There’s nothing more heartbreaking than losing your garden to pests and diseases. Whether it’s a rabbit stealing carrots (excuse the stereotype, not every rabbit likes carrots…sometimes they eat your lettuce too!) or hornworms gutting your tomatoes, or powdery mildew yucking up your pumpkins—it can feel like a major loss when food gardening is such a labor of love.
Companion planting is one solution to such chaos. This is the practice of pairing plants that are beneficial to each other. For example, the tomato hornworm hates basil, and some say planting basil close to tomatoes makes them taste better, so it’s a win-win!
You can also make a homemade bug spray for vegetable plants by mixing neem oil with dish soap and some water, which will keep bugs from attaching to the leaves of your plants, making it harder for them to get to your produce.
For bigger pests like deer and birds, you can throw nets over bushes, and put up fences around trees to deter them.
There is so much more to talk about when it comes to pests and diseases because there is an unlimited amount of doom coming for every vegetable garden, but that’s part of the fun, right? Still you didn’t plant a garden not to eat it, so there has to be a limit to how much one wants to undertake with their fruits and vegetables before they start heading back to the grocery store for watery fruits and limp veggies.
In the articles below, we dive into everything you need to know about repelling pests and diseases in your food garden, and you can learn even more about them in our How to Grow a Vegetable Garden: 10 Things Every Gardener Needs to Know Before Starting a Food Garden freebie. Enjoy!
Gardeners love worms. They aerate the soil, provide nutrients that plants need, and help keep the soil healthy. So a garden with lots of worms in the soil is almost guaranteed to be productive and happy. But that’s not true with one species: the Asian Jumping Worm. Jumping worms, crazy worms, Alabama jumpers, and snake […]
When it’s the seed-starting time of the year, it feels like a fresh start, doesn’t it? You fill your pots and seed trays with sterile soil, baby your seeds until they sprout, and dream about how your season is going to turn out. But sometimes over-babying your seedlings can have its consequences. And in that […]
You’ve likely come across Botrytis rot, otherwise known as gray mold, on your fruits, vegetables, or other plants at some point. In cool, damp conditions, the fungus Botrytis cinerea can spread quickly and infect anything from blueberries and strawberries to eggplants, onions, carrots, beans, and artichokes. In fact, as far back as 1918, Botrytis rot was a […]
The Japanese flying beetle is quite the looker. The metallic green head and shiny copper wings make it look more like a jewel than a garden-destroying invader. Since the beetle’s accidental introduction to the United States in 1916, it has spread and flourished across most of the country.
The end of summer signals the beginning of tomato season! So many delicious tomato recipes. And consider canning tomatoes if you have an abundance. But for now, celebrate the fruits (yes fruits) of your labor and the fact that you’ve made it to harvest season. You can’t wait to get your hands on some heirloom tomatoes. Or maybe you’re like me and enjoy a post-gardening snack on homegrown cherry tomatoes. But something is wrong with your harvest this year. What are those splotches on the bottom of your tomatoes? Is it a pest? Is it a fungus? No, it’s tomato blossom end rot!
As a kid, the thought of using manure in vegetable gardens turned my stomach. I think it’s because my opinions on manure were initially shaped by the Back to the Future trilogy. In each of the films, there’s a scene when either Biff or Buford crash into a pile of manure, then are publicly shamed while onlookers are understandably grossed out.
I’d like to think that when I’m in my garden, I’m one with nature. With my hands in the warm soil, the smell of fresh vegetables in the air, and the songs of the goldfinch and wood thrush all around, it can feel that way. And then? Mosquitoes. Ugh. Those little devils can ruin the most peaceful, serene moments. I discovered a secret, though. There is a plant that deters mosquitoes.
How could something so helpless like a slug cause so much damage in your garden? You might not always know you have a slug problem right away because slugs only come around at night and when it’s cloudy and rainy. But you’ll definitely notice their damage. You’ll see holes and jagged edges on your vegetable leaves and stems. You can tell if the slug damage is fresh by how rough the edges of the holes or bite marks look.
I love gardening. I also sometimes hate gardening. Well, hate might be a strong word. But we all have those immensely frustrating moments when it seems like everything goes wrong. Roots rotting. Leaves withering. Flies eating plants. Deer eating tomatoes.
