has probably seen an earwig …
Errrr… Colorado Potato Beetles I have grown potatoes in many parts of the United States and until this year did I have a single potato beetle show up for dinner. I am dead serious. Never. I have always heard about potato beetles I even looked them up once in an old class book from my …
Bean blossom drop can occur when temperatures stay consistently over 90 degrees and/or if the plants are stressed. There’s not much you can do about the heat except wait it out. It may help to put a breezy row cover over them to provide some shade. The plants may start producing again when the weather …
Let me share with you our squash bug control plan. I am not, I repeat NOT going to be overrun again this year by squash bugs! Young squash plants (especially zucchini and pumpkin) are generally more susceptible to damage by this pest, and if you don’t squish the squash bugs, young plants will die. They …