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."
using trap crops to keep pests in check
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When I first started gardening, I wanted to maximize my vegetable harvests so I focused on growing mostly food crops. It wasn't until a few calendula and nasturtium plants got away from me in the following years (thanks to their prolific self-seeding all over my yard) that I realized just how important it was to plant lots of flowers alongside all my vegetables. I've visited hundreds of vegetable gardens over the years and many of them have the same thing in common: food crops are the stars and flowers are more of an afterthought. These are the same gardens that struggle the most with pests and constantly turn to sprays like neem oil and X to control infestations. I often tell people who ask for advice that the simplest solution is to plant more flowers—a good variety of annuals and perennials that bloom at different times and have different "jobs" in the yard. Some are for eating or cutting or ground covering, while others attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. But the plants that really earn their keep are the ones used as a decoy to lure and "trap" pests, thereby keeping them off your more desirable plants. Trap crops are one of the best ways to manage pests organically without sprays, granules, and the like. The key is knowing exactly what to plant to control the type of pest you're dealing with (and it goes beyond the folklore of most companion planting recommendations). ​Here's how to use trap crops effectively in your garden.​ School ended last week for my kids 🙌 but we didn't get through the last of their recitals and end-of-year parties and other extracurricular obligations until this week, so now it finally feels like our summer break has officially started! And that means lazy days on the lakes and river, impromptu road trips around Central Oregon (which I absolutely love in summer—I pinch myself that we get to live here), camping trips all over the state, and plenty of picnics and BBQs. We pretty much live outside all summer and since we'll be around this year (vs. last year when we spent the whole summer traveling Route 66), I'm especially excited to pick from my garden and do a whole bunch of cooking outside! I'll be revisiting a few favorites from my own cookbooks, like:
If you need some new inspiration for cooking outside, I list every recipe that's offered inside my books on my Books page! P.S. If you're constantly battling pests in your garden, trap cropping is an all natural technique you need to know about. |
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."