Monday, October 25, 2010

Some gardeners are getting better ideas.

Ladybird larvae. They eat aphids and other tiny insect pests.
Working in a garden centre, I hear all sorts of funny ideas about gardening but sometimes I do actually encounter folks that have the right attitude toward organic growing. Sometimes this is someone who is aware of using minerals or knows about beneficial insects.
These days we sell minerals and soil bacteria to increase soil health. It's getting easier to advise people to use least-toxic methods rather than head straight for the poisons. I show them ladybird babies and parasitised 'aphid mummies' on the roses. Once the balance of predator insects is in line with the pests there will be less reason to use any chemicals on our food plants.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Water Corp sprinkler restrictions.

Water restrictions for Perth.
In this dry city it is still easy to find people that love to waste water. On the spot fines are being issued for people who use sprinklers outside of their allocated time.
Today it actually rained a bit, but not enough to fix our dry winter.