A Beautiful, Pest-Free Spring – Naturally

Hi Farmgirls! Wow! Spring has sprung in New England! We’ve had a wonderful, busy month. Outside, suddenly, everything has just “popped” – we’ve gone from grey to green, there’s lots to do and see, birds are back, and so are the insects – some that are so beautiful! Not all insects are bad; so many are beneficial. Don’t grab that spray can of nasty chemicals, help shoo away unwanted pests naturally!

It was a kind of a weird spring. It took forever to get warm, and when it finally did, we made up for the drought we were in with rain, rain and more rain. Last week, we got ten inches of rain, and over two this week. 

When the clouds finally cleared, and the rain stopped, it seemed like spring was here, abruptly. Trees have leaves, greenery is sprouting everywhere. Birds are singing and nesting, flowers are blooming, and insects are buzzing. Mother Nature is alive again!

Every evening, we hear owls hooting all around, like this beauty who hung around one morning, right outside my bedroom window. What a magnificent, stunning creature! 

Nothing makes me more sad than seeing a post on Facebook about an owl or a beautiful fox (like the one we see often on our cameras at night), that died because of ingesting its prey that had been poisoned with rodent poison. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but I HATE finding evidence of rodents in my living spaces! I am not against old-fashioned, fast snap mouse traps, (but I hate to use them).  Poison is cruel and can hurt your own pets, as well as other animals. In my vintage glamper and in the basement, I swear by Grandpa Gus’s Potent Mouse repellent! I spray it around the perimeter and potential entry points, and it really works! I’d rather not have mice come in anywhere at all, so repellent is a good choice. I use the spray several times a year, and now that it is spring, I use it to repel mice that might be looking to come in a basement or camper to nest. 

Because we had a warm up in early spring while the ground was still frozen, some gardeners here lost plantings. Sadly, I lost one of my two year old peach trees. The outside temperature was warm, but the ground was still frozen, so the roots could not get the water they needed. However, once everything finally thawed out, this has been one of the prettiest springs I can remember, with blooms galore! 

All of these beautiful blooms also attract insects. I have already noticed butterflies, and a lovely Nessus sphinx hummingbird moth in my lilacs this morning.

I love that my flowering bushes and trees are “buzzing” with the sound of bees, busy at work. Bees are one of our most important beneficial insects; if we lose them, we lose much of our food! 

It always amazes me how gardeners want to attract beneficial insects, but also want to spray everything with chemicals as soon as they notice any sort of pest. If you do need to spray for an infestation, use organic products like neem oil or insecticidal soap, and use them in the early morning or late evening, when beneficial insects are not as active. Most insects are just “passing through yards and garden spaces! 

I was so excited to find beautiful, full geraniums at a great price! Geraniums are my favorite – easy, simple and beautiful, and last here until fall when I switch them out for seasonal mums. They remind me of my mom and my childhood; Mama always had pots of geraniums around the house outside in summer. I’ve seen hummingbirds and butterflies attracted to my beautiful flowers.

In just a couple of weeks, it will be time to put the veggies into the vegetable garden (the soil temperature is still too cool just yet; right now I am hardening off my seeds that I started indoors). One of my favorite ways to garden organically is to do companion planting,  using plants as my ally in warding off bad insects that can harm my plants. Each year, I plant basil in between my plants, such as my tomatoes and peppers. Not only does it ward away pests such as whiteflies and aphids, but I can also clip fresh leaves all summer for yummy dishes. At the end of the season, I harvest the remaining basil and make pesto (which I put in canning jars and freeze for up to six months). 

I first started planting garlic when I read about using the scapes in MaryJane’s  first book. I have been hooked ever since, and plant garlic each fall for a summer harvest.

I plant my garlic around the border of my veggie bed – not only do I get delicious scapes to eat (the best part, in my opinion), and yummy fresh garlic to harvest, but garlic also helps protect nearby plants from pests and fungus! We have lots of different types of fungal issues in Connecticut, due to our wet springs and often wet autumn seasons.

Also around my vegetable garden and other garden borders, I plant dwarf Marigolds. I love marigolds! Deer and other critters don’t eat them.

Marigolds also last through summer into the fall, adding fall color as well as working hard all summer to keep pests such as aphids, whiteflies, and nematodes away (just make sure to plant dwarf varieties so you don’t shade other plants). 

Indoors, most homes in New England get problems with spider mites, due to our dry homes with our dry, non-moving winter air from wood burning stoves and forced heat. Opening windows on a cool spring day often lets in flies or mosquitoes, and I have noticed a few times nasty fungus gnats from the soil in my houseplants. In early April, I ran into a local garden store to get a last minute need for a gardening class I was to teach one evening. While shopping, I noticed the store had venus fly traps! The plants were tiny, and so cute that I just could not help it. I purchased one, and brought it home.

Venus fly traps are not your typical houseplant; they are a carnivorous plant native to the bogs in the Carolinas. They need lots of light, with four hours of bright light a day during the growing season. Never water your venus flytrap with tap water; only use rainwater, spring or distilled water, placing it in a dish (mine is so tiny, I have it in a teacup’s saucer). They do not like regular potting soil, and skip the fertilizer. I’ve had mine for over a month, and it has grown, with many new “mouths”…I even witnessed a mosquito get “munched”! 

Everyone needs that one friend who can have fun with you, even going just grocery shopping! My friend, Susan, is that friend. We have been friends since our children were toddlers, and can have fun together anywhere! On a recent Costco run, we both picked up beautiful, large lavender plants!

I love lavender – lavender soap, coffee, and of course, plants! Inside, dried lavender is a great alternative to nasty, toxic moth balls. I use it in drawstring muslin bags, like a sachet, and tuck it in with my sweaters on my closet shelves, and in my yarn stash to repel moths. Inside, dried and fresh lavender helps repel all sorts of nasty insects that can come indoors, including stink bugs that like to find their way into homes in the Northeast. In warmer seasons, I love fresh lavender on my porch – it smells amazing and helps repel bugs like mosquitoes. 

Rosemary is another good companion plant – it helps repel a variety of pests, including aphids on lettuce.  I always have lettuce in a giant pot on my deck, with rosemary next to it. Perhaps that’s why I have always had healthy, aphid-free lettuce in my pot! Rosemary is also one of my favorite herbs to cook and bake with!

Love porch sitting? Hate flies? I swear by this, an old trick I learned eons ago in Texas, from true Texas Bar-be-Que restaurants, where the smoky meat draws flies. Hang clear a plastic bag full of water. That’s it.

I keep one on my “shabby chic” porch, and one in my chicken coop and get no flies (and we have horse flies, house flies, and bottle flies in Connecticut). It has something to do with interfering with their vision, so flies steer clear of the area. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Mine was lovely. I was spoiled – breakfast in bed with fresh bagels, and my daughter surprised me with a garden-themed “surprise book box” – a box that is packed with all kinds of surprises, like socks and organic coffee, centered around a signed book. Then, in the afternoon, we had a beautiful sunny day, and my family took me to my favorite restaurant for lunch, and afterward to a local garden center. There, I picked out the cutest bee-themed wind spinner, and a big, full citronella plant. 

In the geranium family, citronella repels mosquitoes, and I don’t have to spray myself with some awful chemical to enjoy my time on my porch!  

Speaking of gifts, I finished Dori’s special gift and mailed it out to her! I love the quilt jacket she made me so very much, and wanted her to have something, special hand made by me, too. I went to one of my favorite yarn stores, and found a soft, colorful yarn to hand knit a lacy scarf. I wanted a yarn that would not be too heavy or too warm for her area. This lovely yarn is from Berrocco, called “Sesame”. It’s a blend of wool, acrylic, cotton and nylon. Dori says she loves it, and I can’t wait to see photos of her wearing it this fall!

Happy Spring, Everyone!