PR and media consultant of JillMedia, Tracy Highland, is ready to have a kitchen garden. So with the help of plant whisperer Malaica Julien, she has embarked on a six-week journey to see if she can reap what she grows. You can follow Tracy on Instagram @tracyhighland to see more of her journey and to share your own gardening stories.
I THOUGHT I had it figured out this week. What was missing from my previous attempts at gardening was commitment and a little faith. The thing about gardening is that in a sense you have to give up control and trust that if you are doing the right things you will get results.
You are dealing with living things. You can’t control every detail. You can’t will your plants to grow faster or sprout more leaves. You provide what they need and give them the space to do their own thing.
This week was crazy. My work life was hectic, my home life even more so, but through it all I committed to taking care of my plants. I really paid attention, checking the soil, watering them consistently and shifting them around to make sure they got enough sunlight. I began to see results. My ready-grown herbs got larger and thicker. My lettuce was looking green and was full of new leaves. My swiss chard, collard greens, dill and coriander looked healthy. I couldn’t be happier.
When Malaica, my gardening coach, came to check in, she was pleased and I stood tall as I basked in the glow of her compliments. Everything was perfect. I should have known it was too good to be true. By the next day the honeymoon was over.
I had begun to look forward to the time in the morning when I go to take care of my plants. I can see now how people say gardening relaxes you. There is something therapeutic about helping things to grow. There is a joy you feel when you go to check and you see a new leaf or bud sprouting. You can see life at work. You see progress and it feels magnificent.
That day I filled up my water jug and headed to the area of my yard where my garden is set up. I can’t see it from my patio, I have to go around a hedge before it comes into view. I rounded the shrubs eagerly and stopped dead in my tracks. Something wasn’t quite right. I moved closer. Where was my lettuce? In place of the gorgeous, shiny leaves I had left in the pot yesterday were three chewed up nubs.
I went through the crazy stages you go through when something bad happens.
Denial. Is that the same pot? Did Malaica somehow come overnight and move it? Did the rain fall and cover the leaves, because they couldn’t possibly be gone.
Anger. How did this happen? What could have done this? Was it my turtle? I’m going to kill that darn turtle. I was so upset and seriously angry that I had lost something I put so much effort into. I messaged Malaica with a series of crying emojis.
“Malaica!!!!! Something ate the lettuce last night!”
“Oh no! Show me,” she replied.
I messaged the pictures.
“Yeah, looks snail or sluggish,” she confirmed. “Let’s replant and move the pot,” she advised. “And we can’t blame the turtle.” I had never mentioned the turtle. She’s come to know me so well.
And just like that I moved into the acceptance phase. You don’t always have the perfect garden. Things happen. It’s just nature. All you can do is figure out a solution and move on.
In my case, the solution was to relocate the lettuce to a spot that would be more difficult for the snails to reach. We decided to move the table in my patio where my herb garden is located onto a cement slab in my garden that would get plenty of sunlight. Lettuce loves sunlight so moving it onto a shaded patio was out of the question.
In the coming days my collard greens would suffer a similar fate, so I moved them to the table too. The swiss chard is still looking good but I shifted it anyway just as a precaution. Hopefully the snails will find it too difficult to climb onto the concrete and up the slanted legs of the table.
It’s my first line of defence but there are others. Malaica has been preparing me and giving me some pest control information. I’ll share it with you.
There are several ways to deal with garden pests, but because I always liked the idea of focusing on a more organic way of gardening, I’ll start with natural solutions for home gardeners.
Companion plants
You can use companion plants to combat different types of pests. In essence, you plant things that are offensive to the critters that target your produce. Plants like basil, lemon balm, lemon grass, citronella based plants, mint and rue can all be effective in your pest control arsenal. You just have to know what repels what. For example chives, coriander and mint work to repel aphids. Thyme works for cabbage worms. A variety of charts are available online. Download one and see what you can use for your situation.
Physical removal of pests
You can literally just go and look for snails and slugs and remove them. Some people put salt or white lime on them. This can be effective especially if you have pets and are concerned about them consuming chemical snail bait. The downside is that is takes more effort and can be time-consuming. To control caterpillars, you can just check under the leaves of the plants every day for eggs. You can use a towel with warm heavily diluted dish washing liquid to wipe the undersides of the leaves and remove any eggs.
Home-made sprays and oils
Some people have had success with home-made sprays and oil. Home-made pepper-based spray, steamed neem leaves and concentrated garlic mixtures have all been used with good results. The only issue may be finding and adhering to the right recipe for your kitchen concoctions. They can often be inconsistent.
Bio Insecticides
There are commercially produced bio insecticides using natural ingredients that can help take the guesswork out of your own kitchen formulation. Commercial products utilising neem, garlic and citronella are all available. There is a cinnamon-based product and bio fungicides as well. These are all spray-today-harvest tomorrow. They are non-toxic, easy to use and Malaica’s favourite option for pest control.
Chemical pesticides
A wide range of chemical pesticides are available. They are very effective and farmers often use them to ensure an attractive end product. They are toxic, though, and a lot of them require that you wait two weeks after spraying before you harvest. You also have to be careful when you use them at home if you have pets or children.
What methods are you going to try? I’ll update you on the success of my pest control methods when we meet again next week.
PS. I was able to give my mother-in-law a bag full of fresh herbs from my garden when she came over last weekend. It felt good.