THOSE DARN PESTS BIG AND SMALL
The summer season 2023 finally warmed up to 80 degrees at the end of June around the solstice after quite a bit of rain that spring, 8“ in May and over 4” in June. Everything had been planted including indoor seedlings and directly sown outdoor seeds like zucchini, cucumbers, melon. All the slow growing made harvest time 2 weeks later than usual.
The flea beetles didn’t waste any time attacking the potatoes and tomatoes leaves. I had them another time when I grew strawberries. They got so infested that I pulled the strawberry plants out and didn’t grow them again. I had spoken with a lady from a community garden in Conifer and she had mentioned using Diatomaceous Earth to sprinkle on the leaves of the plant. DE is a silica -rich powder made from fossilized remains of diatoms, a hard-shelled algae. It works by damaging the exoskeletons of insects causing them to dehydrate and die (per google). I used a small strainer to sprinkle onto the leaves (like sprinkling powdered sugar). The bugs would immediately jump off (help!) but rain would wash the powder off so I would have to reapply every time and sometimes I did not get to it. I continued to sprinkle throughout the summer but the flea beetles won and killed the potato leaves. Luckily the ‘tuber potatoes’ survived in the ground and we pulled a couple of pounds out.
Newly plucked potatoes
I also use marigolds around the tomatoes to prevent bugs and plant radishes around the potatoes for the flea beetle which is supposed to help deter them. Healthy plants have better resistance to disease and bugs; HMMM, sounds just like us humans!!
Cache of peppers from vole
Noticed the cabbage had been chewed on so we set mouse traps out and got 2 of them. Problem solved? Nope, later in the season there was an animal “caching” peppers; seemed like a mouse couldn’t carry them over to the hiding place, we figured it was a vole (rodent, bigger than mouse) so we borrowed a vole trap. We trapped him but didn’t know what to do with him so we decided to wait until morning to bring him somewhere and release him in a field but he died overnight, problem solved on its own!
Many people asked me over the years if we have deer that get into the garden. Never had one over the 10 years until that summer. I figured it was because we have defined boxes which might deter deer from the “business” of the area. She destroyed the zucchini plant, took bites on many other veggies and left her footprint.
Young buck in field of poppies near our home
Once an animal finds a source of food, they will always come back and she did. Later that day, I walked in the garden and there she was standing right there looking at me!! I shooed her and she finally easily leapt over the fence. Setting up a mouse trap is a pretty easy thing, for deer we had to add a whole other upper level of fencing up to 8 feet so that she couldn’t get back in. It worked. At one point we considered Electric wiring to deterrent the deer/bear but it does not work. The animal has to ‘touch’ the wire in order to get a shock. The deer just glide right over the fence without touching the wires.
Had a bull snake stuck in garden fence a few years back (early post) but just the other day a bull snake was moving towards our back deck while I was sitting there! Managed to get him moving around towards the side/front of the house. Bull snakes are good because they eat rodents:)
Bull snake on lawn
