seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) (07/19/85)
I am about 1/2 through "Square Foot Gardening." It's a very interesting book and as soon as I buy a house I will be sure to pick out my garden spot and follow his suggestions to the letter. Because a square foot garden is so compact and well-planned, it's very easy to use organic gardeing techiniques. Mel doesn't use any insecticide or recommend the use of inorganic fertilizers. That's all fine and good, but what about other types of gardening? When I buy my house I'd like to plant some dwarf fruit trees. A pear, cherry, plum, and a peach maybe. Well, how do you keep the little buggies from eating the leaves off your fruit trees and more importantly how do you keep them from getting inside the fruit?? There's nothing more disgusting than biting into a beautiful pear and finding a worm. Unless you find 1/2 a worm! :-) When I lived in California we had a nectarine tree with beautiful juicy fruit (I've never tasted any better), but you had to split every nectarine down the midddle to look for worms. The worms hung out by the stone so they were easy to find. We didn't spray our trees at all so it's not surprising to find a few worms. The question is are there organic gardening methods for discouraging bugs from eating your fruit? Anyone know if the Rodale Press on someone publishes books that contain info on organic insect control? The thought of using chemical pesticides on my own produce really turns me off. It's bad enough having to eat tons of the stuff in the produce from the market. Sharon Badian ihnp4!mtgzz!seb
45223wc@mtuxo.UUCP (w.cambre) (07/19/85)
REFERENCES: <947@mtgzz.UUCP> Most of the methods I've heard of to organically keep bugs away are to grow certain plants around others, i.e. marigolds around beans. The bugs that like one kind of plant may hate another and so won't go through the bad one to get to the one they want. I believe one of the Rodale books mentioned planting Nasturtiums around apple trees. It also mentioned crushing up garlic and onions, making a mixture and spraying it on fruit trees to keep the bugs off. We've tried this but I don't think it lasts very long. That same book (sorry don't know the name offhand) mentioned planting certain kinds of trees, like holly, in your orchard so the birds will eat the holly seeds instead of your apples and such. (they actually prefer the bitter tasting seeds). - Bill Cambre (The one with the strange broccoli) mtuxo!45223wc
sophie@mnetor.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (07/21/85)
> That same book (sorry don't know the name offhand) mentioned planting > certain kinds of trees, like holly, in your orchard so the birds will > eat the holly seeds instead of your apples and such. (they actually > prefer the bitter tasting seeds). > > - Bill Cambre (The one with the strange broccoli) mtuxo!45223wc I believe you are talking about companion planting. One book dealing with it is called "carrots love tomatoes" which deals mainly with vegetables. There is a simimlar book for flowers but I don't remember its name. -- Sophie Quigley {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|linus|watmath}!utzoo!mnetor!sophie
nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (07/23/85)
> ... Well, how do you keep the > little buggies from eating the leaves off your fruit trees and more > importantly how do you keep them from getting inside the fruit?? There are natural repellants, insect predators, mechanical traps (like tanglefoot and japanese beetle hotels), BT (bacteria), in addition to pyrethrum, rotenone and the like. The latter are best reserved for blitzkrieg tactics after bugs have been spotted, since they don't last too long and are for real insecticides (although natural, to be sure). The traps are really more useful for determining how many and what kind of bugs are around rather than actually putting a major dent in the population. > The question is are there > organic gardening methods for discouraging bugs from eating your > fruit? Anyone know if the Rodale Press on someone publishes books > that contain info on organic insect control? The thought of using > chemical pesticides on my own produce really turns me off. It's > bad enough having to eat tons of the stuff in the produce from > the market. > Sharon Badian Yes, yes, me too, right. See above and visit a reasonably well-stocked book store or garden store and they should have at least some of the numerous publications by the Rodale Press. A good garden store will also have some organic and mechanical pest controls. Good luck and happy harvesting! Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 work, 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627