12 Steps to Whole Foods

Reaping a Gardener’s Rewards
fence next to my garden, but we did build metal trellises at our last home), how to plant quick-to-grow small
vegetables such as radishes in the same square around a plant like bell pepper that takes some time to mature,
and much more.
How Do I Keep the Pests Away without Using Chemicals?
Lots of natural and safe techniques can help you leave the good organisms in your garden thriving while killing
the bad ones.
TIP: Feel free to mix and match, making teas of a variety of the natural pest-repelling compounds listed below.
• Employ companion planting.
Plant a square of marigolds, onions, or garlic interspersed throughout your gardening boxes, because
pests tend to avoid these plants.
• Use garlic, onions, hot peppers.
They kill soft-body insects and paralyze flying insects, as well as serving as a fungicide and repelling
rabbits. Liquefy some of these vegetables in water in your blender and spray the mixture on plants and
soil. You can also pour boiling water mixed with garlic onto ant mounds.
• Use apple cider vinegar, ground cloves.
Use 1-2 Tbsp. per gallon of water for a mild fungicide or acidic liquid fertilizer that also contains many
trace elements as a fertilizer. Cloves kill flying insects.
• Use corn meal, diotomaceous earth.
Sprinkle on the ground or work into the top inch of soil. Diotomaceous earth can work in your soil for
many years; it is the petrified remains of insects and shreds the digestive system of bugs and dehydrates
them. Note that it will kill bees, so avoid spraying it, as we have a honeybee shortage.
• Set traps.
Place a can containing rotten fruit inside a larger can or cut-off milk jug. Around the can, pour a liquid
made of water with 2 Tbsp. dish soap and 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil to kill pests. Optionally add 2 Tbsp.
molasses to the rotten fruit to attract more pests.
• Kill snails and slugs.
Sprinkle calcium carbonate products like lime, dolomite, or crushed egg shells on soil where snails and
slugs live. Their anti-fungal properties are another advantage.
• Use acidic water.
You can also spray the leaves of your plants with acidic water if you have a water ionizer (see Chapter
12) to kill many pests.
• Plant vines later.
According to old-timer gardeners, cucumbers and squash do better when planted on June 1. Often when
I jump the gun and plant on May 1, they end up dead of pest problems. When I wait, they grow and
bloom quickly and produce well.
132 12 Steps to Whole Foods
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw