Free Seed Project: Garden Maintenance Basics (Part 8)

Robin>> Today in the garden,

we are going to share

a little bit about garden maintenance.

So, we're going to start off

with talking about watering

- how to water

and how to know how much to water.

We're going to talk about thinning.

We are going to talk about insect management,

and fertilizer.

Having that nutrition in your soil
to grow the bounty that you're looking for.

When I first started gardening

I was like

"How much water do these plants need?!"

Each plant, do they all need 
different amounts of water?

I was struggling with that at first

whenI first started gardening

about five or six years ago.

What I found out is that

that there are simple rules of thumb that help.

It's not as challenging

when you follow these basic guidelines.

Elise>> Analysis paralysis can take over,

and just like you said,

you're like “oh does my radish

need more than my arugula,

which needs more than my basil?”

Who knows right?

We get into this circle of overthinking.

A few general rules of thumb

when you are starting out with watering:

At the beginning, when you first seed things,

they will need more water

because the roots are not established yet.

We are looking for germination with the seeds.

So, in the beginning,

it is going to be twice a day.

They are going to be

at the very surface of the soil

which dries out quicker,

so we need to compensate for that

So two times a day

is a good general rule of thumb.

Robin>> Keeping the soil 
nice and moist on the surface

where the seeds and the new 
little roots are, right?

Elise>> If you are starting in a pot

and looking to transplant it out to the garden,

it's typically going to be

in a little bit more of a controlled environment,

so those are probably going to need a little less,

maybe once a day,

especially once you do have

germination of those seeds

and the seedlings are starting their growth.

Robin>> So, new seeds, direct seeding

about twice a day,

and then transplanting into the garden

most likely can be once a day.

But as we're going to talk about,

there is no exact way of doing things.

You might live in a climate 
that's cooler and moist,

you might live in a dry, hot climate,

and that's, of course, going to make a difference.

Elise>> Yeah, I get that all the time,

"just tell me how many inches

and how long to run my sprinkler

or my drip irrigation or whatever."

I'm sorry,

but there's no perfect answer

because it's going to be based on soil tests.

because everybody, like you said, is different.

So, if you're not sure

if you have enough water,

I like to dig down.

That's always the first place to start.

Water what you think your garden needs,

and then at the corner of the bed

or in the ground or in the container,

whatever you're planting into,

don't just look at the surface.

You have to actually dig down

because that's where the roots of the plants are,

and that's where everything is developing.

So, dig down finger depth at least,

if not several inches down

before you judge whether it's enough water.

The whole layer should be saturated,

not just that half inch at 
the top of the container.

Robin>> Yeah, because we want to be

getting that water down to the roots,

and in fact, that's one of the keys

to establishing healthy plants

is getting that deeper watering,

rather than the light watering on the surface.

You actually want to do deeper watering

to get it down into those roots

and encourage those roots to go down deep, right?

Elise>> Yeah, so that just allows it

for those times when you go

on vacation for the weekend

or you have a dry spell

and you don't have a fantastic irrigation setup

or something like that.

There's always "what-ifs",

and so when we allow

the plants to develop a super deep root system,

they have more soil to access for nutrients,

but water as well.

And so, nice deep root system

means they're going to go longer

without signs of heat stress

or water stress.

Deeper is better.

Robin>> So, the pinch test,

let's talk a little bit about the pinch test.

Elise>> So, if you're pretty certain

that you are getting a nice deep water,

the next point would be,

is it too much?

Is it not enough?

Where are we in how much water

to put into the garden?

I like to use the pinch test,

so if you take your three fingers

and you pinch the soil,

you should be able to pinch it

and have one or two drops of water come out.

If you have a stream of water pouring out,

too much.

If you don't have any water coming out,

it's not enough.

Robin>> So, this would be way too dry.

Elise>> Yes, there's no water coming in.

Robin>> This is dry.

You want it actually to pinch together

and stay formed in a ball.

Okay, this isn't bone dry

Elise>> it's a little underwatered

Robin>> there's no moisture there coming out.

Elise>> So when you do your pinch test

and it holds the shape that you create

and it does a drop or two,

you're in that sweet spot.

And as far as our range of water,

the other thing....

Robin>> Let us get this to be a sweet spot.

Let's see, so this is having too much.

Elise>> Yeah, exactly.

Now, it is a good idea

if you literally water it,

pick it up, and pinch it,

it's going to drain out quicker.

You don't have to come back 
5 minutes or 10 minutes,

although you can if you want,

but usually just waiting a couple of minutes

before you actually do your pinch test

allows the soil to absorb what it needs

and then that will be your indication.

Robin>> So, so here you can see

how it stays together as a nice cake,

it's in form.

That's pretty ideal,

but at this point it's drained out a little bit,

but that's basically what you want

to see is your soil forming 
together like that, right?

Elise>> Yep, and when you 
come back in the afternoon,

it's not going to do the pinch test,

it's going to be for like a few minutes after.

The plants, the air, everything is moving

that water through the system

so this is an indicator for fairly close

after you do your watering.

Robin>> There's another really simple way

to know whether your plants need water

and that's to look at them 
and see how they're doing.

Some people think if the plants are drooping

at any time, it means they need water,

but during the peak of the sun,

during the peak of the day,

you may have drooping

regardless of whether you're watering enough,

but if the plants are drooping in the morning

or they're drooping late in the evening,

then you know that's a sign

that they need more water.

What do you think about that?

Elise>> I would agree with that.

So some drooping due to sun and heat

is actually a plant defense.

It is taking care of itself

and it's conserving the plant tissues.

It is totally normal, unavoidable.

You could have it in an aquaponics system

and it could show wilting in midday/

That is its natural form or exhibit,

but if it's in the morning or in the evening

when it's cooler, the plant shouldn't be

showing those signs.

So if you do see any sort of like drooping

or wilting of the plant at those points,

then you know it's time to adjust your watering.

Robin>> Yes, so it's a very simple way

to see what the plants are up to

and to learn from them: watering.

So we're going to talk a little bit about

which water to use on your garden.

I do get a lot of questions

and concern about water.

I mean, we want pure water,

we want healthy clean water,

and so your general sources 
are going to be city water,

which can be reclaimed water,

then you've got rainwater,

and you've got well water.

Those are going to be your main sources of water.

We want to talk a little bit about each of those.

Lets start with....

I'd like to start with saying

whatever water you have,

that's the water that you're going to use.

City Water, let's talk a 
little bit about that first.

Elise>> City water is available to everybody

or almost everybody in our country.

We are lucky enough to have access

to some sort of clean water source,

but with that being said,

that clean water does go through

a lot of processing to get 
it to our homes and property.

So honestly, I put it lower on the list.

If it is what you have, go for it,

but there's going to be a lot of chlorine.

Robin>> Yes

Elise>> depending on the systems

that you have in place,

it can even have other things

like medicine passing through, all sorts of....

Robin>> pharmaceuticals, heavy metals,

Elise>> weird stuff that we don't ideally want.

Robin>> yes. But that being said,

I have grown numerous abundant

gardens off city water.

I know a lot of people who grow abundant

gardens off city water.

So absolutely, if city water is what you have

Elise>> use it,

Robin>> use it.

Now, the thing is, a lot of us in the city,

we can Harvest rainwater.

So if you can harvest rainwater,

that's what I'd recommend.

Elise>> So, harvesting 
rainwater can be very helpful,

obviously less potential pollutants, right?

So sometimes you can get a little bit of runoff

if you have like a shingle roof or something.

There are systems that you can put in place

to drain a lot of that off,

but with that being said,

rain comes in the rainy season,

so unless you have large volumes stored away,

it may not be enough to get 
you through from A to B.

So that is something to keep in mind.

It's definitely your first stop.

You can use that while you have it,

and then if you are in a prolonged dry spell,

then you would resort to either city water

or well water at that point.

Robin>> And for learning more about rainwater,

I have a guide to harvesting rainwater

and using it in your garden,

so that is going to be linked

so you can learn more about it through there.

275 gallon totes or 55 gallon drums,

those are the easiest things to access

to store a fair bit of water.

And then there's also passive rainwater harvesting

just by directing it from your rooftop

directly into your garden,

so that storage isn't as much of an issue.

As far as the well, if you've got a well,

Elise>> use it

Robin>> use your well.

Elise>> Use your well.

It's almost always going to be

your purest source.

There is a caveat, it can be,

depending on where you live,

have groundwater contamination.

That is a thing, unfortunately, to think about.

There is no perfect source, that's the point.

So just use what you got.

But in general, wells will typically have

the purest source.

Wells are going to be,

depending on how long ago they were drilled,

pretty deep into whatever water sources

you guys have in the area.

It is very reliable

even in dry spells

you're going to have that.

It's going to be free as long 
as it's already installed.

You're not paying for city water,

so that's an affordable way to water the garden.

Robin>> Elise mentioned city water,

so just a quick note on reclaimed water.

Reclaimed water is just water

that has gone through the system

cleaned comes back to us.

So absolutely, I've used reclaimed water.

Definitely, if that's what you got, use it.

But the word of caution

Elise>> would be that it is technically

supposed to be used for things like perennials

watering the lawn, that kind of thing,

Robin>> versus your leafy 
greens that you're eating

because it can potentially have contamination of,

you know, bacteria and things.

But if that's what you got, use it.

One other thing that we didn't mention, of course,

is if you have access to a 
pond or a lake or a river,

you can always set up irrigation from that.

Of course, make sure you're not taking

more than that water source can supply,

but a lot of them you can 
definitely take a small amount.

Every place is different,

but you can take an amount that's sustainable,

that doesn't pull from the 
water source in a negative way.

Elise>> and also being aware of what's upstream,

Robin>> of course.

So whatever water you have, definitely use it.

One of the most common mistakes

for new people is to drastically underestimate

how these little tiny seeds

turn into big plants.

I mean, one tiny kale seed 
can turn into a kale plant

that's like three four feet 
tall by a couple feet wide.

It is hard to imagine.

So we're going to talk a little bit about thinning

because thinning is something that all gardeners

have to do some of.

Elise>> So I know that 
everybody doesn't want to kill

their baby plants that they just started,

but it is essential for the 
overall growth of your garden,.

It is one of the most common issues

that I see when I work with beginner gardeners

is not thinning enough.

So when we are seeding,

I am not expecting people to sit there

and take their carrot seed or 
their tiny little kale seed

and plant them, you know, two feet apart.

It's not really reasonable,

and if you do that, you may have a pest

or something come through

that eats your one plant that you put there,

and now you don't have any.

So it is totally normal to overplant,

whether it be in the beds or in transplant pots.

It's going to happen.

Once things start to grow

and get a few inches of growth,

that's when our time is to come in

and start thinning it down from there.

So, there's a few different ways to thin.

Robin>> Let me just say,

so you might be like, "Well, how far apart is it?"

That's in our growing guide.

So, in the growing guide,

we have exactly the recommendation

of how many seeds per foot

or square foot or per row bed,

and there's also recommendations

based on square foot gardening

versus more spaced out.

So, there's different ways of doing it.

I do really encourage following those,

especially if these are the 
only seeds that you have.

You can waste all of the seeds

by planting them too close,

but if you follow that guide,

you're going to get the 
maximal use out of this pack.

Elise>> Yes

Once we are ready to start harvesting,

your plants should be

at least a couple inches tall in most cases,

and at that point, we're 
going to reference the guide

and figure out how far apart they do

ultimately need to be spaced,

and it's time to start thinning 
or weeding out the extras.

So, when you are thinning,

it is really important to use scissors,

pruning shears, something like that.

If we are to take our radish, for example,

that we put too many in our space

and we just start pulling plants out,

it's very likely that you disturb its neighbor

that you do want to keep,

and it can stunt growth,

it can potentially kill the other plant

that you did leave in place.

So, rather than just pulling 
them out of the ground,

it is really important to 
use some sort of trimming,

whether even your fingers

if you have, fingernails to pinch it.

But we want to be pinching it out the soil line,

not pulling them out of the soil.

The other tip that I have

when you do start thinning

is instead of saying, "Okay, 
I have this square foot,

I need to get rid of 10 of my 20 plants,"

don't immediately thin all 10

that you need to get rid of,

because we're working with nature.

Maybe a pest comes through,

maybe you forget to water,

and some of them die

because they had a little bit of heat stress.

I like to do it over the course of a week or two.

Robin>> Yeah, and at the same time,

what you're doing is you're 
keeping the soil covered,

which is key.

And so, you actually thin as you need to,

rather than thinking of them all at once.

And by doing that,

you also get to continuously be having

these early harvests.

So, you go out and you thin.

I think a lot of people, 
when they thin, they're like,

"Okay, compost it."

Every one of those plants that you thin,

if it's an edible plant, is a microgreen,

something people are in craze over.

Elise>> I know, and they pay gobs of money for it.

You have it in the garden.

And they are super nutrient dense.

So, they are, depending on the plant

and the nutrients and everything,

10 to 100 times higher in that vitamin or mineral

than the adult form in most cases.

Robin>> you know what

Elise>> they're like vitamins for you.

Robin>> We've got this pot right here.

This is actually turnips.

These would be planted way too close, right?

Elise>> Yep.

Robin>> So let's thin this pot.

Elise>> Okay

Robin>> and I'll eat it.

You thin, I eat.

So, whenever we are thinning,

you're gonna be looking for the one

that has the most growth to it,

the nice dark green leaves,

maybe minimal pest damage.

The ones that are showing signs

of any of those would be 
the first ones that I pull.

Now, sometimes they may all look killer,

and that's great,

and you'll just pick at random at that point,

but you're always thinking

about the ultimate or eventual spacing.

So, right here,

I would probably pull the 
one that's in the middle,

because that is the one

that is going to be the least likely....

if we had those two, then it would be too close.

These two are going to be proper spacing.

Robin>> Again, we could be 
doing this with the scissors.

We don't have one in our hand right now,

so Elise is just pinching right here at the base.

Elise>>Yep, ideally we want to 
leave those roots in the ground.

It depends on the stage

as to how many you are gonna pull,

but remember, you don't need 
to pull them all at once.

So we could stop here

or we could go a little bit more.

Robin>> Let's do a little bit more.

This one, you wouldn't have 
needed to thin quite yet,

would you say? Or would this 
have been the day to thin?

Elise>> I think this is a fair chance.

When the leaves start touching 
each other, that's....

So the root system of a plant, in general,

is going to be about the width 
of the above ground growth.

And so, when the leaves start getting to the point

of touching each other,

that means they're going

to soon start competing for things

like light and nutrients and water.

So, if the leaves are starting to touch,

that would be your time to thin.

Robin>> And of course, I'm 
going to thin these other.

We've got a little bit of 
Ethiopian kale popping up.

I'm going to go ahead and weed those.

This is actually a papaya right here.

I'm not going to eat that

because you don't eat papaya trees.

And then this is tomato here,

and I'm not going to eat that

because you don't eat tomato leaves.

So, yeah, a little lesson there on thinning.

We'd like to talk a little bit about fertilizer

nutrition in the soil.

Fertilizer, definitely....

you know, I use the word fertilizer

and I don't even like it

because of how abused fertilizers have been

by industrial agriculture.

But fertilizers are not inherently negative.

You know, compost is a 
holistic form of fertilizer,

fish emulsion, compost tea, worm casting,

all these ways to add 
nutrients back into the soil.

And this can be done in liquid fertilizers

or it can be done in solids.

And so I am absolutely a proponent of fertilizing,

but not over fertilizing

and not using these industrially 
produced fertilizers.

Elise>> Yeah, so when we are gardening,

these plants are getting their nutrition

to do all of the growth that we 
expect of them from the soil.

And so, I'm a huge proponent for feeding the soil.

If we are to properly amend 
our soil before we plant,

we aren't going to have as much of that

maintenance with the liquid fertilizers and stuff,

which is often the cause or the issue with runoff.

Over-fertilization, all of those other things,

typically, not always, but typically

is stemming from those liquid 
fertilizer applications.

So, before we start growing in our garden,

take the time to find some sort of 
organic slow-release fertilizer.

If you have compost, that is 
obviously a great way to start.

But if you're a beginner gardener,

you may not have it available,

and that's totally normal.

So, looking for a general all-purpose

slow-release fertilizer is the way to go.

These come from plants,

they come from animals,

depending on what your diet consists of,

there's something for everything.

If you're looking for a general all-purpose blend,

there's all sorts of

"vegetable, garden, all-purpose, blah blah blah,"

any of those are going to do.

What you want to do

is make sure it's in solid form

because that is what's going to slowly

break down in the soil

and feed the plants over 
the entire growing season.

Robin>> Yeah, and something that Elise and I both

very much feel is that at the 
beginning of your gardening,

your soil might not be super nutritious.

You have got to build it up.

But the goal isn't that you stick with this,

the goal isn't that you'll need

these fertilizers necessarily forever.

As you start to build up your own compost,

as you start to build up your healthy living soil,

you can move away from that.

But at the beginning

Elise>> it's necessary, it is.

It takes anywhere from three to four years

to build like a pretty robust healthy soil.

So just know in the beginning,

you are going to have inputs,

and even with a nice slow-release fertilizer

added at the beginning of the season

in your first year or two,

it is quite realistic

to maybe even need small 
amounts of liquid fertilizer

to pull them through to the end.

And that's just because

your soil is growing in and of itself.

Robin>> Yes, and of course,

some of you might be so fortunate

to have really beautiful soil already,

but most beginner gardeners don't have that.

Soil is one of the most challenging parts,

and to have healthy living plants,

you need healthy living soils.

So putting your energy into the soil

is just as important or more important

than putting it in the plants.

Often when you look at issues that you're having.

We'll talk a little bit about insect control.

It's often the question, "Is the soil healthy?"

And if the soil is not healthy,

you might not have healthy plants,

which are more prone to diseases

and insects and such.

You mentioned sort of an analogy

of an energy drink versus...

Elise>> Yeah. So when we're looking at,

"Do I need slow-release solid fertilizers

versus a liquid fertilizer?"

I like to make the analogy of 
somebody who is tired, right?

So if you need energy,

we get our energy from food and sleep.

If we are to go out there 
and eat like a bag of candy

or have an energy drink,

it's going to give us a huge burst of energy,

and we get some growth,

we get some energy,

we go run a marathon, whatever.

But that's going to dissipate 
really, really quickly.

And that is where liquid fertilizers are

in the scheme of things.

Whether it's organic or not, that doesn't matter.

It is accessible to the plant when it is applied,

and then it's gone.

So it's a quick fix, it's a temporary fix.

If you are having to use liquid fertilizers,

you need to know

that you need to solve the underlying problem

of continuing to add more slow-release

solid fertilizers to the garden.

So always just remember,

it's a Band-Aid and not the cure.

Robin>> Yes.

That said, it can also be used as a holistic part,

like with Korean natural farming

and bokashi, you know, with worm teas

and fish emulsions.

They can be done in a way

that is in alignment with the Earth,

in alignment with our plants.

It's something that you want to,

you definitely want to tread lightly

and be careful and know what you're doing

because it is the most likely way

you can cause runoff and damage.

It's the most likely way you can accidentally add

too much nitrogen.

Elise>> and that is a problem in and of itself.

A lot of people want the best for their plants,

and if they have the resources,

they say, "Okay, maybe I'm going to do these

super regular because I just 
really want that growth."

But too much nitrogen can actually

draw and attract pests.

It's a super common thing.

You can also burn roots that way,

so over-fertilizing is just as much of an issue

as under-fertilizing.

Robin: Yeah. Any other last things on fertilizing?

Elise>> Slow release

Robin>> yes

Elise>> Take it slow

Robin>> Compost is number one.

Build your compost.

Compost everything on-site.

Support local people who are creating compost

and get that compost from them.

As much as possible, compost

being your number one source

of fertility, of nutrients in your soil.

All right, the last thing that we want to

talk about in this garden maintenance class

is a little bit of insect management.

And you'll notice that I 
didn't use the word "pest."

Even I myself still catch 
myself using the word "pest,"

but pest is a human-made concept.

Every insect, every plant, every bacteria,

every human, we all have our place.

None of us are inherently bad.

In fact, there is no such thing as bad or good.

It's just a matter of things being in the place

where you want them

and at the time that you want them.

So I talk about insect management

rather than pest management.

Elise>> So as we start to 
identify things in the garden,

we have baby seedlings pop up,

we have our garden fairly mature,

we're getting ready to harvest things.

What's a good guy and what's a bad guy

or supposed good and bad guys?

Caterpillars are a perfect example.

They're something that are super common.

They're going to be munching on your kale

more than likely, or many 
other things in the garden.

What does that become?

The beautiful butterfly

that's flying through the garden.

So when we are looking at insect control

or pest management,

we need to be mindful

that we're trying to take

the least impactful approach

to our control, because if we

simply blanket the garden

in some sort of pesticide,

not only are we killing the bad guys

(and we never end up actually 
killing all the bad guys)

but you're also taking out

all of the beneficial insects

that are there performing natural functions.

The ladybugs and the lacewings

and all of these other creatures and insects

that are there eating the things

or preying on the things

that we don't necessarily want in the garden.

Robin>> Of course, all those pesticides

going into our garden

are eventually going into us as well.

Elise>> Yes, when we are looking at a plant

and we say, "Okay, we have a problem,"

my first line of approach is to ask yourself,

"Is this even really going to affect my yields?"

If it's not going to affect your yields,

if you have a couple of aphids on a leaf,

you can still eat that leaf.

No control is really even necessary.

Robin>> An aphid is just 
a manifestation of a leaf,

which is a manifestation of the sun.

All you're eating when you're eating an aphid

is that leaf that came from the sun.

It's the same energy, more or less.

Elise>> They are something that is

not going to generally kill a plant

or impact your yields.

So asking yourself that question

before you take any action

is probably the first place to start.

If you do decide that,

"Okay, I'm going to have reduced yields,

it may kill my plants,

it is getting to the Tipping Point,"

at that time, we're going to try to take

the most targeted action.

So in most cases,

that's going to be using our hands.

It freaks people out in the beginning,

but hands are going to be taking out

that one pest that is affecting your plants.

So it's picking off the caterpillar,

it's squishing the aphid,

it is brushing off the beetle

or whatever is bothering your plants.

If we use our hands,

we know that we are only getting the bad guy

and none of the good guys.

We're not putting any sort 
of pesticides into the soil,

we're not spending money

on insect repellents or all of this other stuff.

So oftentimes, our hands should 
be the first course of action.

Robin>> And a really nice thing about that

is that the insects that you do not want there

can actually be a gift to you

because they actually encourage you

to get out and get connected with the plants.

For me, when I was a beginner gardener,

going out to my garden every day

just spending a handful of minutes l

ooking at all of the leaves,

even looking at the underside,

looking for the caterpillars,

I actually got to know the plants a lot more.

It gave me a reason to be out there,

it helped me to really tune in with it.

So just using your hands, you'd be amazed

at how much you can control the insects

if you go out every day

and do not let any problems get huge

by being there with your mind and your hands.

Elise>> Yeah, if you have 
an hour to garden a week,

don't do power on every Saturday or whatever.

If you're at all able,

just like you were saying,

just spend five minutes a day

and then maybe the rest of 
your remaining 30 minutes

or whatever once a week

to do a little bit more intensive work.

But that constant check-in

is going to allow you

to notice an issue

before it gets out of hand.

And then it is completely feasible

and reasonable to get it with your hands

or a very targeted approach.

If you know that your plants are getting eaten

and you can't find the pest,

a trick is one, to check 
the underside of the leaf,

but two, go out at night with a flashlight.

Especially caterpillars, they practically glow.

Oftentimes, they're hiding during the day

because that's when the birds and the lizards

and everything else are out in the garden

looking for them.

So a lot of their natural cycles

are nocturnal, and they're going to be

much more active at night.

So if you're having trouble

finding them to pick them off,

try going out at night.

Robin>> That can be a treasure hunt for the kids

if you want to get some free labor,

potentially enjoy.

Now, one of the most common challenges I see

for new gardeners is they 
don't want to kill anything.

But the truth is, in order 
to create space for life,

death is a part of that.

And once you start to tune into gardening,

you start to see that there 
is indeed a circle of life,

that death is inherently a part of life.

And you realize that when you kill these insects,

you're just putting them right into the soil,

composting them, and they're going to turn

back into the plants.

There doesn't have to be this idea

of death being inherently negative.

This society that I'm born into

has this belief of death being a bad thing,

but death is a part of life.

And to become an abundant gardener,

you need to become a part of the circle of life,

which is a part of killing.

So, as Elise said,

our hands are our most powerful tool in this,

and that means pinching them.

And if you've got to put on gloves, put them on.

But simple things like taking your hands,

shaking the insects into a bucket of water,

digging a hole in the soil,

pouring them in,

and then covering enough to return to the soil,

whatever, whatever you have to do.

But I will say that in my six years of gardening,

I have never used a pesticide,

not even an organic one.

I have thought about it,

but I have yet to actually do it.

Elise>> It's going to be a time balance.

So, if we are limited on time

and we have made our efforts with our hands,

and it is going to be a make or 
break success in your garden,

and you want to have your harvests,

there are targeted things

that you can use

if you are limited by that.

And if it's going to make the difference

of you gaining that harvest or not,

I would say that you should always

be using some sort of organic approach.

Those chemical synthetic pesticides

have so many embedded issues,

so I would definitely avoid those.

There are products that are pretty specified

or targeted in on a specific pest

or a specific life cycle.

So, trying to find the most direct way

to resolve the issue

and get it under control

is always the way to go.

Robin>> Yeah, and just to say,

obviously, you're free to do anything you want.

These are just our recommendations.

If you're passionate about 
working in harmony with the Earth,

growing food in a way

that doesn't poison your surroundings

or yourself, this is our recommendation.

There's nothing that you 
should do or you have to do.

And then the last thing that I want to say

one more time

is there is no such thing as good or bad.

Like every insect plays its role.

Once we break free from that good or bad mindset,

it liberates ourselves

to have our entire time in the garden

be enjoyable and fun.

And when you have some insects 
eating a specific plant,

maybe that plant

you're not going to eat this year,

but that's the key of diversity.

The more you're growing,

the more different things you're growing.

That's why there's 20 
different plants in this pack.

The more you're growing,

the more that it's okay

if some of them are getting eaten.

So, do you want to talk a little 
bit about beneficial insects?

We have the beneficial insect 
attractant mix to bring these in.

Elise>> So, beneficial insects, again,

kind of falling back to that good and bad,

they are insects that are going to be

natural predators in your system.

So, think about like the lion 
in the gazelle or whatever,

but there's something that's out there

eating the grass, right? The gazelle.

But there's also a lion that's eating the gazelle.

There are insects that will naturally check out

and explore your garden for the bad guys.

And so, it is a natural circle of life,

just like you were saying.

And it is something that is going to be there

whether we do it or not,

but there's ways where we can support them

as best we're able

by having things that they nectar on.

If they don't have a food source,

ladybugs are like that iconic beneficial insect,

and they are great.

They love to eat aphids. It's amazing.

They'll just tear through them.

But a lot of people don't realize

they will also nectar off flowers.

So, if they've gone through

and cruised and eaten all of 
the aphids in your garden,

(It is never going to be foolproof)

but they will go and turn to the flowers

that you have in the garden in the meantime.

And then, instead of them 
having to relocate your garden,

they're already in the area.

They're already cruising around

looking for the protein source that they'd prefer.

So, having that beneficial insect attractant

mixed into, near, around your garden,

is going to allow all of those

positive interactions to occur in the garden

without much interaction or demand on your part.

Robin>> Let the insects,

let the Earth do the work for you.

So, we hope that this video has been helpful

in basic garden maintenance.

We know we dived into a lot.

We hope that you don't feel any overwhelmed.

Take it one step at a time,

take what you can.

Each day, each week, each month, each year,

you'll learn a little bit more

and you'll be able to apply a little more of this.

Elise>> Yeah, you never stop 
learning, that's for sure.

It's a constant evolution and interaction

with your natural surroundings.