Enough is enough on my end. It's Friday, people. Friday calls for celebrations. Beers, cheers and grins from ear to ears. So, for today's post I'm going to chat a bit about one of my favorite pastimes: gardening.
This is the most recent shot I've taken of our garden. That's my Mark in the background. From this angle, you can't see our three final rows of veggies: carrots, peas (with a sweet fence) and some California bell peppers. Regardless- things have been growing really well lately and we've taken an entirely organic regimen when it comes to fertilizing, weeds and worst of all: pests.
Of pests, we have several:
For instance, the Colorado Potato Beetle ...
The Striped Cucumber Beetle ...
These guys are a fraction of the size of the potato beetles, which are close to the size of a dime.
And one of the more recent and pesky critters: White Flies ... Eww.
All of these bugs are difficult to remove with out the aid of harsh chemicals. Potato Beetles are particularly tricky, as they develop resistance to pesticides very easily. There's really nothing that can stop them permanently- which is why they've become a universal pain in the ass.
Our biggest asset, besides the organic chicken waste we acquire at Agway, has been the extract of the Neem plant.
Neem is a plant native to India that is naturally pest resistant. Bugs won't go near it, for whatever reason. Before diving head first into do-it-yourself Neem territory, Mark and I decided to try a few certified organic products that utilize this miracle ingredient.
First up, and used in its entirety, was this product:
The Bon Neem worked to a point, though we still found potato bug larva on several plants after its use. We did not, however, see the beetles themselves. The eggs could have been there before we applied the pesticide. About the only thing that gets rid of the beetles themselves is hand-picking them off of your plants.
We were both really pleased with how our plants reacted to the Bon Neem and the reduction in leaf deterioration as a result of those cucumber beetles- those we squish in our fingers when we find them as they're pretty tiny.
Since we're all for trying new things, we went with a cheaper anti-bug product this week. I can't find the company online, but I believe it's called something close to "Clean Earth" or something like that. We've only just used it a few days ago and I'll give the plants a good misting before Mark and I leave for Maine for a long weekend. We're most excited to return home to see what a difference four days will make. We're in the garden every day and being so hands on makes it difficult to see a lot of change take place. I'll take pictures and post them when we get back.
We're really proud of what we've accomplished garden wise. We utilize a community plot within walking distance of both our houses. Our plot hadn't been used for years before we got to it and we've been working diligently to maintain the soil for next year's efforts. We should be doing this for a long time to come. Which brings me to my next point ...
Read this and you'll know what I'm talking about.
I simply adore Grist- they're really quite on point. I digress- the real reason I'm posting this is the stress put on the realization that we can't depend on other people to grow our food for us, at least for now. Flooded crops in the mid west are a lost cause these days, making produce prices even higher than they would be based on transport costs alone. It's time to "take the bull by the horns" and revert to a simpler, self reliant time. Our great grandparents never relied on anyone else to sustain them. The Great Depression generation learned to feed themselves and we must do the same- a recession is just a scaled down version of those horrible times.
So, before stuff gets worse, let's all take personal responsibility for our planet and our personal health. If you can't have a garden (for space or time reasons), go for containers. They're easy and portable- fantastic. If you can't swing that, utilize a CSA [Community Supported Agriculture], a farm that has community members buy in for the harvesting season. There are CSAs all over the place these days, especially in New Hampshire, so do a bit of searching- there are several that advertise in the paper I write for. Just check your local news publications and you're sure to find something.
That's all for now, ya'll. Happy gardening, drinking, dining, enjoying life. I'm off to the Maine wilderness: Sebec Lake in Dover Foxcroft to be exact. It's going to be a long and wonderful weekend.
Smooches for all that greenery,
Say
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