January 8, 2016
Deb and I moved from Central
Oregon to here in 2003. Central Oregon is an arid environment and is very
different from Western Oregon which is very wet. In a lot of respects Central
Oregon is very similar to here just only less so. Less intense sun, less
intense heat, less extremely low humidity, but the rainfall is very comparable.
But one thing up there that doesn't happen down here with regularity is winter.
Central Oregon taught me
much about micro climate adaption in order to have a growing season. The growing season was maybe three to four
months long. Down here, with modest protection, it can be year around. What
Central Oregon didn't teach me was about the onslaught of critters that think
they have first “dibs” on the garden. The real winters kept insects at bay.
Over the course of a number
of columns I will review my extremely steep learning curve about unwelcome
garden “visitors” and how I have learned to control them. Control is a key word.
If you eradicate the pests, there is nothing to keep a resident population of
the “good” guys around.
Something I always ask
myself is the damage cosmetic or detrimental to the crop. Each person will have
different tolerances for what they deem acceptable damage or infestation
levels. I like to say if you do see some insect munching, THIS IS a “proof of
purchase” of organic culture and the veggie is fit for human consumption.
Some insecticides have a history of
originally being formulated as humanicides for fighting wars. Only after the
wars ended and all the stockpiles had been inventoried, that someone came up
with the brainchild of repurposing these humanicides by diluting them and using
it on food crops for human consumption. Really?
I will go over the gallery
of critters on my most wanted list. Of course this list is not all inclusive,
but the list gets added to as “guests” enter “stage right”. I will also mention
what organic controls I have been using and how successful they have been.
In the spirit of not
“reinventing the wheel”, I would love to hear about anybody’s treatments for
dealing with their own “special” guests. Let me know if you would like me to
pass them on.
Next week I will cover my
“pest” control methods for the various critters that I have encountered and I
will refer back to these methods as I discuss my “friends”
Questions? I can be contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more garden notes at
redwagonfarm.blogsot.com
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