Re: Cult: Pesticides

>
>Gen. Allenby was asked after taking Jerusalem what he was going to do next.
>"Nothing--that's always best." He replied.
>
>Bill Shear
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I agree!
I am not an "organic purist", whatever that means, but I do think that
gardening involves a coexistence with nature and sometimes that means
sharing the garden with the occasional creature who wants to live off the
fruits of my labor. 

It is a fallacy to think that if you don't kill the first pest which you
see, that you will inevitably end up with an epidemic. The facts are that
through the indiscriminate use of pesticides, you will probably, in the long
run, strengthen the remaining populations.

Rick described how he deals with cutworms at his place. Bear in mind that
this is on a much greater scale than a home garden. He cleared out the
cutworms, didn't damage the ecology and in addition, as a bonus, he got to
have a very close look at his plants in the process and I bet that when he
finished he had several new entries in his notebook.

Each person has an idea of what is a perfect garden. When I am in a garden
which is immaculate, I feel sort of like I am in a sterile environment.
There probably will be no birds singing to celebrate the blooms, nor
butterflies, nor those invaluable assistant gardeners the ladybugs and
spiders. It is a place of perfection but not one for relaxation in my mind.
Gardening should be a relaxing hobby not warfare.

John Montgomery
monashee@bcgrizzly.com
Vernon, BC
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