My friend calls me freak. Why? Because I don't like to put any synthetic fertilizer on my soil nor I like to use any pesticide. These kinds of products destroy natural balance. Yes I am a nature freak. I don't use any tough chemical just to clean my house. I always try to use organic products in my garden like old remedies. I use garlic or red pepper spray when I see caterpillar or other bugs are munching on my vegetables. I do nothing if it's few of them. They need to survive too. In fact these caterpillars will become beautiful butterflies, which we adore. So if it's not a big problem why bother.

From time to time of course I use fertilizer. I buy lower number fertilizer like 10-7-5 or so (N, P, K). Use below 20. My house is backing to a creek. Lots of trees and wild lives too. There are so many birds that I don't know all their names. Cardinals, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Woodpecker so on and on and on. The first year after we moved in we had a big bug problem. Especially in the summer nights. We couldn’t open our back door. All kinds of bugs were covering our door. After that summer I planted various kinds of herbs on both sides of the door. Herbs like Rosemary, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Sage, etc. Now the bugs are gone; just a few still sticks on my windows. That’s not a problem at all. Another good plant is Marigold. In Bengali we call it “Gandha”. I plant Marigold every year all over my garden, just a patch of Marigold. This plant controls several types of bugs which are bad for the plants especially vegetables.

You can learn more about organic gardening from any gardening book. Your garden will look as beautiful as any others without using costly and synthetic materials. About the bugs if it’s not a problem for you or the environment why bother killing.

Laboni M., August 2003

Read: From Laboni's Garden