Tips for protecting your garden from Kahu de Beer
How to grow a garden free of poisons and pesticides.
A few years ago, when we had only one child and some spare time, my husband and I would venture out into the dark with our matching head torches to go hunting for slugs and snails in our veggie garden. Armed with old ice cream tubs, we would capture as many as we could – this could sometimes be quite a thrilling experience if a spider ran up your arm or a slug latched onto you as you tried to flick it off in a panic. Once this was over we would put the lids on the tubs (with small holes for air) and leave our captives overnight to think about what they’d done. Now the next step comes down to personal choice; I could never bring myself to dispose of the perpetrators so I chose the relocation option. I thought of this as a sort of permanent vacation for them, in the hope that they would never return. Our slugs and snails ended up in such destinations as the bushes across the road at the primary school, once or twice over the neighbours’ fence (sorry about that), and for a few lucky ones, the seaside.
Some people might wonder why we went to all this trouble when we could have just used bait, but we really liked the idea that the food we grew and ate was not associated with nasty chemicals and poisons. For us, it was a better choice for our health and our environment. Growing our food this way also meant it was much more nutrient dense.
The key to growing healthy plants is the soil; if the soil is rich in nutrients, what grows in it will be too. And if your plants are healthy, they will be stronger and better able to defend themselves against pests and disease.
Here are some tips for keeping your garden vibrantly healthy without using pesticides.