What a lovely garden! It is always a pleasure to watch a veg grower in top of their game. I have a large allotment in the UK, and with 5 freezers in the garage we are able to be pretty much self sufficient in fruits and vegetables. Interesting to see your region, although thousands of miles from me, suffers many of the same pests! Thank heavens for mesh netting! There is almost no crop that isn’t plagued by its resident pest. I have two box balls on the plot a friend gave me, and this week I discovered box tree caterpillar on them! Thanks for the tour, your garden is a credit to you both. All the best, Martin.
I grew butterbush last year. It was very impressive! This year I am growing several of those as well as Cornell bush delicata. Both are incredibly productive. The butternut are smaller than most other varieties but possibly 12 per plant!
Thank you for the update! Everything started growing so well, finally, after a long winter. Excited to see how the different onions turn out! I grew some from seeds and so far half of them is taken out by onion fly, non of the ones from sets though in the neighbour fields 🤦🤷. Love the little pet-chickadee! 😊Greetings, Judit 😊
Hello, Judit. I'm glad your garden is doing well, except for those pesky onion flies. For next year, if you decide to plant onions again, be sure to plant them in a different location because they will overwinter in the soil. If you have floating row cover (garden fleece) available, I would use that over your onion bed next year to try to keep the flies away. That is such a frustrating problem. Take care. (and I'm glad you are enjoying Ned!)
@@SusansInTheGarden Thank you for taking the time to answer! 😊I will find a different location thank you for that piece of info! I am always jealous watching your row covers. Where I garden it is not allowed to have installations like that.. Germany, special little fields, dense population. But other stuff is growing well so it's fine 😊
You are such an inspiration. Starting raised bed gardens this year and am hopeful for good harvests. Zone 5 NEPA. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
The two of you and the bird are so cute! Enjoyed your tour and gives me hope for continued perseverance in our own (me and the hubby) gardening futures! I swear sometimes because we garden in extreme climate (heat, humidity drought, drenches, insects) I feel like I’m losing a battle with age and stamina. Maybe give us some tips on how you guys keep your enthusiasm and energy in your golden years. Even though I realize you garden in the almost opposite zone as myself I’m sure you guys have similar issues. Any encouragement would be appreciated.
Thank you. I will shoot a video each month that is a tour of how everything is growing, along with my weekly videos on various gardening topics. Thanks so much for subscribing!
I love the insect netting, it also helps us here in the hail zone to deflect most hail. Good point about the leaves touching the netting and allowing the insects to do some damage. We saw the white cabbage butterfly out and about very early this season. We use raised beds in our area, the native soil here in the Denver, CO area is packed clay and high alkaline too so many garden fruits and vegetables don't like that kind of soil. We have birds that like to peck our seedlings, and also squirrels and raccoons that eat everything from fruit even in the green state to little rabbits that will eat just about anything too. So protection with netting and fencing is a must too. Thanks for your review of your garden.
Hi, Andrea. Tulle netting is just too delicate so you'd probably need to use a heavy-duty bird netting, which you can usually find at well-stocked garden centers, or online at the very least. And then anchor down the perimeter.
Your pak chois look awesome, mine seem to bolt instantly. Might have to just keep trying.. *would love to see your method for germination , planting etc . stunning garden, thanks for the tour. Ned the chickadee?😀
Hi, Brent, thanks for your nice comments. My husband started the bok choy/pac choi indoors ahead of time, nothing special about the seed-starting method. He just followed the packet directions as far as planting depth goes. The main thing is that we've had to protect the seedlings from insect damage, although as you could tell from the video, it hasn't been 100% effective this year, compared to last!
I’ve heard WA has no rain just like WI. It’s been such a rough time to grow this year because of temp swings and no rain. To add to that we have had voles for first time ever that dug on outside and inside of hardware cloth, And a mole yesterday wreaked havoc along a raised bed of green beans that just germinated AND up into the bed, back out and through carrots, peppers and tomatoes! 😤😫. We had temp remotes register 103* and air quality warnings for ozone in almost the whole state. Our chance of rain was 5 drops and hope today it hits us as we haven’t had any rain in weeks (tenth of inch May 19th). It’s been extremely hot all the time except for frost last Thursday that killed most plants including grapes and berries. I’m debating on replacing tomatoes and peppers, but thinking the ones that have a sign of lower growth will catch up. Jimmy Nardellos were unharmed and look great. The north garden had over 50 tomatoes and peppers and most recent planting out in the open. The plants in south garden were planted longer and trees all around and fared better. I put 40% shade fabric up and no watering in that area thankfully. The plants showed immediate response to the shade as they just can’t grow in that extreme sun. Great info Susan, I just have to figure if the garlic leaves are naturally dying back or drying up😅. I am trying different netting this year and need to cover new green beans today. I hadn’t planned on a mole in that bed as we haven’t had a mole in years! However, when it’s dry here moles will seek out Anywhere you water-I don’t know how to prevent this unless the whole area is watered and that’s not happening. I wish I could get excited about the garden, but with all we are struggling with I’m wondering if we will have a garden. Spring vegetables are bolting and before shade fabric the peas were wilted. Most of farmers have planted and they say the genetic seed won’t help if it doesn’t rain soon. Sure would be nice to have a good year of weather.
Chickadees are naturally quite curious and friendly. We started giving them the occasional mealworm and have made friends with 2 black-capped chickadees and a mountain chickadees. It's been so much fun!
Your garden looks awesome. congratulations. what kind of peppers is Bill growing? Our peppers are about the same size. I love to see how other gardens in the same growing zone are doing so I can compare. We have about 7 different varieties. I always direct sow my peas here in zone 5b in SE Nebraska and they are now 5 ft. tall on cattle panel hoops that cover the cabbage plants and they are loaded with pods. I ate my first pea today. I don't cover my cabbage and I'm ready to harvest at least 1/2 of my cabbage. I put DE around the base and yes there is some insect damage but, it's minor. I planted onions and garlic in the same area and I believe it helps to deter many insects. My spring crops are densely planted together in a small area. They include the potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, peas, and celery. Everything is doing great so far. I'm harvesting onions, peas, & cabbage already. I could pull some celery in a cut and come again fashion. They should produce a long time. This is the second year of growing garlic and I have to tell you they are doing so much better this year. I learned from my mistakes last year. I grow my greens in the green stalk containers and they are growing like crazy. I make a salad everyday from the kale and romaine. The potato plants are at least three feet tall and starting to set out blossoms. Thanks for the growing tips.
Hi there. It sounds like your garden is doing great. I have a list of everything we're growing in the veggie garden this year (including Bill's peppers) on my website. Here's a link to the list: www.susansinthegarden.com/guides/susans-garden-2023/. Have a great garden season!
Hi Susan, I directed myself to your website looking for a link to the insect netting you are using. I found some information on tulle and floating row covers, but wondered where this thicker insect netting is sourced? I like that you can see through into the plants without having to remove the floating covers (like I normally use). I also think it gives a nice tidy look. Thank you!
Hi there. I'm not sure if you saw my video from last year, where I compared the different types of row covers, including this agricultural insect netting. Here's a link to it: ua-cam.com/video/uhDRiLX5070/v-deo.html. And the source for it is here: www.gardenport.com/collections/insect-netting.
Q? Any tips on bed placement? I have terrible WSW wind, tree and shrub pressure so I was planning 12' beds N to S but having second thoughts as I see your beds. I will plant 3 and put taller plants to the N left. Thanks for any your help
The standard is to orient the beds North/South so that plants don't shade others as the sunlight moves through your garden. But we didn't know about that when we created our garden way back in 1992. And by the time we learned about the orientation several years later, we didn't want to completely redo our garden. However, because the pathways between each row of beds are 4' wide, we really haven't had a problem with shade.
Hi Susan, thanks for the tour. I wonder, do you start seeds in modules during the growing season or do you direct sow? Also, if you pick the beet leaves once in a while, will the beet form?
Hi there. I start a lot of things indoors and direct-sow crops such as radishes, beets, Swiss chard, carrots, turnips, lettuce and so on. Last year, I picked a couple of beet leaves from each plant, always making sure I left the plant with some leaves, and the beets formed great. As a matter of fact, we got some whoppers by the end of the season!
Hi Susan! Do you have a video on youtube there you build this lock for the raiseneds with mesh? (In the beginning of the video) Best Regards Helene in Sweden
Hello, Helene. It is a pleasure to meet you. Are you asking if I've created a video on how to make the hinged raised bed cover with the agricultural mesh on it? If so, no I haven't. It is a project in my book, The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook. Let me know if I have misunderstood your question.
@@SusansInTheGarden Hello Susan, Yes, you understand right. That sad. I can maybe see simular on youtube. Have a nice weekend! Best Regards Helene in sweden
Hi Susan! I´m starting to learn how to grow and would like to know whats the difference between white and black garden net. Is it the same? Im from Madrid, Spain. Big hug! Thanks!
Hello, Catia. It is nice to meet you! I'm not familiar with black garden netting but would assume it's the same. I've only found the white color of netting so far.
We enjoyed this video very much. Got some great ideas for our raised bed garden. We have drip irrigation but it's not like yours. Where did you get it and what's the brand? Your's looks more sturdy and should last longer than the one we have. Also, we have had issues with squirrels eating our corn just about the time it's ready to pick. How do you solve this problem. We're in the Seattle area.
Hi, Bob. Our drip irrigation supplies have come from dripworks.com. They are a good company to work with. Squirrels are really challenging. Some ideas include using either an ultrasonic animal repellent in the area or a motion-activated sprinkler. There are some organic animal repellents available but be sure to read the label to make sure they're safe to use on or around edible crops.
I just got some watermelon plants. Sugar baby like you grow. How far apart should I plant them on the trellis? What is the video name that shows you taking care of them? Thanks so much!
Hi, Carole. I don't have any videos of watermelon care because I haven't had any luck growing them until now! We have a short growing season and they typically need a longer one. But I'm excited about this new-to-me variety. It sounds like you're going to grow them vertically but will the vines be able to support the fruits as they're growing? I spaced my plants about 12-18" apart, but they're growing on the ground.
Hi there. I'm so glad you are enjoying my channel; I shoot a garden video every week. Thank you for asking about my books. I have written 2 books about vegetable gardening: The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook which is all about dealing with damaging vegetable garden insect pests using organic methods as well as how to attract more beneficial insects to your garden. I have sold out of it, but it's available through Amazon, here is my affiliate link to it: amzn.to/3Ps4oHR. My newest book is The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook, which is about dealing with challenges such as extreme weather conditions, germination and pollination issues, vegetable plant disorders like blossom-end rot on tomatoes, vegetable plant diseases such as powdery mildew and blights, and how to deal with critters in your garden such as raccoons, deer, squirrels and more. I still have copies of this book, which I would be happy to sign and send to you. Just let me know. My email address is Susan@SusansintheGarden.com. Or you can also get it through Amazon at this link: amzn.to/3IlhJNZ. My email address is Susan@SusansintheGarden.com.
If you allow the cabbage worms on some plants, won't the predators of those caterpillars also establish on your land so you won't need netting eventually?
There are other plants within my landscape that provide habitat and food for cabbage butterflies so all I'm doing is keeping them off our edible crops because they will cause a lot of damage. I would like to think that I wouldn't need to use the netting but in the 30+ years of gardening here and using organic practices, we ALWAYS get the cabbage worms! The insect netting is an ideal solution since it excludes them from certain crops (without having to use chemicals) but allows them to access other plantings that we don't eat.
The beds are directly on the soil. We do have weed-block fabric in the pathways, which have a few inches of bark mulch on top. I know that kale isn't for everybody!
The pillbugs have decimated my bok choy. I refuse to call them Roly polies any more, cuz that's what they were to us when our kids were little and those bugs were cute to us and fun to watch. Now? Incredibly destructive.
Thank you
Thank you, a beautiful garden.
Love your sidekick Ned 💗💕
I'm hopeful for another fun year of Ned and Nancy!
So pretty thanks for sharing
Thank you, Gloria. It's always fun to share updates during the growing season. I can't wait for this year's garden season to officially start!
Great info! I’m enjoying learning from your YT channel! Thanks! ❤🌷🌻
I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos. Thanks for letting me know.
Cool chickadee!
I love beet greens. Try thinning by taking the baby beets with the greens and eat the whole thing.Yum.
I always learn so much from watching your videos. Your enthusiasm and knowledge are apparent and contagious. Love how Ned keeps photo bombing!
Thanks so much! Yeah, Ned is a lot of fun!
Everything's looking good Susan 🌻 So nice to see your chickadee friends.
Ned is just way too cute. ❤️🥰
I agree!
You have a lot growing on there!
Yes, it's a big garden but we love it... esp. all of the yummy produce! Plus we do a lot of canning and freezing so our garden feeds us year-round.
Hi , Susan !!!! We have 12 raised beds in our community garden growing food for the neighborhood !!!!
Wonderful!
Thank you Susan. Great informative vlog as always!
Thanks for the tour!
What a lovely garden! It is always a pleasure to watch a veg grower in top of their game. I have a large allotment in the UK, and with 5 freezers in the garage we are able to be pretty much self sufficient in fruits and vegetables. Interesting to see your region, although thousands of miles from me, suffers many of the same pests! Thank heavens for mesh netting! There is almost no crop that isn’t plagued by its resident pest. I have two box balls on the plot a friend gave me, and this week I discovered box tree caterpillar on them! Thanks for the tour, your garden is a credit to you both. All the best, Martin.
Thank you so much! And very nice to meet you.
Thank you Susan for all your wonderful info. I always learn so much from you.
Awesome garden tour Susan! Thank you for sharing:)
Scapes are 9.99 per pound here in WNY.. so they must be good🤗We love them too!
Wow! I've never seen them for sale but yes, they are so delicious.
I grew butterbush last year. It was very impressive! This year I am growing several of those as well as Cornell bush delicata. Both are incredibly productive. The butternut are smaller than most other varieties but possibly 12 per plant!
Wow! I'm really excited to grow them this year.
Thank you for the update! Everything started growing so well, finally, after a long winter. Excited to see how the different onions turn out! I grew some from seeds and so far half of them is taken out by onion fly, non of the ones from sets though in the neighbour fields 🤦🤷. Love the little pet-chickadee! 😊Greetings, Judit 😊
Hello, Judit. I'm glad your garden is doing well, except for those pesky onion flies. For next year, if you decide to plant onions again, be sure to plant them in a different location because they will overwinter in the soil. If you have floating row cover (garden fleece) available, I would use that over your onion bed next year to try to keep the flies away. That is such a frustrating problem. Take care. (and I'm glad you are enjoying Ned!)
@@SusansInTheGarden Thank you for taking the time to answer! 😊I will find a different location thank you for that piece of info! I am always jealous watching your row covers. Where I garden it is not allowed to have installations like that.. Germany, special little fields, dense population. But other stuff is growing well so it's fine 😊
You are such an inspiration. Starting raised bed gardens this year and am hopeful for good harvests. Zone 5 NEPA. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks so much for your nice comments. I hope you have a wonderful garden season!
The two of you and the bird are so cute! Enjoyed your tour and gives me hope for continued perseverance in our own (me and the hubby) gardening futures! I swear sometimes because we garden in extreme climate (heat, humidity drought, drenches, insects) I feel like I’m losing a battle with age and stamina. Maybe give us some tips on how you guys keep your enthusiasm and energy in your golden years. Even though I realize you garden in the almost opposite zone as myself I’m sure you guys have similar issues. Any encouragement would be appreciated.
Great suggestion. Thank you!
I’ve used the toy snakes in my garden to keep the crows from pulling up my seedling. Thanks for the great ide.
Good to hear!
You have a beautiful garden 😍. Thank you for sharing your video with us. 👍 New subscriber to your channel.
Thank you. I will shoot a video each month that is a tour of how everything is growing, along with my weekly videos on various gardening topics. Thanks so much for subscribing!
@@SusansInTheGarden Sounds great. I look forward to seeing them. Thanks 👍
I love the insect netting, it also helps us here in the hail zone to deflect most hail. Good point about the leaves touching the netting and allowing the insects to do some damage. We saw the white cabbage butterfly out and about very early this season. We use raised beds in our area, the native soil here in the Denver, CO area is packed clay and high alkaline too so many garden fruits and vegetables don't like that kind of soil. We have birds that like to peck our seedlings, and also squirrels and raccoons that eat everything from fruit even in the green state to little rabbits that will eat just about anything too. So protection with netting and fencing is a must too. Thanks for your review of your garden.
We are north of you and also use the fantastic netting as not only bug prevention but hail blocking! Happy gardening
What type of netting do you use to protect from squirrels? They tore through a tulle netting and now I'm not sure what to try next.
Wow, good point about the hail blockage!
Hi, Andrea. Tulle netting is just too delicate so you'd probably need to use a heavy-duty bird netting, which you can usually find at well-stocked garden centers, or online at the very least. And then anchor down the perimeter.
Your pak chois look awesome, mine seem to bolt instantly. Might have to just keep trying..
*would love to see your method for germination , planting etc . stunning garden, thanks for the tour. Ned the chickadee?😀
Hi, Brent, thanks for your nice comments. My husband started the bok choy/pac choi indoors ahead of time, nothing special about the seed-starting method. He just followed the packet directions as far as planting depth goes. The main thing is that we've had to protect the seedlings from insect damage, although as you could tell from the video, it hasn't been 100% effective this year, compared to last!
I’ve heard WA has no rain just like WI. It’s been such a rough time to grow this year because of temp swings and no rain. To add to that we have had voles for first time ever that dug on outside and inside of hardware cloth, And a mole yesterday wreaked havoc along a raised bed of green beans that just germinated AND up into the bed, back out and through carrots, peppers and tomatoes! 😤😫.
We had temp remotes register 103* and air quality warnings for ozone in almost the whole state. Our chance of rain was 5 drops and hope today it hits us as we haven’t had any rain in weeks (tenth of inch May 19th). It’s been extremely hot all the time except for frost last Thursday that killed most plants including grapes and berries. I’m debating on replacing tomatoes and peppers, but thinking the ones that have a sign of lower growth will catch up. Jimmy Nardellos were unharmed and look great. The north garden had over 50 tomatoes and peppers and most recent planting out in the open. The plants in south garden were planted longer and trees all around and fared better.
I put 40% shade fabric up and no watering in that area thankfully. The plants showed immediate response to the shade as they just can’t grow in that extreme sun.
Great info Susan, I just have to figure if the garlic leaves are naturally dying back or drying up😅. I am trying different netting this year and need to cover new green beans today. I hadn’t planned on a mole in that bed as we haven’t had a mole in years! However, when it’s dry here moles will seek out Anywhere you water-I don’t know how to prevent this unless the whole area is watered and that’s not happening.
I wish I could get excited about the garden, but with all we are struggling with I’m wondering if we will have a garden. Spring vegetables are bolting and before shade fabric the peas were wilted.
Most of farmers have planted and they say the genetic seed won’t help if it doesn’t rain soon. Sure would be nice to have a good year of weather.
Ah what is the story with the bird? So sweet!
Chickadees are naturally quite curious and friendly. We started giving them the occasional mealworm and have made friends with 2 black-capped chickadees and a mountain chickadees. It's been so much fun!
Your garden looks awesome. congratulations. what kind of peppers is Bill growing? Our peppers are about the same size. I love to see how other gardens in the same growing zone are doing so I can compare. We have about 7 different varieties. I always direct sow my peas here in zone 5b in SE Nebraska and they are now 5 ft. tall on cattle panel hoops that cover the cabbage plants and they are loaded with pods. I ate my first pea today. I don't cover my cabbage and I'm ready to harvest at least 1/2 of my cabbage. I put DE around the base and yes there is some insect damage but, it's minor. I planted onions and garlic in the same area and I believe it helps to deter many insects. My spring crops are densely planted together in a small area. They include the potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, peas, and celery. Everything is doing great so far. I'm harvesting onions, peas, & cabbage already. I could pull some celery in a cut and come again fashion. They should produce a long time. This is the second year of growing garlic and I have to tell you they are doing so much better this year. I learned from my mistakes last year. I grow my greens in the green stalk containers and they are growing like crazy. I make a salad everyday from the kale and romaine. The potato plants are at least three feet tall and starting to set out blossoms. Thanks for the growing tips.
Hi there. It sounds like your garden is doing great. I have a list of everything we're growing in the veggie garden this year (including Bill's peppers) on my website. Here's a link to the list: www.susansinthegarden.com/guides/susans-garden-2023/. Have a great garden season!
Hi Susan,
I directed myself to your website looking for a link to the insect netting you are using. I found some information on tulle and floating row covers, but wondered where this thicker insect netting is sourced? I like that you can see through into the plants without having to remove the floating covers (like I normally use). I also think it gives a nice tidy look. Thank you!
Hi there. I'm not sure if you saw my video from last year, where I compared the different types of row covers, including this agricultural insect netting. Here's a link to it: ua-cam.com/video/uhDRiLX5070/v-deo.html. And the source for it is here: www.gardenport.com/collections/insect-netting.
@@SusansInTheGarden
Thank you! That was a great video and information!
Q? Any tips on bed placement? I have terrible WSW wind, tree and shrub pressure so I was planning 12' beds N to S but having second thoughts as I see your beds. I will plant 3 and put taller plants to the N left. Thanks for any your help
The standard is to orient the beds North/South so that plants don't shade others as the sunlight moves through your garden. But we didn't know about that when we created our garden way back in 1992. And by the time we learned about the orientation several years later, we didn't want to completely redo our garden. However, because the pathways between each row of beds are 4' wide, we really haven't had a problem with shade.
Great video, informative! What is your preferred with of your raised beds?
Thanks, Mike. I think I prefer a 4' width since you can fit a bit more in them!
Hi Susan, thanks for the tour. I wonder, do you start seeds in modules during the growing season or do you direct sow? Also, if you pick the beet leaves once in a while, will the beet form?
Hi there. I start a lot of things indoors and direct-sow crops such as radishes, beets, Swiss chard, carrots, turnips, lettuce and so on. Last year, I picked a couple of beet leaves from each plant, always making sure I left the plant with some leaves, and the beets formed great. As a matter of fact, we got some whoppers by the end of the season!
Hi Susan!
Do you have a video on youtube there you build this lock for the raiseneds with mesh? (In the beginning of the video)
Best Regards
Helene in Sweden
Hello, Helene. It is a pleasure to meet you. Are you asking if I've created a video on how to make the hinged raised bed cover with the agricultural mesh on it? If so, no I haven't. It is a project in my book, The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook. Let me know if I have misunderstood your question.
@@SusansInTheGarden
Hello Susan,
Yes, you understand right.
That sad. I can maybe see simular on youtube.
Have a nice weekend!
Best Regards Helene in sweden
Hi Susan! I´m starting to learn how to grow and would like to know whats the difference between white and black garden net. Is it the same? Im from Madrid, Spain. Big hug! Thanks!
Hello, Catia. It is nice to meet you! I'm not familiar with black garden netting but would assume it's the same. I've only found the white color of netting so far.
We enjoyed this video very much. Got some great ideas for our raised bed garden. We have drip irrigation but it's not like yours. Where did you get it and what's the brand? Your's looks more sturdy and should last longer than the one we have. Also, we have had issues with squirrels eating our corn just about the time it's ready to pick. How do you solve this problem. We're in the Seattle area.
Hi, Bob. Our drip irrigation supplies have come from dripworks.com. They are a good company to work with. Squirrels are really challenging. Some ideas include using either an ultrasonic animal repellent in the area or a motion-activated sprinkler. There are some organic animal repellents available but be sure to read the label to make sure they're safe to use on or around edible crops.
I just got some watermelon plants. Sugar baby like you grow. How far apart should I plant them on the trellis? What is the video name that shows you taking care of them? Thanks so much!
Hi, Carole. I don't have any videos of watermelon care because I haven't had any luck growing them until now! We have a short growing season and they typically need a longer one. But I'm excited about this new-to-me variety. It sounds like you're going to grow them vertically but will the vines be able to support the fruits as they're growing? I spaced my plants about 12-18" apart, but they're growing on the ground.
@@SusansInTheGarden Thank you. I will grow them on the ground too. In the ground they go today! I live in Taunton MA so my season is not that long.
I like your chanel I live in mi. Do u have a book u wrote if so what is it's name and how can I get it ? Thank u
Hi there. I'm so glad you are enjoying my channel; I shoot a garden video every week. Thank you for asking about my books. I have written 2 books about vegetable gardening: The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook which is all about dealing with damaging vegetable garden insect pests using organic methods as well as how to attract more beneficial insects to your garden. I have sold out of it, but it's available through Amazon, here is my affiliate link to it: amzn.to/3Ps4oHR. My newest book is The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook, which is about dealing with challenges such as extreme weather conditions, germination and pollination issues, vegetable plant disorders like blossom-end rot on tomatoes, vegetable plant diseases such as powdery mildew and blights, and how to deal with critters in your garden such as raccoons, deer, squirrels and more. I still have copies of this book, which I would be happy to sign and send to you. Just let me know. My email address is Susan@SusansintheGarden.com. Or you can also get it through Amazon at this link: amzn.to/3IlhJNZ. My email address is Susan@SusansintheGarden.com.
If you allow the cabbage worms on some plants, won't the predators of those caterpillars also establish on your land so you won't need netting eventually?
There are other plants within my landscape that provide habitat and food for cabbage butterflies so all I'm doing is keeping them off our edible crops because they will cause a lot of damage. I would like to think that I wouldn't need to use the netting but in the 30+ years of gardening here and using organic practices, we ALWAYS get the cabbage worms! The insect netting is an ideal solution since it excludes them from certain crops (without having to use chemicals) but allows them to access other plantings that we don't eat.
Nice, sounds good!@@SusansInTheGarden
Are your beds on ground or weed barrier? I can not digest kale.. cooked even, and the baby kale I do not enjoy.
The beds are directly on the soil. We do have weed-block fabric in the pathways, which have a few inches of bark mulch on top. I know that kale isn't for everybody!
The pillbugs have decimated my bok choy. I refuse to call them Roly polies any more, cuz that's what they were to us when our kids were little and those bugs were cute to us and fun to watch. Now? Incredibly destructive.
That is so frustrating. You could use Sluggo Plus, which contains Spinosad. That will kill pillbugs and also slugs and snails.
@@SusansInTheGarden Oh good ! I just got some in hopes that would work. Thank you for the affirmation. I'm going to try to save my sorry last 3!