We have had our first snow, and it was really fun to see our three-year-old's reaction to it, since she has been talking about winter and snow for awhile. Mike and I have been a little less excited, and are still trying to determine where to turn our gardening energies.
Before things started to freeze, we did dig up some plants from outside to bring in for the winter. Although it's hard to keep full-sun plants healthy and happy indoors, we figure it's worth a shot, since they'd die outside anyway. Well, a few of them came down with a bad case of aphids, threatening to destroy them.
At the same time, our home was just recovering from an Asian beetle infestation. You know, this little ladybug-like guys that cover exterior walls and move inside for a short time in Fall? Well, we got a lot of them this year, and even though we got rid of them as fast as possible, Mike expressed a little bit of happiness with them, since they are a beneficial insect for farmers. And, just as those Asian beetles were clearing out, the aphids moved in, and my brilliant husband realized how to put our little interior ecosystem to work. He collected the few remaining Asian beetles and set them on our aphid-covered vegetation. In a couple days, the beetles had devoured most of the aphids!
Here you can see the row of little green dot aphids on a chocolate mint stem, and the beetles who are eating them for lunch.
Isn't that cool? Rarely do I get to see Mike's pesticide-free practices in action so clearly. What a great illustration of how we can raise food organically.
If only it were this easy out in the garden!
I'll have to let you know if our over-wintered transplants make it to Spring!
