STRAWBERRIES

Growing Strawberries Information taken from: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/strawberries/growing.cfm  WEBSITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDEN Types June bearing(this is what I have) or spring bearing, everbearing and day neutral are the three types of strawberries grown in Illinois. Fruits of day neutral plants and everbearers are usually smaller than June-bearers fruit. June bearing strawberries produce a crop during a two-to-three week period in the spring. June-bearers produce flowers, fruits and runners. They are classified into early, mid-season and late varieties.  Mine start produceing the last weeks of May and continue until Mid June with sporadic berries after that. Everbearing strawberries produce three periods of flowers and fruit during the spring, summer and fall. Everbearers do not produce many runners. Day neutral strawberries will produce fruit throughout the growing season. These strawberries produce just a few runners. Everbearing and day neutral strawberries are great for gardeners who have limited space. They can be grown in terraced beds, barrels or pyramids. They can also be used as an edging plant or a groundcover. When to Plant Plant strawberries as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring. This is usually in March or April allowing the plants to become well established before the hot weather arrives. Do not work the soil if it is wet. Wait a few days until it dries. Planting Depth Try to plant strawberries on a cloudy day or during the late afternoon. Set the strawberry plant in the soil so that the soil is just covering the tops of the roots. Do not cover the crown. Matted Row Systems This system is the best for growing June-bearing cultivars. In this system, the strawberry plants should be set eighteen to thirty inches apart in rows three to four feet apart. Daughter plants are allowed to root freely to become a matted row no wider than two feet. I use the matted row system.  See my Strawberries for how this is done. Spaced-Row Systems This system limits the number of daughter plants that grow from a mother plant. The mother plants are set eighteen to thirty inches apart in rows three to four feet apart. The daughter plants are spaced to root no closer than four inches apart. All other runners are pulled or cut from the mother plants. Even though more care is needed under this system, advantages include higher yields, larger berries and fewer disease problems. After four or five weeks, the plants will produce runners and new daughter plants. Hill System  This is the best system for growing day-neutral and everbearing strawberries. In this system all the runners are removed so only the original mother plant remains. Removing the runners causes the mother plant to develop more crowns and flower stalks. Multiple rows are arranged in groups of two, three or four plants with a two foot walkway between each group of rows. Plants are set about one foot apart in multiple rows. During the first two or three weeks of growth, the planting should be weeded; then the bed should be mulched When purchasing strawberries by the pound, one-and-a-half pounds equal one quart. This will yield about four cups of sliced strawberries.  RECIPES The University of Illinois has some good recipes

"How To" Organic Gardening: PEST MANAGEMENT, HELPFUL RESOURCES

"How To" Organic Gardening: PEST MANAGEMENT, HELPFUL RESOURCES: PEST MANAGEMENT, HELPFUL RESOURCES WEBSITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDEN Here are some resources you might find helpful: Gaining Grou...

PEST MANAGEMENT, HELPFUL RESOURCES

PEST MANAGEMENT, HELPFUL RESOURCES

WEBSITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDEN

Here are some resources you might find helpful:

Gaining Ground: Making a Successful Transition to Organic Farming

(Canadian Organic Growers, 2005)

Covers the essential topics of organic farming, from soil building and planting to weed and pest management, certification, and marketing strategies.   Also includes a one-year membership with the Canadian Organic Growers network.

The New Organic Grower

By Eliot Coleman

(Chelsea Green Publishing, 1989)

The new generation market gardener's bible.   Although some details have been improved upon by others, this sets the standard for meticulous, well-planned small-scale organic vegetable production

Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach

By Karl Schwenke

(Storey Publishing, 1991)

A good introduction to the pitfalls and potential of making a living from the land. 

Cover crops and crop rotations

Guide to the Expert Farmers' DACUM Chart for ManagingCrop Rotation Systems

(Northeast Organic Network, 2002)

The NEON project gathered 12 experienced organic vegetable farmers, put them in a room and produced this stunning chart outlining real-life, practical 4- and 5-year crop rotation sequences with multiple variations. A real head-scratcher, in the best possible way.   (free download, . PDF format)This is a good one to look at.

Organic Weed Management
By Steve Gilman

(NOFA Organic Principles and Practices Series, 2000)

Short and sweet. A useful summary targeted at diversified vegetable growers in the Northeast. 

"Principles of Sustainable Weed Management for Croplands"

By PrestonSullivan

(NCAT/ATTRA, 2003)

A bulletin discussing the basics of weed ecology, cropping system design to minimize weed pressure and alternative weed management methods such as flameweeding and weeder geese.

Insect, Disease & Weed I.D. Guide

Edited by Jill Jesiolowski Cebenko and Deborah Martin

(Rodale Press, 2001)

A handy all-in-one pest and beneficial species identification book, with excellent full-color drawings, life-cycle notes and prevention and control recommendations.

ATTRA's Pest Management Resources Page

Includes many valuable short publications on specific disease management issues, including "Organic Control of White Mold on Soybeans," "Notes on Compost Teas," "Use of Baking Soda as a Fungicide," "Downy Mildew Control in Cucurbits," and "Organic Alternatives for Late Blight Control on Potatoes." A longer, more general ATTRA publication is their resource on Biointensive Integrated Pest Management. 

 

Biological Control: A Guide to Natural Enemies in NorthAmerica
(Cornell University, 2007)

A comprehensive guide to biocontrol and IPM, offering individual pages on over 100 natural enemies of insect, disease and weed pests. (free online resource)

Manage Insects on Your Farm: A Guide to EcologicalStrategies

By Miguel A. Altieri and Clara I. Nicholls with Marlene A. Fritz

(Sustainable Agriculture Network, 2005)

Contains a number of strategies for controlling pest insect populations through the management of beneficial predator populations, and stresses increasing above- and below-ground diversity, enhancing plants' natural defenses, and managing soil as means to this end

  

 

Pest Management Part 2

Pest Management part 2, TSP part 11

 WEBSITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDENING

Well balanced/managed soils and healthy crops can stand up to some pest pressure.

In part one we spoke of having flowering plants to attract beneficial insects.  We also need to plant the grounds of the land with perennial type of flowers the will start flowering as soon as possible in the region we live in and will continue all year or until first frost.

Make a chart of the flowering, trees, shrubs and flowers you have in the immediate area of your garden.  You will need name of flowering plant, when it starts to flower and when the flowers cease.  Once the chart is done you can see the holes you need to fill in to complete the flowering cycle of your garden/farm.  People living on 5 acres or more will use the flowering vegetation directly connected to their property.  Those of use that live in Urban or City areas will consider the flowering vegetation within one to two block radius of our garden.  If you have neighbors putting in gardens then consider moving your parameter closer to your garden as your neighbor may get more benefit from the flowering shrubs in their back yard than you will.  In Urban/City area it is a guessing game.  Do the best you can to put the beneficial plants in your own yard, maybe even your neighbor wouldn’t mind if you cultivate an area of their yard if you promise to keep weeded etc.

Example chart. On charts page of DIY Organic Garden

Find innovative ways to solve the situations. Washington growers Eric and Deanna Strandberg transitioned their 400 acres of apple and pear orchards to organic in part because they noticed that the conventional way of dealing with pests by spraying often just created more pest problems, requiring more spraying. Organic pest management, in contrast, seeks to protect beneficial organisms for the services they can provide.

In their first transition year, Eric asked neighboring householders with fruit trees if he could put crumpled up newspapers in the crotches of their trees to catch earwigs, which feed on the eggs of the pear psylla, the worst pear pest worldwide.”  The earwigs ue the newspaper during the day for a home and come out at night to eat the psylla..Case study by Rodale Institute.    

Pictures at Pinterest

 “Organic farmers have long maintained that synthetic fertilizers and pesticides make pest problems worse. Recent research has begun to support those observations. Plant susceptibility to insect feeding has been linked to high plant nitrogen levels, which in turn are related to the high soluble fertilizer inputs typical of non-organic agriculture. Free amino acids, again associated with high N applications, have also been reported to increase pest attacks. Compost-fed plants have lower soluble nitrogen levels and are thus less attractive to pests.” Rodale Institute.

“Systemic acquired resistance: Do plants have immune systems? Some scientists think the answer is yes. The term "systemic acquired resistance" refers to physiological changes that occur in plants in response to initial insect feeding or disease infection. These changes can help the plants stop the infection or slow insect reproduction rates. There's even evidence that crop plants under insect attack emit volatile scent signals to protect themselves or to communicate with insect enemies of the attackers.

 

Plant immune responses may also increase crops' nutritional value.    Researchers in California have found that unsprayed organic fruits produce higher levels of antioxidants—prized by health-conscious consumers—in response to insect and pathogen attacks.” Rodale Institute

Biodiversity has proven to be the best pest protection.  Creating environments for beneficals to live, selecting crops appropriate to your area and staying away from synthetic pesticides seems to work better all the way around.

“When choosing insectary plants, consider these criteria:

•        Select plants for their attractiveness to beneficial insects

•        Choose plants with an early and long bloom period

•        Select plants with low potential to host crop viruses or attract pest species

•        Choose plants with low potential to become weeds

•        Consider low seed cost and easy establishment

Many members of the Umbelliferae (coriander, dill, Queen Anne's lace), Compositae (goldenrod, yarrow, sunflower), Brassicaceae (sweet alyssum, wild mustard) and Leguminosae (sweet clover, alfalfa) plant families offer good floral resources for beneficial insects.

Among California vegetable growers, a popular insectary plant mixture is sweet alyssum, coriander, buckwheat and a cereal grain. (The cereal acts as a windbreak and as a host for alternate prey of the beneficials.) “ Rodale institute

"How To" Organic Gardening: PEST MANAGEMENT, PART ONE

"How To" Organic Gardening: PEST MANAGEMENT, PART ONE: Pest Management part 1, TSP part 10   WEB SITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDEN Pest management in Organic Systems requires a leap of faith. ...

PEST MANAGEMENT, PART ONE

Pest Management part 1, TSP part 10

 WEB SITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDEN

Pest management in Organic Systems requires a leap of faith.  Again, it is not surprising that soil health and conservation management are the main ingredients to managing pests.  Not all bugs and organisms are problems with crops and the more a person enhances their environment the more beneficial bugs and organisms move in to help the gardener/farmer with pest control.  Even chemical herbicides will not totally eliminate the destruction of enemies to your money crop.

Consider nature without the intervention of man.  The prairie grasses, grains and fruit tress fared well in the world before man started manipulating the environment for his own needs.  Organic methods simply advocate a return to nature; mimicking a natural environment for the benefit of your crop and in turn creates an environment that helps greenhouse gases, nutrition, pest management and the pocket book.  It is a Win Win.

One of the easiest ways to start off the process is to add winter cover crops to your garden.  These crops nourish your garden/fields, and can create over winter habitat for beneficial insects and animals.

As with weed management, identifying the pest is the first step.  Once you have identified the pest (destructive bug), identify it’s enemy (beneficial insect) and what the habitat is of the beneficial insect.  Add the beneficial habitat and watch for the results.

Many parts of the nation have aphid problems.  If you do, then identify the predator that eats them.  One such predator is the lady bug beetle.  You can buy a source of lady bugs or encourage them to stay year after year by creating habitat for them to stay in.  Ladybugs like woody areas, sticks, tall stands of grass or maybe that winter rye you just planted for a cover crop.  The tall ornamental grasses, instead of cutting them back for the winter leave them alone to create a safe haven for your over wintering bugs.

Lacewing are similar to lady bugs in what they devour and over winter in similar ways. Lacewings like Asters, cosmos, sunflowers, flowering dill and cilantro.  Lacewings also dine on aphids and other small larva.  Insects like ladybug and lacewings enjoy a snack of pollen related flowers that are small, flowers with small to no petal area with large pollen areas like the sunflower.

Wasps are another great garden guest.  The parasitic wasp will lay their eggs in larva and insects.  The eggs hatch and eat the larva from the inside out.  If you can keep a mud available to the mud dauber wasp they catch insects to feed to their young. Other wasp types like the small flowers.

Colorado State University, extension, beneficialinsects and other arthrodos.

Smaller flowers such as the alysum attract smaller insects such as syrphid flies to pollinate crops and are planted in rows around lettuces to help control aphids see cover crop alyssum.  In the picture are 3 rows of flowers to every 20 rows of lettuce.  Syrphid flies plant one or two eggs per plant, so they inoculate a large field of lettuce with aphid eating helpers.

Greater diversity of a complex landscape, higher percent of woody or herbaceious plants support a greater number of spiders…says carol O’meara of Colorado State University

Wheat fields in Germany with mulch created a habitat for spiders which reduced the cereal aphid population by 25%.

Spider are a great advantage to your crops and you can also change pest behavior, called spider caused abandonment, which causes cucumber beetles, Japanese beetles, moth and butterfly larva, leaf hoppers, plant hoppers to abandon that plant if they detect spiders.  Spiders kill more insects than then consume.

You will have more pests in un managed weedy areas but managed hedge rows and native perennials will inhabit more beneficial insects. Native annual and native perennial are more than likely to host beneficial insects where un managed weeds may be invasive weeds that attract pests.

See it in action on Pinterest.  Here I am creating a pictorial of plants and their benefits and how farmers are incorporating these plants into their crops or creating hedge rows to harbor the beneficials

There are tools available to predict flowering periods of native insectary plants in Missouri

or a .pdf file to download (44 pages)

Do a search on (State) native insectary plants for your state.

Pest management will continue in Part Two.

"How To" Organic Gardening: WEED CONTROL, PART 2, TSP PART 9

"How To" Organic Gardening: WEED CONTROL, PART 2, TSP PART 9: WEED MANAGEMENT, TSP PART 9, WEED CONTROL PART 2 WEBSITE: DIY ORGANIC GARDEN Pre-emergent cultivation/ blind cultivation. ...