JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Worms and insects can nibble away at your vegetables causing them to rot.
There are four steps you should follow to prevent them from taking over your vegetable garden without having to use harmful chemicals.
My mom, Mary Ellen Waugh, created and manages Grace Garden for BEAM, Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry, in Jacksonville Beach. The food grown in 60 vegetable boxes is provided to its food pantry clients.
Step 1
Waugh said the first step you can take is to plant marigolds in your box near your vegetable plants.
“The flowers emit an odor that many of the bugs do not like,” she explained. “Marigolds also have a root system that kills nematodes, which in Florida are common in raised bed boxes.”
Step 2
You need to keep your soil bed clean.
“People always think that they should pick off dead leaves and throw them in the bed. That’s not the case, keep your beds clean so you don’t get any bugs from anywhere else wanting to eat something that you’ve already put in your bed,” explained Waugh.
Step 3
Remove dead leaves and prune others that touch the soil.
If your large vegetable plants have leaves that touch the soil, this can create a bridge for insects to reach your vegetables, which is why Waugh suggested you remove any leaves that touch the soil of your vegetable bed.
Step 4
Have you ever heard of companion planting?
“So you plant a plant that wards off the bugs of another plant,” said Waugh, who uses companion planting as another natural way to prevent worms and insects from eating vegetables as they grow. “Dill is in this box with cauliflower because the odor of dill, the worms that would attack your cauliflower don’t like the smell of dill.”
Other companion plants are cilantro, which can be planted to protect your spinach plants; basil, which helps keep worms from eating your tomatoes; and celery, which is a companion plant to cabbage.
We are growing broccoli, lettuce and carrots in the Channel 4 box at BEAM.
After 6 weeks, the lettuce and broccoli should be ready to harvest in a few days.
Be sure to join us Mondays during the 8 a.m. hour of The Morning Show for our Home Grown series, dedicated to helping you save money by learning how to grow your own food.