Pest Control
When you create an environment that encourages and nurtures life, everything will show up to enjoy it. The gardens are so clean and healthy, everything from finches to snakes to toads show up to the party. This also attracts some undesirables. Caterpillars, aphids, and other plant eating buggers see what a great spread there is, and move in.
Its so important to keep the gardens as poison free as possible. Not just for the quality of our finished product, but for the sustainability of the land. Insect sprays, no matter how big ORGANIC has been printed on the label, a poison is a poison. We rely on bees and other pollinators to visit our plots and do their thing. We also have a lot more friendly visitors than bad ones as well. Work smarter not harder. That’s why we let nature do a lot of the work for us.
Beyond this point, you will learn our secret and its violent truth. Far away, our garden is peaceful and pure, but close up, its a brutal warzone.
When we first encountered a great, big, fat, green caterpillar, the immediate thought is, “Oh crap. It’t going to eat everything.” Funny story, the wasp, also a friendly pollinator, lays its eggs alll over the creepy crawly. When they hatch, they begin to eat the buffet they are riding. Now when we see one, we think, you are gonna make about 30 little ones very happy in less than a week.
We don’t kill spiders. The wood chips make for perfect hideouts for ambush spiders. They are everywhere, carrying their little egg sacs with them. When we see a large web between two plants, we go around. Our favorite is the Corset Spider. The black skulls on the yellow body and that special thing they do with their webs right down the middle is really unique.
A giant wolf spider with a back full of babies stalking the garden at night.
If we killed off all the pests, then the beneficial insects wouldn’t have much of a reason to come around. Sprays wash off of plants and the pests come back, but without an established presence of their predators, they can feast away until you spray again. As soon as you spray, you start the whole cycle again. You contaminate the soil further and create a toxic environment for every living thing.
When the sun starts to set, the woodchips start to move and out pops an army of little toads. They take out slugs and whatever is crawling around that they can catch. They make little burrows under the chips and cardboard, where its always damp. Those burrows allow air to circulate into the soil and when it rains, creates another channel for water to get to the roots and be stored for when things dry out again.
Another voracious eater is the lovely ladybug. They can eat their weight in pests in a day. Fun fact, they are as hungry as they are horny. Almost every time you see them, there are a couple getting it on. Sometimes, there’s a line to take turns. Ge a room you guys, or ladies, or whatever.
One of our most famous sentries is the revered Praying Mantis. With 360 vision, wings, a hard exoskeleton, and pincers that can hook a hummer bird, they are death machines. We buy a bunch of cocoons every year from Arbico Organics. Yes, they will eat anything, except plants. They’ll even eat each other if there is no other food around. If they fly away, they’re helping someone else out who needs it.
Our pest control is as holistic as we can offer while trying to achieve our own goals. Everything we do is intentional and connected to something else. We can’t pretend to create something good if our source isn’t. We are proud of how we take care of the land and are not afraid to share our knowledge to anyone who wants to try something new and possibly better.
