What can be used to keep bugs away from veggie garden that is not a pesticide?

We are new to country living, and have planted a large veggie garden. I want to keep it pesticide free, but we are worried about bugs.

What can be used to keep bugs away from veggie garden that is not a pesticide?
check out these websites...



www.planetnatural.com

www.store.arbico-organics.com/



they have "pest problem solvers" which will help you identify the areas you need to address...



also check out http://www.omri.org/ Organic Materials Review Institute... as a certified Organic Grower I only use items on this list. Also~ are you fertilizing using organic products? I reccomend Fish Emulsion... I use it on EVERYTHING!!



Have Fun!!!!
Reply:Use hot pepper spray, most bugs don't like it. You have to wash the veggies off before you eat them. =o)



http://www.canadiancountrywoman.com/gard...



this is an excellent site =o)



Good Luck!
Reply:plant a row of marigold's between veggies.
Reply:Pesticides are just one tool, an often unnecessary one, to get rid of pests. Prevention is wonderful, having healthy plants is helpful, and just realizing that you will have a few pests is good!



Part of trying to manage pests, is diagnosing what those pests are. Do you have weeds, bugs (and what type of bugs), wildlife? Is the amount of damage okay, or too much? Anywho, check out this great website once you figure out what type of pests you have. It is geared towards Californians as it is from the University of California, Davis. It emphasizes least toxic solutions and uses a method called Integrated Pest Management which is not organic, but they have a lot of organic ideas.



http://ipm.ucdavis.edu



Good luck!
Reply:"Bugs", or more accurately garden pests, need to be tackled specifically as there is no `one cure fixes all` solution.As mentioned,Planting Tagetes(French Marigold) may help with blackfly (Bean varieties), possibly not Carrot Fly, or Cabbage root fly, not Leaf Hoppers, or Cabbage White caterpillars. For every pest, there is a form of defence,this will be learned from experience, and hitting the Soil Association website (and others) where pesticide free gardening is the norm. Really good, fit, healthy soil, remains the finest standard to apply to organic gardening, as for every `baddie`, there is a `goodie`who works for free, and just needs a little encouragement and understanding.
Reply:Sprinkly baby powder around the perimeter of the garden and of course the old standby... marigolds.
Reply:Along with the marigolds, I've heard onions will help keep bugs away too.
Reply:i'm not sure that you can, i think the only way to do that would be to kill them and i'd rther lose my veggies than kill a poor innocent animal just trying to get food right?
Reply:There are several plants that are good bug repellers. Fortunately, some of them are even edible. Marigolds, mint, and members of the onion familly will repel the majority of insect pests.

There is a great book called Greenhouse Gardeners Companion (pests are the same inside or out) and you can post a question to it's author, Shane Smith, on the Green House Garden website. Of course, he's going to want you to read his book, and it's well worth having, but he's also very helpful.
Reply:We use to plant marigolds around the garden. Bugs don't like the smell of them. Also, circle the garden with baking soda. Neither one of these are foolproof, but they help naturally.
Reply:Marigolds, garlic, chives, basil and onions all repel bugs and are great to plant among your veggies. Tomatoes will have a better flavor if you plant chives and basil around them, btw. I would NEVER EVER plant mint in the garden! It's horribly invasive, and you'll be pulling it out for the rest of your life if you do. Mint, borrage, tansy and other herbacious plants need to be set in pots with no drainage holes to keep them from becoming lifelong pests. Add some Zinnias to. They don't repel pests, but they attract bugs that eat pests %26amp; pollinaters, as well as looking pretty in the garden boarder.



Spread a combination of sand and used coffee grounds (available free for the asking at Starbucks and similar places) on the ground after planting to keep slugs %26amp; snails out. They can't crawl over sand, and caffiene is toxic to them. Additionally, coffee adds both loft and nitrogen to the soil.
Reply:This sounds crazy but it works!! Take as many of whatever bugs are on your plants and blend them in a blender with water. Let this mixture sit for a couple of days, strain the liquid into a spray bottle and spray the plants. Can't get any more natural than that!

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