02-25-2009, 06:32 PM
I don't fight bugs other than keep chickens and other "passive" deterrents. There is a fruit fly trap in the vegetable garden along with a lot of companion planting and marigolds all over but that's about it for actual bug control. I also plant extra so if the bugs get a few there's still some left for me.
There are too many things to do to spend much time coddling a plant. If it thrives, good, if it doesn't well, something else can be tried in that spot after a bit. If the plants aren't happy in one spot in the yard sometimes I'll move them to a different spot otherwise I just let them die off and find a different plant that is happy there. If they do thrive, then I multiply them and give a few away so if something happens to the original, I can borrow some back again.
There is a lot of selection before getting the various plants. Chilling requirements, pollination requirements, sun and water requirements, etc. and even after all this, frequently the plants just won't thrive. Lavender doesn't like my area but rosemary (a very similar plant) grows to the size of a small tree. Sometimes the landscape can be altered so the plant thrives without having to work at the alteration. Putting chunks of coral around the base of a plant that doesn't like acid allows it to grow in the yard but I wouldn't keep the plant if I had to go out and put calcium on it every week.
There is a certain level of experimentation that goes on all the time. There is also the usual gardening which goes on which is almost guaranteed to provide a crop. Probably about eighty percent "usual" gardening and twenty percent "experimentation". When the experiments turn out well, they evolve over to the "usual" column and then something else becomes "experimental".
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
There are too many things to do to spend much time coddling a plant. If it thrives, good, if it doesn't well, something else can be tried in that spot after a bit. If the plants aren't happy in one spot in the yard sometimes I'll move them to a different spot otherwise I just let them die off and find a different plant that is happy there. If they do thrive, then I multiply them and give a few away so if something happens to the original, I can borrow some back again.
There is a lot of selection before getting the various plants. Chilling requirements, pollination requirements, sun and water requirements, etc. and even after all this, frequently the plants just won't thrive. Lavender doesn't like my area but rosemary (a very similar plant) grows to the size of a small tree. Sometimes the landscape can be altered so the plant thrives without having to work at the alteration. Putting chunks of coral around the base of a plant that doesn't like acid allows it to grow in the yard but I wouldn't keep the plant if I had to go out and put calcium on it every week.
There is a certain level of experimentation that goes on all the time. There is also the usual gardening which goes on which is almost guaranteed to provide a crop. Probably about eighty percent "usual" gardening and twenty percent "experimentation". When the experiments turn out well, they evolve over to the "usual" column and then something else becomes "experimental".
Kurt Wilson
Kurt Wilson