Thursday 25 June 2009

natural pest control

An update from the plot: broad beans are doing really well - taking home a carrier bag full every time I go up there (which is every other day at the moment, as it needs a lot of watering) - but we've had a little bit of a problem with blackfly. They always seem to get to the plants eventually, even if you cut the tops off, and we have this soapy organic spray I got from the garden centre which sorts them out a bit but it's not 100% effective. So I was pleased to see the following chaps on a routine visit:


Yes kids, the ladybirds were out in force, for perhaps the first time since my primary school library. And they were having a whale of a time. I got rid of the top sections of the most infested plants (that's where the blackfly seem to congregate) but I left the rest as ladybird food. All good clean fun.