Under Pressure... Pest Pressure, That Is

What about bugs?

I’ve got bugs all over my plants! How do you not get bugs?

Why are your plants not getting eaten by bugs the way mine are?

I can't post a picture of a plant on social media without getting asked about pests. And I get it. Few things are more frustrating to a gardener than lovingly tending your edible plants, only to have your prized veggies become a tasty meal for something else.

I know this because I also, of course, have bugs in my garden and, yes, they eat their fair share of leaves.

A pest-free garden is pretty much an impossibility. Pests are essentially just waiting at the ready for some food to appear. In fact, the only way to avoid having any kind of bug or unwelcome critter in your garden would be to garden in a hermetically sealed environment.

First, let's look at why we have pests in our garden in the first place. Then, we'll look at the steps to take in your own garden to keep it as organic and pest-free as possible.

Why Are Pests in Our Gardens?

Pests are part of the food growing process.

In nature, bugs eat healthy plants. I learned this when I bought bushels of sweet corn from an organic stall at the farmers' market, only to open each ear and find caterpillars. When I told the farmer working the stall about the caterpillars the next week, she said, "Honey, if the caterpillars don't want to eat it, it ain't no good."

That was an aha moment for me. Bugs on your produce prove that it's something worth eating. Even bugs don't want to eat food sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, and if they don't want it, is it really something you want to put in your body?

If you have a healthy and thriving garden, then of course bugs are going to want to eat from it, just like those caterpillars wanted that delicious sweet corn.

Pests are simply evidence that you're growing your plants well—that they're organic and delicious. A pest attack might feel like an insult, but take comfort in the fact that it's really a compliment. Nature knows good food when it sees it.

What that means is that even the most experienced of gardeners have pests in their garden. Bugs aren't eating your lettuce leaves because you're a newbie. They're eating the lettuce leaves of master gardeners, too.

Pesticides Are Not the Answer to Garden Pests

Pesticides indiscriminately kill bugs, including beneficial insects like the bees and the butterflies. They even work their way up the food chain and kill our song birds. I love this quote from Rachel Carson in Silent Spring: "They should not be called insecticides but biocides." It's true. You think you're just killing the "bad" bugs, but there's no such thing as an isolated incident when it comes to spraying chemicals in your garden.

Pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides interrupt a natural cycle, and unfortunately, there are consequences for humans and other mammals, pollinators, and even our water supply. (Learn more about the downsides of pesticide use.)

Organic gardening without pesticides is really the only way to go. Don't worry—it's possible to keep your garden free of pesticides and still have a beautiful and productive vegetable garden. And honestly, when you stop freaking out and reaching for sprays at the first sign of pests, gardening becomes a whole lot less stressful. Let's look at ways to prevent and treat pests in your own garden organically.

How to Prevent Pest Pressure

There's a really simple way to prevent pest problems, and that's denying them access to your garden in the first place.

Nothing protects your garden better than a simple physical barrier that lets water, sunlight, and air in, but keeps pests (such as white flies, flea beetles, aphids, and all those other buzzing and crawling things that eat your leaves and drive you mad) out. I cover my beds with garden mesh fabric, or agfabric, created specifically for pest protection and available for purchase at any garden store.

The key is to cover your garden from the moment you first plant your transplants into the garden or sow some seeds. Young plants are particularly vulnerable to pest pressure, but garden mesh will give them all the protection they need from the get-go. Again, this is a preventative measure, not a form of treatment. If you add a cover once pests are already present, you risk trapping the bugs underneath and giving them a garden free-for-all.

Garden mesh has the additional benefits of helping to lock moisture in your raised beds and providing some shade and shelter from strong winds and other harsh weather conditions. All without requiring any expensive greenhouses, fencing, or chemicals. 

Garden mesh is ideal for protecting leafy greens and root crops from pests. It doesn't work as well for fruiting plants, many of which need pollinators to ensure their flowers turn into fruit. You can lift the mesh during the day to give pollinators access and then cover them back up at night, when most pests are active. Or you can protect individual pieces of fruit while they ripen on the vine by tying see-through organza bags (the kind you might store jewelry in) around fruit clusters. This works against larger pests like birds and squirrels.

How to Control Pests Organically

You can think of the five strategies below as steps, except you're constantly going to be cycling through them as part of your garden tending tasks. Here's how to deal with pests naturally:

• Prune away visible damage on the plant
• Clear the area
• Nourish the plant with compost
• Invite the pest's natural predators into the garden
• Monitor the plant daily for the next two weeks before taking further action

Step 1: Prune Away the Damage Caused by Pests

The first thing you're going to do is remove visible damage. As soon as you start to see holes in your leaves that make it clear a pest is eating from your plant, grab a clean pair of pruners and remove the leaves that have been eaten. Never remove more than one third of the plant; if it's necessary to do so, it's probably best to just remove the plant from the garden entirely and start fresh.

While you're pruning, consider removing extra fruit or extra large growth on the plant. When our plants are under attack, we need to remove as much of their burden as possible. I liken this to that Jim Gaffigan joke about what it's like to have a fifth child. "Imagine you're drowning," he says. "And someone hands you a baby." When you're already struggling, the last thing you need is for someone to give you another thing to carry, right?

We don't want to take away a lot of the healthy leaves because those help the plant photosynthesize and work through the issue. But we do want to take away any other part of the plant that might be weighing it down or draining its resources. Removing extra fruit, for instance, helps the plant focus on fighting for itself.

If the removed leaves are ones that you would typically want to eat (like kale or cabbage leaves) and they're not too damaged, you can take them inside, wash them, and eat them. Yes, really. (More on that later.)

Step 2: Clear the Area Around the Pest-Affected Plant

Next, use a little hand rake or your fingers to pick up dead leaves, weeds, and debris around the base of your plants. One of the reasons I don't recommend putting wood mulch in your raised garden bed is because mulch and debris just give pests a convenient place to hide. 

Once you've removed the damaged leaves and cleaned the area, search for the pest. The best time to do this is in the early morning or evening because pests prefer to come out when it's cooler and dark. Caterpillars, for example, like to hide in the shade of your plants when it’s hot and then come out to dine at night.

Check the stem of the plant, the underside of the remaining leaves, and the surrounding soil area—all places that pests like to hide. If it's dark, use a flashlight to help you scan up close. Remove every pest that you can find by hand and toss them into a bowl of soapy water. If you notice aphids or other smaller pests, give the plant a good, strong spray with your garden hose to scatter them.

Step 3: Nourish the Plant

I liken pesticides to antibiotics—they are a strong and targeted attack on the pest and way overused. In most cases, we don't need to treat with antibiotics. We just need some vitamins.

Whenever you see a plant suffering from pest pressure, give that plant more nutrition. One of the easiest ways to do this is by adding compost around the base of the plant and watering it well. This will ensure your plant is getting all its nutritional needs met.

A plant knows how to fight for itself; it actually has built-in defense systems. All you have to do is give it the ideal conditions so that it can focus on fighting for itself. It's pretty incredible that all we need to support our plants and help them grow stronger is some compost!

Step 4: Invite the Pest's Predators into the Garden

It's time to do some studying! Every pest has a predator, right? Discover your plant's pest's predator.

My first garden in Nashville had a serious raccoon problem. When I went to the local garden store to ask them what I could buy to handle these raccoons, the employee's answer was... coyote pee. Come again?

Apparently, when raccoons smell wolf or coyote urine, they think that animal is near and about to eat them. The employee also said I could go home, feed my husband a steak, and have him pee all over the garden if I didn't want to shell out $20 for animal pee. (I didn't ask how they bottle it in the first place!)

I didn't end up using any urine in my garden, but I did learn a lesson: Natural predators can help you in the garden. (If you haven't seen the documentary Biggest Little Farm, it has a great depiction of this concept.)

Do some research and figure out what in nature preys on the pest that's become an issue. What will eat the thing that's eating your plants? One example, of course, is ladybugs eating aphids. If aphids are your problem, you can welcome their predator by setting up your garden to be a great environment for ladybugs. Your goal is to bring more of the natural predator into your garden space. Sometimes, if you just sit back and wait, the predator will be drawn by the pests and invite themselves in!

This is essentially permaculture. It's creating a little ecosystem in your small garden space; it's taking a more holistic approach to pest control, the way that nature intended.

Step 5: Wait and See if the Pest Returns Before Treating With Pesticides

Many of us are accustomed to instant gratification, a one-and-done approach, but the garden does not deliver such a thing. After following steps one through four, observe your plants every single day for two weeks to see results. Make it a point to head out and check the plant around the same time every day to see if the pests show up or if there's new damage on the leaves. 

This is a gross analogy, but think of the human pests we all loathe: lice. The thing with lice is you get rid of all the adult ones but then you have to keep checking for the next two to four weeks because those adults probably had babies. Once you've taken care of the babies, then you're good, but the treatment requires vigilance for at least a month.

Garden pests are similar. These guys are often minuscule, and they have minuscule babies. You're going have to stay on your plants as the days go on, especially over the first few weeks, just to make sure that you really got the pests out.

If you see any new damage, then start back at step one and go through the steps again.

Treat Only If Necessary

If you've waited and observed that the pest situation is not getting any better, then you have two options: you can treat with organic pesticides or you can just remove the affected plant.

I generally run through the five steps and see if nature will take care of the issue before I ever consider using a spray, even something organic like Castile soap. If severe cutting and cleaning doesn’t rid the plants of the pest, you can apply a spray or soil treatment, such as diluted Castile soap or garlic barrier (an extract of garlic mixed with water and sprayed on plants). In extreme pest infestations, you could use Monterey Bt, but if the pest issue is that severe, I typically just remove the affected plants, clean the area, and start again. 

Keep in mind that just because a treatment is organic doesn't mean it won't still have some type of negative impact on something other than the pest you're hoping to kill. That's why I very rarely turn to even the mildest of organic pesticides.

Overall, I wanted to give you an alternative way to view pest protection that doesn't include a spray bottle as the go-to.

Bonus: Pest-Affected Leaves Are Better for You

Sounds too good to be true, right? Let me explain.

Texas A&M University did a study where they poked holes in strawberry leaves to imitate an attack from a pest. The strawberries with holey leaves had more antioxidants and nutrients than those that were not "attacked". This is because our plants actually have built-in defense systems and start fighting for themselves the moment they feel threatened. They don't just surrender to the invaders until we step in with pesticides.

It makes sense, right? Your plant wants to stay alive as much as you want it to stay alive.

So those organic plants are overall better for you, not just because they haven't been sprayed with a bunch of synthetic stuff we don't want to put in our bodies, but also because they're filled with more of the good stuff that we do.

If you keep taking over for your plant and fighting the bullies for them, they never get to flex their muscles, strengthen their own defenses, and become the healthiest version of themselves. They just stay reliant on us. Meanwhile, we're doing bad things for the environment in the name of helping them.

So go ahead… eat those pest-affected leaves, holes and all.

A Better Approach to Pest Control

I hope this has helped you see the beauty of staying on the offense and relaxing a bit. Your plants are not helpless, and it's so much better for our own health and for the environment to step back and let them do their thing.

When the bugs do show up, we can see it as a sign that our plants are something worthy of eating and remember that pests are a natural part of a healthy and thriving organic garden. But that doesn't mean they have to win. Bugs are never a sign that we need to throw in the trowel and give up organic gardening practices.

Maybe now you have a more holistic view of your garden. Watch the wonder of what's happening in your own space. Maybe grow a couple extras of your favorite plants so that you have some leaves and fruits to share with a very hungry caterpillar or two.

And the next time you see a bug, don't be bugged so much. Be comforted by the fact that nature is doing its thing and that you're growing beautiful, healthy, organic food in your garden. You're just going to have to beat those pests to the plant so that you get to eat it before they do!