Gardening is a very rewarding and fun endeavor. It can also be slightly disheartening at times because of the way nature works. Plant yummy things and pests will come help you enjoy them. This spring I had it out with a family of bunnies who liked to munch on my tender peas and beans. After chasing bunnies out of my already fenced-in yard and putting up a chicken wire fence around my garden, I finally won that battle and was able to go on growing. I have also declared war on green cabbage worms and beet eating mice and have mostly been successful in my battles. But it seems as though the pests are not done with me yet. Last week I notice my potato plants were looking a little munched. Upon further inspection, I noticed little orange beetles mowing their way through my potato foliage. A quick search on my state’s extension website (a wonderful resource) found that these were in fact the dreaded potato beetle. There is no organic spray that will kill them and keep them away, they have very few natural enemies, and they make quick work of eating potato foliage, which can cause potatoes to stop growing. What is a gardener to do? Pick them off. By hand. Dunk them in soapy water to kill them. Gross, but nessesary. I filled up my little bucket with soapy water and proceeded to flick little orange beetles off of my potato plants.
I felt strangely satisfied and a little gleeful. Pests can’t come in to my garden without fight! I will defend my food, whatever it takes! The beetles are gone for now but I am going to have to keep a close eye out and have my little bucket of soapy water on stand-by because I am sure other beetles will be along soon. If you plant it, pests will come.
Any pests in your garden?
This post is linked to Homestead Barn Hop.
8:17 am on August 15th, 2011
Last year half of our tomatoes were ravaged by hornworms, and the rest suffered some damage from them as well. I’d pick them off and more would come. They are just the grossest thing. This year I was highly proactive and planted every beneficial companion plant I could fit around my tomatoes; carrots, basil, marigolds, and borage, plus I didn’t plant the particular variety of tomatoes (Rutgers) that they had displayed such a fondness for last year. I only had one plant (it happend to be a late acquisition that ended up separate from the others) that had a hornworm and a couple of those other, brown worms on. I’ve been very grateful of that.
12:19 pm on August 16th, 2011
Spinosad will work on the larvae, and is organic. I hand picked the adults and used it once on the larvae and it worked beautifully. Do a google search to find a brand. It’s new this year.
3:59 pm on August 16th, 2011
Thanks for the tip, Jennifer! I will be looking into that for next year!