PSA:(That Rotten) Apple-Maggot

Almost every one of our speakers in the past 12 months has mentioned a rising pest in the city: The Apple Maggot.  One has gone so far to say he's not interested in growing apples because of the likelihood of infestation.

Adult Apple Maggot Fly from Planet Natural

So, what is a gardener who loves apples to do?

Planet Natural's "Apple Maggot", Rob Sproule's "Apple Maggots 101", and University of Minnesota's "Apple Maggot: IPM for home growers" all have plenty of information about this insect and have devised approaches to manage it by interrupting its life cycle.

Tips include:

1. Set up apple maggot traps right after bloom time - trap the adults before they lay eggs on the apple fruit

2. Clean up apples right when they fall and do not compost them - prevents the pupae from leaving the apples, overwintering, and becoming adults.

Do these and convince your neighbours to the same, and we'll all get fewer of these:

Apple Maggot in Apple from Planet Natural 

Groundbreaking!

Niki Jabour's Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden, is available at EPL! 

The GardenDesign.com featured book is made up of 73 different edible garden plans -- each designed by a different garden writer / blogger / horticulturalist /... The collection covers a wide array of situations, interests, and themes (E.g. Chickens! Balcony only! The entire front yard! A biodynamic farm! Go Elizabethean!").

Each plan is introduced by Jabbour with information about the designer, background on the theme, and great gardening tips to complement.  Charming illustrations (3 different illustrators) give each plan life. 

Though plant lists are included, Jabbour's introduction stresses "grow what you like to eat" and that designers offered the lists only as suggestions (to be replace freely with things that fit your region, climate, and personal tastes).


Overall: A great jumping point to finding your next favourite garden writer / blogger / designer / ... This book is a sampler: packed full of inspiring ideas and information from general to niche, but as a result not everything is applicable.  I will definitely be coming back to this book because even plans not obviously achievable for a urban Edmonton home are still educational (design and ecology) fun reads.

Pros:

• Jabbour has done all the work in tracking down the best people to submit a garden design.  
• Plan design principles and complementary gardening methods are included making the book educational -- more than just a "plant this here" map
• Some powerhouse food producing plans and some more focused on style -- most fall in between
• Adaptable, environmentally-conscious plans to fit many situations

Cons / Limitations:

• The plans are fairly flexible, but does seem to be geared towards mid-range climates.   Edmontonians and other northerners will have to work harder to adapt the plans
• Can be overwhelming as plans are not obviously grouped in anyway 
• No photographs - which would be particularly helpful for some of the more abstract plans

Bee-Friendly: Working with nature is highly stressed in many of the plans and Jabbour uses organic methods.  Plans particularly focused on this include "Backyard Beekeepers' Garden" by Kenny Points, "Pollinator-Friendly Raised Bed" by Paul Zammit, "Wildlife-Friendly Garden" by Tammi Hartung, "Good Bug Garden" by Jessica Walliser

Veggie Patch Friends - Companion Planting

Planning your vegetable garden and have some extra space?  Why not throw in some comos?  What I'm suggesting (aside from growing some pretty flowers) is a very basic form of companion planting: 'planting of different crops in proximity for pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity'.

Just as you may have been told to grow basil with your tomatoes for them to grow better, or marigolds to repel pests...  These are not old wives' tales, studies have confirmed both and many other productive plant pairings.

Anglianhome.co.uk's "A Vegetable Growing Cheat Sheet" (portion on  the right, go to link for full chart) makes the whole thing very simple. But is limited to the most common / popular vegetables in the UK.

Wikipedia's List of Companion Plants not only lists those that help, but also those that might harm the yield of certain vegetables and fruit trees (e.g. beets and bush beans don't get along).  Reading the entire list and trying to incorporate everything, however, is a little like planning a wedding seating chart for friends, feuding family members, and fawning couples (with some history of the relationships)... But if one can get similar results as 20% more tomatoes when grown with basil with other vegetables, it seems worth it to doing a little investigating.

AfriStar Foundations "Companion Plantings" (below) is a great balance of the two - not too detailed, not too simplified.  The names of the plants might be a little different from what we're used to, but there are pictures to help.

Oh, and what of those cosmos I mentioned before?  They're everyone's good companion: they attract beneficial insects (bees and pest predators).

For more information about different plant pairings not just for the vegetable garden also see Organic Gardening's Beginner's Guide to Companion Planting.


Bee-Friendly: Companion planting encourages not using pesticides, instead working with nature by attracting beneficial bugs, repelling pests, or luring pests away.