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I WHITBY FREE PRESS, Thursday, March 23, 1972, Page 5 of interest to women GARDEMING The Radical k Viewpoint by Ed McCaughtrle DoRt "bug" the bugs As I said before, there are 86, 000 di f ferent types of insects on thi s con- t i nent, about 10, 000 of which are pos- s i bl1 e pests, and only 100 of these can cr.eate serious problems to the garden or farm. ltisgood sense then to presume that if we spray indiscriminately wi th poison c h e m i c als , we stand to poison more helpers than pests. Beneficial insecs There.are several insects which are no t onl y not pests, but are definite h e I pers. These are known as 'benefi- cial' insects, and much to the dismay of c u s toms and excise, they can f1y over the border. 1 say this ironically because there i s a firm just over the New York S ta te border that actually sells bene- ficial insects, but is unable to ship into C a n a da b e c a use of potenti al harm to agriculture. Prédators However, the major type of insects are: Predator s such as the praying man- t i s, which are completely harmless to m an or plants, but are veritable lions in the bug.world, and theLady Bug which eats an average of 50-100 aphids a day. Others are wasps, lacewings, dragon flies, and of course, spiders. Stokes Seed House is this-year selling asubstance cal led 'Bugbai t' that is rep- uted to attracttbeneficial insects. I shal1 try this out this year - for $1. 95 it would be worth trying. Parasitic insects There are alsopýarasitic insects such as the trichogramma wasp, which t a y s its eggs inside the eggs of moths and leaf eaters. But I cannot stress too much the im- portance of good.soil, a good gardener c ultivates soil. If soil is in good con- dition, you can grow what you want. Ass o-o n0asyourcan, take a fork or a s p ade i n to the garden and dig up a foot or two. What do you see ? Job wrote: "Spe ak to the earth and it shall teach thee. ls the ear th of your gar den hard clay or loose sand. Crumble it in your hand. Is i t I ight and spongy ? Do you find worms big, fat and juicy ? These are. the things that will teli the story. lealthy soil S ir AlIb er tH ow ard, the modern father of the compost heap indoor met- hodsaid, "The most important crop is a race of healthy men and women." " This is onl1 y possible if the soil is fertile. Once we arrange for this, we do not needto plan for anything else. So I try to give my kids foods grown in unpoll- uge.d soil, very difficult to do when your next- to the gl ass. This greatly improves the appearance of the finished product. Drainage Over the moss, a layer of charcoal The Technicalshould be paced t keep the soiwe The echncalthus preventing "sourness". Over thic a 1 a y er of g r a v e 1 or smal t pieces1 Approach >làbr oken pottery wit11 aid in drainage-- -a necessary featur'e since the containE - by Sid Morris wil1 be water-tight. Now place the soit1 (a mixture of pai soit1, sand'andpeat moss) in the terrar Making a Terrariumium, s1oping it so that itis higher the back than in 'the front. If your cor Now that t h e children have been a- ta i ner is large enough, you may for round the house for a week, ideas for hills and valleys to simulate a natur keeping them busy may be running out. landscape Have you thought of a terrarium? Or if youarean apartment dwelter, have you Placung the Plants c on s idered one as a good way to have Nowthatyou have your soil1ingrec a miniature garden? entssettled, carefutly place your sma The container, plain and fancy plants in position, making tie hol The container for a terrarium need for each. Tamp the soit1firm1y around t n o t be expensive - an old aquarium, a r o o t s. To make the whote effect mo r ound f ish bowl, or an old pickle jar i,n t eresting, be on the watch for sm- f rom the basement could do very well. tw i gs and branches, attractive roc If something more decorative is desired etc. whengatheringyour moss, and a p e r haps a brandy snifter coul d be ob- them to your planting. tained. Whatever you use, be sure that Now cover the terrarium openi y o u r c o n tainer is washed, dried and with a piece of'glass. This wilt enab pot ished. To ihe d x. tpsofntergt you tomaintain it easily. You coud a, T he n 'e xt step is to f ind the right a itemsurabtoneaoth plants for your terrarium. They should saoIt m uo ut onc a mont. beeitherveryyoung plants or ones of a dwarf habit. Some suggestions are Baby beasemoistrawl onesoi Tears, English Ivy (green and variega- glasstand'd bonto test ted, Peperomias, Velvet Plant and var- ious ferns. Small cacti can be used if a de sert type atmosphere is being crea- ted. Melting snow at this season will ex- to gardening enthusiasts by writing pose mosses grow ing in the woods. T-s the columns authorscare of the Whi moss should be placed in the bottom of Free Press, Post Office Box 20 the terrarium with the green side right Whitby. n e i g h bour fol lows the chemist garden sales club. It is very unlikely that you will eat e v e r y bug in the garden, -but then you w i I l p r ob ably not eat everything you Tailor MadeFeaturesLU. 'Lou Dicks grow, sodon'tbegrudge the bug a bite, i t is p r o b a b i y eating that tomato that eion, woul d stunt the growth of the rest of theAe tomatoes. frogs & Toads LivelyOnes Encourage a few frogs and toads. GoA out in spring and catch a few, or offer ae n i.c kel e a ch for them. We'had a ni ce eUNSXAHOS green frog alt summer , he l ived under ae pot -with a chip in it, and he sang to US eWHTY M I when the sun went down. Buil d or buy a birdhouse or two. Put some seed out to S e .re eee e * a t tract the birds as they fly back from the south. Birds spend all summer fly- h u n gr y mouths. They sing to y ou, ar e i n ter e sti ng to watch, and when they m ak e f r iends wi th you, wiHt even in- 2ERWRATO AT&EVC rodce teir hi Idre toouannecrbinary feature since the contain s, of er rt r- in ~al i- all es he re all ks dd ng >1 e dd It n, the ost ~ed to tby 06, fr iend used to fly down and sit on my 1 YEARWARRANTYON B&W spade, before I could finish digging the worms up, but he died of a 2. '4. D poison- Dunharton Radio & Television td. ing from a neighbour's poisoned worms. Me, I'd rather have a live robin than a 1327HaoAve. N., Ajax. 942-50 dIeâcdandeJ.QO,. -_____-________ ors ion "3 e e •e ON 88