Last year, a MASSIVE percentage of my garden bounty was damaged or completely annihilated by pests. I basically spent a better part of the growing season feeding caterpillars, birds and slugs/snails a delicious buffet of the finest organic and heirloom produce. Well, I’ve definitely learned my lesson and have gone GUNG HO with protection this time around.

Here are some hacks I’ve been using that seem to be working quite well so far.

Built up cover for all brassica plants (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts…etc)

I built this in a few hours and finally get to enjoy all my brassicas caterpillar free!

The cabbage white butterfly LOVES to lay their dozens of eggs on these plants and their little hungry caterpillar babies will feast! Like an idiot I thought they were cute at first till my beautiful kale turned to Swiss cheese. My poor broccoli and cauliflower never even stood a chance. This year I’m prepared to stop them from even getting close. I’ve built a wood framed net cover over one of my planter boxes that all my brassicas live in. It was super easy to do without any carpentry skills.

Sharp gravel, wood chips and eggshells

Gravel surrounding my baby cucumber and zucchini plants to keep slugs and snails far away.

Using these 3 things will help deter snails and slugs from getting anywhere near your precious plants because they hate travelling over anything that might puncture their soft bodies. I use the gravel around the outside of pots and the wood chips or eggshells around the base of the actual plant. Do this especially on young plants as slug and snails LOVE young sweet leaves. The added benefit is that wood chips help keep soil moisture in and eggshells provide a slow release of nutrients into the soil. Win, win.

*Save eggshells in an old carton until you have about a dozen. Bake them at 350f/180c for 10 minutes, let cool and crush them into tiny shards. Save the eggshell confetti in a baggie and use around the garden all year round.

Nori strips

I used regular nori paper (seaweed for sushi rolls) cut into strips to protect young plants.

Thats right, the same stuff you use to make sushi rolls. Apparently snails and slugs hate them and you can easily cut them into strips to lay around the base of the plant. I used them around all my squash plants and bok choy after I noticed some nibbles and it worked! They also provide nutrients over time.

Ladybugs!!!

I noticed a ton of aphids collecting under my leafy greens and the flowers of my zucchini and squashes this year and cleaning them off is no picnic so I did some research and found a garden company that sold ladybug families (adults and larvae) that you release into problem areas and they gobble up all the aphids. They arrived in no time, I sprinkled them around easily and a few days later there were pretty much zero aphids on my plants. Hallelujah! They’re super cute too.

Use over wintering clovers or nets on fruiting trees and shrubs

If you have dwarf fruit trees or shrubs small enough to cover when they’re starting to bear fruit, do it. Birds will peck and off and eat even the smallest unripe fruit.

Grow tasty seeds indoors until sprouted

Now, by tasty seeds I mean seeds of plants that can be delicious in their seed form. I’m talking pumpkin, squash, sunflower, zucchini, basil, cilantro…etc. If you plant these outdoors theres a good chance a little mouse, bird or squirrel will sniff them out with their super senses and gobble them up! I know this from experience unfortunately. Grow them on a sunny window sill till they’ve all sprouted then move to a green house or outdoors.

Some spaghetti squash seeds I’ll start indoors. Also, I started all of the sunflowers you see in the background indoors.

Natural Garden Pest Protection Hacks