Last updated on June 10th, 2020
I CELEBRATED yesterday’s glorious sunshine and rare-for-November warmth by harvesting my winter’s supply of Brussels sprouts. What a difference from last year’s crop! Then, stalks, leaves and sprouts were so infested with cabbage worms that I had to throw the plants out. This year, however, no such creepy-crawlies were present at all. What did I do this go-round that resulted in the beautiful, tight-leaved, pest-free sprouts you see pictured up top?
Well, I did nothing at all. The plants received neither sprays of Miracle Gro nor sprinklings of Osmocote as they had the previous year. In fact I employed no packaged fertilizers at all.
Instead, the raised bed was topped-off last winter with a thick layer of shredded leaves. The leaves by spring had decomposed into Nature’s perfect soil: leaf mold. Leaf mold, as any ancient forest will tell you, is the key to soil health. Healthy soil grows healthy plants — the kind of plants that can fend off bothersome insects.
Perhaps the companion plants I grew alongside the Brussels sprouts contributed as well to the pest-free crop. Onions are garlic may have thwarted the cabbage moth, whose hungry larvae can destroy an entire field of Brassica.
You can learn, as I have, two powerful lessons here, no matter which crops you intend to grow next summer. First, top your beds with a thick layer of shredded leaves now. Next, plant garlic along the perimeter of your beds before the ground freezes. Between these two might lie the answer to garden bounty — the kind our ancestors depended upon for survival long before the introduction of packaged soil amendments and pesticides. I swear that certain garden additives — even the so-called “organic” ones — do not mitigate trouble. They invite it.
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Eric says
I think there is something to what you're saying. I didn't use miracle gro this year either, not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't afford it. In the end, I had far fewer pests than in previous years. I've already spread shredded leaves over my veggie beds. I also spread them over flower beds.
Terry says
hmm I love brussel sprouts!
I just finished raking up leaves again and putting them on my vegetable beds. I don't bother shredding them though. In the spring I just kind of stir the decomposing leafy mess into the ground with a shovel. Another thing I do is dig a hole in the bed and dump my kitchen veggie scraps in as I have them and cover it up with a shovelful of dirt. A lot easier than trying to turn a compost bin at the age of 60. I don't use Miracle Grow or pesticides.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Eric – good to see that others are “leaf savvy” around here!
Terry – Digging a hole for kitchen scraps is one of the best, old-fashioned (as in time-honored)methods of composting…so much easier to add dirt (and the beneficial, living organisms it contains) between layers. But who digs the initial hole for you?!
Terry says
I dig it…I dig one shovelful width and about 2 shovel fulls deep. I keep a coffee can in the kitchen and when it is full, its time to dig! My dirt has become much softer the last couple of years so its not hard one hole at a time:) I do have a compost bin that I put things in after the hard freezes and snow come along. I just hate that thing. No, I am not going to try one of those worm bins, ewww, worms belong outside.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Terry – One summer, a local school let me try out its worm bin. I kept it in the kitchen. What work, and I always worried about feeding the Red Wigglers too much or too little. You can't imagine how grateful I was when they picked up the worms (which had multiplied dramatically) in September.
Terry says
yes, there are limits to my attempts at being eco-friendly! Sounds like you did a good job with the worms, hats off to you for trying!
Sarah says
I’m in total agreement with the no chemical in the garden and yard mindset. We used nothing but a single bottle of insecticidal soap and lots of handpicking. Next spring we will just go ahead and buy a batch of lady bugs for an ongoing aphid problem. AND too late I learned that the zinnias were the culprit for encouraging the aphid population. So be it. Zinnias will be away from the veggies as much as I will miss them there.
Cary Bradley says
Kevin, Please share your timing for planting Brussels sprouts. Mine don’t bulk up before they are over. I’m desperate to have success with them next year and am hoping your timing will help me. Thanks. 🙂
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Cary – Wow this is an OLD post! To answer your question, my only advice is to plant Brussels sprouts early. It is a pokey plant!