Saam Maeki

I used my supplemental whey, i.e. the stuff people that work out use. So not from culture. It did petrify some of the smaller larvae but as a whole it does not seem to work. Better to just go squash the larvae.

I have heard about BT, and it sounds great! I myself am not concerned about either GMOs or chemical pesticides in themselves. But I wanted to try to deal with it whilst using things I would always have on hand. It failed.
And this is inspite of using polyculture with different plants and flowers. I have also mulched heavily with all kinds of mulch. Grass, leaves, bark, wood chips and rocks. I have plenty of spiders, but they do not seem to eat the moths or the larvae.

I do have milk. But did not try it. Whey did not work well.

Hi,
I just committed ritual suicide on my garden by bringing in kale which was riddled with cabbage moth. Now I am desperately trying to rectify this without the use of any "chemical" pesticides. In the movie, The Permaculture Orchard, Stefan Sobkowiak is using whey protein to mitigate pest damage. I am now trying this too. It is too early to tell if it will work, but the sprayed larvae seem to become "petrified".
Has anyone else tried this, if so with what results? Got any other good tips on how to mitigate the damage?

Best regards,
Saam

Thanks, it does help!
I thought of another question, are there any known problems with mulching too close to a plant? Like pests or disease.

Hi,

I am new to gardening and the ideas of permaculture. Right now I am working with a hugel and some raised beds. In these I have mainly annuals, but also a few perennials. I am using mulch on these, mainly leaves and grass. I have made some observations which have raised a lot of questions about mulching and would like to draw from the communities knowledge.

How do you do when you plant your annuals in a mulched bed? Do you remove the mulch layer completely or just partly? Or do you let plants grow through the mulch? It seems to me that some plants have a hard time getting through the mulch, e.g. marigold, carrots and spinach, whereas others like peas have no problems with this.

My mulch certainly retains moisture much better than bare earth but it also seems to keep the ground a lot cooler. In a cold climate, I am north of the arctic circle, would it be better to maybe have no mulch on the beds in spring in order to heat up the soil faster? I bought thermometers to compare soil temperature but all four were broken. If you live in Sweden beware of Impecta Fröhandel.

How thickly do you mulch? Even a thin layer, say 1 inch or less has a great effect on moisture retention but not as much on weeds. I have one bed with probably 3 inches of mulch and there I have almost no weeds at all. But again the soil feels a lot colder.

If you use leaves, how do you keep them in place? Until now, two years, we have had no real storms or wind. But now we did, and especially the hugel lost a lot of leaves.

We have a lot of stones. Almost everywhere you place the shovel you hit some rock. Anyone used rocks as mulch? If so, what size and to what effect?
I am very interested in the heat storing possibilities of stones, I have some rocks placed around some bushes that I've planted but whether they have any effect is hard to assess. Thus any info concerning rocks and heat and how to use it would be greatly appreciated.

I am certain there will be more questions but I will start like this. Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Saam

How did it go Juha, did the bushes survive the cold? And how did the hugels fare against the other raised beds?

Here in Juhonpieti we are almost done with our planting. Raised beds and the hugel have been planted. Also some bushes and a apple tree have been added.
Bed 1: mainly strawberries, also broccoli and some flowers.
Bed 2: Has a home made hoop-house on it. Peppers, melon, bush-tomatoes, a strawberry plant,
Bed 3: Broccoli, cucumbers, squash, ornamental pumpkins and bush-tomato.
Carrots, salads, kale, beets, radishes, peas, garlic, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, turnips, and various flowers have also been planted in the beds. The same goes for the hugel, it has everything on it. Hoping the polyculture will reduce pests. Experimenting quite a bit, a lot of the things we planted are not very like to grow well, and even less likely to produce fruit. E.g. the melon. But it is fun to try stuff out.
As for the bushes, went for edibles like aronia, sea-berries, currants and gooseberries. Got some silverberry too, not sure if it is edible but it looks nice and is supposed to be a N-fixer, and very hardy. Also got some grapes and some hardy kiwis, will be surprised if they live through the winter but it would be really cool if they did. Could create the northernmost vineyard in the world!
Except for a storm that hit us a few days ago this spring has been extremely warm, I only hope it stays that way. Unlike last summer when we had no summer.

How about asparagus? Don't they like acidic soils?

Too late?
Pros/cons on log placement, should the be placed vertically or horizontally?