These mites are extremely small relatives of spiders. They are typically found on the undersides of leaves. An easy way to check for them is to place a sheet of white paper underneath the leaves and gently tap. If you see moving specks on the paper then you have a problem.
Birds can be both a pest and an ally in the garden. Birds help with pest control eating a wide variety of insects including aphids, caterpillars, mosquitos, and spiders. On the downside, they will also steal seeds and eat your tomatoes!
The harlequin bugs, or stink bugs, are primarily black with brightly colored markings in orange, red, or yellow on the wings. It lays its barrel-shaped eggs in clusters. These bugs pierce the plant and suck out the juices, causing them to wilt and turn brown. If left untreated, the plant will eventually die.
Thrips are tiny straw-colored insects with two pairs of wings. They can damage plants by sucking out their juices causing discoloration and even death!
These slimy creatures will eat just about anything in the garden. Slugs and snails typically will come out during the night time or on cloudy days. They are fairly easy to manage in your garden with these steps!
Squash vine borers are the larvae of a bright orange wasp-like moth that has 2 black and 2 transparent wings. It lays the eggs that are born into larvae inside the stem of the plant. The larvae feed inside the stem near the base of the plant and can kill a plant in a matter of days.
These small rodents can be challenging and can destroy a garden! Voles (Field Mice) are usually first spotted by their ~3-inch holes they make in raised beds. Once you see these, it’s time to get into action before they get out of hand.
Tomato hornworms are huge caterpillars that are green with a spiky tail and orange spots on the abdomen. These giants are monsterous and can destroy a tomato plant in the course of a day, so it is important to catch them fast!
Cutworms are the caterpillar of a brown or gray night-flying moth. The caterpillars are black, gray, or brown and are about an inch and a half long. These jerks can go through your entire garden of new seedlings extremely quickly! It’s important to watch out for them in your garden and do your best to protect again them. They look like little brown worms, and they like to spin around into circles around the plant, cutting it off at the base.
The cool season is one of our favorite times to grow food! Most people are not aware that you can grow food during cool seasons and sometimes some may even survive over winter! We extend our growing season and protect our plants by adding plastic row covers on pvc domes to our raised beds. Check out the video here! Kale gets such a bad rep, but I was pleasantly surprised at how great it tasted when I
