The Nude Gardener - Partyin with Friends

Happy Growing, Gardeners! Everyone who raises veggies knows one of the biggest problems comes in tiny packages: insects. Of course, the pollinators are always welcome, but there are those that can lay waste to your best plants. Whether it be those blasted horn worms that can decimate your prized tomatoes overnight, or aphids that can slowly suck the life out of almost everything you have worked so hard for, you need something you can turn too to rid your labor of love free of these pests. Pesticides can help with most of these, but do you really want to put those poisons on your food? What if there were another way to get these pests out of your garden, attract beneficial insects, and enhance the flavor of your produce, not to mention growing even more treats to make your dishes taste heavenly? It can be done, and more easily than you might think. Companion Crops, and Trap Crops. Lets start with the easy one, Trap Crops. Trap Crops are plants that you, most likely, wont eat, but bugs will. Have a problem with aphids? Plant Nasturtium on the perimeter of your garden. The climbing variety of these flowers can be a beautiful addition to the deer fence around your garden and are a huge benefit. Nasturtium attracts leafhoppers, cabbage worms, aphids, whiteflies, spider mites and flea beetles, leaving your vegetables alone. They also attract more beneficial insects like bees and butterflies. On top of all that, theyre edible with a flavor similar to radishes and are great in a salad. In warmer climates, Zones 9 and below, they can act like perennials, but in cooler climates you can collect the seeds toward the end of summer or early fall to plant the following year. Buy once, grow forever. Marigolds also attract aphids and may have some luck in deterring larger pests like rabbits. Now, how about companions. This is where the real money is. Got hornworms? They come from the Manduca Quinquemaculata, the five-spotted hawkmoth, otherwise the moth of the tomato hornworm. Man, I hate those things. You go out to your garden in the evening and everythings green and beautiful, small tomatoes growing all over the place. You go back out the next morning, and all the leaves are gone, just sticks pointing at the sky. Half the tomatoes have hunks missing. You start looking around and theres one hornworm on each plant, and now each is about 3 inches long. Youre so angry you want to torture them to death. How about preventing them from the beginning. Basil and Lovage. You probably know all about Basil for sauces, soups, salads, and pesto. But did you know they can make that stupid moth blind to your tomatoes? The scent of Basil covers the scent, and your tomatoes cant be found. Then theres Lovage, the hornworm magnet. It grows high and its taste is similar to celery. Plant this and your tomatoes are safe. Other good companions include dill to keep white flies and spider mites off your cucumbers and attract pollinators, thyme for protecting your squash, zucchini, and melons from vine borers and squash bugs, and spinach for attracting beneficial insects like ladybugs and parasitic wasps to help control pest on peppers. Add cilantro to your potato bed to keep potato bugs away, radishes with beans, and chives with cabbage. So quit poisoning your food and your family with these chemicals. Use what nature gave us and grow larger, more flavorful produce. And just freakin enjoy. Stay Naked. The Nude Gardener