maple street co-op

Cultivating News
From "Maple Street Co-op News", Aug/Sep 2004

Integrated Pest Management in Your Garden
by Mary Meadows

So you want to garden organically – but all the so-called experts tell you that it's not possible to control pests in your garden organically. How wrong they are!

The next speaker in our series of educational talks of an organic nature is Frances Michaels. Frances and her partner Jeff Michaels own and operate Green Harvest, a family and community based ethical enterprise which is now in its 11th year. Frances is a qualified horticulturist and permaculture teacher, with a background in teaching TAFE students. She is a highly articulate person with a wealth of knowledge and a passion to get out the message that growing organically (when properly structured) has a sound scientific base. Her forte is in Guild Design; in lay terms, this can mean assessing the soil and climate for cultivation and can also cover companion planting and appropriate flora selection to attract the desired fauna to support a beneficial outcome.

The general focus of integrated pest management is not to manage pests, but to create an environment that will not be attractive to pests. If you were a fruit fly and all your mates ended up drowning in a lovely-smelling Wild May essential oil mix, you might think twice about visiting the garden that housed these traps. Or knowing that your favourite fruit is covered by a bag and therefore inaccessible would be quite a deterrent for you. The longer-term answer, then, is to be prepared to use organic pest control methods, but look at what you can do to keep pests away.

Frances will talk on how you can go about setting up your garden in an holistic way by incorporating design ideas and with plant selection suitable for this region. She will show slides of a number of beneficial insects (very helpful if one does not know the difference between a beneficial and a nasty one). She will also cover garden design factors such as the use of hedgerows and the diversity of niches that can be helpful to ‘break up' an area.

The main problem caused by using chemicals is that humans are being poisoned and the insects are mutating in truckloads. DPI, bless its socks, sometimes finds the idea of growing organically a bit beyond its expertise; and so when a farmer starts calling for help, s/he is referred to Frances Michaels. It is wonderful that we have someone in our community with such a wealth of knowledge, but it's a real concern that our state government's advisory body is not as well informed.

There is a great deal of knowledge out there, but most people don't know where to start and a lot of information on organic gardening is flawed science. Frances cites a classic example. You will all have heard that marigolds repel nematodes. So the conscientious gardener plants a few around their tomatoes and then can't understand why this doesn't work. The reason is that large quantities of marigolds are required, and in the form of chopped decaying matter so that they can outgas. It's this gas that the nematodes find really unappealing.

A few years ago, Frances gave a talk at an Australian Herb Society workshop which I'd organised. I watched the faces of the audience: when they weren't madly writing down what she was teaching them, they were totally enthralled by her words and were left with a mass of ideas to take away and try for themselves.

Frances Michaels on Natural Pest Control

Frances has such a busy working schedule these days that she rarely gives talks, so we're especially honoured to have her pass on her knowledge to us. Her talk will be on Tuesday 24 August at the UpFront Club, Maple Street, Maleny, from 6.30 pm. There's a $5.00 entry fee, and we suggest you book in advance at Maple Street Co-op. Frances is happy to try to solve any gardening/pest problems you may have, so bring your questions along, too!

For more information, visit the Green Harvest website at http://www.greenharvest.com.au. Ask at the Co-op for a copy of the Green Harvest Australian Organic Gardening Resource Guide.

[From "Maple Street Co-op News", August/September 2004; published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.co-op@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]