Forum home› Wildlife gardening
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Thinking creatively …

DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
in Wildlife gardening
Thought folk might be interested in some of the methods the agricultural community are trying in order to grow our food without the use of pesticides

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/bbro-camo-cropping-trial-to-confuse-aphid-pests-9113794 

😊 

Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





Posts

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    There was an article on our local news about farmers using phacelia as a cover crop, finding it brought in the hoverflies and seeing a reduction in aphids as a result.

    That one's not a new idea, of course  :)
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    Fascinating @Dovefromabove!  Later in the year, to launch a new Food & Drink street market in Bungay, I'll be working with others to put on some fringe events and one of them will be presentations/round table debate from local food producers about how they are combating climate change and other threats.  It will be led by someone who farms organically and works with other local farms moving into regenerative farming.  We'll also have someone from One Farm who are planning on creating a new vertical farm in a disused warehouse near Newmarket.  
    It's pleasing to see so many small-scale farmers tackling the problems of producing food sustainably.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    100% what we need!! 
    Love it. 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Phacelia planted in Cornwall.
    https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/gallery/green-reason-fields-cornwall-turning-5577181
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    Interesting, @Dovefromabove but the best thing to do for insects is to ban neonicotinoids immediately and severely curtail the others.  Some, including neonics persist in the soil for more than 10 years so the more that are used adds exponentially to the problem. No one knows how long they really last.

    I'm coming from a farming background too and well understand the pressures farmers are under, especially from the agrochemical agronomists. 
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Wild Ken are also consistently using cover crops like tansy. 
Sign In or Register to comment.