Is it Spring in Vermont?

A foggy, cloudy view of the front fields with no snow on March 4, 2024.

This morning there was frost on the ground when I woke up. Walking the dogs around the fields I saw steam rising off the fence as sunlight melted the ice crystals on the wooden posts. Today it was as warm as 47 degrees which my weather app tells me is 10 degrees above the daily high. Also in the fields this morning I noticed geese flying north, pooling water indicative of the melting fields and high clay content of the soil, and ticks. There were several crawling on each dog this week so I guess it is also tick season.

In the Master Gardener class this week I’m learning about integrated pest management (IPM). While the material focused on strategies and tactics for managing pests, it was interesting and obvious to understand that in order to have beneficial insects there needs to be a food source as well as habitat for them. Also butterflies start as caterpillars which feed on plants before evolving into their next phase of existence. If people use products to kill insects feeding on their plants they may also be killing the food source for beneficial insects or the nymph phase of the beneficial insect.

I consider myself a pretty lazy gardener. 

Besides having good soil and planting seeds and plants that want to be here, I tend not to fuss over plants too much. Approaching the fourth year for the garden and practicing plant rotation throughout the beds it will be interesting to observe if pest pressure seems greater than previous years. Perhaps it takes a while for pests to move in, hunker down, and reproduce. It was also interesting to consider as gardeners and farmers extend the growing season with row covers they are also extending food sources for insects which feed on the specific plants. I haven’t experimented with extending the growing season with row covers. However, I read this week growers in Vermont have noticed for some time they can harvest greens later and later into the fall season. Sometimes as late as December. 

This video was part of the materials in the master gardener class related to pest management and demonstrates a push-pull system to mitigate the fall armyworm in Africa. By International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). It reminds me of companion planting in the garden. I wonder if companion planting is a push-pull system?