Organic Gardener

Dealing With Garden Bugs or Pests

While tending to my own garden, I have found that one of the most frustrating things that can happen to a gardener is to walk outside to check on your plants. It’s just a routine walk to make sure that your garden is thriving, but you end up finding holes in all of your plants that looked fine only hours before. The explanations for some of these plant-destroying holes are garden pests. Some of the main garden pests are slugs, worms, caterpillars, birds, snails, and the occasional gopher.
Although you can never wipe out these pests entirely, after all your hard
work in the garden you have to do something.

Insects are one of the worst things to have in your garden; they can live under the soil, in old weeds or piles of leaves, or in a number of other places. In order to help keep insects away, always try and eliminate places in your garden and near your garden that these insects and other plant diseases could be living. Remove old leaves, weeds, or any other
decaying matter that insects and diseases could be living in from your yard. Also, regularly turn over your garden soil and break apart any clumps of dirt so that you can eliminate the living spaces any insects that might be hiding underground.

You can gather your vegetable and fruit waste, coffee grounds and egg shells, but never add meat waste or your pets droppings as this will make the pile smell and attract other animals. Use garden clippings, grass cuttings, dead leaves and branches, but no weeds or diseased plants.

 Gardening Tips and Techniques 

Choose a spot for your compost pile near your garden for your compost pile and dump your food and garden savings into it, cow or horse manure will add to the nutrients and make a compost fertile. Keep your compost pile moist, occasionally turning it and in several months you should have nutrient rich black organic compost. Just remove any large undecomposed pieces of waste, and work the compost into the soil where you'll plant your crops.