How frustrating to go into a bed of newly planted seedlings and discover holes chewed in their tender leaves!

Now’s a good time to get on top of controlling early spring critters, including caterpillars and slugs.  Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is really popular in organic gardening, made up of the microscopic, super-sharp, fossilized exoskeletons of Diatoms.  One thing, though, is that it’s only effective when dry, so it needs to be applied pretty often.  Our nursery manager, Linda, likes to go out at dusk with a nice glass of red wine, lovingly dusting her garden babies.

Another treatment is Sluggo or Sluggo Plus, which works when wet, and the good ol’ beer in a shallow can trick.

Happy protecting!

Oh! There’s a great article in the newest Mother Earth News about using floating row covers (Agribon) to exclude insects from ever reaching your plants.  More on that… later…

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