Organic Solutions

 There are several ways to find Organic Solutions to your pest problems.  The question is: Do they work?
I am going to start off by looking at two of those:

1. companion planting
2. homemade  Organic sprays..CLICK HERE

I put flowers around the edges of my garden or make a row for them because I think this provides constant food for the bees and I want plenty of bees.
I plant sunflowers to provide some of what of a wind break and I like to watch the birds flapping around perching on the top trying to get the seeds.  Also this seems to bring in more birds and maybe they are picking up some bugs along the way.

I rotate my green beans in different places each year trying to provide extra nitrogen for the soil.  I pick my green beans until they are picked out and start flowering a second time.  Before the second round of beans are ready to pick, I am pulling them out for another crop to go in.  The second picking does not seem to produce much so I would rather just use the plant for soil food.

 COMPANION PLANTING
What is companion planting, how is it beneficial, How do you do it??

Do you do companion planting?  What works for you? DO TELL

The following is taken at it’s entirety from: companion planting 

COMPANION PLANTING

Companion planting is based around the idea that certain plants can benefit others when planted next to, or close to one another.
Companion planting exists to benefit certain plants by giving them pest control, naturally without the need to use chemicals, and in some cases they can give a higher crop yield .
Generally, companion planting is thought of as a small-scale gardening practice, but it can be applied on larger-scale operations. It has been proven that by having a beneficial crop in a nearby field that attracts certain insects away from a neighboring field that has the main crop can prove very beneficial. This action is called trap cropping.
While companion planting has a long history, the benefits of companion planting have not always been understood. Traditional recommendations, for companion planting have been used by gardeners for a long time, but recent tests are proving scientifically, that they work.
Other ways that companion planting can be beneficial is to plant a crop like any Legumes, on an area where it will feed nitrogen into the soil, then it will not be necessary to use any chemical fertilizers for the next crop.
The African marigold, along with other plants, are  well known for companion planting, as they exude chemicals from their roots or aerial parts that suppress or repel pests and protect neighboring plants.
Companion planting also exists in a physical way. For example, tall-growing, sun-loving plants may share space with lower-growing, shade-tolerant species, resulting in higher total yields from the land. This is called spatial interaction, and can also yield pest control benefits, for example, the presence of the prickly vines is said to discourage raccoons from ravaging sweet corn.
  Another type of companion planting is called Nurse cropping, where tall or dense-canopied plants may protect more vulnerable plants through shading or by providing a windbreak. For example, oats have long been used to help establish alfalfa and other forages by supplanting the more competitive weeds that would otherwise grow in their place. In many instances, nurse cropping is simply another form of physical-spatial interaction.
Beneficial habitats-sometimes called refugia are another type of companion planting that has received a lot of attention in recent years. The benefit is derived when companion plants provide a good environment for beneficial insects, and other arthropods, especially those predatory and parasitic species that help to keep pest populations in check.

Instead of going into each type of plant and where to plant it I am just going to give you a few web sites that will give you the “plant this around this” etc.  I will continue to do companion planting but so far I have not found the marigolds have repelled anything.  When I planted onions around my tomatoes, I stepped on them picking the tomatoes and when I planted basil around my tomatoes, I kept wanting to pull the basil  it up as a weed and it did not seem to improve any kind of flavor.  

Web sites to reference if you want more detailed information.
http://www.companionplanting.net/
http://www.gardensimply.com/gardening-methods/companion-planting-chart.php
giveS you a chart of vegetable and what to and not to plant together
 http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/garden_info/companion_planting_chart.html
a chart
 http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
This one is excellent, just click on a letter and find the companion plant you need; quick easy and in alphabetic.
 Do you do companion planting?  What works for you? DO TELL