I made this one change in my garden and solved 99% of my pest problems

Is the way you deal with garden pests making your problem worse?
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[@kefirheals7383]

Do you guys get those ugly Tent Caterpillars in Canada? We get a lot of those on our property here in Michigan. They are ugly and they can take over a fruit tree, and other trees. So, just wondering if the permaculture thing would work on the tent caterpillar pests.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Oh man, these are probably my number 1 pest, and the reason why is that a "balanced approach" doesn't work AS WELL for insects who themselves experience natural swells in their population. Tent caterpillars are one such pest. They basically are nowhere to be found one season, then there are a small handful of them the next season, then the 3rd year they are all over every single tree. They do their own natural swell like this, and form a 3 year cycle. For this reason, a balanced pest program like this (basically - do nothing and just plant more herbs and flowers)... well it kind of sort of works, but also kind of sort of doesn't. But that doesn't mean that we cannot use the same theory to "smoothe" them out. So what I do with these types of pest is a slightly modified "do nothing" approach. I do "something", but always make sure I leave some up. What that looks like in practical terms is that when I'm in the "tent caterpillar insane swell season" that I never remove them all. I remove them as I see them popping up, but I'll always leave a weak branch with some. I let that branch be the "weak gazelle". And I let the tent caterpillars exist on them. The birds and other predators thus have food (the tent caterpillars) but they also don't do a bunch of damage that kills the tree. Now I have these predator insects see that food is here for them, and they lay eggs in my soil. The tent caterpillar is actually a net beneficial insect for the ecosystem believe it or not. It turns into and adult eastern tent moth, which is valuable food source for an incredible amount of insects and birds. Caterpillars are frequently parasitized by various tiny braconid, ichneumonid, and chalcid wasps, all valuable garden friends. Also, the damage they do to trees is overstated. As long as a tree doesn't get more than 50% defoliated every single year, then arborists have concluded that there is actually zero damage to the tree, infact some even say the relationship is mutually beneficial, causing trees to regrow leaves and sometimes even this reduces fungal disease pressure by "resetting a leaf", and the fungus is consumed by the tent caterpillar. So fascinating. So leaving them up is a good thing. Lets consider the opposite... If however I were to remove every single one of them, a few things happens: First off, it wouldn't matter in the large scale of things, because my entire province is freakin' covered with them. So even if I deal with them on my land, the acre next to me isn't, and they'll be back anyways. Secondly, the pests that eat them will lay eggs and make homes on OTHER people's lands (the ones that do nothing about them). So when those pests then come to my lands, my insect population is not prepared for the sheer volume of these things. However, if I leave some up, (but remove enough that they don't completely defoliate every tree) then I kind of trick the tent caterpillar predators that these things have a balanced sequence, and not this really swingy swelly 3 year cycle. It's maybe a bit early to tell, but I think it's working. For example, 5 years ago was my really bad year and my apple trees got completely defoliated by like May. They bounced back a little bit, but then got hit hard again every month. It was terrible. Trees looked like halloween decorations. I cut them all out, and did tremendous pruning damage to the trees in the hot seasons because of it. 3 years later they were back. It was around this time that I came across some people who espoused the same philosphy I'm now advocating for, so I tried it. I left some up. It was nervous that I was leaving pests up and they'd be everywhere. Well, it's been 5 years and I have never had a season like I had that first time. And my land has predator insects everywhere. I have ladybugs nesting in a corner of my basement right now infact, trying to escape the cold. My house isn't infested with them, but if a spider wants a corner of my basement, I let him. If ladybugs want to nestle in a corner of the basement, I let them. Infact I often pick some up and put them on the underside of my houseplants, then give them some water. These are friends. (and my house is clean, it's not an insect covered house! my wife is a clean freak, and I'm just one step under that myself). TLDR: This was a long response, but yes, I do get tent caterpillars, and my solution to them is that in their swell season, I leave some up. Predators find them, make home in my soil and help me balance them. This way, the next swell season comes and the predator larvae eat the tend caterpillars in their larvae stage as well, providing a balanced ecosystem.

[@kirkanos77]

I put a Bluebird house in my garden. It’s occupied almost every year and they keep the caterpillars in check. Birds are your garden’s protection...unless you’re growing berries they love. I have to put a crop cage around my 5 blueberry bushes after the fruit is set to prevent the Robins from picking them clean.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Its a small price to pay for a 24/7 security force. I plant many serviceberries just for the birds.

[@debbiehenri345]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Yes, definitely agree with planting some berries specifically for the birds. For some years, I've had a few wild cherries, Rowan and redcurrants that did a pretty good job of distracting the birds from the few fruit plants I had. (Rowan, Redcurrant and Sloes are particularly good for luring Blackbirds Now that I'm planting a lot more fruit bushes and trees this year - so I've increased the number of 'decoys' (bought 20 new Amelanchier lamarkii and took a load more cuttings from redcurrants last autumn, the latter I don't like much so they're welcome to the lot). No way are you going to attract such a plague of birds into your garden they become overwhelming, because they're highly territorial and spend most of the time beating each other senseless (robins especially). While many birds are fruit-pickers, most if not all still prefer to raise their chicks on lots of summer insects - just timing it right for your crops. The only bird I find I really have to watch is the pheasant. Local landowners bring them in during the late summer for the pre-Christmas shooting season, so they turn up at the worst time imaginable and are the greediest monkeys going (I think that's probably a good example of what you're trying to say here - in that if you have a temporary pest, you won't encourage a permanent population of predators to balance them). Part of the pheasant solution was to buy in a good number of fruit plants that don't set 'red' fruit. The stupid things will walk right past yellow raspberries, green gooseberries, whitecurrants and my amazing-tasting white strawberries (ha ha!). We all know pheasants are easily spooked as well, so I tie all my shiny foil chocolate wrappers to bits of string and hang them from crop plants. It looks weird, but works just long enough to allow the safe ripening of my precious blackcurrants, blueberries, etc. Another thing I'm thinking of doing is collecting a few seeds from a pheasant berry bush (Leycesteria formosa) in the woods. I've noticed that pheasants will creep around this for weeks waiting for the berries to ripen. If they had more of these plants about the woods, I could keep more of them well inside the hunting zone - happy gardener, happy pheasant...happy hunter.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I'm glad someone else is having success in the same way. A land filled with birds is paradise. I think you are bang on too... they are very territorial. I make sure to always add some thorny plants for the smaller birds to escape the larger ones.

[@Konradafunk]

There's also the 10% rule. This means grow 10% more food than you need and allow the pests to have that extra 10% and move on with your life. They need to eat too!

[@Lukes__foodforest]

You deserve so many more subscribers. Some of the better known permaculture you tubers could really learn from you. Love how informative and researched your videos are. It’s not all about wowing the viewers with harvesting videos and catch phrases, education is what keeps me here watching evey video of yours. Watching and learning here in Australia 🇦🇺

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks Luke :) Its hard to get the word out ajd spread the channel without coming across disingenuous, and a sub seeker. I really do rely on word of mouth.

[@whereswendy8544]

💯AGREE!

[@Acts-1322]

Absolutely, this guy is brilliant! I still love James Prigioni and a couple tips channels who got me started on this journey. But I'm here for the gold mine of pure, solid science on soil life, layering to avoid the years of mulching (which I thought was the new upgraded solution), natural rain catchment, and all these other radically new-to-me concepts! Popular farming/gardening kinda sucks and seems more futile... & wasteful.

[@Theeannmariee]

Yes! I learn more here than anywhere else. I pick up little nuggets of permaculture knowledge every few minutes or so!! GREAT content!

[@ellie_5276]

Permaculture principle 10: Use and value diversity. Biodiversity resolves “pest problems” naturally. If not, wild spaces would have no vegetation!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

What a perfect quote, and common sense observation.

[@ellie_5276]

Canadian Permaculture Legacy indeed! I’m just writing an essay on permaculture’s capacity to help lessen biodiversity decline and that exact principle has been a recurring theme. Pest repellant herbs and the attraction of pest predators is a great combination :)

[@thyme2grow]

My story is with asparagus. The first year I found a few asparagus beetles, which I picked off, going out lots of times a day to patrol the plants. Exhausting, obsessive. The second year I covered them with fabric, which took the plants down when we had high winds. I had to prep the whole configuration up several times that season. Not a good solution. The third year I said forget it! By then I'd begun to host birds and predators. I decided to just let the bugs have the asparagus. So then my birds took over and now eat those darn bugs! I can't find any! Weird but beautiful.

[@Growinginontario]

😂same process for me as well .I keep the birdbath close to my asparagus patch for that reason and bird feeders also. I don’t feed the birds during the growing season so they forage for pests like the asparagus beetle

[@tylerehrlich1471]

Great explanation of the grander complexity at work. Let your predators do the work for you, no need to spray! I was gathering mulch from an overgrown old bed, wondering it was a breeding ground for pests. Instead I saw a whole colony of ladybugs living their best life, free to hit my garden if it ends up growing food for them. Glad to have predators on stand-by!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

And that is something that will pay off for years and years.

[@nancynesytofreske]

I love it! "I tell Nature "I'm the predator" and I've signed up for that role for life". Brilliant. I've never heard it stated that way and it's spot on. Love your channel, you really get me thinking about so many things.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ibelieveinpandas]

I had read somewhere that four o'clocks are irresistible yet deadly to japanese beetles. We started some from seed early last spring and they did help!

[@dsun1263]

This video is very interesting. Reminds me of the philosophy I learned: Taoism. The basic idea is balance and doing nothing.

[@stuckinmyhead9890]

Another part that you can do to encourage pest predator species, other than leaving pest species out as food, is to look up what the pest predator species use as homes, or how they drink water, and introduce spots that are good homes and drinking spots for them all around the food forest ^w^

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Great comment. Love it.

[@IvanPavlov007]

I love how you explain everything. I hadn’t thought of us removing the pests = taking on the apex predator role, that’s a really cool way to understand it. Please continue your updates on everything about your ecosystem!!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

This also goes for everything. For example, natural ecosystems have large ruminants who range in herds and poop everywhere. So if we choose to not roam bison and cattle through our backyard garden, then we have removed a key player in the natural cycle. This is why we often amend our soils with compost and manure. We removed the large ruminant, so we now must take on the role of them in our garden, and do the job they were doing. Ideally, we make these moves only where needed. Most backyards can't have a ranging bison herd in it. However, we do the same thing when we pull weeds and remove them from our system. We now must take on the role that this weed was doing. This will be my next video topic (I think, since it builds on this one today).

[@Wingydingy01]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Sounds like an interesting topic! I look forward to it! I've been experimenting interplanting veggies with wildflowers and the like, as well as leaving most weeds in their place. It's working great so far, can't wait to see how it goes after a couple years.

[@StacksUrbanHarvest]

I've been on this same journey of learning to work with nature rather than against it. I recently had quite an experience like you did with aphids and ladybugs. And I totally agree with planting herbs and flowers that attract the beneficials. But just like your squash vine borer, I still occasionally use BT to control some larvae that don't seem to have a natural predator in that stage.

[@Abundantman777]

What did I learn? Let nature do the job for u!! Very good!! TY

[@petricmccurdy7441]

Happy to have found your channel. I do not live in cold climate. I live here on GUAM U.S.A. I like how our approach is similar i do not kill the bugs as you say they will keep each other in check. Wish more people would use that approach rather than poisons. Anyway love your garden. Stay safe in these crazy times.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks! You too, stay safe!

[@zachlloyd9392]

When I first started my Orchard, I planted several plants that attract and provide habitat for beneficial insects. If I do another one, I plan on starting with the beneficial plants and nitrogen fixers in a much larger proportion to what I did on my last one. I kind of skipped over that setting up my first one in a desperate bid to try and get fruit sooner, will see if it bites me long term. In the process of fixing that now in the original orchard. When my wife finally forced me to mow our yard this spring, I mowed over tons and tons of ladybugs on the wildflowers, makes me sad. I prefer a more wild yard where life abounds instead of sterile mowed grass desert.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Absolutely. I would probably never mow if it was only my opinion I needed to deal with.

[@jimsgardenproject3507]

First year I saw aphids on my rose of Sharon trees I freaked out. Second year, I noticed lady bugs and noticed the trees weren’t affected. Now, as I’ve watched how the system works, my rose of Sharon’s get COMPLETELY covered with aphids each spring. I go back a few days later, lady bug larvae everywhere. Like a vacuum the aphids are gone in days! I was amazed that they ate all of them. And I have a lot of rose of Sharon’s. They get massively covered but within two weeks. Clean as a whistle.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Awesome 👌

[@jimsgardenproject3507]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy funny because I actually anticipate the battle each season now.

[@HelderSnot]

Nature always knows best. Let them fight!

[@tatianaorlova7887]

i have been bingeing your channel because i dream of a future where i can have a permaculture garden. i love the way you explain these concepts in an accessible way. thanks for what you do!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

So nice of you, thanks :)

[@traryvery8851]

I really love how you explained this. Thank you

[@kafinn5302]

Thank you for teaching us all this wonderful nature info.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

It's my pleasure

[@B30pt87]

That was an outstanding example of the beauty of Permaculture principles. Good for you. (And good for all of us!)

[@AwakeningWARRlOR]

Excellent advise. I'm in northern BC off grid and am clearing land to start gardens as I type. Saved a playlist of yours to come back to often. Much respect 🤝💪🍁

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Good luck! Come back with any questions and I'll endeavour to help any way I can.

[@AwakeningWARRlOR]

Likewise ok

[@francislaper1777]

My apex insect predator is the praying mantis, yes I have lady bugs and I have a silent passion for garder snakes but the balance you speak of does happen with patience. 😊

[@lagosz1]

I used this same philosophy when I moved into a new house a few years ago. We didn't know it at the time that we moved in because it was winter time but when spring rolled around we had a massive amount of earwigs that looked like a biblical plague. They would completely cover the walls of the house and everything. Also a ton of cockroaches. My theory was that the previous owners were probably using tons of pesticides to try and kill them which was also killing all the natural predators like spiders, centipedes, etc. Then the roaches and earwigs would bounce back much faster than the predators. I decided that instead of hiring an exterminator or spraying pesticides that I would set out some simple traps to get rid of some of the pests but not spray so as to allow the predators to repopulate. The following year we still had a problem but not as bad as the first year and I was noticing spiders around the yard when there were none before. Then the year after that there was no problem. Yes, there were a few earwigs or roaches every once in a while, but nothing even remotely close to the first two seasons. Now at this point we have no problem with these pests other than spotting them rarely because we allowed an environment where the predators could grow and thrive as well just like you said in your video. Great info! I have seen first hand that what you are saying absolutely works.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Oh my what an incredible comment. I love hearing stories from other people about how this works for them also 💪

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

Very well said! I try to have that same mindset about the slugs in my garden. I hope they will attract some hedgehogs, toads, frogs and birds who'll eat them.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I love it. Geoff Lawton (a great idol of mine) once answered someone about slug problems and said: "you don't have a slug problem, you have a lack of ducks problem". I think it's a good way to look at it, even if my wife won't let me get ducks anytime soon!

[@draconiigena]

What fascinates me the most about wasps is that they are kind of social. My mother had a wasp nest in a trailer where she stored her riding gear, under one of the helmets, and there was only one way out/in. The whole season they shared the trailer. When a human entered the trailer the wasps waited patiently for them to pass before continuing on their way. They didn't mind the humans rummaging around in the trailer so close to their nest, since all humans respected their space, which was the nest under the helmet. I'm sure not every kind of wasp is that liberal as I've heard of pretty aggressive ones, but if you have the more friendly versions around, try to live with them not against them.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I tell my kids this all the time. NEVER swat at one. They will communicate instantly and tell their whole hive that you are now a threat. I have been stung one time ever by them, and it was when I picked up a rock to move it, and they had a nest in the ground attached to the rock. So I basically tipped their nest apart and started carrying it away. That was a rough day for me haha. But I noticed that for the rest of the summer, when i went close to that nest again, they started acting very aggressively again. Other wasps just fly around me with their legs all dangling down, casually floating. I can dry myself off with a towel and have a wasp around me, and i dont need to stay still or anything. They just know I am not hostile to them. I don't know how they do it. Whether its sensing a pheromone, or they can read my pulse, but I honestly believe they can sense apprehension and fear.

[@akrealestatebroker]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom regarding integrated pest management. Blessings to you and your family!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks for watching :)

[@michaelbonnell4146]

This way of looking at the world is just so Canadian! Thank you! -Mike from Canada

[@nessidoe8080]

I well, I do intervene. As soon as I see the first aphids I order some ladybugs and at least that problem is solved for the summer. Other insects are more difficult since my neighbor is still spraying. Plenty of my bees are dying every time he sprays his roses.

[@GinaSiska]

Creation is amazing.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Nature really does have this stuff figured out already. Sometimes we just have to let wilderness be wild, and it will all sort itself out. It may take a bit longer to find balance, but it will get there.

[@ideotek]

great summary. I'd only add that... - flowering herbs are often good for nectar/pollen eating adults which have carnivorous larva and/or carnivorous nymphs. - aphids and most other pests are specialists who stick to one family of plants, whereas predators are generalists. So when you feed a ladybug early in the season with say, stinging nettle aphids, she lays eggs, and those nymphs clean the aphids off the nettle, they then move on to your peas and take care of the pea aphids, and so on. As each wave of aphids hits a different family of plants, there are more and more ladybugs. - for stinkbugs (a generally unpalatable pest) we use mallows as a TRAP plant. They prefer mallow seed pods to tomatoes, and we can manually control the stinkbugs pretty easily. - Also, local predators won't let a new food source alone, so with time local predators will often acquire a taste for 'invasives'.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Fantastic comment, thanks for making it

[@bbtruth2161]

I love my wasps. Never had a problem with them. We seem to cohabitate pretty well. Cowpeas bring wasps like crazy.

[@taliag5018]

I have the same problem with my dogs digging near or running over my tree and bush seedlings so now I put tomato cages around them till they get bigger. Works pretty good

[@sishrac]

Nature is indeed intricate and intelligently designed. It implies an intelligent designer!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Glad you are enjoying the videos :)

[@rescuemay]

One of the best channels on YT. Thanks for doing this

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thank you, so kind.

[@purelife9000]

11:45 Lightning Bug. Good guy.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Oh nice! I've never seen one in the day. I see so many at night though.

[@mayb.wright509]

Thanks for all these wonderful videos. The way people garden always struck me as "off." The more I learn, the more I'm astounded just how much false information (about everything!) is entrenched in the human psyche. I'm at the very early stages of planning my own food forest - I spend a lot of time just wandering around my house trying to get a feel for the land and what should go where. First point of focus is the swales and how to optimize the water. I'm right on the edge of a huge provincial park in Quebec and want to harmonize as much as possible. Blessings and many thanks for all your hard work.

[@nmnate]

I'd love to see more snakes / hawks around here to help with the rodent populations. Between field mice, pack rats and desert cotton tails, anything that's not protected is free game. I think the problem here is how long does it take for a stable predator population to establish, when those can be fairly slow to respond. I'm trying exclusion for the most part. There's plenty of other food / water sources for the rodents. For insects, I prefer to use high pressure water (or a knockdown spray or soap, when absolutely necessary) and have been planting a ton of native plants, perennial herbs and perennial flowers for the predators. The hope is for most of the plants as they mature, to let the predators take over with less intervention on my part. Sometimes you do have to intervene to help a tree fend off an infestation (i.e. aphids here), but in that case I'd prefer to reduce the aphid level to a manageable point, not eliminate it for the reasons that you've identified. If a tree is drought stressed, an aphid infestation can kill a mature, established tree. Healthy trees seem to outgrow a pest problem during the season when the predators catch up. Coddling moths are major pests here, but I'm going to try the strategy of bagging my apples or using kaolin clay, while leaving my crabapples unprotected and hopefully that'll get some predators to establish, while leaving me some of the fruit. Perhaps it's like having a sacrificial crop. One of the other things that I've found really helpful is growing similar fruit to that which grows naturally in your area (or natives for that matter). We have a lot of ribes around here (currants, wild gooseberries) and my gooseberries and other ribes seem to thrive with little effort and basically no pest management. I planted some western serviceberry and aronia this year and will add more native plants as the years go on. I also try and space my similar trees a little further apart with diverse plants and trees between them to limit how fast the pests can move in. I try not to pull every "weed" that pops up in the garden (as long as it isn't a non-native, invasive plant). Free diversity! Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Last year we had a couple fennel plants that attracted quite a lot swallowtail caterpillar (yay!). Then I noticed a praying mantis that decided it wanted to guard our fennel. It was really cool to watch how that process happened. Also, the praying mantis ate literally every caterpillar... Looking forward to getting some perennial fennel established in an herb garden to have more things like this happen.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

You really encapsulated all the salient points. I also really hope my video wasn't taken to do zero intervention. But as you say, when you intervene, you should find ways to keep some pests up on a sacrificial plant. I really like this post. I like so much about it.

[@thewizardoftod]

Thank you, once again I will follow your advice.

[@vanessal1893]

Fascinating, thank you for explaining this!!!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks for watching:)

[@masonmason22]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks for watching:)

[@trillium7582]

This is a beautiful explanation of a complex idea! And the bit about wasps being huge jerks to everybody made me laugh out loud. You're right! I will remember, the next time I find myself hating wasps.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Yeah lol. They are A-holes, but they are A-holes to everyone! It's funny how much your mindset can change when you find value in something your previously hated. It's good for the soul too... removing hatred and replacing it with understanding. I actually love wasps.

[@christianerardt3705]

You are so right. Work with mother nature not against her. Last year, when i spotted lots of aphids on my balcony i also discovered ladybug larvas to fix the problem. That worked great.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

It's amazing how nature sorts itself out sometimes

[@proyectovivirmejor1781]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it's very inspiring and it makes a lot of sense! Brian

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks for watching:)

[@marisasanchez1699]

I just discovered your channel and I love your content as how you describe things in an easy to understand way. Thanks 👍🏼

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks that's good to know. That is definitely what I am going for. I hope you enjoy the channel.

[@healthyfitmom]

Sowing succession crops also helps every few weeks. Some bugs are more prevalent in the heat of summer when the plants are stressed. This is the first year I've done this and it keeps me less sad about pulling dying plants if I can replace them with nice fresh new plants. I've done this with cucumbers and zucchini. It's harder to do with a tomato and winter squash that needs a longer season to mature.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

For sure.

[@RominaJones]

Yes, I have taken that approach as well for quite a few years now and marvel at the biodiversity I have and comparatively few pest problems.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Amazing isn't it?!

[@louisesherwood]

Giant JERKS...LOL... I had hornworm in the garden and then I noticed they had white sacs on their back. Ends up that the hornworm is a host for wasp eggs that use the hornworm for nutrition. I left alone and once the wasps had hatched they took care of the hornworm. Can't say I reacted the same with corn smut which I cut off and drowned in the pond as if it was a monster plant from little shop of horrors when it is fact corn "smut" is delicious. Live and learn is the garden path as we return to nature and letting nature take care of all things.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

LOL

[@judifarrington9461]

What you say here is so true. Another fascinating thing, that is sometimes difficult to see, is how nature keeps everything in balance. I started seeing less pests and insect predators, but what I did see were lots of frogs, toads and skinks. The past two summers, I witnessed the food chain in action when my garden snakes thinned out my frog and skink populations. This year the hawks came and thinned out my snakes. I'm hoping next summer is a perfect balance without all the drama. Lol.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

That trophic cascade is beautiful when you get to watch it unfold firsthand.

[@williammcduff6531]

Another great video. We had insects attack our elderberry bush several years ago and my wife sprayed them with some liquid dish soap and water to help deter them. In any event either that did the trick or their natural predators took the job over in following years as it's cleared up. We do have lots of those small predator wasps around so maybe they're taking care of the problem.

[@petergilfillan8340]

Great advice : )

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Excellent point

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Much appreciated

[@Woodchipengineer]

Wonderful

[@littleflower4863]

love this.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks for watching :)

[@travisdavis1042]

“Wasps are giant jerks to everybody, not just us” takes me back to the time I was minding my business cleaning out my fish tank when a wasp kommakaze dive bomb’d my head. 😅

[@vilaramsey280]

From without to within... This is the same method generally used for natural internal medicine.

[@elsef6798]

So true! Nature balances out when it spots a species that’s out of control (with just one devastating exception). Having diversity is the real riches of the world.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Well, that exception may only be a temporary exception...

[@part-timeprep5932]

Thank goodness, less to buy and mess with! 😂 Every time I hear "neem oil," I just get tired. 😂 I'm in South-Central Texas. My friend's parents had a pecan orchard. He said they always left the wasps alone because they take care of the webworms. So when Ioved into my place I let the wasps do whatever they wanted on the higher eaves. Not a summer goes by that I don't have pest control sales folks knocking offering a "deal" to remove them. Obviously I decline. Thanks for another helpful lesson!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Yeah, behind all those products is someone making money. They aren't exactly snake oil - they DO actually work - but they often are trading short term solutions that have long term ill consequences. The person selling the product doesn't mind if your system becomes dependent on constantly applying neem oil all over the place though!

[@sherrydesmarais7032]

Great video! That’s exactly my philosophy. Nature has done marvellous work in all the centuries before us so why mess with success! My one comment is aphids is pronounced eh-fids. I know a lot of Canadians have issues with pronouncing some words particularly if they have some French Canadian background. No disrespect, just thought I would mention it - a fellow Canadian!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Thanks, appreciate it. Chalk that one up to reading it for like a year and cementing a fake pronunciation into my head before unheard anyone say it.

[@wmluna381]

I say / have said AH-phids for decades. 😂 I've tried to edit myself, but it's ingrained. For me, I think that was because, while I've read the word in my head like that, I've never heard anyone actually say it out loud / on repeat to register the apparent correct pronunciation. My ex-H laughed at me one day when I literally said cupboards vs. 'cubbards'. I'd heard 'cubbards', but never aligned it to the visual reading of the way it's written. Growing up my whole family either called them cabinets or 'gabinetes' (Spanish). Glad that I am in good company on the AH-phids front though. 😉😁

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

I put up feeders, build habitat, and provide surface water to attract birds - sunflower and safflower seed only, which draws an agreeable multi-species flock. Here is an interesting thing about these flocks: along with the seasonal seed eaters like finches, chickadees and cardinals (who will all feed insects to their young when they nest) are several obligate insectivores: Woodpeckers of all kinds, nuthatches, and wrens. Habitat and surface water are good for them, but the feeder does nothing - so why did they come, too? Because this is hawk country, and they like to flock up for protection. Wrens destroy the fall webworm nests, and keep my nut trees mostly pest free. (and sometimes beg for cat food .. they like a high protein diet)

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

That's super interesting!

[@GodwinAnne]

Enjoyed your video. It came up on the sidebar. We've just cleared a wooded area of skinny water oaks. Still have large oaks, a large pine, maples and wild cherries. I'm reading up on permaculture. Zone 8b. This side yard is 50'x50'. How close together should I plant fruit trees? From reading, looks like I can keep them pruned to manage the size. I've planted a small raised bed but something is eating my cucumbers and bell pepper leaves. Your observation about pests makes sense. Thanks! I've subscribed to learn more.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Great to hear. I have many videos on these topics. Look at this video from last year: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKG7l5yXfNWgqcU

[@jeannettedewit9005]

I had experienced this 20 years ago when our very mature red maple tree was covered in aphids. The reason I knew is because our patio table was covered in a sticky sap so when I looked up I was alarmed. It was way too big to think of spraying SO I did nothing. Within a short time I noticed a new creature.....I had to look it up and it was ladybug larva - munching away at the infestation. Within weeks the problem was solved via Mother Nature!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

That's awesome 👌

[@deborahjudyboucher1072]

The bug/predator on your pear tree looked like a firefly, if they are in your area, you will see them light up during mating season.

[@markc1894]

Put out empty bee boxes around your lot for wasps

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I have a few!

[@tgardenchicken1780]

I often think of pests as an all you can eat buffet for "good" bugs.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Exactly. I noticed a ton of spider webs all over the place this fall. So many that it got me thinking about how many pests I must have to sustain that level of predator population.

[@DanielleDeFreeze]

I have a large number of chipmunks that dig tunnels in my yard and eat my bulbs and new leaf growth on ground plants. So far I’ve just had ornamental plants like tulips hostas etc. but I’m starting my food forest now and this is the only pest I’m worried about especially because I plan to have guilds with root vegetables mixed in. TN, US, zone 7.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I would say nitrogen worry about it. Just about every healthy forest has these in them.

[@anneg8319]

Praying Mantis. They can be harvested locally or purchased and then added to our food forest. Wonderful predators.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Absolutely

[@lavendercottageflowerfarm3281]

Cover each plant with a small wire cage made from chicken wire. Works great to keep my dog Harley from running over tender plants and trees.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Harley sounds like a good boi

[@lavendercottageflowerfarm3281]

Canadian Permaculture Legacy yes he is!

[@whereswendy8544]

I hate wasps but changed my mind on them when I once observed wasps hunting earwigs that were hiding in the corn silks. Now I just leave them alone when I see them hovering around the garden.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Now would you believe me when I say that earwigs are great garden friends too? :) It's funny, the more I learn about all the roles these bugs play, the less I hate them. Earwigs eat so many garden pests in their larvae stage.

[@mgguygardening]

Great video, and I hadn't looked at pests from this angle. I like the idea of leaving one plant that's infested by something like aphids to attract the natural predators. I made the mistake of buying ladybugs one year, and I believe most if not all just flew away on me.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

haha yeah I think many people do that 😅

[@mgguygardening]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy yep. Lesson learned!

[@beverlyanne5699]

I took a pic of 2 snails on a bon fire log I had piled up. Their shells were opaque. It looked cool, but I was actually very concerned. I live directly behind a farmers field, and it has been sprayed and no public notice to residents of what it is they are using. The opaque shell is indicitive of a caustic acid which deteriorates calcium, causes iron deficiencies and skin irritations. I believe it is no coincidence my neighbours and I have had increasing symptoms every year.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Wow. You should contact a lawyer and see if a class action lawsuit is possible.

[@rufia75]

I put a lot of woodchips down in my small in-ground vegetable garden (mostly paths, edges, but alot) and slugs are actually really bad in my local climate. And my garden has had plenty of slug issues in the past. First year, got lots of slugs. Basically ate everything; tried organic/natural-type slug bait killer and slug beer traps, but nothing could stop the damage. Second year, quite a few slugs and slug damage still (but significantly less) and did two applications of a organic/natural-type slug bait killer. Third year? Practically zero slug damage and no applications of slug bait, even though when I go to plant something and move aside woodchips, I'll see some slug eggs among other insects and worms and mycelium. My slug population is kept well in control by and gets fed by beetles, spiders, centipedes, and even small field mice. There's probably some other predators I don't know about like the occasional bird, etc too. Even though I likely slowed the rate of predator growth in the area through slug bait and it would have happened faster without it, it still shows that the less you do and the more you let a system take over control with monitoring, the better it will do the work for you.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Wonderful observations

[@CampingforCool41]

We’ve never sprayed but still get coddling moths in so many of our apples...

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

How many flowers do you have around? The more you plant the more predators you will get. Coddling moths hatch under leaves and get into apples the same day. The more flower diversity you have, the more chance of having predators in your food forest on the exact day you need them.

[@CampingforCool41]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy That’s a great point I didn’t think about. We only have a few apple trees and not many flowers surrounding them. But we did start planting out a somewhat large perennial flower garden last year in proximity so could that help?

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Absolutely, that's the entire permacuture principle. We should be Growing food like nature does - in polycultures. Nature doesn't do monocultures, and the moment we create one, we create so many imbalances that manifest themselves as pests and disease. Just rememeber that it can take a few years for the balance to sort itself out.

[@ZeljkoSerdar]

Green Lives Matter. We love your work, all the best from Croatia, EU, your new 🐾. CCRES team

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Awesome saying. Thanks for watching me from halfway across the world!

[@lesliekendall2206]

And your predator bugs might have bounced back quickly because EVERYONE ELSE is spraying. Although I had an opposite experience with the aphids on my roses. Sprayed once and they were gone but I'll keep a closer eye on my predator populations now. 👍

[@tiarianamanna973]

The only remarkable pest in my garden is fleabeatle. They eat everything even remotely resembling brassicas. Radish, cabbage, turnips, mustard, you name it. Its imposseble to grow. Even if i grow big seedlings indoors and hide them under all sorts of netting.. the seedlings simply vanishes in a few days as these monsters munch them away 😶 i havent found any way to deal with this problem, except this that i dont grow any brassicas 😬

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

And honestly sometimes that's the correct solution. One other thing... spending a season or two without the pests favorite food source available, could be enough to "reset them". Maybe spending a few years growing NONE of what they eat, you will then be able to try it and be successful.

[@VK-qo1gm]

Having built our diverse garden , veg, fruit, ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers & grasses. The best advice I ever received was not to spray anything, & to diverse plant, by planting extra herbs & flowering plants among your main plantings they become your 'sacrificial' plants for pests, having a mono crop of anything, meaning just rows of the same plant, veg, shrubs etc make them more vulnerable to pests, diversifying plants can actually trick pests due to the difference species in your gardens, with patients, the cavalry of 'good bugs' always arrive & take care of the free loading plant destroyers, then your eco system starts to thrive. A few casualties here & there on your plants are nothing compared to the poisons we induce by spraying relentlessly for every thing. I don't ever leave fallen fruit or veg on the ground, which usually happens when the good bugs are on vacation, so pick them up. Also, I don't mulch my fruit trees in Winter, I remove any weeds & fluff the soil around them so that any coddle moths or pests don't have a chance to survive by 'hibernating' & waiting to lay their eggs, & chooks help a lot here too. Keep gardens clean & tidy & simply let mother nature do what she is best at, looking after her patch. Love your videos, always something new to learn, your areas are functional & beautiful

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Amazing comment, thanks for taking time two write all that down.

[@heikkiparviainen6084]

Plant some sacrificial cabbage and kale for them moths. My biggest problem is bird damage

[@tourmaline7742]

Cabbage moths, Mamestra brassicae, are a different species from Codling moth, Cydia pomonella. Cabbage caterpillars are green and taste like cabbage, but codling caterpillars are yellow and taste like apples.

[@n1mbusmusic606]

in a perma context this is great. NOT on an orgabic farm, there unfortunately its neem to tge max....farming hard..although i want to see advanced perma style high output polyies delivering commercial yields

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Check out JM fortier, Richard Perkins

[@richardruss7481]

Ok, first change that from "get rid of the humans" to "get rid of the humans and their dogs" ;) If you have not heard John Kempf's podcast on regenerative agriculture you should. One of his guests was explaining how when a plant is really healthy it's immune system makes it "undigestable" to most pests (perhaps not locust), and that they will fly right over it without seeing it, but an unhealthy plant will be like a beacon to it. That is why they attack your weakest fruit.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

John Kempf was one of my biggest inspirations for this video :) his podcast is excellent, and that specific episode was fantastic.

[@kanika9995]

Cutworms and Army worms! 😭

[@shaebray9037]

one of the things that i have noticed. I have a rose of sharon tree in my yard. and the japanese beetles attack it and the spiders on the tree eat them but they leave my fruits alone.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Good observation. This is why it's always good to add many complimentary plants to a system, not just the edibles. Often insects like things that we may not want to eat. Too many people would react to that and remove the "bad tree/bush" but it's actually performing a function in that system. Giving food to things that are food to things we want.

[@Spark_Iskra_z_Polski]

Let me share a great but sneered at solution to diseases needing copper spraying. I make copper bracelets from copper wire and put them around plant stem/tree trunk. In two weeks a n ectarine tree with yucky twirled leaves turned into healthy tree. I started putting copper around all my major plants. All look great. Worth trying. Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Worth a try :) I told this to my father in law (Poppy) and he is going to try it. I think I will also. Who knows, maybe the rains splashing will pull tiny bits of copper off and splash it onto leaves. Maybe there is some kind of weird electrochemical thing going on there. Either way, copper is easy to find, and it's worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@Spark_Iskra_z_Polski]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I wrap the bracelet up around the tree not necessarily at soil level. It all depends on the tree. If I see tree cancer on a branch I coil it around the banch. Also heavy dolomit/calcium mixture is used in our country to not only protect the tree trunks from rodents, but also as a protective layer against bacteria. I brush my trees with the mixture (you can also use the builder's unslacked lime mixed with water) as high as I could reach. This way the tree is healthier in spring. You must do it in late winter. I had an old apple tree attacked with a fast acting disease that came from a garden nearby where nobody took care of anything. It looked like tree leprosy to me. The bark was falling off like crazy. Everyone told me the tree must be cut and burnt. But I liked the tree. Started cutting it down. But decided to try help it my way. I took almost all the bark off, painted it with the brown timber preservative that I had. Not some specialist cream. Also used some old machine oil to make the bare wood feel less dry. When it felt normal in touch I painted it heavy with lime to protect the bare trunk from the winter low temp. Next spring the tree had sturdy offshoots and this year, its second after leprosy, it produces its first apples. No local gardener wants to believe me this tree survived the disease. Normally trees die. I live on an island where the soil gets heavily soaked with water in winter and sometimes the water stands up to ankles so fungal disease is to be expected, but this one was sth I have never seen before. Looked yucky. As if the tree burnt from within and the bark flaked off in large as if burnt chunks.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

That makes for a great story too!

[@lavendercottageflowerfarm3281]

We have been invaded by earwigs because of all the rain. They have eaten things to the ground. I wanted to spray, but decided not to and just deal with it. Last week here come the spiders. The earwigs are under control and plants and trees are recovering. The earwigs aren't gone but no longer a serious problem.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Earwigs actually aren't terrible for gardens. They eat some leaves, but they won't completely defoliate a tree. The benefit for that price is that they eat quite a few smaller insects that are much bigger pests than the earwigs. They look gross but they actually aren't too bad. That being said, a complete invasion isn't ideal, so it's nice that they have found a bit more of a balance. However that big swell may have had a side benefit of keeping some nastier pest populations low.

[@musictech85]

Mind = blown

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Haha awesome

[@peacefulgarden]

Jerks! Yes, I love that :)

[@Gregchodgins]

This has completely changed my mind on how to handle pests! Thanks so much for these videos. Learning lots! You mentioned the Japanese beetle, is there any way you’d recommend to handle them. They almost ate all the leaves on my young apple tree because I was away for a week. All I do is physical removal into soapy water

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Unfortunately they are one of the pests that has nothing that eats it, because it isn't from here. I hear geraniums work, specifically deep yellow flowers. They apparently like the color yellow, and they are also clumsy and fall in and cannot get out. I can't verify, and hate passing on info like that, but the worst case is you plant some geraniums and maybe it works, maybe it doesn't and you still have nice flowers.

[@Gregchodgins]

Canadian Permaculture Legacy thanks, I will try that this year. I get them really bad where I live, hopefully I can put a dent into they’re population if I work harder at physical removal. Also, I’d love to hear you on The Survival Podcast. I always learn so much and think you have a great way of explaining things, and I think that would make for a great show.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Jack actually called me an idiot the other day. Kind of funny. I can't even remember what it was about, but I clarified something he said about engineering. I think it was about pump head, and using 2 pumps. Yeah that was it, I mentioned he would get less than 2x flow with 2 pumps, and he called me an idiot. I then responded that I am a professional engineer and explained the way the pump head curve and system curve work, and how you will never get 2x flow with 2x pumps. A bit of a long post, he never replied. I actually very much enjoy TSP, have listened to him for maybe 5 years, but he can be a bit of a hothead sometimes. And he can think he knows more than he does, and you don't realise it until he starts talking about something you know really well. Then it makes you question everything else you took at face value before. Anyways, I dont want to badmouth the guy, he actually knows a lot. But I think there is a chance he sees my name and remembers me. I don't think there is a high chance I get interviewed by him lol.

[@Gregchodgins]

Canadian Permaculture Legacy shoot, sorry to hear that. The reason I suggested was that he had just made a post about beneficial predators so you both came to mind. Also I love your channel and thought that might be a good way to boost it. Sorry he went off on you, and I agree he can be hotheaded. I’ve learned so much from him though, so I tend to over look it.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I have tons of both. You can have a balance, it is definitely possible.

[@BirgitProfessional]

Do you guys have voles as well? They're rampant in Europe, in 2020 I lost 3/4 of my squash plants to them. Now we use a mix of interplanting garlic/onions and protecting the plants' core roots with a metal "cage" that we plant them into. It's working well on a very small scale with only a handful of plants, but I worry about future endeavors on a larger patch of land.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Jerusalem Artichokes are a good vole deflector. They just want food like anything else. They will eat plant roots if there is nothing else to eat. A cat and or dog can also help, although only a little.

[@lars_larsen]

So basically.. Don't get rid of the insect pests, get rid of the human pest instead and let the insect pests deal with their natural predators instead. I love it.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Yeah, let nature be nature. Then let yourself become part of nature, instead of the greatest pest of all.

[@Cyssane]

Some of our biggest pests are squirrels! We have a tiny backyard in the middle of a city. Everyone around us has lawns and trees -- hardly any real gardens. We're trying to grow vegetables on our postage stamp of a backyard, and often the squirrels make off with our food, and sometimes even our flowers. We hardly had any spring blossoms this year because the squirrels would snap them off, carry them a short distance and then drop them. And these are flowers that I purposely chose to be unattractive to squirrels. It's kind of crazy-making.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

This is why almost every answer I can give to a single problem is often stated with "it depends". The ideas I laid out in this video get more more powerful the more control you exert on surrounding lands (and thus can cede the control back to nature). However for people in postage stamp suburban lots, your entire neighbourhood is imbalance. Often these neighbourhoods are built by clesecutting forest or flattening "useless grassland fields", and all the creatures in those fields just lost their home (and more importantly their food). So these poor creatures enter human areas to desperately try to find food. Every square inch of land is now "claimed" by the human that occupies it, and any theft of food from this land is done by a "pest". This obviously takes tremendous ignorance of the squirrels opinion on the matter. The humans represent maybe 1% of the living organisms on that parcel of land, but we claim 100% of the food grown on it for us. Then when everyone collectively does this there is no food left for the squirrels and birds and other creatures in our ecosystems. This is why I think it is crucially important that we as a species find some way to leave some food for these animals. Leaving some nuts out on a picnic table is not going to cause squirrel "pest" population to explode. It's going to keep them from digging up lillies.l to try to find something, anything to eat.

[@Cyssane]

@Truther 4 Christ Yep, I've tried pepper flakes, chili powder, peppermint, blood meal, you name it. These squirrels don't care. I think a lot of it is that our gardens have nice soft soil for them to dig and bury things, unlike all the hard clay-based lawns that surround us.

[@Cyssane]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Well, we do feed them over winter (very well, I might add -- I make them nutritious "squirrel cookies" out of nuts, sesame seeds, wheat germ, and dried fruit, bound with coconut oil that freezes hard). I thought the same, that we should leave food during the summer to keep them out of our veggie bed. That didn't work though -- it just attracted more squirrels than we could reasonably feed. So now we have to cut off the food in April if we don't want our garden beds to be overrun by May 24 weekend. I read that in the summer for an urban squirrel, finding water is a bigger priority, and lack of moisture is why they attack some garden veggies (like tomatoes). They don't really want the tomato -- they apparently want to access the juice, which is why they'll take a couple bites and leave most of it behind. So now we set out water in the hot months, and they come to the porch for a drink. That's definitely saved a few of my plants. I actually do like them really, but you're completely right, it's the imbalanced environment that's the actual problem. We had a nursery of baby squirrels in an old tree close to us, and it was great watching them explore and play with each other. I was sad when the city cut the tree down last fall. I suppose they had to -- it was rotten and hollow, but they cut down a fantastic squirrel home. At least they seem to like to come to our yard when they're still young and use our crabapple tree for a jungle gym, which is just straight-up hilarious.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Great post! I just did a video (uploading now), and I wish I mentioned leaving water out for them. I mention it when I talk about birds drilling holes in tomatoes (they are after the juice), but it applies just as much to rodents. I will mention it in the video description. It is a fantastic point.

[@spottedleopard1636]

@@Cyssane Put hardware cloth on top of your soil with holes for the plants for them to grow through so the squirrels can't dig down to pull things up or bury them, and I've had success with putting coffee grounds down around the sunflowers the little monsters kept digging up. Drink the coffee in the morning then go scatter the digging-repellent fertilizer around the plants! If the plants don't like acidic soil, you might need to mix something alkaline in occasionally to offset the coffee.

[@tracyleal2609]

Abundance of snails on pumpkins infoggy damp weather, seemed like pests , but I wanted to be kind so I gave them a can of beer. Tried to feed their bodies to my birds but none would touch them, not even the gulls. Might have been the type of lager?

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Try putting boards down. Then go out in the morning while there is still dew, turn the board over and find many snails under there. Get rid of them any way you choose. Also remember that often people think this pest methods gets rid of all pests. Thats not true, instead it creates balance. That means you will have pests, just not so many that you lose all your crops. You need some pests to be food for predators, or you have no predators.

[@nathalie9136]

what do you do about snakes, more precisly the dangerous ones found in southern usa?

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I'm in Canada and we have no poisonous snakes, so I don't do anything for them. The best option would be to give them habitat in areas you want them, and avoid giving them habitat in areas you don't want them. So that's mostly long grasses and rock piles. Put those on the outside of your property and keep the grasses cut shorter in areas you frequent. If your land is really small, then just make sure you don't have habitat for them at all. Also definitely check out permaculturists in those climates for how they deal with them. Maybe shoot Geoff Lawton a question on it. He does Q/A videos on his channel "Discover Permaculture with Geoff Lawton"

[@ladyarin2092]

What are your suggestion with getting rid of Japanese beetles? They come every year and nearly destroy my grapes and blueberry trees.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

These are one of the worst pests because they are invasive and don't really have anything that eats them. I've heard geraniums can work (yellow ones especially) as they are clumsy and will fall in them and can't get out. I'm not sure if I'm just parroting wives tales though. I do notice that my chickens will eat them, which is nice.

[@laurakolozsi1216]

Hi There, Thanks for another great video! Listening and processing the information brought on more questions, as I guess it normally would. I have just finished reading "The Holistic Orchard" by Micheal Phillips who is an apple orchardist from the states. He speaks about diversity and permaculture principles, but also highly promotes what he calls "The Four Holistic Sprays of Spring", which include liquid fish, neem oil, kelp and kaolin clay. He also talks about effective microbes using unsulfured mollasses and compost teas using nettle and horsetail. I have recently heard that neem oil is prohibited in York Region, but did not hear why. Do you know? Also what are your thoughts around the nutritional foliar sprays such as kelp, compost teas, nettle and horsetail? Thanks and happy gardening! Laura

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I'm all for nutritional sprays, because they don't interfere with the food web of life, infact they promote it. Those sprays (when done correctly- future video on this- using bubblers) are actually basically beneficial bacteria sprays more than they are nutrient sprays. They innoculate life into the system just as much as they remineralize the soil. For neem oil, an orchardist and I are likely to disagree. Understand that for an orchardist, they NEED to make perfect blemish free food or people won't buy it. That is something WE need to change in ourselves. We need to be okay buying an apple with a blemish. But for now, an orchardist who doesn't grow in a dead environment (whether he collapses the ecosystem with inorganic or organic methods), they will lose yield. And in business it's all about this quarters earning, and not the land 5 years from now. This is the crux of the food production problems we face as the human race. And it's why farms and orchards last 50 years and then get abandoned. They destroy the ecosystem in order to produce maximum yield for this quarter. It's just how we do things. So an orchardist and I will disagree on a few things, and it is because our perspective is completely different. They are maximizing yield of that tree this year, and sacrificing the future for it. I am unwilling to make that sacrifice, but I am okay losing a few apples to nature's creatures, if it means that I can still obtain 95% of it blemish free for myself. Just not 100%. And make sure we all realize this. If you don't spray your trees, it's not like you will have zero apples and bugs will eat them all. They MAY do that if you have previously been doing that every year for a decade... because you have no predators! But in time (a season or two), the predators will naturalize and establish themselves on your land, and you will have balance again. An orchardist tries this one season and gets devastated and gives up and goes back to their addition to eradication and growing food in sterile environments. And I get it, they have to feed their kids and make money. It's just too bad that our entire food system operates like this... it is like we are a bunch of meth addicts, and have to keep injecting, because the withdrawals will kill us if we stop. Hope that analogy helps. Just understand that there is a better way.. it just takes some setting up, a focus towards maintaining it, and an understanding that we need nature if we are going to survive the next 500 years on this planet. And even though that may not affect US, it's our duty as stewards to have a perspective that far out (heck, way further out).

[@laurakolozsi1216]

@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Thanks for the feedback! Totally agree with you! Let nature do her thing. She's been doing it far longer than we have and knows what she's doing. We have a lot to learn from her. I think maybe she's hit pause just now (if we're lucky and aware enough to notice) so we have the time to observe and learn.

[@laneeacannon1450]

One of the reasons I don't have a dog. LOL

[@smueller12244]

I find it interesting you still use the word "pest"....it's a word I don't typically think of in permaculture at all....mostly see it when people are trying to sell product to kill ecosystems in some way.

[@heycrackhead7284]

Looks like I'd be having bbq puppy for dinner.

[@mariar7073]

How about mosquitoes and mice and rats? How did you handle them?

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Mosquitoes with dragonflies. Having oxygenated water is what you want. Small ponds but with a little aerator, these can be built for a hundred bucks and some work. For mice and rats, add little Rock piles here and there for habitat for snakes (provided you don't have venomous snakes in your area). Also consider building owl houses.

[@joeypeterson9198]

Birds will eat Japanese beetles, and tachinid flies and parasitoid wasps seem to prey on them too.

[@rosenlid]

What you would do with Argyresthia conjugella, the apple fruit moth. I have had it on apples now two years in row. First year it wasn't any rowan berries and it is normal that it attacs apples then. But in summer 2020 we had rowan berries but still was my berries attaced severely. I have my trees in woodland that I have thinned out so that there grows scottish pine sparsely. I have many different younger trees trees and shrubs as understory of pines. Bilberryes grow naturally as well lily of the valley (Convellaria majalis). Patches with apple and other fruit I have added lime when planted but I think it would be needed more. Do you know if there is any correlation between acid soil and monilia?

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Unfortuntely I don't know the exact details of every possible bug, only the ones that I'm familiar with up here. I haven't had to deal with this bug yet. That being said, the solution I've had to a vast diversity of pests is always the same. Leave some up, and plant more herbs and flowers. Add more predator habitat. Never rid your land of all your pests or the predators have no food. For the last question, I'm afraid I don't know any details about that either.