Why a Vegetable Garden Needs Pests

Thank you to David The Good for the inspiration. Watch his video here: • Just LET IT DIE
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[@ChristopherKanigan]

Nice to see KZbinrs promoting each other instead of feuding and contradicting each other.....much like David the Good promoted your new book last week.

[@mrcat5992]

black birds ate most of my raspberries this year i didnt get any berries but got lots of baby birds playing in the garden... so that was nice 😂

[@Loveartmusic123]

Awe❤❤❤❤❤

[@Dirt-Fermer]

If those are crows or raven they’ll remember your face as kind for generations instead of angry. One of them brought me $10 before but only the once

[@judifarrington9461]

Maybe you can section part of your plants next year so you both can enjoy some. ❤ I've had to do that with a doe who visits my garden.

[@jamesgribben7024]

Grow yellow raspberries. Only you will know they are ripe

[@johnkay4701]

Sorry, but I'm continuing to get up at the crack of dawn & picking my raspberries & strawberries before the birds see them first. If I've already picked them, then the birds see nothing of interest & fly over to a neighbour's garden for their yummy breakfast. Half hour later, freshly washed raspberries on my rolled oats for my breakfast is then worth the trouble.

[@terrijensenbrown]

I compost my enemies, butcher my peach tree and chop and drop with David The Good. I mulch everything with Wayland Smalley and Lazy garden with Anne of All Trades while Jess at Roots And Refuge makes my gardening heart sing for joy! Charles Dowding, MiGardener and so many other KZbin teacher/growers are helping me to fill my garden with bountiful flower and vegetable harvests, more and more insect, bird and animal visitors each year, all of whom are welcome as I have more than enough to share. Thank you so much Huw, you too are with me in my garden every day. ❤💚💛

[@heyfunny3036]

My dad came from a large farming community in SD, he would always over-plant our gardens. The weaker plants would attract the insects, leaving the healthy plants to produce profusely. We always canned an entire year’s worth of food every year from Dad’s garden. Feeling grateful for that.

[@juangomezfuentes8825]

There are sacrifice plants to do that. You dont need to sacrify your production plants.

[@FirstnameLastname-en1im]

God bless you.

[@bigbadthesailor5173]

I once saw a permatculture farmer type who'd managed to create a very thriving system by applying STUN - "sheer total and utter neglect" to the trees and other plants - what survived was fit for the location and went on to thrive - he basically fast tracked the evolution of the landraces he needed. On the other hand, the terror of loosing the plant may be a deep visceral memory of the time people were reliant on a handful of crops - letting the plants (or livestock) die was letting yourself die. Diversity is the answer!

[@jamesgribben7024]

I planted an acre and a half of sunflower 2 weeks ago in the bann valley. I purposely over seeded so the crows came in and ate all my slugs and snails. thank you crows

[@danielleroseclark]

As Jess from Roots and Refuge says - you cannot have perfection and abundant life in the same place. Let go of perfection and embrace abundance.

[@judifarrington9461]

Great video, Huw! You mentioned deer ... I have a young doe who ate a good part of my garden last year. I finally learned to just loosely drape white insect netting over my plants. It spooks her. I leave apples and scraps of things I know she likes. She seems happy with that. She is absolutely beautiful and I love having her around.

[@davidthegood]

Thank you, Huw. Excellent thoughts as always.

[@rachelhenson6668]

Thanks Huw....I let a few parsnips, beetroot, carrots, fennel, kale, parsley and leek run to seed throughout my garden...they look beautiful and attract some lovely insect life. My parsnip has two butterfly cocoons woven into the seeds already and the flowers are really attractive to hovverfles. I'm looking forward to seeing birds feeding on the seeds later on in the season.🌻

[@nancyseery2213]

I watch David the Good. I have his books and I have your books!!. James P from New Jersey is someone I love also. So there you have it, three of my favorite men in my life hang out in the garden.

[@davidthegood]

James Prigioni is always inspiring for sure.

[@KristinGasser]

As a second year permaculture garden newbie, I was very enthusiastically to my pretty successful first garden year last year. I was happy to I find out that I seem to have an unexpected green thumb, I seem to have a good feeling for polyculture, multidimensional neighbourhoods, flowers and additional herbs. What I didn‘t expect and never heard of before, was the sudden invasive (thousands of them) appearance of the cabbage bug (Eurydema oleraceum), who killed all my brassicas within only two days completely. It was a cry! Since then I have more understanding for farmers that spray 😮… although I wouldn‘t do it… cabbages are totally local here, but „organic people“ almost stopped growing brassicas in this area… We‘re far away from any intensive agriculture or any pollution, and live in pure nature next to a nature park in Slavonia/ Croatia).This area is almost abandoned for over 30 years… this year I almost didn’t dare to try it again, but I couldn‘t resist… 😅 In my home countries Austria & Germany nobody heard of these bugs before. I my research, I found that they are new to Europe and come from Asia… and they don‘t have any natural preditors here yet. Even the chicken don‘t eat them because of their stinky smell… now new research found out that they DO have preditors that seem to slowly follow from Asia too and they already discovered them even in Switzerland: a special wasp that lays it’s eggs into the eggs of the bugs! So I hope they will find their way into our area, too! My solution this year, was not to grow any spring cabbage, but to start now with the later brassicas, after the bugs main season in June… let’s see how it works out…

[@marjamerryflower]

Thanks for sharing. I used to plant chamomile next to the cabbage plants. It seems that the strong smells misleads certain bugs...

[@KristinGasser]

@@marjamerryflower also thanks for sharing. ☺️! I will defenately try it with chamomile! I planted celeriac in between the cabbages and that worked good enough to protect the small plant babies. Meanwhile the bugs have discovered the bigger cabbages and I started to collect them from the plants... 😳 But until now the plants seem to be strong enough and the bugs are not (yet) sooo many and unmanagible like last year!

[@marjamerryflower]

@@KristinGasser interesting the celeriac in between. This year i try calendula. Last year the calendula kept the bug away from the leeks. An experienced person was surprised to find my leeks were healthy. And they had calendula as neighbour

[@ebradley2306]

Wasn't a big user of pesticides/insecticides but I completely changed my attitude about pests after watching a video by Doug Tallamy on his book The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees. Insects, bugs... good and bad, are food for other creatures. Now I just spray things off. If they are going to eat my veg they are going to have to work for it. 😊 David the Good just drops words of gardening wisdom.

[@joshua511]

David the Good is fantastic!

[@adamosman2142]

Huw this is the best advice I've ever been given. Couldn't get rid of the aphids on my nasturtiums so followed your advice and let them be. LADYBUGS EVERYWHERE. Within a week my garden is now covered in ladybugs eating all the aphids on all my plants. It's a joy. Thankyou.

[@tWoTter]

This is something that I keep saying! The more pests I started accepting, the more beneficial insects came in their own. I have zero problems with my plants getting pollinated, pests don’t take over my garden, it’s a beautiful tiny ecosystem! I love that you talked about this, more people need to realize we need pests for the predators!

[@margaretmoore5224]

Great video- hope people will sit up and take notice of this advice. It makes perfect sense and we need to live in harmony with our environment. Thank you Huw 🙂

[@margaretalice6343]

Put slugs & snails on your compost heap. Put them to work. Our garden ecology needs everything including slugs & snails to eat dying materials 🤩

[@TobyRedMilo]

I have landrace peppers in my garden and they look beautiful this year so far

[@ohio_gardener]

Love the advice from David the Good, which is much like what I've done for years. But, most non-organic gardeners would have a panic attack if they saw pests devouring their plants. Some of my favorite garden predators are Bluebirds and Tree Swallows. I love watching the Bluebirds pick worms and beetles off of the plants, and watching the swallows soaring overhead cleaning up the moths.

[@CWorgen5732]

A bunch of organic gardeners would freak out, too. There are a few things like Neem oil that are overused.

[@user-xb7sj2uk4u]

Thanks for the tip on David the Good. Just subscribed to his channel and already learnt stuff.

[@SethCochran1]

It was a great video. I found him through you and watched your video today because of what he said in his let it die video. Full circle

[@happyhobbit8450]

I've started planting pest distractors and pest attractors all over my garden. I'm learning about the weeds that come up and what the soil is missing. Gardening is an ever learning endeavour for me. I'm always thinking 'I don't know what I don't know'! Thank you for the video ... I always enjoy your content!!!

[@johnlee-po9lq]

i watch these gardening videos because it helps me Relax and not have existential crisis (i code things) and the Spiders are the best web designers!

[@margaretalice6343]

Plant pot marigolds around beans. They kept my bean plants pest free

[@meaganfigueroa630]

SO encouraging and reassuring and relevant!! Thank you!

[@lorainemcguire5795]

Thanks for a great video and also for suggesting the david the good video which I have to admit I've never heard of before but also very interesting and has certainly changed my mind set ❤

[@CIB8282]

David's garden isn't as aesthetic but he produces a lot of food for his large family.

[@runningwarrior5468]

Dude! You left out the fountain intro! LOL. You, David the Good, Liz Zorab and James Prigioni are my go tos in my 6B WNY area. Davids climate is not like mine but he has great ideas and I bought all of his books.

[@grahamblackall6305]

I watched that video! Great minds think alike! Great video yourself Huw!

[@AF-oq5bu]

I have artichokes planted -- 3rd year now! Every year, aphids absolutely cover the plants and no amount of pressure watering can get rid of them from among the petals. I have tried, because I love perennials, but -- will be pulling them out end of this season. Don't want to stress about it any more, and I can devote the space to something that gives more pleasure than anxiety.

[@Brandon-wp8ws]

Hey, use milk! Watch “Living Traditions Homestead” video called “this old time secret saved our tomatoes from aphids”. They got the idea from “growing out the box” video called “how to use milk in the garden”. I used this technique this year with a fogger, no more aphid problem! I use it once a week now as a preventative.

[@catrinjohansson611]

It's so much fun listening to your videos, I get new inputs on things ❤ Greetings from Sweden 😊

[@belindashallcross9520]

I'm currently visiting my courgette twice daily to remove squash bugs!

[@valeriehowden471]

One spring, our sour cherry bush was covered in aphids. It was unusually dry, and the ladybugs were nowhere to be found. After a few days of washing the leaves, the bugs slowed down, and then the ladybugs arrived in full force. The bush is very happy now 3 years later. We usually get a visit by flea beetles after the local canola crops have been harvested. Ugh.

[@jankoodziej877]

Yeah, that's all great that it happened, but it is by far not a rule. If aphids were always controlled by natural predators like this, people would not have issues with them.

[@happyhobbit8450]

Yes David the Good is on my subscribed videos

[@lindasands1433]

White cabbage moths are NOT welcome in my garden. I use netting

[@ironmaiden3751]

No. I find 'imported' pests are the worst. Only way I'll ever have broccoli I'm afraid is to do the same.

[@zaria5785]

I’ve had to give up on my first crop of cucumbers as it got decimated by aphids and other pests. I planted a different variety of cucumbers in June. And they’re ready to replace the old ones now. The best part is all the beneficial insects have found my garden and are visiting daily.

[@russellzauner]

sacrificial crops that pests prefer when they can't be redirected to compost duties

[@ninirossau2304]

my garden ran wild during a bad spell of weather so now I am feeding my rabbits with horsetail and other goodies. so this year I am growing more meat than vegetables. I still have all my fruits, raspberry season is just starting.

[@danadpt2012]

This year I planted more sacrificial plants this year. Nasturtiums and calendula and Sweetpeas! Encourage the more predators as well as bees and pest.

[@pintsizestories196]

I find it is important to attract a variety of birds to my yard. They eat lots of insects. I do not put feeders out with bird seed in the growing season as I want the birds to be hungry, looking for food but I do feed them during the winter months. I have trees, shrubs and brush piles for the birds to nest and shelter in. The only pest that I regularly have trouble with is slugs. I use slug bait with ferric phosphate a couple of times a season and that keeps them at a manageable level.

[@BellasBigAdventures]

Not sure if you know but the video link you ask us to watch at the end isnt showing. Thanks for another great video, im a firm believer in letting the birds etc sort out most of my pests even if they trample some of my plants 😂

[@emilybh6255]

David the Good is in Alabama now. He's not quite as far south as Florida. He's about in growing zone 8B or 9A whereas south Florida, such as Miami, is 10 B or 11.

[@invokalink162]

I've left some leeks to flower too, as well as some of last year's parsnips that are staggeringly tall when in bloom. We had a relentless slug population this year, but with a combo of beer traps and torchlight searches we've finally got it under control. The blackbirds cause the most destruction, and in reality they do more bad than good. Destroying seedlings, and eating not pest insects but mainly my much needed worms.

[@lg2352]

I'd love to hear your take on aphids Huw - specifically on lettuce! I spent more time than I care to say soaking, rinsing and cleaning, but couldn’t get them all off. The rest of the family aren't bothered by a few stragglers, but i can't bring myself to eat it and end up buying some in!

[@evanor1296]

I discovered that ladybugs like to over winter in the sunflower leftovers in the stem so letting them be all winter might be a good idea and later maybe used them to peas and beans r something else that need climbing support

[@PuthyvanGarden]

Great job 👍

[@samanthamoore2248]

In general I'm learning not to get too upset if plants don't do well because it's either a learning experience or just entirely out of my control. Many things that grew well last year have been a disaster this year, and things that didn't do well last year are doing great (either because I learnt from last year, or because the weather has been more favourable for that particular plant).

[@__Shellspace__]

it can take time especially when you start from scratch from all the ecosystems to work together , companion planting is definately the way forward to providing this and attracting in all kinds of insects i think im in my 4th year my first was definately a crazy one ! i reckon it takes around 8 years for an area to become cultivated with everything it needs includeing the wildlife , im buying some bat boxes and temp homes for the starlings that come in may time and dig up my garden to make nests lol , im not keen on bug hotels ut i do have them and as long as they dont require maid service they can stay put haha

[@JamCamel]

Had a miserable issue with slugs and aphids, until I set up sonic fences to keep the cats away (not my cats, and they were a frustratingly destructive nuisance). Soon after, a hedgehog took up residence in my garden, and ground-dwelling birds started coming by each day. Hedgehog has been eating the slugs and snails, and the birds and their nestlings absolutely devour the aphids. (And my garden beds arent being destroyed by cats anymore!) Gardens are complex systems, and sometimes if you manage a seemingly unrelated issue, you can find so many things falling back into place as nature returns to its natural flow.

[@sherylwhited7380]

I’m in North Central TX…the worst garden pest for me is the small pillbug - in the spring they devour seedlings and will also eat seeds underground. Rather than trying to fight them with diatomaceous earth (which😮 has to be replaced constantly) I now plant out everything in plastic yogurt or sour cream “collars” - bottoms have been cut off. This saves 90% of my transplants & seeds. And the “collars” last several seasons, even in our hot temps. I do remove them when the plants are about 6 inches tall.

[@margaretalice6343]

Leave two or three parsnips to flower. Magnet for ladybird & other beneficial insects

[@margaretalice6343]

I’m trialling herbs this year let ya know 🤩

[@CWorgen5732]

I'll tell ya about pests. The cows pushed down my gate to get to the clover in my garden! They weren't too interested in the tomatoes, but they grazed away all my brassicas and beans. Some of the maize might survive, with most of the squash and tomatoes, but all the peppers and potatoes had their tops removed. Flowers are gone, too.

[@brimelowfarmbychon3329]

Great video 👍❤

[@BumblebeeAdventure]

🐝thanks for the great video🌻

[@naomi1431]

Even with having not much of a garden and more of a yard, I've realized flies attract the same predators as mosquitoes. So I don't worry about having flies in my compost, and I also don't feel the need to spray for mosquitos the way some people in my neighborhood do. . .

[@toriahennesey]

Huw - 12:36 needs the healthy soil video tile

[@peace4peaceful]

Not seen the vid yet. But that title! Try that gardening in Qld..I need pests like a hole in the head. 😊

[@Braisin-Raisin]

Hmm, tomato and potato blight, blight on the aubergines - I find it hard to accept I have to throw away all that work. The blight is due to inclement weather.. I grow all sorts of plants together but this year it is really difficult.

[@UKallotments1]

Nice 😊😊

[@margaretalice6343]

I had an infestation of aphids on me lupins I did nothing & small birds came in and annihilated them Nature often takes care of pests. Often if you are patient nature takes care of pests I now plant lupins all over my plot cos they are susceptible to aphids cos it brings in the birds and my edibles are left relatively pest free

[@shannonalaminski2619]

My butterfly weed was looking awful. It was sad. But then a caterpillar ate off the top. I was not happy with the caterpillar. I gave him my spot treatment. He became a spot. I regret that. Because the plant exploded! Now I have five times the growth. And five times the flowers in my garden.

[@greenwoodfarms7920]

I had black flies on my garlic this year and all the garlic died, all the advice I have received so far is not to plant garlic for a few years but I don't want to do that. The entire garden got affected because I had garlic and onions dotted everywhere and they all got it. Any tips for next year would be appreciated. Going out and spraying them with water is not feasible because they are so many and also it was raining so much already at the time the flies were most plentiful.

[@barbaracoates6814]

I had birds eating my blueberries for 2 years. After that all of the perennials and flowers I planted for the birds fed them and they don't eat my cherries or berries.

[@debmacdonald1661]

When I first started gardening I thought pests meant the plants were weak so would feed them (probably fish fertilizer) and watch them. Seemed to work?!

[@debmacdonald1661]

And a mish-mash of flowers, veggies, fruit and herbs...

[@marnie8007]

I was showing my husband my garden and he said "oh this plant has bugs" and I said "yep" and we moved on. lol

[@jeanettebot193]

Jackdaws eat my peas, broad beans, corn and any other grains. I have given up on growing peas and corn. I can keep some broadbeans for myself, if I net them well.

[@irenemarlow9144]

The slugs and snails have been prolific this year. Nightmare! They are merrily scoffing!

[@lundquist22]

What about something like cucumber beetles that always decimate so many of my squash, melons and cucumbers. I have been hand picking every morning to try to keep the numbers down.

[@CIB8282]

Cucumber beetles prefer some varieties more than others, so some people let the overrun varieties die and save seed from the resiliant ones.

[@eternalfizzer]

Thank you - I'm convinced. But what do you do about slugs? That's the only pest I worry about and what I lose the most harvest to.

[@Colacweeds]

Try keeping ducks or chicken as part of the garden bed rotation, hard work to setup but makes a huge difference.

[@alexk7973]

or maybe attract some hedgehogs 😂 they love those. Leave some pretty large poos around the garden though. My parents had a hedgehog in their garden earlier this year. At first they thought it was a neighbourhood cat leaving poos in the middle of the garden. So my father apparently installed a wildlife camera, to identify the perpetrator and found out there was a massively fat hedgehog roaming the place at night 😂

[@BellasBigAdventures]

@@eternalfizzer a small pond near to attract frogs who love slugs too

[@CWorgen5732]

Huw has some bits about laying a plank on top of the soil in the evening and turning it over in the morning to pick off slugs. You can also put in beer traps.

[@angelamorton16]

​@@BellasBigAdventureshedgehogs shouldn't be eating alot of slugs - they carry a lot of parasites and disease they make them sick (and worse!). It's best to try and attract birds and frogs etc to eat them 👍

[@samitakhadka-e6o]

hi, love your videos. you said about slugs problems this year, what are the solution for it? my garden is full of slugs and snails. please help. thank you

[@lovetaikolovelife9794]

@Huw....can I use spent hop FLOWERS in my compost? The local brewery use their actual hops for cattle 🙏

[@lesliekendall5668]

As long as it's edible, I give the "ugly stuff" to the chickens. And if there are bugs on it, all the better.

[@tinareaume]

Here in the US, we have opossums. They are welcome in my garden because they eat slugs. They also eat a lot of other pests including fleas and ticks. Now, if they would just eat deer, I would be in 7th Heaven!

[@braba74]

Thanks Huw. Do you have any advice for moles? I think I have 2 or 3 in my garden at the moment digging up my no dig beds, and grass areas. It's becoming more and more of a problem in this first year for my garden. Help!

[@ml.5377]

Sometimes, pests can be a deficiency symptom. I know my brassicas need calcium when aphids como to visit.

[@kathyritscher9459]

I try to find the hornworms. But if I miss some the birds find them. I will find evidence of them being there but no hornworm. I even find bird poo left behind. Lol

[@carried9130]

I have to ask, did you just pluck a bean top that had green fly, bring it to a spot that didn't have it and rub the top in that fly-free spot? I found this year (my third gardening and I'm very smal scale just now) that the plants and crops I do have this year have less damage from pests and seem more resistant themselves. A hedge that normally has a bunch of holes has only some on tje bottom this year, and there's been little damage or loss of my garlic and onion. We don't use sprays and we do have pests. I believe the plants are just stronger this year.

[@HuwRichards]

Yes haha but I'm plucking off all the tops anyway next week to eat so not bothered😂 Oh that's awesome to hear!!🌿

[@KathyRouleau]

I came on to ask the same thing. It may not have that mattered in your garden for that reason but it's a good practice not to carry the bugs around and sprinkle them on bug free plants😅

[@KathyRouleau]

You are teaching after all. 🤔🙄 I watch all your videos. Love them. I coordinate a community garden, and tell gardeners to grow healthier plants than their neighbors and they'll have fewer problems.

[@carried9130]

​@@HuwRichards thank you! We made our own compost and had enough for all our beds and pots. I think that's a big part of it. Glad to hear you'll have some good eating with those tops soon!

[@talithagriffiths9218]

How did you deal with the slugs? It’s something of a problem for me.

[@inguracka]

Yes, but.. How does one apply all if it to mini garden? I have mini greenhouse and 3 beds. And despite the best effort, flowers - this year is devastating. Its like every pest there is - its in my garden, aphids, thrips and worst of all - some sort of weevil that is eating everything on its way, even flowers. My sweet alyssum is gone within weeks of planting. Kohlrabi, japan radish, rucola - seedlings gone withing few days of emerging - thousand holes on mini leaves. So much so that I am almost considering to give up next year in hopes that they will move on.

[@MeMarviL6]

How did you deal with the slug problem? I'm from NL and we have a huge problem here to, because of the constant rainfall.

[@SchitBujoaraMaBene-v6r]

My garden is devastated by e bug eurydema. What can i do to save my future kale plants?

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

See, now you are starting to agree with me! We need to build healthy ecosystems where our intervention is to guide that ecosystem so we can harvest what we need to thrive.

[@marking-time-gardens]

🌻🐛🌿💚🙏💕

[@helenbrown6194]

Why is your tomato growing in the wire tube is it for support?

[@glassbackdiy3949]

Pests & Diseases go for weak plants (less than optimum immune systems) they're Natures way of saying to the gardener, could do better. Groundswell Agriculture channel recently dropped a an excellent talk by John Kempf, all will be revealed.

[@tonyphillips5525]

Field beans? Who calls them field beans in the UK? Are you in the US?

[@LisaMay_HomeAndAway]

How do you deal with voles?

[@420kushmaster]

limey

[@juliancasandre2286]

Nothing new for permaculture people, pests have own space and time.

[@HuwRichards]

@@juliancasandre2286 new to new gardeners though, which I also very much care about trying to help🌿