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Episode 16 – Managing Veggie Pests with Biodiversity

Helping Gardeners Grow: The Podcast

Episode 16 - Managing Veggie Pests with Biodiversity

00:00 / 57:04

Guest: Dr. Ken Fry

Big Idea:

Big Idea: “I guess the word of the day would be biodiversity and that is having an abundance of different kinds of plants: different colours, different times of flowering, different sizes and statures, different fragrances. And that way you have all the different kinds of resources that are necessary for a rich, happy biodiverse garden.”

Topic Today:

Join in and learn about some of the bugs we love to hate and some of the solutions to pests in our garden. Ken answers Donna’s specific insect questions and offers ideas for a well-rounded garden.”Tiny flowers are like charging stations for beneficial insects,” says Ken as he encourages us to build varied gardens with water and plenty of variety in the plants. “If you want good predators and parasitoids then the shallower flowers are the ones that are the most beneficial.”

Ken also discourages us from buying Lady Beetles: “They’re not produced in a factory, shall we say, or reared in an insectary. They’re actually harvested, unsustainably, from the wild in California, Utah and other places. So they go and collect them from their overwintering sites, package them up, ship them out….. you buy a container of a hundred lady beetles, and you’re lucky if a couple of them stick around because all the rest have flown the coop…. as an instinctive response to waking up from overwintering. ”

Books: Garden Bugs of Alberta, Lone Pine Press (https://books.google.ca/books/about/Garden_Bugs_of_Alberta.html?id=ZfzMAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y)

Resources Mentioned: Dr. Ken Fry teaches at Olds College in Alberta but has experience beyond his research and teaching background. For more information about Dr. Kenneth Fry go to LinkedIn or to the Olds College website.

Web site: https://www.oldscollege.ca/

Donna is Helping Gardener’s Grow through her interviews with various growers and gardeners. Want to build soil, grow food in extraordinary ways or raise the world’s most expensive spice? Listen in, rate and subscribe.

In every podcast we talk about food or how to grow better food. To ask a question about the current or past episodes send a voice memo from your phone to [email protected]. In the voice memo tell us your name and where you garden first and then ask your question.

Music in every episode is by Donna’s son, Brennan Anderson, a musician in Smithers, British Columbia, Canada. Season 2 has all new music so thank-you Brennan!

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3 Comments

Donna Balzer on January 5, 2021 at 12:24 pm

Good ideas all. I am always looking at fruit myself and will consider talking to more people. Dr. Bob in Saskatoon comes to mind…. do you have any ideas?
Donna Balzer on October 10, 2020 at 11:21 am

Ah thanks Elaine! I am always stumbling across interesting people but am looking for more. If you know any interesting characters let me know! I love characters and stories and interesting crops the best.
Elaine Rude on September 14, 2020 at 2:52 pm

Hi Donna,

want to congratulate you on your excellent podcast. I have really been enjoying listening to the wide variety of guests especially the experts in their fields. Have been recommending your podcast to others.

A possible topic could be something around growing our own fruit: lots of new varieties that will grow in most areas of Canada; pollination and pests, etc.

Please keep on with your excellent work.

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Help for gardeners who want to grow like a pro.

Next level garden tips so you can grow better edibles and gardens.

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Episode 16 – Managing Veggie Pests with Biodiversity

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