Pesky Sides

Yes I've been delinquent on this page.  I've set out to write the next post several times, but really I think it's taken me getting out in my garden all season to figure out what I really think about pest control.

I could have titled this one "Dealing with Peskies Naturally" and then the next one "Dealing with Peskies Chemically," but I've come to believe that the two methods are often blurred. 

Natural methods can include spreading ground cayenne pepper around young seedlings to prevent slugs or cutworms from felling them.  It can include placing small dishes of beer in your garden at night to lure, make drunk, and drown your slugs.  Horticultural oil can be found/made in "natural" versions - it's a simple pesticide made of very small amounts of dish soap and vegetable oil added to water.  If you use an all-natural dish soap this would be considered an all-natural garden solution against small, soft-bodied pests like aphids.  Even if you use a commercial dish soap, it's not all that toxic in your garden and easily washed off your produce before consuming. 

Use of a pyrethrin-based pesticide is also considered natural.  Pyrethrin is a substance that is naturally derived from the seeds of plants in the chrysanthemum family.  There are two ways to look at this - YAY for a COMPLETELY ALL-NATURAL poison!  Or BOO for a completely-all-natural POISON.  Yes it is an all-natural substance that completely breaks down naturally in the soil of your garden.  Yes it is very effective in both repelling and killing garden pests.  Yes it is a neurotoxin.  Yes it is toxic to bees, birds, fish, pets, and humans.  Though it is not persistent - as in persisting long periods of time in the bodies of animals or within the environment, it is highly toxic, able to even cause death in pets - much less fish or birds!

Here's where the line gets blurred.  Here's where you need to choose your side. 

Then there's a host of chemical pesticides out there - which by design are persistent both in your garden, on your produce, and in the environment, and which by design are highly toxic.  If you read the labels you will see described those measures for "proper and safe use," but really - it all comes down to Parts Per Million.  Parts Per Million is the scientific format for keeping up with what may or may not be deemed "safe" levels of pesticides in your garden, in the rainwater that washes them from your garden, in the streams and rivers where it is concentrated from widespread use on the land, in the fish who live in these streams and rivers - and so on until it gets into our food supply both on the front end - from direct application on our produce - and residually as they invade our environment and are stored in the fats of animals that we later consume as meat. 

It's just bad mojo. 

I don't want to go all doomsday on you, but as gardeners we have a responsibility - to garden sustainably, and to learn how it can be done so that we can teach others, teach our children, and contribute to the permanent change that is so desperately needed. 

I apologize for not having more practical information to offer, but I can't write about things with which I have no personal experience.  I did not use any form of pesticide in my garden this year, and I'm grateful to be able to say that it did not affect my harvest hardly at all.  I'll discuss more about that in the next post.

I do fully recognize the attractiveness of chemical or natural pesticide use - when you desperately want to save your tomatoes from destruction by a pest invasion, but only you can make that decision for yourself. 

Consider these things as you form your opinion and choose your pesky side:

What effect will my choices have on the local environment (your garden, your yard, your neighbors' property)?

What effect will my choices have on the larger environment (everything solvable that goes into/on your garden will eventually wash somewhere - into the ground or as storm runoff into a stream which leads to a river which leads to...)

What effect will my choices have on what I produce from my garden and on those who consume this produce?

What can I learn from my choices that I can share with others and improve the way people in my community garden?  

What am I teaching my children through my gardening choices?