Naturally Bug-Free (11 page)

I deter imminent population explosions in my garden primarily through hand-picking. While this sounds like I've retreated to the Dark Ages, I assure you that I can hit all of the problematic spots in my acre-plus garden in less than ten minutes on a summer day. The trick is to pick during the cool of the morning so that the insects can't easily fly away, to pick often (three times a week is the minimum), and to know which problematic insects are likely to be where when. It's also handy to understand that beetles tend to drop directly down when startled, so if you put a cup of water under their resting place, you can "pick" them without touching anything with your bare hands.

Various sources will tell you to knock bad insects into a container of soapy water or gasoline, but I use plain water in a straight-sided cup or jar. The insects almost never clamber back out, and by keeping my liquid additive-free, I can dump the whole thing into the chicken coop, turning bad bugs into free eggs. Japanese beetles (and the occasional June bug) are the primary insects I treat this way since they're the ones our chickens will peck up before they fly off. Other bugs I often hand-pick include asparagus beetles (which I addressed in more detail in chapter 4), bean beetles (which I merely squish between my fingers since the chickens won't eat them), cabbageworms (which I squish or feed to the chickens, depending on my mood), and tent caterpillars.

Timing and trap crops

In all cases, you have to start picking when pest populations are low if you want to make a difference. I find it handy to mark on my calendar when major infestations (like Japanese beetles) are likely to arise so that I can nip them in the bud. The earliest Japanese beetles to emerge from the soil emit pheremones that attract others to their dining rooms, so if you catch the first beetles to congregate on your beloved plants and remove them, chances are the biggest party will set up shop in the weeds instead of in your berry patch.

Even for insects that don't congregate in this manner, if you kill a large portion of the first insects to show up in the spring, each early-bird won't be able to reproduce and turn into twenty or a hundred pest insects later that summer. That's why it might be worth pulling out plantings (like buggy beans) on which the pests have reached critical mass in the interest of keeping pest populations low throughout the garden. And that's also why it's so important to hand-pick with regularity, since daily (or at least thrice-weekly) pickings will keep insect populations at a dull roar.

Some gardeners take this strategy to another level by growing trap crops—plants that the pest insects like even more than they like the variety you want to harvest. If using trap crops, you'll need to keep a close eye on the trap crop and to hand-pick the pest insects as soon as they appear so the trap doesn't instead become a reservoir of bad bugs to spread into the rest of your garden. Trap crops can be as simple as an early planting of the same variety you want to grow for your main crop, or they can be a tastier (from an insect's point of view) variety that you plant beside the main variety. A classic example of the latter strategy is Blue Hubbard squash planted near other cucurbits to attract cucumber beetles, squash vine borers, and squash bugs.

Oriental fruit fly larvae tend to infect a significant proportion of my peaches, but I've learned to simply scoop out the troubled centers and enjoy the rest of the fruit.

So you've boosted your beneficials and tried to outwit the bad bugs that remain, but your corn still has an occasional earworm and your apples are adorned with spots. What can you do?

Eat the produce anyway! In
Organic Orcharding
, Gene Logsdon suggests that we lower our expectations for homegrown fruit instead of resorting to spraying. He figures that if a third of your apples are only fit to give to the hogs, that's okay—the fruits will be turned into bacon. Another third might need to be cut up to cook into applesauce and pies—who doesn't like apple pie? That leaves a third of your crop that is unblemished and beautiful, perfect for storing in a root cellar and nibbling on all winter.

In contrast to Logsdon's realistic approach to blemishes, most Americans have grown up eating grocery-store produce, all of which was sprayed with something (be it organic or not) to keep pest damage to a minimum. Next, up to 20% of the fruits and vegetables were discarded for cosmetic reasons before the most beautiful specimens made their way to the supermarket.

With all of this work to give the consumer perfect-looking fruits and vegetables, it's no wonder many modern Americans now turn up their noses at twisted or insect-nibbled cucumbers from their own gardens. But if you learn to cut out a bad spot here and there, you'll soon discover that the ugliest tomatoes really can be the tastiest ones, and that some trees seem to concentrate more flavor in the bug-nibbled fruits. When you go out of your way to choose the uglier apple, knowing it will taste better, then you've truly become a permaculture gardener.

Glossary

apiary
: a collection of honeybee hives.

beneficial
: good. In this ebook, I use the term to refer to animals that help the overall health of your garden.

beer trap
: a method of capturing slugs by setting a shallow dish of beer on the ground in the garden. Slugs crawl inside and drown overnight.

Bt
:
Baccillus thuringiensis
. This soil-dwelling bacterium is often used as an organic pesticide. However, Bt kills a wide range of insects, including flies, mosquitoes, beetles, nematodes, and caterpillars of moths and butterflies, so it will harm some beneficials. In addition, Bt has been shown to have some small toxicity to humans and the environment. Common trade names include DiPel and Thuricide.

borer
: various types of insects that chew into the roots and trunks of trees or other plants.

caterpillar
: a larval moth or butterfly.

cavity nester
: cavity nesters are animals that lay their eggs and raise their young in holes in trees.

chemical fertilizer
: fertilizers are added to the soil to provide nutrients, most notably nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Chemical fertilizers are man-made compounds in which the nutrients are supplied in their raw chemical form rather than bound to organic matter.

chicken tractor
: a small pen for chickens that includes both the roosting area and outdoor run.

codling moth
:
Cydia pomonella
. An insect whose larva feeds on apples, pears, and English walnuts.

competition
: among plants, competition usually involves two plants fighting over resources like light, nutrients, and water.

compost
: decomposed organic matter that is often used to fertilize organic gardens.

cover crop
: a plant grown to add fertility to a garden. For more information, see my ebook
Homegrown Humus
.

crucifer
: a member of the plant family Brassicaceae. Common garden crucifers include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard, radishes, and turnips.

cucurbit
: a member of the plant family Cucurbitaceae. Common garden cucurbits include cucumbers, gourds, melons, pumpkins, and squash.

cultivating soil
: cultivating soil means digging in the soil. In the home garden, examples would include running a rototiller between rows to suppress weeds or using a hoe to kill weed seedlings.

decomposer
: a decomposer is any organism that breaks down dead plants and animals into soil.

defoliate
: to remove leaves. When I write about insects causing defoliation, the insects are usually eating the leaves.

determinate tomato
: a determinate tomato is a variety whose fruits ripen close to the same time.

diatomaceous earth
: this crumbly soil is made from fossilized diatoms. Diatomaceous earth is often used as an organic pesticide because it causes insects to dry out and die. It is a broad-spectrum insecticide that will kill most things in its path, but only when dry, so diatomaceous earth is not a problem for the environment. However, diatomaceous earth can irritate the skin, lungs, and eyes of people.

disperse seeds
: moving seeds from one spot to another. Many plants count on animals to disperse their seeds.

ecosystem
: a community of interacting plants and animals.

egg case
: the structure that surrounds eggs.

fallow
: part of a garden that is not being used to grow food at that time.

fertilization
: adding nutrients to the soil, in the form of compost, manure, chemical fertilizers, compost tea, or urine.

generalist predator
: an animal that will eat many kinds of other animals rather than just one type.

grub
: a larval beetle.

hardy plant
: a plant that is able to handle cold.

hugelkultur
: a method of adding rotting wood to a garden, usually by burying the wood in the ground.

insecticidal soap
: a special kind of soap sprayed on plants to kill insects. Insecticidal soaps work by disrupting the insects' cell membranes. Although considered organic, insecticidal soaps are broad-spectrum insecticides that kill most soft-bodied insects upon contact.

invertebrate
: animals without a backbone.

iron-phosphate bait
: a type of purchased poison used to kill slugs and snails. Trade names include Sluggo and Escar-Go.

larva
: an active, immature form of an insect, such as a caterpillar.

leafy greens
: vegetables in which the leaves are eaten. Common examples of leafy greens include kale, mustard, and collards.

micronutrient
: minerals that plants require but only use in very small amounts. The eight main micronutrients are boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc.

monoculture
: a large planting of a single crop. For example, a five-acre corn field.

mulch
: plant matter that is laid on the surface of garden soil to hold in moisture and feed the earth.

neem oil
: oil pressed from the fruit and seeds of an evergreen tree. Neem oil is used as an organic pesticide, although it is a broad-spectrum chemical that will kill most insects it comes in contact with.

nematode
: a very small kind of worm. Some nematodes harm plant roots.

nest site
: a spot where an animal lays its eggs.

no-till
: a method of gardening that strives not to disturb the soil. No-till farmers often use toxic herbicides to kill weeds in lieu of plowing, but no-till gardeners usually simply lay down heavy mulches and hand-weed.

nutrients
: minerals and other substances that plants and animals need.

organic matter
: decomposed plants and animals. Garden examples include manure, compost, leaves, and straw.

permaculture
: sustainable farming systems. Because the term "organic" has become industrialized in recent decades, gardeners who are more serious about growing food in harmony with the earth replaced the term "organic" with the term "permaculture."

pesticide
: anything that kills unwanted insects.

pheremone
: a chemical emitted by an animal to communicate with others.

predator
: an animal that eats other animals.

pupa
: the intermediate form between a larva and an adult insect. Pupae are often protected inside cocoons.

organic
: growing plants using only natural inputs. The definition for "natural" varies greatly, and some amendments that are allowed by current organic standards can be harmful to the environment.

rhizobial bacteria
: bacteria that live the root nodules of legumes and that take nitrogen out of the air, converting it into a form plants can use.

rock dust
: finely crushed rocks used to supply minerals to garden soil.