How to.....In the Garden

GET RID OF SLUGS:

Bury to ground level, a few used yogurt or small containers, fill them up with beer. Slugs love the yeast flavor and when they go to eat, they drown in the container. Keep an eye on the containers, remove debris and dead slugs and refill the beer as needed. No pesticides.

GET RID OF CABBAGE BUTTERFLIES:

The small white butterflies lay eggs on the underside of cabbage and broccoli leaves. When the eggs hatch, little green worms eat the leaves and make big holes.
Cover entire garden with plastic mesh, small enough to disallow the butterflies from passing through. Barrier method, no pesticides.

GET RID OF BEETLES:

Beetles are hard to eradicate. The larvae eat bean roots and roots of other plants in the garden.  The adults eat the leaves of beans, peppers, strawberries and  tender sprouts, skeletonizing the leaves. You may need to use a pesticide here. Try Ortho Bug B Gon Max.

GET RID OF RABBITS:

I love rabbits, but out of the garden. If you have a raised garden, fence the perimeter with chicken wire, make sure you nail closed the bottom part. If it is ground level, do the same but make sure you bury the wire in the ground about 3 inches. Do not leave any openings. This method helps prevent raccoons too.  Barrier method, no pesticides

GET RID OF SQUIRRELS:

You may need to cover your garden with netting. If you have a raised garden, and already fenced it with chicken wire, just put a netting over the top of it. Make sure you cover all the holes....you don't want birds getting trapped inside. If you need the butterflies to get in your garden to polinize, then use a large chicken wire so they can pass through. Barrier method, no pesticides.

GET RID OF ASPARAGUS BEETLES:

The Spotted Asparagus Beetles are reddish orange, with black antenna, undersides of thorax, and 6 black spots on each wing cover. The larvae are orange-yellow and have black legs and heads. They also have black back with tree white spots in each wing and are about a quarter-inch long. In either case, the treatment or control is the same. They will eat the fern fronds and lay the eggs in the branches.

Organically, you can hand pick the larve and beetles, drop them into soapy water and they will drown. Lady bugs and calchid wasps commonly prey upon asparagus beetles so you can release them in your garden.  Ground beetles may also prey upon the larvae when the are in or on the ground. Chickens or guineas, if you have any, eat the bugs.

If the infestation is too heavy you can spray with a rotenone or a rotenone-pyrethrum spray.

If you prefer to garden with chemicals, you can apply any insecticide which is labeled for asparagus beetles (Sevin).

Be careful, asparagus beetles overwinter in dead fronds and in other garden debris in and around the asparagus bed. In fall rake up and dispose (do not compost) the old fronds and plant debris.

More info in http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/asparagus-beetle.html

HOW TO COMPOST:

Coming soon....!!!!