borage, nasturtium, sedum, carrots, lettuce, beets
cauliflower
another offering from the broccoli plants
what the heck do i do with kohlrabi?
many, many salads later the lettuce finally goes to seed
another tub pic
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2 comments:
How do you keep your plants from getting eaten by bug? Most of my things have holes in them from bugs. I won't treat them unless it's a choice between that and nothing growing. You plants look very nice.
Thank you. The key is that I only photograph the ones that aren't infested. I'm largely kidding but I'll take pictures of a couple of plants that are getting some insect attention next time I have the camera out. I avoid major problems with bugs in a few ways.
First of all I try and plant my vegetables in many different places throughout the yard. For instance, I have Mibuna, a new green I am trying this year, in four different locations. I have only a few plants at each location. One of the four locations has been attacked by insects but that means only a few plants are being affected. The other three locations are not being attacked. Secondly I try and avoid times of the year when insects have given me trouble in the past. A good example is eggplant. For the past few years I've been putting them out as early as I felt safe doing so for frost reasons. Each year they were riddled with holes from flea beetles. This year I waited longer to put them out and no problem with the little bastards. So far I'm having similar luck with the borers that tend to get my squash plants.
I also think my compost tea helps. And that goes toward the idea of healthy soil leading to health plants which are better able to fight off pests.
I add insects to the mix. I have purchased ladybugs and nematodes before but I am noticing more naturally occurring beneficial insects in the garden these days. I know it sounds like HGTV to say that a health yard will promote a balance of bugs but its true. Each year I see more ladybugs, more praying mantis, more of the tiny wasps that lay eggs in the cutworms that eat my tomatoes. I do believe that mixing up the plants and having lots of different stuff in the yard provides a habitat that fosters balance and doesn't cater to swarms of troublesome critters.
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