Spring is here, and with it comes a reawakening of life all around us; the sun seems to shine more brightly and more often, flowers are blooming colors of bright yellows, pinks, purples and more, the birds are singing, and the bees are buzzing! Whether you take pride in a flowerbed, or garden of your own at home, or just care for the well being of the environment in general, sustainable farming and eco-friendly pest control practices are becoming more and more popular and are certainly something for you to consider.
So let’s start with what is sustainable farming? In a very basic sense, sustainable farming is an approach to farming that ensures the farm can not only be sustained financially and socially,
but also environmentally. There are a variety of methods and practices that can be implemented to help form the structure of a sustainable farm, but lets focus on the environmental sustainability.
Being conscious about the environment as a farmer, also means taking care of the natural resources and eco-systems around you. Some examples of good practices that benefit the natural resources and systems include managing your water consumption wisely, minimizing pollution of the air, water, and climate around you, rotating crops and promoting biodiversity, as well as building and maintaining healthy soils. Another great way to transition to being more environmentally friendly is through the use of eco-friendly pesticides. Let’s take a more in depth look at this for just a moment.
Most of us are familiar with the “in-home” products for keeping insects and other pests out of our kitchens and closets, but what many of us might not realize is how harmful they can be to the environment overall. Because of the chemicals that are in most of these products, organic options oﬀer a more environmentally conscious way to protect your garden and home.
If you are trying to address certain bugs outside in your garden or flowerbeds, try using an insecticidal soap. These are available commercially, so no need to make your own, although there are plenty of ways to make your own “bug sprays” at home as well. These insecticidal soaps contain unsaturated long-chain fatty acids from animal fat, which will dissolve the cuticle, or “skin” of the insects. Another organic option would be to use sticky traps.
There are a variety of sticky traps that you can use or make yourself. These are placed three to five feet apart close to the plants, and are constructed of a bright and rigid material. You can purchase pre-coated traps that are covered in a sticky solution, or there is a product available that can be applied many times to the same trap. This solution encourages insects that are attracted to the bright colors, to land and stick to the material, unable to fly away. The great thing about both of these pest control options is that they are chemical free and therefore will not interrupt the eco-system near and around your home and garden. There are so many different alternatives to use when it comes to controlling pests around your home and garden. They don’t always have the be the most toxic choice to work. Look at different resources like Pests Off that are conveniently available online to find some less harmful alternatives.
If we want to ensure beautiful spring seasons in the future, we have to take action today. Now that we have quickly summarized sustainability in farming and gardening, what will you do to make a diﬀerence? Although this is just a short article about being environmentally friendly, there is a multitude of information available on other ways you can be eco-friendly every day.