Pest Control

I'm sure there will be a Great Pest Battle at some point, but I plan on using purely organic methods, such as soap or garlic sprays, manual work (plucking, trimming, barriers), traps, or ladybugs. This is, of course, in addition to preventative measures using plants such as marigolds, thyme, basil, and nasturtiums to keep bugs off the veggies and herbs. It'll be interesting to see what works.

Pests/methods noted so far:
Aphids:
- Sage, 4/20/09... a pile of babies wilted one seedling, but recovered. Picked off by hand, squished.
- Mint (chocolate only), 4/26/09... oh dear, they LOVE this mint. For three days I've been squishing them, possible 3o total.
- Spitfire Nasturtium, 4/26/09... two babies found here. Squished!
* squishing aphids is supposed to release hormones that both attract ladybugs and freak out the other aphids. I will probably invest in some ladybug larvae a bit later in the season, 'cause for now squishing is keeping things under control but I can see this becoming a large job (not to mention gross).

Slug:
- Spitfire Nasturtium (pests are SUPPOSED to eat this one, it is a trap crop)... ate a third of a seedling leaf, easily recovered. Picked off by hand, tossed over fence (I can't help it, they're cute).
* will try the "stale beer pool" trap if these become a bigger problem.