what kind of biological control do you use on your garden to avoid pesticides etc?

do you use ladybugs btw?

i saw this video called " The Truth about Farmer John"

made me appreciate what goes into making an organic farm

seems like it was his mission to do it

but what an arduous journey he had doing it

Oh, weird. I get my arugula and some other greens from a Farmer John who farms organically. But it isn't the same Farmer John.

Where I live what a lot of people do is just pick the bugs off the plants.

Ha! ha! I don't. I would HAVE to be more serious about it...if I was producing for a profit (at this point I am not). Therefore I have the luxury of making up in bulk!

-I WILL occasionally use vinegar around the outside of the house.....or baby powder (on the inside)....around the perimeter of the house to discourage fire ants and other insects (mainly fire ants).

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

The also say you can use a cayenne spray....and other organic methods to control pests. I have not found this necessary. Although I HAVE had to deal with cutworms now and again.....and I will probably have to fence off the melon patch to discourage rabbits! LOL.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I used a garlic spray on my cabbage and squash last year. It was said to prevent "Squash Bugs" which are known by a lot of different names (oblong body, gray with a kind of "T" stripe on the back, winged) and other types of bugs. As soon as I saw the beginning of the problem I used about 1/4 of one of those approx 24 oz. spice containers and soaked it until hydrated in a 48 oz. pressurized sprayer. Strained off the garlic chunks and WALA - stinky but effective. No bugs, and beautiful cabbage without cabbage bugs or squash bugs.

Also, the concept of raised beds seems to keep a lot out.

Thirdly, DUCKS keep slugs and other bugs at bay BIG time. But I recommend the raised beds because ducks will also snack on the tender plant greens. Or some type of shield around the immediate plant area.


Me (30), Joseph (24 mo.) Jeremiah (4 mo.)

We are enjoying spring and being outside!!!

Growing up, our backyard had alot of vegetable gardens... and I know my mom was definitely anti-chemicals. She was a big fan of using garlic, I don't know exactly how she employed it but I think she may have used it on the perimeters. Also she paid us to find and remove large green tomato warms from the plants - she paid us for each worm that we brought to her.

I don't remember her ever complaining too much about pests so she must have had some way to deal with them... and the plants always looked healthy, I remember that because we picked the vegetables.

She grew up in a town in Hungary - when I visited there I remember seeing lots of vegetable gardens - I assume there must be age-old secrets to organic farming that have been passed down through generations.

sunshine 79

did ur mom use garlic spray or did she just plant garlics around the perimeter to keep the bugs at bay?

DMZ

i heard about vinegar for keeping the ants away ( and used it inside the kitchen too)

doesn't surprise me that capsicum would do the trick cuz it is such a volatile agent... it probably hurts their membrane ( esp. if it was a slug.. i would imagine if i were a slug, the capsicum would hurt me too LOL

angie: neat thing u did with the garlic spray
i saw a pressurized can for olive oil
neat idea to use it for garlic spray

arugula

i wonder if they eat the bugs too after they pick them off ( just kidding.. but then again.. hey u NEVERR know.. heh heh

Although I am becoming more & more against having plastics around me in the house I live in, there is no denying that the season extending, plastic, woven fabric, floating row covers such as Remay & Agribon are exactly what is needed when insect pests threaten crops..

I was never able to successfully grow beets or Swiss chard in my backyard city raised bed garden until using Remay to prevent the leaf miners from getting access to the plants..Although my soil was incredibly high in humus content, this alone was not sufficient to keep the damage to a level that would allow a proper harvest..The beet roots never got larger than the size of a marble, & the chard leaves had so many tunnels in them that they eventually wilted..

No organic dust or spray, commercial or homemade worked..The fabric row cover worked, although in the intensely planted, & tightly packed environment of the square foot garden it was not easy to find a way to use the floating row cover fabric..Laying it over the plants, or using conventional hoops was out as the hoops & the fabric got in the way of the adjoining plants..

I finally settled on allocating a section of the garden each year for beets & chard..I built a light weight framework out of 1/2" x 1/2" redwood & stapled the fabric over the framework..I used 4 ft. long pieces on the four corners so that the framework was 3 ft. tall with 1 ft. to push down into the soil in order to anchor the frame against winds..The final framework measured 3' wide x 4' long x 3' high, & occupied 3/4's of one of the 4' x 4' beds..I used the light shade on the North side of the framework to grow plants that like minimal shade..

Although somewhat expensive, most of these fabrics have a 7-15 year life span if properly cared for when not being used..Years ago, I purchased the Remay that I used from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden supply..Agribon is what seems to be the market leader in this category of fabrics currently, & is what they are selling now..

[www.GrowOrganic.com]

Bruce

I built a wildlife pond to attract predator insects and also frogs and toads which will hopefully go through my garden cleaning it up of pests!

a pic!





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[www.azurastorch.blogspot.com]

That is an excellent idea Bruce. I will definitely use it.

Azura Skye: Awesome setup! I may end up doing a small pond as well. You might want to put in one of those floating solar fountains!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

whoa, pond. wicked backyard there, wow.

bruce, do you have any pictures of your set up that you'd be willing to share? gardening isn't an option where we're moving to soon but i'm always making plans for my ultimate backyard and i anticipate having it in near future.

thanks!

ultimate house to go with my ultimate garden
[www.simondale.net]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2008 05:32PM by coco.

coco

No pictures, unfortunately..

My garden somewhat resembled Azura Skye's beds, except that the main growing area measured 11 ft. wide x 29 ft. long, & after three years of adding on to the sides the height was at 23 1/2 inches..It was divided into seven 4 ft. x 10.5 ft. beds with 2" x 6" boards that were screwed vertically between the long sides in order to prevent the sides from bowing outwards & breaking..Running the length of the long sides down the center were 2" x 4" boards that were screwed onto the top side of the end walls of the bed, as well as onto the top sides of the 2x6's that formed the dividers..This created a 18 in. wide walkway down the center to plant, weed, & harvest from..This walkway, along with the 2x6 dividers. effectively created fourteen 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 2 ft. beds..That I planted intensively using the Square Foot Method..

This garden was located in the backyard of a city rowhouse here in Baltimore..The yard measured 19 ft. wide x 60 ft. long, comprising 1140 sq. ft. of space..Of which 92 sq. ft. was occupied by the concrete pad for the steps & porch leading down from the first floor of the house..Another 84 sq. ft. was occupied by the concrete sidewalk leading from the porch pad to the alley..Additionally, due to the northern exposure of the row of 6 houses blocking the sun; the 380 sq.ft. at the top of the yard closest to the house was only fit for plants that preferred heavy shade..

So, of the 1140 sq. ft. of potential growing area, only 676 sq.ft was available to effectively grow food crops..From the chain link fence on the east side of the yard to the sidewalk measured 4 ft..The sidewalk measured 2 ft. from side to side..From the sidewalk to the chain link fence on the west side of the yard measured 13 ft.. The main garden bed's south end started 22 ft. from the north wall of the house, extended 29 ft. towards the alley, & occupied 319 sq. ft. of the 676 sq. ft. available for growing food..

A 4 ft. x 10 ft. x 1 ft. raised bed measuring 40 sq. ft. was located directly opposite the main bed at the top of the yard..It was used to grow beans & cucumbers on an A-frame trellis..The legs of the trellis were spaced 3 ft. apart..Lettuces were grown in front of the trellis, as well as in between the legs of the trellis, as the leaf cover of the plants on the trellis allowed..

Below the A-frame bed were three 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 1 ft. beds measuring a total of 48 sq. ft..They were filled with concrete reinforcing wire mesh cages that were used to grow tomatoes..

Below the tomato cage beds at the bottom of the yard was a 12 ft. x 4 ft. x 5 ft. double compost bin occupying 48 sq. ft..

There were two beds outside of the chain link fence between the fence & the concrete alley..The one on the east side of the sidewalk measured 2 ft. x 4 ft. x 18 in..The one on the west side of the sidewalk measured 2 ft. x 13 ft. x 18 in., & was divided into three compartments..One was planted with a burning bush..The other two were planted with flowers, as was the bed to the east of the sidewalk..Flowers were also planted around the tomato cages, as well as in a half-barrel that was located between the last tomato cage bed & the compost bin (4 sq. ft.)..

A wooden plant stand measuring 2 ft. x 13 ft. was located at the bottom of the yard inside of the chain link fence..It occupyied 26 sq. ft..Flowers & herbs in containers were grown here..

So, of the 676 sq. ft. of possible growing space inside the backyard I was able to utilize 485 sq. ft. of that space to create compost, & to grow vegetables, ornamental annual flowers, herbs, & the occasional strawberry..Outside of the fence on an additional 32 sq. ft. I grew a perennial bush & ornamental annual flowers..

Everything that I created was theoretically portable & movable..The beds could be disassembled; & saved or discarded as the condition of the wood allowed..The soil created above ground could be moved to another location..Not without a lot of hard work, but it could be done..Moving 23.25 cu. yds. of soil weighing tons wouldn't be easy, but if you wanted to jump start a garden in a new location; then it would be worth the work..

That was my garden..Such as it was..I miss it..

Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2008 07:41PM by baltochef.

nice

love reading people's stuff here


awesome

Azura ,your pig is the cutest one ever.

where is the pig?

i went to review the pic that has the pond and i didn't see any pig

i thought i had good vision too

maybe i wasn't looking in the right place

The pig is in the 2nd picture, 1 inch from the top and 2 inches from the left. You can see a close up of the pig in Azura's blog (in her signature).

Cute piggy!
Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

thanks guys : )

My other piggy Mabel



I hope my garden is productive this year! But I don't think I will have great success with my fruit trees in the future because the climate is too mild here : )
suits me fine, not so good for bursting with flavour fruit!

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[www.azurastorch.blogspot.com]