Broccoli Pest

What was on those broccoli leaves I so naively chopped up and spread throughout my garden as winter nutrients? (See Winterizing.) I'm thinking it was aphids. This isn't a perfect fit, but it seems most likely based on what I'm reading.

If I don't want to go dig up every piece of leaf now, looks like lady bugs might do the trick this spring. They are aphid-eating machines. They are touted as the gardener's best friend and don't appear to have any negatives (like eating my plants!) See here for details on making your garden a ladybug friendly place.

Winterizing

While lucky friends of mine in San Diego, CA and Richmond, VA don't need to shut their gardens down in the winter, those of us in less temperate climes need to put our gardens to bed in the winter.

I'm sure there are a million ways to do this, and everyone has an opinion on the best one. Here's how I did it - I'll let you know in the spring my thoughts on it!

I removed all of the plants from the soil except the still growing massive Romanesco Broccoli - this was necessary so that no bugs can overwinter in the leaves and roots. I left the soil exposed for a couple weeks to allow it to freeze thoroughly and kills any pests. (Here I was torn - I wanted to leave all the plants I have removed on the soil to decompose and add their nutrients back, but without allowing the soil to really freeze through, you run the risk of increased pests next year. Ideally, if i'd been able to make a little pile somewhere, I would have thrown the plants back on the following month after everything was frozen.)

Nate and I then went out and broke up the soil a bit with a hoe. We removed one of the broccoli plants at this time and i chopped up and threw down the massive leaves - i know they decompose quickly and will add nutrients back to the soil.

We added then added a one inch layer of manure, a two inch layer of organic compost (both from Home Depot), and a thick layer of straw (about 2 inches). I have no idea how quickly things will decompose this winter, particularly since I cannot get out and water it. Hopefully the snow will be enough moisture to speed decomposition. This is why I didn't add leaves, etc (other than not having an easy source for them). This way, I can plant seeds directly in this rich soil under any non-decomposed straw and not have any issues.

Pest Warning: Although I checked the broccoli leaves for signs of pests, I later realized that one of the plants I chopped up might have had mites living on portions of the leaves. The thought of encouraging these mites and giving them a warm winter home now keeps me up at night!! I'm hoping the subfreezing temps were enough to kill them, but I will research if I might need to go dig these leaves up and remove them.

Earwigs

Yuck! Can't think of a bug that creeps me out more than an earwig. My lettuce is finally bolting, and as I pulled it all out of the ground yesterday (was able to get one last, gigantic bowl full!), I found tons of earwigs running around their roots. While earwigs have been known to eat things in the garden I want to eat, it sounds like they might be doing more good than harm. "They eat weeds and weed seeds. They eat the eggs and larvae of root maggots, cutworms, aphids and hundreds of other insect pests—indeed, they bolt down any critter they can physically overwhelm. They even convert your decaying plant material to the organic matter your Western soil so dearly needs." Guess i can put up with them for that! Also, they are one of the few known insects to actually demonstrate maternal care for the young. Awww, how sweet.