Beneficial Insect Solutions
Before the "Green Revolution," farmers and horticulturalists had to use what tools they had to battle insect pests, and were forced to accept some losses every year in order to get their crops in at all. Some years, sadly, they lost everything...which made the use of chemical pesticides extremely attractive when they became available. Once they were put into use, decades of bumper crops resulted -- but at a terrible cost to their posterity.

Overkill. Chemical pesticides have a tendency to kill the 98% of harmless and beneficial bugs along with the pests, with the added result of poisoning the soil and nearby waterways. Worse, the surviving pests develop resistance to the traditional poisons, breeding superbugs, thus forcing farmers to use a greater variety of pesticides at higher concentrations. The result is expensive in both economic and ecological terms. Today, insect management is undergoing significant changes. Not only are stricter regulations on the use of chemicals and pesticides in place, consumers are more purposeful about taking care of the environment. Some of the new, softer chemistries can help maintain beneficial insect populations, but the most environmentally sound method for keeping pests at bay is enlisting Mother Nature's help by bringing in beneficial organisms.

Careful, Now. Beneficial insects include both pollinators (bees and their ilk) and the natural enemies of insect pests (ladybugs, mantises, lacewings, etc.). Destroying the pollinators through the use of broad spectrum insecticides affects yields at harvest time. Killing the predators not only lets any subsequent wave of the pests proceed unmolested, but it also can encourage opportunistic, secondary pest populations. Ironically, that may result in greater damage than the original infestation. Microbes to the Rescue. Field research shows that the use of the naturally-occurring soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) can make any pesticide program more effective at killing the pests while maintaining beneficial insect populations.

There are several types of Bt, all specific to certain types of insect pests.

Bt var. kurstaki (Bt-k), for example, is used to control caterpillar-type larvae, like cabbage loopers and tomato hornworms. One of the chief characteristics of any Bt variety is that they're safe for use around humans, pets, fish, and wildlife, including beneficial insects.

Bacillus popilliae, milky spore disease, was the first commercially-developed microbial insecticide. It's specific to the Japanese beetle, and remains dormant in the soil once it wipes out an infestation, waiting for the next one.

Take it Easy. Rather than use harsh chemicals, which are ecologically dangerous and less and less effective, we urge you to use biological insect controls like these with your EarthBoxes. If you're willing to accept some minor losses and trust Mother Nature, in the best traditions of Integrated Pest Management, you'll help the Earth and yourself.

We have a great professional relationship with Plantscape Nursery in Herrin, IL. We bought 99% of all our trees and plants from them last year. They have the most knowledgeable, friendly staff around and the largest selection of healthy plant material in the area. Basically, we don't shop around when we find a good thing. They recently set up a display to promote our small WormTea brewing kits to their retail customers. We are excited to be involved with Plantscape on yet another level and wanted to say THANK YOU!

The rain has held off for the last several days while the temperatures have been slowly rising and that has allowed us to get back into the field where the real fun is. This is a project we started in early winter and are just now getting an opportunity to make some real progress. Right now we are building the bones of a raised paver patio. The block is Brussels Block, manufactured by UniLock.

Sean...once again pulling his weight to get the job done.

We always hand chip each block after every cut to ensure it blends in with the rest. We have noticed several local examples where this was not done when building with rumbled products such as the Brussels Block shown here. If you do not take the extra few seconds to do this each time, there is a sharp, clean-cut edge showing and the end result is not as good as it could be. We take the time to notice the small details on each project we construct.

The shell of the patio is complete. Next we will back fill with gravel, install three steps and a small water feature in the enclosed area to the right.

The pavers are going in.

The fountain has been set and the seat wall is complete. The next step will be to finish the pavers and install natural stone caps for each column.

The last remaining hardscape area consists of three conjoining paver squares. They form the bones of a walkway leading to the hot tub.