Growing your Own Healthfully: Organic Home or Victory Gardens

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richard Arrington on April 19, 2009 at 12:20am

Francine, Check out my Website http://millerperry4hclub.org/default.aspx I have information about organic gardening on it.

Richard.

Permalink Reply by Blue Daze on April 19, 2009 at 10:12am

Francine, I admit a little ulterior motive. I figure not only is the garden a good thing, but it presents an opportunity for a little party-building, and maybe even a chance to gently open that discussion with "green minded" independents. We hope to donate any leftovers to the local food bank - a little healthier than macaroni.

Permalink Reply by Eric Scott Lykins on April 20, 2009 at 3:21am

COLLARS: To stop hatching larvae from burrowing into the soil surrounding your plants, use "collars"
made of stiff paper, heavy plastic or tar paper. Cut a piece a foot square and fit snugly around the stem of
the plant and press into the soil an inch or so deep. Use a paper clip to hold in place. This prevents
cutworms and other burrowing insects from getting into the soil around your plants.
NETTING: Fine netting such as cheese cloth, placed over the bed, will protect seedlings from chewing
insects, keep cats and birds away, and prevent flying insects from laying eggs.
COFFEE CAN TRAP: An effective technique for trapping non-flying insects is to bury a tin can in the
bed of your garden so that the lip of the can is flush with the soil surface. Some bugs will fall in the can
and be unable to get out. The can should be emptied often. This trap also collects beneficial insects and is
a good way to monitor the insect population in your garden.
TRAP PLANTS - Some insects, if given a choice, will opt to feed on one type of plant or another. For
example: maggots prefer radishes over corn and tomato worms prefer dill over tomatoes. Planting sacrifice cabbage will save the eggplant. Certain plants can be strategically placed so that they lure harmful insects away from plants you wish to protect. These are commonly referred to as "trap plants." Once the trap plant has become infested, the target insect can be picked off and dropped in soapy water or the entire plant can be pulled up and disposed of.
COMPANION PLANTING - Some plants possess the natural ability to repel certain types of insects.
Companion planting is the practice of strategically placing insect-repelling plants next to crops that will
benefit from their natural properties. For example, planting garlic among vegetables helps fend off Japanese beetles, aphids, the vegetable weevil, and spider mites; basil planted near tomatoes repels tomato horn worms; and marigolds interplanted with cucurbits (i.e., zucchini, cucumbers, etc.) discourage
cucumber beetles.
more info here such as botanical insecticides
www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pesticides/docs/SomeNaturalP...">some natural alternatives such as cayenne pepper, Dawn dishwashing liquid
squash bugs
Bell peppers are more heavily contaminated with neurotoxic insecticides than all other crops; Charleston Belle and Carolina Wonder peppers have genetic resistance to the southern root-knot nematode.
Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects and www.mda.state.md.us/pdf/tip1.pdf+cucumber+pesticide+alternative&...">more

Best for last: pesticide.org has bug and weed specific fact sheets and people to answer questions

Permalink Reply by Shane Rhyne on April 20, 2009 at 8:40am

Thanks everyone for jumping in with these suggestions. Here are some additional ones for Francine and anyone else interested in how to raise an organic garden. We picked up some of these tips last year when we converted our front yard into an organic vegetable garden. It was our first try at organic gardening (or any gardening at all, really). We had some successes and some failures, but we did bring almost 400 pounds of produce into our kitchen last year from our front yard. We are still enjoying many of the items we canned and froze including green peppers, pickles, salsa, tomato sauce, and more.

One of our go-to books was The Gardeners' A to Z Guide to Growing Organic Food. It's a great and easily-organized way to find information various plants and pests.

Also, don't forget the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension office. They've recently launched an organic initiative. You'll find some helpful information on the Ag Extension web site about insect management, PDF files of workshop handouts, and a wide variety of links to other resources.

We found the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service's web site on pest management to be quite informative, too.

And our best trick? We asked older farmers. Remember, before the 1950s almost all food in the U.S. was organic. The tricks that older farmers (we met several at our local farmers' market) shared were invaluable. We also picked up info from publications such as Mother Earth News (which has most of its back issues searchable online now) and Rodale's Organic Gardening.

The key is to ask and keep asking and to be willing to experiment a little bit. Not every tip will work (ask my squash crop), but you'll soon find what works best for you. Take advantage of local workshops and other opportunities (like this group) to meet and network.

I hope this is helpful. Let us know what else we can do!

Take care,
Shane

Permalink Reply by Francine Bryan on April 23, 2009 at 1:10am

Thanks to all of you who have replied and especially to those who have taken the time to write such lengthy and thoughtful responses. I'm trying to read it all...wow! And, I've rushed out and bought some additional plants/seeds for trap plants and/or companion planting...like dill and basil to protect any precious tomatoes, especially from those nasty hornworms, etc.! So, I'm up to my eyeballs in more seeds, plants, peat pots, soil, etc. My personal page on this site now looks like nothing but comments about FOOD and BUGS. To think, most people who think they know me would never believe I would have my feet in dirt much less my hands! :-)

All of my plants (ones I started from seed and ones I purchased) are still inside under a plant light and I will probably be putting them out in the next few days. I was also in search of a bulb for my plant light for almost 2 weeks, so I had to improvise on that until I finally found one yesterday. Now, I have a few more questions...

The leaves on my red sweet bell pepper plants are disappearing, although they are not yet outside and I can find NO sign of insects on them. This is very disheartening, as I have never been successful at growing red bell peppers, which I love. Any ideas about what's munching on them? I purchased these as plants because I couldn't find any seeds locally, thought it was too late to order seeds, and the tag doesn't say what variety they are.

Dumb question, I'm sure...which of my plants do I need "collars" for, if I'm planting tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and maybe the peppers? My experience with squash plants is that once they're large enough to produce fruit, the plants are laying on the ground anyway. What is it that gets into the stalks of the squash plants? I think I can deal with the squash bugs...those suckers! What was your biggest problem with your squash crop, Shane?

I believe I've got the cucumbers "covered," although I've heard/read differing views on how helpful marigolds are at preventing pests. Guess I'll try them and see though :-)

With regard to larger critters, we have many squirrels in the backyard and a few rabbits (this is suburbia). The squirrels have only been a problem for our tomatoes in the past when we were in a drought, and I suppose they were thirsty. Does it sound as if I need to take any protective measures with regard to the squirrels?

Okay, I'll stop here for now. If I've asked questions that are answered somewhere in the material you guys have linked to, I apologize. Not all of the links are working for me for some reason. Again, I do appreciate all of your help!

Here's hoping I harvest some great vegetables, and Mary uncovers a crop of Democrats along with her vegetables!

Thanks everyone,
Francine

Permalink Reply by Francine Bryan on October 1, 2009 at 4:13am

Hello, everyone

I guess those of you who offered so much helpful advice might have wondered what ever happened with my organic gardening this summer. Well, after starting over THREE (3) TIMES, I finally gave up for this summer. The plants just could not tolerate the seemingly endless days of soaking rain that were followed by cloudy days with very little to no sun. Root rot got everything, despite the garden being at the top of a hillside :-(

I gave it a good try though. And, with the mutliple attempts, I now have so much of this information in my head that I'll know how to start out right next Spring. For now, I'm relying on those who do this as an occupation to provide me with healthy food to eat :-)

Thanks to everyone for the great advice!

Francine