Sacrifices

Injury has fallen upon chief gardener so a few sacrifices have been made in the planting department. Thankfully the potatoes, broccoli and some carrots went in last month. Also our 5 year old helped plant the garlic. Getting the last of the winter crops in is a must over the next couple of weeks - Leeks and any of the brasichaus.

Once again we are coping a battering from the grubs! The garlic/chilli spray has been used in force the last few weeks but they are still lingering. The sunflowers have especially been hit hard - okay so they are not going to feed us so the sacrifice is bearable. It makes you wonder if they are a deterrent or an attractant?

We also had a 2nd round of corn going well until a few late night visits from a possum - not the rusty one - alive and well, destine to be our next sacrifice. . .

Honey bee and native bees attracted to the pollen

Current rows - potato, broccoli, garlic, carrots and beans

Bugs Everywhere!

And they have knocked over about 1 meter of my carrot crop – I’m out for revenge.

Now that its rained and actually won’t stop the bugs are out and yep…they’re hungry! A few types of caterpillar getting about the garden so I whipped into action, firstly prepared some garlic spray – this acts as a deterrent more than anything but will knock over some grubs.. As I’ve bantered on about before, please don’t spray your veges with artificial chemicals these kills things and even humans eventually.

Garlic spray:
· About 1 bulb of garlic
· 100ml vegetable oil
· Soak overnight

Into the blender add above mixture plus:
· Squirt of liquid pure soap
· Litre of water

Strain, then spray onto bug infested plants

** Warning keep away from children!

Then I whipped up some chilli spray to get the actual grubs.

Chilli fire spray:
· Handful of fresh red chillies

· 1 litre of water

Now blend really good
· Couple squirts pure soap

Blend again just quickly

Strain then spray onto bugs!

** Warning keep away from children! Chilli spray very dangerous on eyes and sensitive skin (and caterpillars hahaha)


You can actually mix the two sprays together as an all in one I suppose, please yourself, and if you’re not sure spray a little on one plant as a test first to check that no adverse reaction or burning occurs.

This is garlicky smelly stuff, but the smell dissipates quickly once it's been sprayed around. These mixtures need to be re-sprayed frequently, such as after rain or heavy dew.

It's best to spray every few days until there's no sign of pests, then about every week to 10 days for any eggs or larvae that may have hatched out.

Organic Pest Control

Occasionally we see our children doing some beautiful things together and on the weekend we witnessed some great team work in tackling our grub infestation on the last of the sweet peas and snow peas.

Getting this little National Geographic kit with oversized tweezers, bug catcher and spy glass was hands down one of the best presents I have ever gotten them.

They were quite meticulous in selecting them without squashing them - which is quite ironic when you consider where they were headed...

Also, I didn't have the heart to tell them these old crops were going to be pulled out later today.

They spent a good half hour fossicking and collecting little green grubs and had several trips to the chickens who were hungry for more!

An alternative way to combat these critters is by spraying with a garlic mix: Put a whole garlic bulb through a garlic press and let it sit in a glass jar with a few tablespoons of salad oil. Then mix a few spoonfuls with dishwashing liquid, hot pepper sauce and water in a spray bottle. Spray the affected area once every couple of weeks.

But I think the tweezer approach is way more fun!