Organic Gardening Adventure

 

Every gardener is plagued by something at some point. Weeds, pests, or animals can make even a calm gardener into a frantic worry wart. So far this year I've lost beans, cucumber, and cantaloupe to spider mites, because Pyola, a natural pest control oil, just can't coat everywhere. White flies have covered the irises, but they seem to be weathering this tiny annoying pest pretty well. However, it’s very tempting to grab a can of “kill all” bug spray and go to town on those darn pests. Don’t!

My advice when you have a similar problem is to not give in!! Your health and the health of our world are not worth buying some pesticide spray that ends up in your skin and body and in the wastewater facility and back into our drinking water even if in minute traces. We have enough cancer and disease in our lives without adding the possibility of more through chemicals that were unnecessary to begin with.

I'm not an environmental activist, but I do love our earth and gardening. I do believe we need to do our part to be greener and more self-sufficient without making it a political thing. Organic gardening is a good place to start. I believe in chemical free gardening for health reasons not because we are all going to die a horrendous death due to global warming at some point in a few hundred thousand years…maybe. We are all going to die…period. How, is irrelevant. I do believe in climate change, but to me it’s just one more natural occurrence that happens in cycles over the ages and that it will occur whether we pollute or not because our sun is in control of weather and climate fluctuations. Not having us here didn’t stop the Ice Age from occurring. But for now, we can do our part in chemical free gardening for healthier living while we are here.

If you are looking for ideas on pest control that's organic and less harmful to the environment, I have a few ideas for you to try.

 

I use a neem oil, a plant de-rived oil product, but that doesn’t always do the trick. It does kill pest eggs as well as all the other stages of pest growth, where other products tend to only kill the adults.  

I love diatomaceaous earth (DE) as a natural pesticide but it's hard to use and has to be reapplied after watering. Works great indoors for baseboards, cabinets, under appliances to keep out pests. Iron-based pellets for slugs, i.e. Sluggo, but not all slug baits are safe so be careful choosing. 

House plants have issues with gnats mostly but can sometimes get aphids too. Usually little gnats are the sure sign of a problem with fungus, but a sprinkling of just plain sand onto the soil in containers stops fungus gnats at all levels. Babies cannot hatch and adults cannot lay eggs. For aphids in containers, a recipe for a soap spray is one tablespoon of peppermint castille soap (Dr. Bronner's is a good one) per gallon of water makes for good houseplant care. For outdoors, a soap mix is best used early morning or just before dark in the evening when using outdoors because the hot sun sometimes causes the mix to burn the leaves of the plant. Never use Dawn soap on plants as it is full of other chemicals that are harmful to leaves. Castille soap is the best and very gentle on plant leaves.

A pair of scissors works nice on caterpillars if you find them.Toss the dead worms into the bird feeder.  Bacillus thuringiensis is also a good way of controlling caterpillars but there are no instant results for this product since the Bt hatches and eats them to death over a period of a few days. 

Aphids are controlled outdoors with just plain water sprayed daily to knock them off, but in a drought that can be a challenge. I also use oil based products containing spinosad or neem to make sure aphid eggs are killed. And who doesn't love lady bugs! Ok, people who get an infestation of those in their house don't, but in drier climates they tend to stay outdoors. Those have been the best control for aphids but they disappear in the hot summer so I still struggle with summer control on beans and peas.

Bacillus subtillis is good for control of diseases such as bacterial spot, powdery mildew, rust, mold, blight, and scab. Other controls for fungus include sprinkling cinnamon powder on the soil. This is especially good for seedling trays prone to damping off disease. You can buy it in bulk pretty cheap on amazon.  It probably would work in the yard as well if you see signs of fungus but a baking soda spray works better outdoors and is easy to apply with a pressure sprayer.

I have this stuff called Surround which is a clay-like powder that when mixed in water and sprayed on plants coats the plants to where bugs aren't attracted to plants and are not able to lay eggs on the leaves. It also deters pests from taking a bite as well as helps prevent sunscald and heat stress.  It is specified for aphids, caterpillars, moths, and other flying insects. Of course this stuff can make plants ugly with white coating so I don’t recommend it in the front yard or where beauty is the focus.But it has helped my nectarine trees with a thrip insect infestation.

Be aware however, that these controls can also kill beneficial insects such as lady bugs, lacewings and praying mantis which are always welcome additions. So be careful when spraying if you see these around. It may be better to wait a week or two to see if they can take care of the pests for you. If not, then you may not have any alternative but to spray with your safe oils/soaps or use DE powder.

Most of these methods have precautions even though they are considered environmentally safe. Diatomaceous earth requires a face mask so as not to breathe it in. It can irritate lungs. Plant based oil sprays can’t coat everything and can irritate skin. Please read the safety manual before using anything in your house or garden.

Some good information about organic gardening and natural pest control can be found in Mother Earth News and Organic Gardening Magazine, two of my favorite magazines. Try them out sometime if you have the money for it. They are still well worth the money spent. If you are into permaculture there are so many webpages and social media pages on this topic. The Eden style garden includes wood chips as a permanent mulch. My goal is to mix the two styles in my back yard.

 I have both sunken beds and raised beds. The sunken beds supposedly don't dry out as fast as raised beds. But I've found that the under soil is so hard that I end up with flooded beds that stagnate over winter. Now I have to put covers over these beds to prevent this issue. Raised beds with galvanized walls don't have the same issue but it's harder to keep soil moist in those in summer. They dry out so fast and require more irrigation. Each style has it's pros and cons. I also plant in 5 gallon buckets. Holds water better in summer and works for shallow rooted veggies.

We can all do something to help keep ourselves healthier. A good start is organic gardening which comes with its own set of challenges but I believe it's worth the extra effort to have healthier food on the table. 

 

PERMACULTURE AND ME

As an organic gardener, I'm always trying to grow something and I fail miserably in the California climate. I have yet to get purple hull peas or lima beans to grown and produce without aphids destroying them. The soil out back heats up so much that everything dies in July/August. 

It is 2020 and I decided I wanted to transform a weed riddled backyard into an Eden Gardening using wood chips. So we have started our journey to a permaculture Eden garden. I was able to call a tree guy that cuts down trees for me and he gave me 3 truckloads of free wood chips.

This type of gardening requires a lot of startup work but once it's in place the maintenance is easier and less time consuming. If you want the bug for gardening, look for the Back to Eden film and you'll be hooked too. 

 Ready for more wood chips

Finished middle of yard beds

DIATOMACEOUS EARTH AND FLEAS

I've been an organic gardener since I was a kid. My dad owned a farm, but he wasn't organic. I was upset about planes flying over the house spraying who knows what on the crops and the chemicals coming into our yard when we were playing outside. I used allowance money to subscribe to Organic Gardening magazine and I was hooked. I quit subscribing to that when they started to get political a few years back. I want to hear about gardening not about how President Trump is ruining America which I disagree with. 

Anyway, back in 2009 my son Duncan went up to the mountains for Boy Scouts and came home with fleas. Within a weak the whole house was covered in fleas. I had learned to use food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) in the garden for pests and then discovered it kills fleas. I powdered our whole house with the stuff including the closets. I left the powder on the carpets for 2 weeks and after that we had zero fleas. 

To this day I still use DE in my yard and on my dogs. I've seen 1 flea in 5 years and powdered the dog and haven't seen another one since. I put this on the cat too. It also kills good bugs so I use sparingly in the garden when ladybugs and mantis are active. It's a good winter control to help stop harboring thrips and aphids. This powder is good under appliances and controls roaches as well. It's ugly powder so I sweep it in crevices, I dust it into the attic, and put it anywhere white powder visually isn't a problem. I've read that you can paint it on wet to walls and stuff but this powder works better dry not wet. 

 And as always, wear a mask when using. This stuff can irritate lungs even though it is edible. 

Had I known...

Had I known when I started the Human Resource Management program at UMUC.edu that I'd need basic HR experience for it to benefit me in the job world, I probably would have stuck with trying Library Science. I had originally asked an advisor before I signed up for this program if I needed HR background. She said no. Technically I don't need an HR background to be in the program but little did I know that not having one would 1) make the classes harder because I didn't understand a lot of the HR issues and 2) not be able to find a job in HR because of lack of experience in both HR and management. This hindsight is unfortunate. However, I found a job in customer service with data entry that was right up my alley and I enjoy it so much. Even though my master's degree was not helpful, I was still able to find a job that fit me perfectly. I'm not a manager per se but I still managed to streamline the government sales team and create a functional and efficient system for handling customer base. Because of this, our customers keep coming back because we are responsive and easy to deal with. 

So no, I'm not in HR, but yes, I am fulfilled in my current position and hope to remain there until retirement at age 70-75 if I am able to make it that far. Cheers. -Carla

Online College Programs

When I first started looking at online schools, I thought perhaps I'd do Library Science, but looking at the market for librarians, they were non-existent in the Fresno area. So I decided to locate a program that had a better career outlook. I mean if I'm going to spend this much money in student loans, I may as well find a job that pays well enough to warrant the expenditure. My choice was Human Resource Management. This type of program means I can live anywhere I want and find a job in this career field.

Most of the colleges I looked at had Master of Business Administration with Human Resources as a secondary program. I didn't want the MBA, just the HR program. I finally found University of Maryland University College which has a Masters of Human Resources program. The interesting thing about this program is that you can opt for a dual degree in either Business Administration or Distance Education by taking only 6 more classes. I opted for the Distance Education. Might as well get two degrees while I'm at it. This could open up doors for me at college or university administration departments. I hope so anyway.

In the process of discovering college I visited a few online degree sites. The biggest help in finding University of Maryland University College was just a simple Google search for Masters degree in Human Resources. The search pulls up universities.com website with a variety of colleges available to visit for more information.

An online education is every bit as accredited as a classroom setting one if you make sure the college offering your program is an accredited college. However, even technical or vocational school educations are not to be discounted. Employers hire people from any type of educational background as long as the prospective employee can prove they completed the program. I personally prefer a degree from an accredited university, but this shouldn't be the only online program type you should check into if you are interested in going to school online.

Programs such as DeVry, Kaplan, or University of Phoenix not only have online programs but they also have regular classroom programs. They have classes in many cities so check for your local colleges as well.

There are tons of scholarships you can apply for and all sorts of financial aid programs as well as student loans for those making more money than grants allow. I always seem to be stuck just above grants so end up with loans, but I feel it's worth every penny to better myself. Hopefully my career choice will bring in enough money to pay my loans off quickly.

Don't be afraid of going back to school at any age. I'm 39 nearly 40 and I'm just now getting around to a Master's degree. I have always been a firm believer in getting an education and have instilled in my sons the importance of an education for survival in today's world. Men especially need to be more repsonsible with education because their livelihood as well as their future families depend on their ability to make a living in some form. Getting a job with little or no higher learning is extremely difficult.

So get out there and get into school! Unemployment is very high right now so get an education while the getting is good!

Legacy 7.0 Genealogy software

This software has been awesome for making my webpage at http://www.dickerson-goodloe.com and has given me the ability to put my whole database online for people to look through.

Aging and College

In 1999, I decided that it was time to get my Bachelor's. I was already 30 and married with children by then, but had it set in my mind to go back to college. I found Eastern Oregon's Distance Ed program and got my degree in Office Admin/History. You'd think this would be the end of my college days, but no, here I am again thinking, maybe I should get my Masters. It's 2009 and I'm 39.

I lost a job that I loved on July 2, and well, I had to re-evaluate what I wanted to do with my life. Working jobs that last a few years really upsets me. I want to be able to work somewhere until I retire. What could I do that is more of a career than working just basic office positions?

The other day I enrolled at University of Maryland University College in the Master's of Human Resources program with dual degree option. I have not yet decided if my 2nd degree will be Business Administration, which I'm not entirely sure I'd like, or Distance Education,which I know I would love because I've been through distance education for BS and now for MS and know the importance of this type of education.

Some would say I'm crazy for attempting a Master's this late in life. All I can say is "Why not?" Life is for learning so let's get to it!