Hello!
Farming using natural principles is a fascinating journey and I love witnessing the checks and balances that exist in nature. I have recently been noticing a lot of aphids on some of our crops. Left unchecked these aphids can do a lot of damage. One management option is to spray a pesticide that would kill the aphids. These pesticides would also kill other species that are beneficial in the garden. I have found that by creating habitat for beneficial insects we have been encouraging the growth of our ladybug population over the years. When the aphid population begins to peak we see a surge in the number of ladybugs in the garden. Ladybugs go through 4 larval stages and finally form a pupa before the new adult ladybugs emerge. Ladybug larvae eat up to 56 aphids per day so when the ladybug population is high they can knock back the aphid population very quickly.
About the only disadvantage of this strategy is that throughout their larval and pupal stages the ladybugs leave exoskeletons behind on our vegetable crops. There are probably millions of these in the garden right now and they are very tenacious. We do our best to pick them off of the vegetables that we harvest for you but it seems unlikely that we are going to get all of them off. So it is possible that you will see some of these on your leafy greens over the coming weeks. Personally, I would much rather have this all natural pesticide on the food that I eat and feed to my family than a synthetic pesticide that wreaks havoc on natural systems. I'm sure that because you have chosen our farm as one of the ways that you feed yourself and your family that you agree with my logic.
Thanks so much for your support! I hope that your kitchen is busy and that you are eating well.
Mike
