Entry bubble Protecting Your Garden from Pests

By: Joanne | June 02, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

flowers, potatoes, carrots

Back in March I was so excited to get my garden started. I had the highest of ambitions. But let’s just say that my garden got a little later start than I had hoped, ok? Over the last few weeks I’ve been working like crazy in the garden. I planted tomatoes, beets, kale, peas, cucumbers, spinach, chard, lettuce, and 3 different kinds of happy sunflowers. I have yet to plant the pumpkins and decorative gourds, but I’ll get there.

I always have some plants, like marigolds, in the garden just because they’re beneficial companions to my veggies and help keep the insects away. I don’t use chemical fertilizers, herbicides or insecticides in my garden, and it’s been my experience that everything grows very well without all that stuff. Even the time I found that very large, very hungry caterpillar lunching on my tomato plants was no big deal. I just picked him up with a stick and took him for a little walk to the woods where there are plenty of delicious leaves for him to enjoy.

The Department of Agriculture has some tips on plants that deter harmful insects, and there are a number of excellent books on the topic – many of which I’m sure are available at your local library. The National Arboretum has advice on chemical and non-chemical garden pest management tips and let’s not forget that the National Agricultural Library isn’t just for big farms, but they have information and advice for backyard gardeners, like us.

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