As I scramble to weed the gardens in preparation for being part of the Paris Gibson Square Museums annual Garden Walk, I think the biggest thing I’m going to demonstrate to visitors is that perfection isn’t necessary for a productive garden.

There’s no question about it around here: poppies are coming up with the tomatoes, sunflowers tower about the cabbage, and cilantro is going wild.

And it’s the same with the pests in this camp. No, I don’t like earwigs, but they’re here. They don’t really bother anything in my garden (although we’ll see what I have to say on the subject when it’s time to harvest the popcorn) so I squish them when I can, but I don’t put in a lot of effort to eradicate them. It would be a losing battle anyway.

It’s a matter of finding that level of tolerance where you can enjoy what you grow without dousing it with chemicals or other products that dramatically increase the cost of growing homegrown vegetables.

My Own Pest Problems

I have holes in my broccoli and cabbage leaves. It’s probably the cabbage looper. I like to keep them covered most of the spring, but I was a bit lax this year since I preferred to use my floating row covers on more cold-sensitive crops. (And yet another reason I should garden in a high tunnel except for that pesky wind issue.)

So I’m sure Il’l be picking green worms out of my cabbage. I just hope they don’t gain much of a hold until after the Montana State Fair, when appearances count and unsightly holes could make or break the chances for a blue ribbon.

I did have the pill bugs nibble the chard earlier this spring, but after dusting it with diatomaceous earth for a few weeks they’re finally big enough to grow well without help. I’m not upset with a few nibbles out of the chard in the greater scheme of things. As long as I have enough, I’m okay with sharing.

Other Garden Pests

Now the grasshoppers are different. They’re beyond a few bites here and there. They devour everything, including my precious basil. This year I was proactive and dusted the perimeter of our yard, especially in the areas of tall grass, with the Semaspore, the protozoa that infect and kill grasshoppers. It’s worked well for friends, so we’ll see if there’s a difference in the population around here.

I’m hesitant to use anything stronger since our chickens run around the yard, and I don’t want to inadvertently poison them. It’s been a struggle to finally have enough young hens (versus old hens or young roosters) to hopefully provide a decent egg supply this year. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize their health.

I guess the bottom line is there’s no way to get around pests, and if you strive for perfection you’ll go batty. If you can live with a few bites out of your broccoli or chewing on your chard, you’ll be a much happier gardener. Now I better get back to battling the bindweed. I can deal with bugs that nibble here and there, but that plant is of the devil. I’m not looking for perfection, just peonies that aren’t being strangled.