For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
how to use the sun ☀️ to control pests and soil diseases
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A small farm just moved down the street from our house, and for the past year I've been watching them prep the land to set up shop. A different farm had moved out a couple years prior, and the property was badly overgrown with weeds. They've been tackling the problem with tarps and lots of elbow grease, and left a large portion of the soil covered last year. It looks like they've cleaned everything up and have crops in the hoop house now. This technique, while neat to witness on a large scale, isn't exclusive to farms. Regular home gardeners can also harness the power of the sun to rid the soil of pests and diseases, and all you need is a bit of time (and lots of heat). Soil solarization is a method I tried about 13 years ago as a last-ditch effort to "bake" my soil in my old garden in SoCal. I needed a non-toxic, organic (and easy) way to control some common pests and soil-borne diseases, and found that I could apply solarization to my raised beds (or even a single raised bed—you don't need a big plot of land for it to work). I ended up with a fresh clean slate to grow in, with soil that had vastly improved tilth and fertility. No soil amendments needed! I highly recommend this method if you constantly struggle with bugs and blight and everything else you've tried has failed. It doesn't harm humans, pets, or wildlife; it doesn't put questionable chemicals into your soil or in the air; it's not as time- or labor-intensive as other means of pest control; and it's very inexpensive. But the key to successfully solarizing your soil is to do it soon so you can plant in your garden again by mid to late summer! Here's exactly how you do that, and why you should try soil solarization in your garden. P.S. Harness the power of the sun to control pests and weeds (and ditch all that neem oil and hand pulling). Learn how to solarize your soil this summer and start with a clean slate in the garden! P.P.S. Many of the common weeds in your garden are attractive to bees as well, which is one reason to leave some of them around! The other reason? There could be a wild salad bar growing right in your own backyard—and I've got a guide that helps you identify what's edible and worth harvesting (BEFORE you solarize your soil!).
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Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."