How to Keep Bugs Out of Your Garden

I recently got a facebook question from reader, Amanda, about keeping bugs out of the garden.  She asked,

Mavis, how do you keep bad bugs out of your garden? All your produce always looks so healthy!!!! What’s your secret? I am battling little green caterpillars on everything. Little munchers are on my nasturtiums, sage, radishes, brassicas. I’m finding them everywhere!!!! HELP!

The truth is, I don’t keep bugs out of my garden.  I only manage them.  It’s a delicate balance, and occasionally, they have the upper hand.  To manage them, I use a couple of different techniques.  First, I check my plants DAILY.  Any bugs gets squashed, like, well…bugs.  I painstakingly pull them off with gloved fingers.  That’s usually my first line of defense.

I use companion planting to do my best to avoid getting bugs in the first place.  Flowers, like Marigolds, are awesome for deterring bugs {and sometimes attracting them–which keeps them away from your edibles}.

Prevention goes along way in managing insects.  In addition to companion planting, you can try row covers on your crops from start to finish.  It might prevent the bugs from settling, but won’t help much if you have bugs that have over-wintered in the soil, so combining row covers with crop rotation is essential.  Over-watering seems to lead to infestation as well.  It makes sense that bugs would stay where there seems to be a consistent water source, so make sure you water enough for your plants to thrive, but not so much that they are in standing water.  Most plants benefit from the soil drying out completely between watering.

If bugs do make their way in the garden {and they will}, I usually try to  introduce natural predators {read:  other bugs} into my garden.  That way, while I am off living my life, they can chow down on unwanted pests.  Click on the link above to get a detailed how-to on beneficial insects, but basically, you have to attract them to your garden with certain plants {companion planting comes full circle again}.

If these less aggressive methods don’t work and the bugs start to win, I have recommended diatomaceous earth in the past, not because I have used it, but because LOTS of my readers and friends swear by it.  It still qualifies as organic, but it will help to manage the bugs in a little more aggressive way.  You can also flirt with making your own pesticides–I’ve used a mixture of dish soap, hot peppers flakes, and minced garlic to spray on infested plants, with mixed results.  Google it–you are bound to find a recipe that people swear by.

That’s about it.  I hope it helps, at least a little.  I wish there was a magic cure-all fix to organic gardening, but there just isn’t.  It is more of a slow and steady marathon.  One day, you’re winning, the next day, the bugs have the upper hand–and some years are worse than others.

How about YOU, any tips for Amanda?

~Mavis