Garden Biodiversity 1.0

Jill: just one suggestion: (4.00 / 3)

Welcome the suckers.  If I were you, I'd probably intersperse some perennials (the kinds that aren't invasive) among the food crops.

But the real question is: how close are you to woodlands?  If you're close enough, and you're not spraying, you will get the desired predator bugs.

My last garden had both wheelbugs & preying mantises.  The big problem was keeping the mantises and wheelbugs away from each other, so they could both focus on the Japanese beetles and not eat each other.  And, yes, I was very close to a woodland-type park.  My predator-bugs saw my garden and hopped onto it...and I never sprayed, so they stayed, healthy and hungry: and ate Japanese beetles that were munching on my basil (among other plants).

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 01:58:31 AM UTC

not close to the woodlands (4.00 / 4)

or anywhere wild. I just added some red clover and nasturtiums outside, for the hell of it.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 04:26:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I really don't know about (4.00 / 3)

nature in your part of the country, but I'm guessing there are predator bugs around you.  Maybe you have a friend with too many wheelbugs?  (Oh, hell, you can never have too many wheelbugs...but you know what I mean: can you find someone with predator bugs who is willing to give you a few you can put into your garden?)

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 08:46:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Plant one hops plant. (4.00 / 4)

I'm being somewhat facetious, but I just listened to a Deconstructing Dinner episode about hops, in which the farmer said they grow a foot a day at times. That would be awesome for anyone to see, much less the girls, and the plant would just outrun pests.

I've never seen hops, but apparently they are like vines, perhaps like pea or bean plants, grown on stakes or wires for maximun vertical growth. I don't know what the roots are like, or what soil they prefer.

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by: count @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 02:34:27 AM UTC

All I know about hops plants (4.00 / 4)

is that I love them in beer...and that some of the best in the U.S. are grown in the Cascades (WA state).  Not sure Jill's in the right heat zone to grow them, but it couldn't hurt to try, right?

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 08:36:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

They're growing around you now, too... (4.00 / 3)

Actually, a whole bunch of Jersey and NY craft brewers are 'outsourcing' their hops production to Pennsylvania.  PA and NY state are apparently a pretty good place for them, as well.  In addition to OR and WA...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 22:03:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Mother Nature and agriculture! (4.00 / 5)

My advice - maybe get some food grade diatomaceous earth and dust around the fava beans. You should be able to get that at either your garden store (you may have to order it) or at a local wine/beer supply shop.

With the weeds, when (if) they get a bit bigger see if you and ID any of them as edible. At least that makes weeding a bit easier 'Look, I'm not weeding, I'm picking greens....'

Corn Gluten meal is supposed to be good for suppressing weed seed germination, and maybe you could use that in beds that you're going to be transplanting seedlings into, although I don't know how long it's effective, so it might put the kibosh on succesive plantings from seed in any particular bed it's used in.

You could also use landscape fabric or my personal favorite, old newspapers and paper feed bags as 'landscape cloth', then put some wood chips or straw over it to hold it down. If you don't buy a newspaper every day, check with the neighbors, they may have old newspapers they'd be willing to give you. The papers are cheap or free and will break down in about 6 months or less. Works great when you're transplanting as you did with the fava beans. I've been saving paper feed bags since last summer for this spring's planting. I now have a huge stack of them.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 03:55:44 AM UTC

diatomaceeous earth (4.00 / 3)

DE seems like something that might only be useful for a very specific problem or specific class of pest. What might it be used for in this case?

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by: count @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 04:09:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

All I know is what wiki told me: (4.00 / 4)

Pest control

Diatomite is also used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical-grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and humans. It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and eventually eliminate a cockroach infestation. This material has wide application for insect control in grain storage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 08:42:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Love the wiki. (4.00 / 4)

The wikis for both DE and boric acid are interesting. I always thought the idea about boric acid might be just a rumor - guess it's true!

Regarding the DE - nicely sophisticated use of a very simple concept. Makes a guy wonder why we use so many poisonous chemicals.

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by: count @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 09:20:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh, the thing about (4.00 / 4)

boric acid is definitely true: I've been using it for years to keep the cockroach population down.  Didn't know until I read the wiki that DE was also effective.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 09:53:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

i used boric acid for ants once (4.00 / 4)

although i was very worried because I had cats stepping in it too and I didn't want them to be harmed at all. Have thought about trying DE for fleas but in the end I just clean a lot and use the toxic flea stuff on my cats each time. It's just too itchy to do much else.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 09:57:05 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah, you don't want the cats (4.00 / 4)

to walk in boric acid & then lick their paws...I always tried to put it into the cracks between the floor & the wall (you know, those boric acid bottles that come with a long...nose?...so you can puff it into little spaces).

OTOH, a weak boric acid solution is also used to clean out cats' eyes if they have an infection (10% iirc, but it's been a lot of years since I've needed to do that: luckily King Tut -- the cat who came up my fire escape & into my heart almost a year ago -- seems VERY healthy).

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 10:09:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

OK, Ya'll are going to love this story about Boric Acid (4.00 / 4)

This is from Harold's collection of stories about how firemen play pranks on each other.

One of the stations he was at in LA county had a field next to it and one of the firemen decided he was going to raise some pigs. This was quite a while ago, when the area was much more rural, and way back when firemen were paid low enough wages that you had to have a second job to pay the bills. The guys were just a pay grade above volunteers.

Anyway, this guy needed to deworm his pigs, and everyone told him to give 'em a boric acid solution, which he did.

The guys decided to play a prank on him, and they all set about hypnotizing the pigs by scratching them till they layed down, then scratching their stomachs till they fell asleep.

The pig pasture had a lot of broken up concrete or ceramic pipe in it, and when the pigs were all relaxed and fell asleep, the firemen rolled them over and propped them up with the broken pieces of pipe. They then ran into the firehouse and told the guy that something was wrong with the pigs. When he ran out he saw all of his pigs laying on the ground with their hooves in the air. He thought he'd killed them, until he ran out there and the pigs all woke up.

Firemen, a whole 'nuther life form.....

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 12:02:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I take that back about the boric acid (4.00 / 4)

it was Carbolic Acid that the guy used on the pigs. Still, it's a funny story.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 12:05:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I used DE one year to control flies on the horse manure (4.00 / 4)

worked pretty good. I had to buy a 50# bag of the stuff, which is a LOT. But considering I only paid around $12 for it, and it lasted all year (I actually still have a little in a shaker out in the barn), it was very cost effective. I'm going to use it this year to control the cucumber beatles and for feather dust for the chickens to control feather mites. I could use pyrethrins, but I'm trying to steer clear of too many chemicals. And I'm not sure of the toxicity to the chickens or if the pyrethrins can make it into the eggs if the hens ingest it through preening.

Where I have the heat lamp set up in the barn the chickens are in there constantly dusting as it's heated up the litter and sand on the floor there. I notice they use it pretty heavily when it's cold and/or rainy out. I need to dust the area with all of the DE I have right now as I'm sure they've all got feather mites and this is a good way to be sure that everyone gets dosed pretty well.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 12:13:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

carrot seedlings... (4.00 / 4)

Carrots is one of the things that DOES consistently work for us, 8-)   Have spent years getting the soil conditioned, of course, many bags of sand worked in, and not too much compost after the first build, it's apparently really easy to make your soil "too rich" as far as the carrots are concerned.  We really like Ed Hume's "Little Finger" variety, they make a beautiful little carrot, tender and sweet, about 2-4 inches long and diameter under one-half inch.  

I think I see some carrots in your photo, that little line about in the middle.  Carrot sprouts look sorta like the top half of:    )(      two little single "leaf" things, curving away from each other.  on a "stem" about a third as long as the leaflets.  Best description I can ASCII, 8-), hope it makes sense.  

There will be nothing to see for possibly weeks and weeks -- gotta keep the area moist though -- Then practically overnight, they'll be everywhere, about an inch tall.  They'll keep coming too, it may be several weeks before everything that's going to germinate is visible.  I don't actually know how long it takes for the multiple stems and the frilly-tops-of-stems to develop, once the seedlings are up, the importance of constant dampness goes way down, you can go to regular watering along with the rest of the garden.  Oh, himself says REGULAR watering IS important, if things get too dry in between, you can get splitting and things (and those weird open spaces you sometimes get in home-grown potatoes are also a wet-dry irregular watering thing too. -- Doing potatoes is also EASY!  They, however need LOTS of feeding.)

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by: chimene @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 21:30:08 PM UTC

thanks! (4.00 / 3)

sooo helpful.  

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Dec 31, 2009 at 07:10:49 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Biodiversity in your garden (0.00 / 0)

Other ways to encourage biodiversity in your garden:

1. Steer clear of chemical fertilizers and herbicides.
2. Compost waste; compost heaps can provide a valuable wildlife habitat for slow worms and many invertebrates.

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by: ahidayat08 @ Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 03:54:18 AM UTC