Bug-Free Organic Gardening: Controlling Pest Insects without Chemicals

by Anna Hess

Overview

Put down those harmful sprays and learn natural pest control! Take care of aphids, slogs, Japanese Beetles, Tomato and Tobacco Hornworms, and all the other bad bugs that might be infesting your garden or backyard.

Are you sick and tired of pesky insects in your garden? Do you want to stay away from pesticides and harmful poisons that could be hazardous to your health and your garden? If you answered yes to both of those questions, Bug-Free Organic Gardening has all the answers to your troubles.

This book will show you how to bring your garden ecosystem into balance so that beneficial insects and larger animals do the work of pest control for you. Anna Hess has more than a decade’s experience growing all of her family’s vegetables. Here, she sums up all of her knowledge and expertise, teaching you many hands-on pest-control techniques, such as:

• Succession planting
• Choosing resistant plant varieties
• Shielding plants with row covers
• Timing plantings to bypass bugs
• And so much more!

Whether you are looking to live off the grid or become completely self-sufficient, or are just looking to be successful growing tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, cucumbers, or other vegetables, Anna’s expertise, you too can grow beautiful, healthy, organic vegetables for yourself and your family, put down those harmful sprays, and learn natural pest control!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510741980
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	04/02/2019
Edition description:	Updated
Pages:	152
Sales rank:	642,123
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Anna Hess is a homesteader, writer, and blogger whose first book, The Weekend Homesteader, helped thousands of homesteaders-to-be find ways to fit their dreams into the hours leftover from a full-time job.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

What is a Naturally Bug-Free Garden? ix

Part 1 The Garden Ecosystem 1

Chapter 1 Identifying Your Bugs 3

Types of Invertebrates 4

Identification Resources 5

Chapter 2 Worst Garden Pests 9

Aphids 9

Cabbageworms 10

Corn Earworms 12

Cucumber Beetles 13

Cutworms 14

Grasshoppers 15

Japanese Beetles 15

Slugs 16

Squash Bugs 18

Squash Vine Borers 19

Tomato and Tobacco Hornworms 20

Whiteflies 21

Other Bad Bugs 21

Part 2 Controlling Pests 23

Chapter 3 Letting Nature Take Its Course 25

Natural Plant Defenses 28

Chapter 4 Timing Plantings to Bypass Bugs 30

Squash Vine Borers 30

Cicadas 32

Chapter 5 Helping Plants Resist Insects 35

Resistant Varieties 35

Companion Planting 38

Plant Nutrition 40

Chapter 6 Physical Barriers 43

Potted Plants 43

Row Covers 45

Pests under Cover 47

Chapter 7 Hand-Picking 51

How to Pick Bugs 52

Picking by the Calendar 53

Chapter 8 Trap Crops 55

How to Utilize Trap Crops 57

A Horseradish Cautionary Tale 57

Stumbling Upon Natural Trap Crops 59

Chapter 9 Chemical Shortcuts 61

Soap and Water 61

Traps 63

More Potent Pesticides 66

Chapter 10 Insects in the Kitchen 69

Debugging Your Dinner 69

Changing Your Mindset 70

Part 3 A Permaculture Approach 73

Chapter 11 The Good Bugs 75

Soil Workers 75

Invasive, but Beneficial 78

Pollinators 81

Gardening with Beneficials in Texas 88

Predators 91

Attracting Predators with Weeds 97

Chapter 12 Helpers with Backbone 100

Mammals 100

Birds 102

Reptiles 105

Amphibians 108

Farm Animals 110

Scratching up Codling Moths 114

Afterword 117

Acknowledgments 121

Glossary 123

Index 133

About the Author 139