Pests!

So it’s another short post today, dear reader, as I’ve been a busy little bee with both my art and gardening and I have an art lesson to teach in about an hour so I’d better get the lead out for this post.

It’s gardening day again and, like last week, it’s a maintenance week. Keep weeding and watering and in addition to that you’ll also want to keep an eye out for pests that may be starting to creep into your garden. I’ve already found Colorado Potato Beetles, a problematic bug that I had issues with last year. I’ve been picking them off by hand and, pardon my French, squishing the Hell out of them. I have no compunction about killing insects that are trying to eat my food.
What’s worth noting about these pesky little buggers is that despite what their name may imply, they will attack other veggies such as cucumbers and eggplant...it’s just that potatoes are their favourite. If I can manage to snag a picture of one of them I’ll be sure to post it so you’ll know what they look like so you can have the satisfaction of killing them too.
Now, hand picking pests is, of course, the most eco-friendly way of pest control. However, this method really only works if you have a small garden and your pest control is minimal. Another eco-friendly way is by importing predator flies that will know to attack the bad bugs and not you. If you happen to dress up as a bad bug before going out gardening...well...you have problems above and beyond what I’m capable of dealing with. I have yet to find an organic solution that can be sprayed or placed in the garden to control these particular bugs, but I’ll be looking into it more this year because obviously this is going to be a recurring problem. If anyone out there has any suggestions, I’m all ears!

Some other pests you’ll want to be on the lookout for are grubs. They’re nasty and will damage your plants both above and below ground. The idea with grubs is to seek and destroy. When you’re weeding just pick random spots in the garden and turn over some soil. They tend to sit about 2-4 inches below the soil level so you’ll be able to find them easily if you do have a grub problem. They also tend to be found near root crops such as onions, carrots and the like. If you find them kill them right away and preferably dispose of the grub body somewhere else...or have your neighbour Luigi do it for you (sorry, it was just too tempting).

To finish off on a more positive note, it’s not too late to begin your veggie gardening! Although I wouldn’t recommend starting anything from seed at this point (with the exception of beans or winter and/ or summer squash) what is good news is that most garden centres are selling off their veggie plants at a discounted price now. So go forth and grab your reduced cost veggies. They’re still good...and cheaper!