Well the weather sure has been a blessing this week. With cooler days and a few nice days of rain, my week irrigating and managing the greenhouse was nice and easy. We are staying busy planting out the remainder of the fall crops, as well as onions and garlic for next season. We have also been busy tearing out some summer crops, and sowing cover crop seeds while we had the rain to aid in germination.
We had a pleasant surprise this week as we dug our third row of sweet potatoes. Turns out the "Covington" variety has taken the cake as the big producer so far. Harvesting a whopping 1200 lbs. off of one 200' row. We also harvested 640 lbs. of cabbage off of one 200' row. We sure got our exercise this week lifting full bins or cabbage and sweet potatoes an average of 3 times. Nobody said farming was easy.
Beneficial Insects
Sure we have our fair share of cutworms, aphids, stink bugs, and other pests on the farm. But we also have an abundance of beneficial insects like ladybugs, parasitic wasps, and honey bees. Not only do some of these insects act as pollinators, they also help to keep the less desirable insect populations at bay.
Beneficial insects are species of insects that perform valued services like pest control or pollination, often facilitating propagation and fruit production. We encourage beneficial insects by providing suitable living conditions, such as planting buckwheat that attracts all kinds of beneficial insects.
Bees are beneficial pollinators as well as predatory or parasitic insects, killing pest insects. Bees can be attracted by many companion plants such as the buckwheat that we use as a cover crop, bee balm, and pineapple sage. Plant things in the apiacea family like Queen Anne's lace and parsley to attract more predatory bees.
Ladybugs are another beneficial insect. They are thought to be beneficial because they feast on large quantities of aphids, mites, and other small insects that feed on various crops.
Other insects that are often considered beneficial include the assassin bug, damsel bug, soldier beetle, green lacewing, big-eyed bug, mealy bug destroyer, Trichogramma wasp, and the Ichneumon wasp. It is a good idea to become familiar with the appearance of these beneficial insects and encourage their populations in your home gardens.