This stride into the cooler weather slows grasshoppers down. Gardening organically on the prairie can be tough and approach impossible when an inferno summer blazes with demands that kill any romantic notion of gardening. Our hens, crazy for grasshoppers, safe in their coyote and hawk proof run, are kept from the garden. A great control for pests, they would peck the tomatoes down to the last seed and scratch most plants into oblivion. With cooler weather grasshoppers of all stripes and shapes congregate by the dozens on a peach tree that has done surprisingly well in its second year of existence. It is a guilty pleasure to grab the grasshoppers for the chickens. If the ladies are in their pent-house I call them. Henrietta and Rita Moreno, in the lead, race to see who gets first prize. Without question they’re the quickest to snatch and the deftest defenders of their catch. The others follow in a fury of intention. I maneuver my grasshopper toss to allow others a chance. As an organic control, I’m not very effective. Bringing hens intense delight, increasing egg quality and saving a few kale leaves from the munching machines makes it worth the effort.
This summer tempted me to use Sevin, an inorganic pesticide that give squash plants a chance to bear plenty of perfect squash. We love squash! This year a new organic pesticide promised to eliminate squash bugs and vine borers. I picked five yellow and zucchini squash. I sprayed and scraped squash bug eggs off the leaves and destroyed as many of the devourers as possible. We have one perfect butternut squash from pre-ravaged vines that would have yielded bushel baskets of winter squash. We are the proud owners of the most costly butternut in the county!
Gardening organically creates dilemmas. If organic zucchini costs as much as $6 a pound and nonorganic goes for as low as 99 cents a pound–on which ample inorganic pesticides were likely doused–should one sparingly use Sevin if you can’t pay the high price for organic? Purists say absolutely not. We find great pleasure in growing and harvesting our own food. For years Sevin has been kept from the vegetable garden. I stopped using Roundup since learning a parishioner’s cancer was linked to its use. I read the organic gurus. I try as many of their recommendations as I can, but often their proposals are for gardens on another planet with just the right kind of help and resources. Gardening in town is easier.
How do we balance the ideal with the practical? This struggle constantly impacts how we live. The choices we make shape our lives. Gardening, like life, makes no promises. Growing conditions make a huge difference. The soil quality, wind, water availability, all of this can be worked with. Compost, amend the soil, plant windbreaks, mulch, install water catchment tanks, drip irrigation and make sure love stays ahead of frustration, especially in a difficult season. Fully appreciating unexpected success and sharing it has incalculable value. Stick with it, keep on trying new things, accept failure and get on with growing!
Love your toads. !
Michael