have you considered a worm bin? It’s a compost-pile-in-a-box, can fit into a small apartment, doesn’t smell, doesn’t attract “pests” (see above post), you save your government from garbage-hauling costs ($ and other costs) and get good usable soil of which you can grow tomatoes…and then the old plants go in the worm bin… and so on.

I recommend singing “All my life’s a circle” as you do it.

The answer: funny friends with big noses. The Jimmy Durantes of the animal world.

I agree with you; no need for chemical fertilizers AND we need to use “as little [pesticide] as possible.”

But…you’re the Steven Seagal of the garden. Every movie he ever made was the same–he stands up for what’s right, hates to resort to violence–it’s his last resort. And EVERY SINGLE MOVIE HE EVER MADE, he resorts to it. People don’t watch his movies to see non-violence, they watch his movies to see violence. It just SEEMS justified because it was his “last resort”. But if there’s a 100% certainty the path you’re on is going to eventually end up in the wrong place, doesn’t that mean it’s the wrong path? The only solution to being on the wrong path is get off it. So get off it, Jim.

How ’bout violence as no resort? (including the violence of killing insects and plants and gophers) How ’bout we practice, just this once, solving a problem without declaring war on someone and trying to kill her? How ’bout the least possible pesticide being no pesticide?

“Pests” are created, by definition and by not listening to the land…by imbalances. If you “need” to resort to poison, what you really need to do is look at your situation (a hammock is good for that), change the plants you’re growing or the place you’re growing them, add organic matter to the soil, add other plants or animals to the mix, eat the weed…

explore permaculture.

One of my permaculture teachers, Aussie Robyn Francis, asks “is it a snail problem or a duck deficit?”

because a snail problem is an endless, difficult, high-maintenance battle, but a duck deficit–well, that’s really easy to fix.

Plus you get eggs.

Try: Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway, or search for local permaculturalists or Transition Town groups.

Yes and a few bugs are OK – they play their part.

Soil structure is important, one of the reasons compost is so good, it allows oxygen and nitrogen into the soil. Compacted soil won’t give good results, so look at soil structure and the pH. You also need a dash of calcium otherwise your plants might not be able to take up some of the nutrients.

Lastly, I have had pleasing results growing from non-GM “Heritage” or “Heirloom” seeds. (http://www.sgaonline.org.au/info_heirloom_varieties.html.) Lots of Google entries. Worth finding, they are like what we used to get as kids. Tomatoes, strawberries and more with flavour!

The pesticides. Look, you obviously want to use as little of them as possible (even the “organic solutions”). But after spending a lot of time, effort and money on your garden, you just can’t let a serious insect infestation or fungus disease attack decimate your plants. This is particularly true if you are growing stuff to eat. I do garden “organically” as much as possible with my limited time, but the non politically-correct truth is that unless you can devote a huge chunk of time each day to building and maintaining the whole, extensive pure organic gardening gestalt that you will occasionally need “something stronger”.

In that case, what *is* practical and responsible to do is to find the least dangerous pesticide or fungicide that will work on your particular problem and apply it in a carefully targeted manner, using only as much as needed. This approach can virtually eliminate run-off issues, cross-contamination and build-up in the soil. There are some new quite safe pesticides — many even qualify for the organic certification by OMRI (look for the seal on the bottle). You simply have to do a bit of research on the web on the particular chemical.

For instance, there are products made with something called “Spinosad” which is grown from a bacteria that doesn’t affect beneficial insects like ladybugs but works on a lot of tough nasty bugs (even fire ants). It is not a “chemical pesticide” at all, but works like one. And it rapidly breaks down in the sun and soil. Neem oil is pressed from the fruit of the neem tree, which people have used in medicines and cosmetics for centuries, but it works on many bugs and even as a modestly-effective fungicide. The chemical “maneb” is a very effective fungicide which if used carefully can be safely applied to fruits and vegetables just a few days before harvest (although I wouldn’t push it that close myself).

Just don’t do a lot of pre-emptive “preventative” spraying unless it is with really safe organic solutions. And don’t worry about a few bugs, only take the stronger action if things start to get out of control.

But even doing small-scale patio gardening is a number one way to relive the frustrations and stress of listening to congressional debates on climate change.