What do you plan to grow next year?

[Javamama]

Companion planting didn't do squat to discourage bugs for me. A huge, miserable failure. Never going to bother with it again. I will be mulching heavily and finding something to fight the bugs before they invade. Neem oil did OK, but I discovered the bugs too late. I need a preventative insecticide.
I would love guineas, but I don't think they would go over well where I live. They are kind of hard to contain, aren't they?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

and they sounds like shrieking howler monkeys....

those crazy birds had better work......

WZ - love the idea of the moats. did you see the BYC thread on the gal who make a 'chicken moat' around her garden? basically a double fence - the chickens ran around outside the garden between the two fences and kept bugs from entering. not sure how effective it was on flying bugs but the creepies, crawlies, and sluggos didnt have a chance. i thought it was a great idea

 

[Javamama]

Howler monkeys, Kinda like my neighbor.

 

[Wifezilla]

I love the chicken moat idea too. I kind of did that with my pond....had to put poultry netting around the squash plants. Despite that there was nibbling going on..LOL

If you look close you can see the trays. They are actually pans you put under water heaters....

 

[Dace]

So Guineas don't eat the plants?

 

[Wifezilla]

Allegedly they wont eat established plants. It is a shame they are so noisy...LOL

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

and i think the big thing is that dont scratch like other poultry....

or maybe they are so freaky lookign they just scare the bugs off??

 

[Wifezilla]

That must be it!!!

 

[bibliophile birds]

Gardening is hard for me because of all of the bugs...

we just started trying various methods this year to control bugs. one that was fairly successful on the rose bushes (the only place i tried it) was to catch a good handful of whatever was eating the plant, throw it into a blender (one you don't plan on using for food ever again, probably!) with some water and dish soap (we use organic, ecofriendly). you want it to be soapy enough to froth up, but watery enough to come out of a squirt bottle. blend the bugs up really fine and pour the mixture in a squirt bottle. squirt it on all the affected plants.

i guess the scent of dead bug and soap is unappealing to other bugs. we had to reapply a few times, but it helped a lot.

 

[dragonlaurel]

For sure:
lots of tomatoes
pole beans
broccoli
all varieties of peppers
onions

This year I had so much trouble with bugs on my cruciferous veggies. They took over my brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, cukes, squash, etc. I got nothing out of any of those plants. So much time, space and money wasted that I don't know if I'll try again.

I planted peas at the wrong time twice, but I would love to try again. Carrots maybe if I dig a new bed for them.
I'm terrible at succession planting for lettuce, so I don't know.

I would really love to have pickles, but I don't know how to defeat the bugs. I tried everything but row covers this year.

Could you let some guineas or chickens go feast over there? They'll love doing that little favor for you. Following a tiller is heaven for them too. You don't want to put them in with young plants though. That would distract them from their work.