Natural Options for Your Garden
If you were born in the last 50 years, it may be hard to imagine food produced completely without the use of pesticides. In fact, it is tempting to think that these insect and weed eliminators are a necessary part of creating those big, bountiful berries, or luscious, leafy greens.
However, while farmers have been using chemicals found in their environment for thousands of years to control pests — the Greeks and Romans used such materials as ashes and sulfur — man-made pesticides have only been used widely in modern agriculture since the 1940s.
Man-made pesticides may keep pests out of your garden, but they also offer two major environmental problems:
- They are harmful to our water. When rains come, they are washed into nearby rivers and lakes. Our water treatment systems are not designed to remove pesticides.
- Pesticides are not species-specific. Depending on the type, they can be toxic to all species (including humans), and may be harming predatory species that could have helped eliminate your pests in the first place.
One way to help prevent this is to properly dispose of your leftover pesticides. You can find a drop-off location for pesticides using Earth911.
Another option is to consider farming without the use of pesticides. Here are a few tips:
Maintain Healthy Plants
Young and sickly plants are most susceptible to a pest infestation, and unwanted insects are often a harbinger of an unhealthy plant and less than ideal growing conditions. By keeping soil healthy through crop rotation, sufficient space and ventilation, and the use of such natural fertilizers as organic compost, a healthy environment for plants can easily be maintained.
Crop Rotation
Often, pests will feed on one type of plant but not on another. Growing different types of plants in the same space breaks the lifecycle of these types of pests. It will also keep your soil fertile because growing the same crop throughout will deplete your soil of specific nutrients.
Symbiotic Plants and Animals
Mutually beneficial flowers and herbs (such as chrysanthemums) act as natural pest repellents when planted among other flowers and crops.
In addition, the introduction of certain types of insects is another effective form of pest control. For example, the introduction of ladybugs effectively controls aphid populations.
Physical Barriers
Whether in your home or garden, pests need a point of entry. Eliminating this opportunity will discourage pests from making their home in yours.
Biopesticides
These deterrents are naturally occurring and can be made from animals, plants, bacteria and minerals. However, precautions should still be used with these types of pesticides.
- "How-To Factsheets: Taking Action to Control Pesticides and Promote Alternatives" Beyond Pesticides http://www.beyondpesticides.org/how-to/index.htm.
- "Pesticide Facts" Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, Pesticide Bureau http://www.mass.gov/agr/waterwellbeing/pesticide_facts.htm.
- "Pesticides and Food: Types of Pesticides on Food" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/whatrpest.htm.
- "Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/safety/healthcare/handbook/handbook.htm.
- "Types of Pesticides" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/about/types.htm.
- Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1962.
- Coleman, Elliot. The New Organic Grower White River Junction: Chelsea Green, 1989..
- Kittredge, Jack. "Pesticides in Food" Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York http://www.nofany.org/hottopics/pesticidesinfood.html.
- Muir, Patricia. "History of Pesticide Use" Oregon State University http://oregonstate.edu/~muirp/pesthist.htm.
- Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma New York: Penguin Press. 2006.
- Rumsey, Kay. "Researching Health Effects of Pesticides on the Web" Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides http://www.pesticide.org/ResPHealth.html.
