What’s in the ground:

Just a few more weeks to hold off until those nightshades are going in. But if you’re looking for something to do and watching your kale grow is just not satisfying enough, do your beets, radishes and carrots a favor and thin them out. When you don’t you get those stubby little roots. By giving them enough room, they can spread out and take that nice shape you’d expect.

What’s going on in sustainability:

In the past week I’ve received calls from about ten farmers asking for products to manage pests they were not expecting for another month. Already leaf minor (which turns chard and brassica leaves a dry translucent color) has shown up, along with harlequin beetles. We don’t look for harlequin beetles until at least late May, it’s amazing that they’re here already. So if you’re going out to your cold weather crops and they’re full of holes. Here are some tips.

1. Intercrop between your bigger plants. Aside from beet tops being a great distraction for a bug going after your chard, these crops also keep weeds down. And bugs love to live in weeds. So take away their first home before they move onto your plants.

2. Use remay. Some people may be traditionalists and not want to go and buy this material, but it really does work to cover your crops and keep the bugs off. If constantly admiring your garden is important, you can try attracting beneficial bugs by planting flowers, which everyone should do. But if you have a problem and are banking on that food to feed yourself, use row cover.

3. Neem oil is a very effective, mostly safe and natural remedy for bugs. Neem oil comes from the neem tree which is native to the African continent. It kills pests, but occurs naturally and has tested as not harmful to humans. It’s really good for leaf minor. but watch your concentrations. A too thick solution can make plants waxy and not very tasty.

4. And then there’s the third option, invite all the neighborhood kids over and have them pick off the beetles one by one. You can make a game out of it and see who can get the most. It will also help those city kids realize that bugs are not scary, but just another part of nature.

Whatever you do, be mindful of this. We’re in the season of hearty, low maintainence crops and plentiful rains and not much heat. Many people make the mistake of planting, occasionally looking at their plants and not keeping track of what else is going on in the garden. Hopefully you all can avoid that.

Good luck. Until next week, this is the note from the urban homestead.