Vegetable Gardening Made EASY with @reshgala & @gardeningwithdezz | The Garden Party Podcast 217

Welcome to The Garden Party! A weekly podcasts about ALL THINGS GARDENING!

Hosted by Destin Noak @TexasGardenGuy
https://beacons.ai/texasgardenguy

Phil D’Angelis @Philsfigs
https://www.instagram.com/philsfigs
https://philsfigs.com/

This week’s guests are Resh Gala @reshgala
https://www.reshgala.com/

Deserae Lindsley @gardeningwithdezz
https://www.instagram.com/gardeningwithdezz

Make Sure to Like + Subscribe + Drop a Comment or Question Down Below!

this is the
Gard party and we want a garden party
with you we talk about the plants we
grow and some things you might not know
the Gard party Phil introduce yourself
dude what up everyone it’s Phil from
Phil’s figs your favorite plant parent
and regular parent too uh glad to be
back co-hosting the show
again as always dude Phil is my Phil is
my config liary
my my my brolo
elado U he is he is he is my dude and
he’s my co-host on the garden party he’s
here with me every week and no this is
not a uh what is it what do they call it
when they play a rerun from last week
Dez is back Dez is back again she is
back repeat offender yeah
she’s we had we had her stepping in for
uh for Rosanne last week but she was
scheduled to come this week because I
her and race would hit it off so Dez
introduce yourself and let everybody
know what everybody know what about you
I guess hello you’ve probably seen me
here before I’m gardening with Dez I
love squirrels and pollinators and
Native and adapted plants and vegetables
and I will talk about bees Non-Stop and
Butterflies I’m happy to be back again
squirrel the squirrels don’t always love
her back no I I actually have to say
that I see squirrels literally and
figuratively these days what iseen well
if I see one literally I literally saw a
squirrel and I’m like oh let me go feed
that a peanut and then if I see one
figuratively I’ve just gone off on an
add like Quest side quest there’s
something there’s something in the water
in Austin you know it’s just it’s in the
water are weird no no Austin’s supposed
to be weird that’s what it’s supposed to
be like you’re supposed to call me weird
yes well weird is it weird is a state of
mind
and uh we got our return guest one of
our favorite authors Miss re Gala and I
believe your book came out recently we
me and Phil both got a GU Dez you you
didn’t plan
ahe no I wish I could like pass itude
through the screen there you go one of
the first things I did say to her with
congratulations yes yes you did you were
on it oh my goodness R go ahead and
introduce yourself re so um I’m re and
I’m an organic Gardener from New Jersey
I design and install edible organic
Gardens in Jersey in parts of uh
Pennsylvania as well as parts of New
York and um I’m a recent author as all
of you mentioned um I have my book that
just came out a couple of months ago
called vegetable gardening Made Easy and
um it’s my mission to help people grow
their own own food and grow their best
life and as um I’m not so fond of
squirrels this this past um fall and
winter I have this really cute um picnic
table that I’ve put up you know on top
of my tree for a squirrel it’s like a
little picnic bench and um it’s got this
nail that you can you know put a um cob
of corn on it and the squirrels love to
sit there and eat and unfortunately um
couple of weeks ago I noticed that they
were burying some of that extra corn
because they must have eaten so much of
burying it in my garden and um I would
keep planting some spinach and bok choy
and they would keep digging up to find
that corn that they had buried a couple
of months ago so I’m like they’re
naughty yes oh my goodness I don’t like
them either put the peanut I plant the
plant on top of the peanut oh my
goodness so funny they’re responsible
for like 50 water Oaks in my yard
because keep taking all the acorns and
play that’s why I call them farmer
squirrel farmer squirrel they are yeah
squirrel farming is a lucrative business
for them that’s so funny well it it was
um I started a new position at work this
week and I’m I’m in an office setting
which I’m not really used to thank you
very much um and as soon as I was
telling Dez this before you HED on I I
walked in the office and went to my
first meeting Monday morning and this
girl I’ve never seen before looks at me
she goes I follow you on Tik talk and I
was like man I was like famous nice I
was like dang man uh you made it and so
like a couple people already knew who I
was and like like hey you got any trees
available right now and like some of
them were like my not my I guess my not
my bosses but like higher up than me and
I was like oh I got half pric figs in my
house I’ll sell some $10 figs to these
these guys at work and get in good with
them so I sold 10 fig trees this week oh
that’s awesome there you go congrats
that is so good and you you know that’s
the thing I think a lot of us don’t
realize but just by gardening and
sharing so much of you know gardening
content on social media I think we’re
building a community and that is
honestly I think it’s the best part like
just us here right now and whoever else
is watching and listening as well and
like for you at work I mean how awesome
is that right it’s so much it’s it’s so
much fun go ahead Phil yeah I was I I
get jazzed helping people grow stuff
like so like when when people are like
help me with my fig tree I almost call
it like free account management and at
least I can do that for now and I have
some the best relationships and best
customers I have are the ones that like
I’ve kind of coached along the way to
Growing their own fig trees and it’s it
gets you just as pumped to help them get
their own tree as it is just to sell the
fig trees or just grow them on your own
too well it it’s so funny because like I
look at my I look at my I don’t I’m not
like a a person who looks at their
analytics a lot but I do look at my
analytics like once a month or something
you know and I’ll notice like almost 75%
of my audience is women but I do get a
lot of dudes coming up to me and like I
think that their wives like kind of drag
them into it at first and then they get
into it I I I I because it’s there
something about like spending a Saturday
at a nursery or in the garden and doing
stuff it’s just fun like in in time
flies that’s the only that’s that’s the
only thing about gardening that really
stinks is that when you’re doing it the
time goes by really fast like it’s so
crazy it literally happened Sunday where
my wife is like just go I know you’re
back logged on stuff and I went out
there and it’s like boom four hours went
by and I was like holy cow and I
fortunately looked back and I was like I
made a dent yeah setting a timer that’s
good yeah I like during like if I’m out
gardening I try to be back in the house
by 5:00 if I can cuz then I I got to
save some time after dinner for the
evening wander that’s what I call it
oh yeah I I totally I’m I’m with you in
the same boat um usually I’m like
telling my husband or you know we’re
supposed to go out for dinner I’m like
I’ll just be five minutes I’ve just got
to go water my plant or something and
then they’re screaming like we’re
getting late you know so oh my gosh um
time just flies
right you make me feel better I’m not
alone now anymore hearing that like I’m
just to look at something real quick and
then like 20 minutes go by I mean I
would even say like the first in the
morning when you go out to look at your
stuff like I’m like I got to go work
from the
garden I am drinking coffee and just
walking around I’m just hanging out like
like taking in everything and Grace is
like we gotta go soon I was like I
haven’t started
yet I um I I I found it’s all a lot I
mean time management helps so what’s
really what’s really cool is I work my
office is right across the street from
my house
so I can come home on my lunch break eat
lunch at the house and so right when I
get home I come home I turn the
sprinkler on one zone I get my food
heated up come outside start the other
Zone and then get to go out sit out and
sit in the garden with my dog and eat
lunch it is so nice I literally so
jealous right now oh my God it’s so nice
it’s so nice but you know it’s about
like just time management like Phil was
saying like setting the timer you know
like you know if you yeah yeah oh yeses
yes Phil can have the credit though I
need the timer uh but
yes but it’s it’s so it’s so wild
because I I uh I know you do TurnKey
Garden installations re and there’s a
lady here in Houston there’s a couple
ladies here in Houston that do it uh uh
Houston Garden girls and uh Monarch
Garden company and I didn’t realize like
how much of a demand it was for people
to get like turnkey like Garden like
installed in their backyard like it is
in high Dem they’re having to turn
people away I didn’t realize how crazy
it was no it is it is so crazy because
I’m not joking um I have a garden
installation next week I have a garden
installation the week after and then
again in May and I’m doing it like in
Pennsylvania I’m driving an hour out the
people who are reaching out to me even
from like Connecticut and other places
in Upstate New York which are like an
hour and a half away and I have to say
I’m sorry only if you you know depending
on the scope and size that maybe I would
take on something that’s this far um but
I think this is in huge demand and I
don’t know if it’s something that
started um during covid that people
started you know gardening and thinking
really about their health and they had
the time to focus on those things and uh
to be present as well you know to think
about things a little bit more
authentically and um it’s stuck and and
really to be hon honest all of us you
know value our health we’re reading all
these things about all the chemicals in
the food and you know cancer in people
who are under 50 under 40 even and
things like that so people are paying
attention to what they’re putting in
their bodies and if you can grow
something in your backyard and have
someone else take care of you know the
big work which is the raised beds
putting in the soil and putting in the
plants and all you have to do is really
Harvest and tend to it uh people don’t
mind spending a little bit of that and
it’s I I would say people consider it an
investment and that’s what you know when
I tell my clients right it’s it’s not
just about you know your the beauty of
your space such as like with flowers and
Landscaping but this is an investment in
your health especially when you’re
growing organic food yeah oh wow yeah
and and they even have like a uh it’s
like a subscription service where you
pay and they send out someone every two
weeks to uh check your irrigation
they’ll pull up they’ll pull up like old
plants and plant new ones like and they
and they’ll spray like you know folar
fertilizer whatever do whatever they
want I Al like man that is that is a
cool business to get into I was like it
is it is really cool and yeah I mean I
don’t send out people to go in and
maintain it every two weeks because
that’s a lot of commitment you know um
as well and um you know monetarily it
depends you know how much time you put
in and what the revenue is in comparison
but do do offer my uh clients seasonal
change outs so come every season
especially maybe because I’m in the east
coast I guess you know compared to um
Houston I guess or in Texas it would be
different but here I would offer them a
seasonal change out for spring for
summer uh and for fall winter you know
so if they want to extend their growing
season um and I I would say like pretty
much 80% of my clients come back to me
for these seasonal change outs yeah and
otherwise you offer like some sort sort
of coaching Services as well so you can
teach them yeah well and and that that’s
what they were saying that a lot of
times they do it for like a year and
because because they just don’t have any
idea like people who are new to
gardening and these These are more
affluent like they’re spending some
money on these on these bed on these
beds and stuff um and so they they they
just want to get an idea of like what
they should be growing and then after a
year of doing like a subscription like
that yeah like okay well we know we need
to be playing ochre right now we know we
need to be you know and you know it’s
kind like a garden coaching go session
because a lot of them will be they’ll
schedule them to come when they’re home
so they can watch and see what they’re
doing so no absolutely but yeah it is
quite expensive with raised beds you you
can imagine the price of lumber I know
uh Phil you were building out your um um
was it your Greenhouse or something but
it’s so expensive it’s not um it’s not
cheap um and so there are so many
different ways that you can grow you
don’t have to have gravel you can do
wood chips and there’s so many free
resources available
um and so even just being a part of some
sort of um a community garden or an
allotment can give you the opportunity
to learn if you have the time yeah
absolutely well and absolutely some
people don’t have all the tools to you
know like because yeah I mean I mean you
can you can go out there with you know a
empty garage with no tools and you can
go buy the lumber then you got to buy a
saw then you got to buy an impact and
you got to buy so sometimes it’s
actually cheaper just to pay someone to
do it or it’s or sometimes it’s even
easier to like you know I people ask me
about like the vgo beds the metal Brae
beds you know they they say oh they’re
so expensive I was like well think about
the price of lumber and how long Lumber
lasts you know so I mean it is
definitely an investment but I’ve done
wooden beds before and they don’t last
as long as like the metal beds but they
I think the wooden ones are sometimes
more aesthetically pleasing though you
know they definitely are you know I I’ll
say it you know I I I think some of
these wooden beds are really I saw
someone
uh they I think it was like in Kentucky
or something and they had a bunch of
stones and they made the res raised bed
like it looks like a chimney it’s like
made out of stone I was like that is so
like that would be really cool had
around you know that is so cool and you
know I just tell people if you don’t
have the budget to invest in race beds
um the price of lumber is so expensive
just start with containers I mean it’s
really low commitment it’s easy to move
around and um it doesn’t cost as much so
it’s a great way to start especially for
beginners for sure oh absolutely yeah I
and if like if you do have a property
like I my first Gardens as a kid growing
up I grew up in Lancaster Pennsylvania
in Amish Country and like I was in a
development that used to be a farm and
so the soil was actually still good so
we just our garden was all in the ground
at the time yeah yeah yeah awesome and I
I got a comment on one of my videos and
it was like I can’t understand why
people do raised bed gardening I can’t
understand why people do it uh people
who live in subdivisions know why you
raise bed in container
gardening because the soil is garbage
it’s terrible the soil they use to make
these plots to build these subdivision
houses is like the worst free cheap soil
you can possibly get to build
foundations on so good luck trying to
amend that soil it doesn’t drain um you
got to go above ground you got to go
that’s the reason people and then it’s
easier to amend you bring your own soil
on it’s just so much easier I think I
think race beds for me it’s a big plus
because in New Jersey our native soil is
really heavy clay soil um and um and so
it’s hard it takes a I would say if you
add compost and everything it’s not that
you can’t amend your native soil you can
but it will take you know at least one
or two years by adding compost every
season uh and amending your soil to make
it rich wood chips helps help a great
deal as well um but also you know that
is one thing but also for gardeners who
are just interested in just starting
right off the bat they don’t want to
wait that long you can just fill your
race bed or a container with the best
soil that you can possibly access and
then you’re ready to go and you can you
know um you can get instant
gratification so that is a big plus as
well yeah absolutely and like the only
thing save your back y yeah exactly
I can see the the value of time when you
want a turnkey thing you can have it way
sooner than yeah tomato seeds cost five
bucks or two bucks but until you get all
the accoutrements to create a garden by
the time you’ve realized on the road
where you could jump start it with
someone like Rush’s program and then
you’re like ready to go and you’re ready
to learn yeah and I think a lot of
people and I used to be this person who
didn’t you know when you when you start
a garden you think about your plants you
think about the pots you think about
your beds you don’t think about the soil
and soil is probably the most important
thing that nobody cares about nobody
wants to talk about soil I’ve got I’ve
got a buddy I got a buddy
who well most people soil is not sexy
soil is not sexy I got a buddy who runs
a soil company here and it’s so hard to
it’s so hard to Market It’s like because
people just want to know which bag do I
by you know they want to know you know
when when I get questions they’re like
hey which Nursery do I need to go to get
this which I’m like you just need to get
the best quality of stuff you can get
where locally you know locally you know
um so I I I got a question here I got
where people are asking us questions in
the Facebook chat if youall have a
gardening question if you’re watching on
Facebook right now drop in the comment
section and of course the first question
is a fig question uh you know
it from this is from Rachel
recommendation on types of fig trees to
grow located in Georgia Zone
7B just started following love your
content I’m a beginner Gardener and
would love any advice you could give
Phil I’ll let you answer that one if if
go goto fig this you could find in
Georgia goto fig 7B uh it probably
depends in no Georgia gets pretty humid
all over but you’re going to want that
Hardy Chicago or Mount Etna type they’re
awesome they will if they die back CU 7B
you’ll get those random cold spikes and
you will not have to worry about killing
the Fig if it does die down down to the
ground it’ll come back every year for
you and it’ll produce fruit in a timely
fashion so hard Chicago are getting
easier to find a lot easier to find they
are they’re getting a lot easier to find
and there’s some nice uh variants of
them that I’m growing too like Sal’s L
uh Marse black is a really nice one and
there’s another variety that I have Al
Maria that is um it’s an Italian in
origin but are all Mount
EAS well let’s get a question question
for my master gardener friend Dez uh so
David Layman wants to know
recommendation for a tall thin tree
Hedge for privacy fencing for
patio I do not know but I do know this
do not plant
bamboo you could do bamboo in a
container what zone what zone are they
in this is right over here in my area so
like so for so for my for non-natives
I’m G I would say like a Japanese U or
Japanese U Japanese U’s they will go
straight up and they’re really beautiful
they can be a little bit more expensive
um but Japanese U is typically the if
you go to a nursery that’s what they’re
going to try to give you a Japanese U
and they’re really beautiful they they
were really well
um plant something for your area yes
well and yeah no and if you can find
some native options you know you can get
some fruit trees and stuff like that uh
Phil like Phil what do y’all see mostly
up there for privacy and
stuff oh up here yeah there’s um what
are those arbores that grow those green
giant things that grow pretty fast but
they will get knocked over by a
hurricane pretty easily um okay but then
people have Cy those those Cypress ones
that you see that grow up vertically oh
God we definitely have lots of Japanese
U as well I do not recommend cypress
trees I do not recommend cypress trees
unless you got some property and you’re
going to put them by a pond you know why
cuz my grandpa my grandpa’s got one and
they they have what you call knees
Cypress have knees so you’ll plant them
and then they come up and they go down
it’s like a the lockness monster and so
when you’re mowing you
go and and they they love to come up and
get you know when when you see like the
swamp movies and you see those big like
spikes coming out of the water those are
Cypress knees you know what else about
Cypress knees people used to cut the
knees off and sell them as like
souvenirs and stuff it was like a thing
and now it’s illegal to do that really
why uhuh wow well because most of them
like especially if you think about like
uh you know Louisiana or whatever they
have like the cypress trees and the knes
are in the bayou whatever like that
they’re they’re like um they want to
just preserve them naturally you know it
takes a long time for Cypress knes to
grow but they are also part of the
foundation of like the Bayou I believe
so I don’t know my aunt was we have that
here in Wilmington on the coast and you
can see when they die that’s a form of
like that’s a good indicator of
saltwater intrusion over time and they
don’t Decay and they have that Spanish
moss hanging down um other we have a
huge like aelia Festival every year it’s
like the first weekend in April and so a
lot of people have huge aelia bushes
that people hedge with here and then um
chamelia chameleos a little slower
growing but they can get huge here I
love
chameleos R do y’all do do yall do
ornamental installs too or like do you
all do the whole backyard design or just
the beds it’s like that we we do the
whole backyard design um not just the
beds we do the whole backyard design um
including like for one of my clients or
maybe two of them we’ve even done like
blue stone patio like fav seating area
inside the garden we do fencing so one
of the installs that’s coming up because
in New Jersey see our biggest problem is
really truly the deer they will they
will eat everything and they’re
everywhere you know you deer and bears
right you bears and deer bears oh I
haven’t seen a bear yet I always like to
say hopefully you don’t hopefully you
don’t the deer are like everywhere
they’re like crossing the road like
pedestrians pretty much you know if you
if you need to see a deer in New Jersey
you just open your eyes and then there’s
one oh my go really
that’s amazing there’s so many so for a
lot of clients when we are doing um
Gardens for one of them I think I might
have a picture in my book for one of my
clients we um installed aroid for
privacy I don’t know if you could let me
see if I can show you this tell us the
page number we’ll scroll over page
number is 10
um and then you can’t see it on page 16
but you can see it on page 10 somebody
show me that looks really see that the
AR at the back that’s the fence
that’s the fence as well as the so
that’s for the privacy and that’s the
same Garden that’s over here right here
in summer so that’s the ARB the back you
can’t tell as well look at that contrast
yeah such a contrast right so the deer
will eat the arbo though so we had to
put that put those in inside the fence
and not outside um but they grow really
tall you know and if you want like an
English garden a French garden look it
looks so beautiful
um yeah so I love that no I y’ y’all do
really good work um that’s I guess I can
ask you that so like I get a lot of
questions when I post content and
they’re like is that deer resistant is
that deer proof and my my comment is
always nothing is deer proof if they’re
hungry enough because someone had said
fig trees were deer proof I’m like if
they’re hungry enough they’ll eat
whatever yeah I had a person tell me
their fig tree got munched all the way
down I was like geez deer come on now
yeah is there is there is there anything
you plan up there that is the the deer
will leave alone no anything that’s
edible anything like you said anything
edible is not deer proof so what we do
recommend is fencing and there are two
options for anybody listening you know
one of course is to have a fence that’s
people say you know 6 feet I would say
at least 7 feet tall so they can’t jump
over you know and they are afraid so uh
we’ve done fencing and we’ve done
Gardens and ever since we’ve had a fence
that’s that tall they don’t jump over
the second option is if you don’t want
to invest in such a tall fencing then to
have like a double fence something
shorter so that you know it makes them
feel a little bit afraid that if they
jump over that they’ll get stuck so you
know if you have shorter but you have
like one fence then have like a couple
of feet and have a second fence then
that helps as well um yeah I I I had
heard that um
that deer would and and I don’t have
that much experience with deer but
people were saying that if you don’t
leave a bunch of space so like if you
have like more more of a narrow Garden
if there’s no if there’s nowhere for
them to see where they can land that
they typically won’t jump over it as
well I don’t know if that’s true or not
uh but I would I’m not sure but you know
but you know what recently I just got I
found one of these products and one of
my clients is um using it in her garden
and she has found much success someone
was asking about your book and I was
like it’s right here I seem to hold it
right here while we talk thank you so
you know I wanted to tell you I found
this one product um that you can stick
into your soil or your race beds or
whatever you have in your garden and uh
it has these radio
frequencies that kind of send like send
the deer away now maybe some people who
might be more sensitive can hear that
like a low buzzing thing but um
otherwise you don’t hear it and it’s
there and it keeps a deer away and like
I swear I think it does work so it’s
worth checking out I think it’s like
that’s good know what it doesn’t work on
squirrels um it doesn’t it doesn’t it
definitely worked on my next door
neighbor Josh he he heard it he’s like
Phil what is that thing in your backyard
I was like what are you talking about
it’s for the squirrels he’s like I can
hear it and I was like dang so it’s like
thatly Little Critters it’s like what is
it like is it tal New Mexico where
there’s like a like a ringing of people
got go say there’s like a town in Mexico
called tal and there’s like a ringing
that only certain people can hear the
frequency and people like lose their
mind and like go crazy from it it’s so
weird that’s a bummer it’s like a ski
resort right yeah well I’m I’m telling
youall right now if you want to get rid
of the deer and you want toid the scrs
what you need to do is get you a copper
Rod put it in the ground get you some
get you some crystals hang you some
quartz and some uh I don’t know some uh
some uh Justin why why quartz I want to
hear your take take you some pyite you
know because you’re too cheap for gold
and just hang it up there you know and
just let it hang and it’s going to scare
off the squirrels that’s what you need
to do
I make friends you know something else
my black
opal oh yeah know you know something
else that I’ve read that can help with
deer is fishing line have you heard of
that
oh yeah cuz it’s it’s so thin and
invisible so it doesn’t spoil the look
and if you want to invest you know in
allout fencing like put in some post put
some fishing line or fishing wire all
the way through and that gonna you know
keeps them off someone had also told me
like Fox you can buy like oh Lord fox
urine like I’m not making this part
up yeah you can buy like fox urine or if
you have a dog like like I’m I’m telling
you like I’ve heard heard people say
they put like Foxy earn out around there
$200 an ounce what a guy found that no
it’s not that it’s not that
expensive it rains and then you have to
keep you know spraying that so imagine
how much of that you need you’re going
to want to subscribe on Amazon and get
that fox urine coming once a month how
are we capturing this fluid you know
like oh oh I I I don’t want to know
really up I said that but I don’t want
to know and their pins yes yes cuz I so
in high school I played a prank on this
girl and it was the meanest prank ever
we we had like a prank war we were like
putting shaving cream on each other’s
cars and stuff we went to Academy and I
bought fox urine or wolf urine whatever
it was and I put it on like in front of
her windshield no where where would like
drip into the AC and her car smelled
like Fox you’re in for like a year um
and I was like how do they find it they
they have like you know and res would
they call them reserves or whatever and
they train the animal to come to a tree
and they urinate in like a trap and it
collects the urine oh seriously wow yeah
okay well
that’s I thought right that’s a business
I wonder if it’s like the website’s like
get to know our foxes and it’s like this
one’s Dean and this one’s like Casper
and you’re like okay oh my God so Fel
Felicia is in the house right now and
they sell fox urine at Smith’s Garden
town swear to God she said that
yeah also like repels
all works too I don’t know it smells
terrible like don’t I I have a deal with
Boney and they sent me some I’m going to
try it out once the posum start coming
from my from my figs I have a pest that
I’m dealing with if I can bring it up is
these red mites on my grapefruit
trifoliate hybrid I saw that I
sawes red mites no the like the red ones
I had them on my cumquat before I killed
my kumquat like three years ago and I
decided to dump a bunch of De all over
it but now I don’t want to hurt my my
good bugs but I’m ready to fry the the
mites were like I had to do something
and then I I did neem and neem wasn’t
getting rid of them the right way and so
I’m hoping I’m leaving it on for a week
and I’m seeing if it does anything
different but um I was told to check
into like um was it cin Clay is that
right clay kin clay yeah yeah kin clay
and apparently that is also a good
alternative yeah it’s like brown you
make it in a moisture and you can spray
it on the
trees really but um but the de dious
earth made from
diatoms uh it’s ground up dinosaurs what
you say it’s ground up dinosaur bones is
what it is no there’s single cellular
organisms it’s way different yeah it is
don’t make feel get started no they’re
exoskeletons I didn’t my Master’s
research was in for manifa which are
similar but
they’re not unicellular like a Dums are
so so you you’ve seen you’ve seen you’ve
had good success with de I’ve never had
like this is new to me I’m trying it out
I have you’ve had good success with it
yeah not not using it on like in a foler
application but I occasionally if I have
too many pill bugs in the garden I don’t
know I will uh put a little ring around
my tomato plants of the diet Tous Earth
and um it keeps them off of it so that’s
my biggest way that I use the dious
Earth actually and I don’t like to
spread it too much because it can also
get it can desiccate your earthworm so I
like to be really careful with my
application of
it yeah so it kind of like yeah I like
to be careful pH have you tried um
rubbing alcohol yeah I have not but I
could try I could totally try it it’s
just like I got like a thorny three-foot
tree and I was like what can I just D
this thing with um I have the recipe for
that on um 123 you know um I but I
use you together this is like the best
that’s page 123 a vegetable
gardening vegetable gardening Made Easy
oh here we go rubbing alcohol soap spray
and yeah rosemary
oil chapter 7 page 123 no I’m like the
kid I up to class
unprepared like hey can I see your
text I I was I was very surprised at how
well insecticidal soap works and
insecticidal soap works for a lot of
stuff um even if you just take some
bluon soap and put it in some water some
soapy water I had um the only thing that
was getting rid of the uh the uh what
they call it glassy Wing Sharpshooters
they were all over my crepe myrtles and
my figs the only thing that was taken
him out the pyrine didn’t work the Nemo
wasn’t working the only thing that was
taken him out was the insecticidal soap
or the blue Dawn soap would would kill
him but uh I I haven’t had I I haven’t
had much experience with de I’ve tried
it before uh but didn’t really have like
I said much success with it uh a lot of
people I know have chickens use it and
whenever they change out their bedding
they they’ll throw it in there it’s like
mites and stuff for their chickens
that’s what I’ve
heard but I don’t know I hear mixed
reviews about using it in chicken
keeping um not to Pivot to that but uh
just because it can be sharp for them to
breathe in um like so if they’re using
it in a dust bathing application which I
know some people swear by it’s not
necessarily I don’t use it for that
purpose instead I like to use her
Saturday lime to be honest I’m not going
to grow anything over there anyway yeah
well and is it like so I’ve used
cinnamon for ants and cinnamon cinon for
ants yeah and so cinnamon will help out
as long as it’s dry once it’s wet is is
that the same thing with de as soon as
de gets wet is it is it still good as
soon as de gets wet it’s not effective
because it’s like an it’s fient right
they breathe it in right yeah so
basically they breathe or they eat it in
and basically it cuts up their insides
you know and so they die so um actually
dious Earth I’ve even I mean this could
be controversial and everybody just you
know do your research but I’ve read
somewhere um um that some people even
consume it like you know food gr dious
Earth as a calcium supplement um I
obviously I Haven Tri it but I’ve read
something about it which is quite
interesting but um just drink
milk
exactly exactly but you know um because
the particles are so fine anytime you’re
using de you must wear a mask so
important really yeah 100% otherwise
you’re breathing that stuff and it’s bad
for your lungs yeah um I I got a comment
over here uh so for spider mites I’ve
also uh Felicia said citric acid which
I’ve used orange oil uh for ants and
stuff like that before we just make U
Medina makes an organic orange oil and I
think it’s like 2 oz
of orange oil per gallon of water for
like a full of your feed and then you
can do like I’ve actually done it for
ant piles in my yard and it’s worked out
really well you do 4 ounces per gallon
like in a in a one gallon bucket and
then you drench the the ant pile and
that uh I think it’s called Del lemoning
is the is the the chemical in the the
orange oil and it is fixates the the the
actual ants and it’s the fire ants we’re
talking about is that organic
yeah yeah orange cuz so the orange oil
you get like at Home Depot or whatever
for like cleaning wooden furniture it’s
all the same thing it’s all yeah it’s
like usually it’s Medina organic orange
oil I’ve used it okay well I’m sure it
smells better than NE oil smells so good
it smells so I am not a fan of NE
oil I kind of like it I kind of got used
to it now you know it’s like it smells
like spring to me you know it’s like oh
I’m about to kill some freaking squash
WI or you wor about suffocating a plant
though I have not had that
problemed one once you know growing up
in India we used to have like meeme
trees and um I I know every spring just
right before the season would change um
it was a family ritual um and so many
people still do it to this day where
they would take the leaves of the neem
you know fresh leaves of the neem and
make some juice out of it like how you
have kale juice and stuff like little
shots and it’s so incredibly bitter I
cannot explain like you need to have
honey after that I can IM that to boost
your immunity so you don’t fall sick but
is not meem oil it’s like the leaves of
the ne it’s like a plant don’t drink be
oil
oil um but it’s so interesting you know
like growing up uh in India we had um
you know when if if you ever had chicken
pox or something like that you would
bathe in leaves that were steeped in the
water like neem leaves steeped in like
water um and then you would bathe in
that water to prevent that itchiness and
things like that it was just very
medicinal yeah for for me it has like a
eucalyptus kind of smell to like I I
like it I kind of like it it’s not the
smell for me I mean I’ll use it on
indoor plants for sure but I don’t like
to use it outside I forget about it I
don’t rinse it off and then if like in
the Sun or something I like I scalded
one of my tomato plants once it was like
a thing yeah see I I I never have
problems with skull i’ I’ve never killed
a plant from NE oil cuz this the
dilution rate is so low it’s like 2
ounces per gallon and then I’m also
mixing in like my microlife Ocean
Harvest like my liquid fertilizer and
using that and I’m I’m going like very
late in the evening so like if the sun
goes down at 7:30 I’m spraying it like
7:15 and like and it hasn’t affected my
pollination rates it hasn’t affected my
bees like I’m not going out the next
morning and seeing bees and everything
like it was a war zone uh none of that I
mean none of that and so and I’m not
getting the leaf burn because I’m doing
it so late in the evening I’m doing it
so late that was I think it’s important
yeah no I think it’s important whenever
you’re using any kind of pest control
product even if it’s organic to be you
know very responsible with it because um
you want to you know at the end of the
day attract the beneficials uh and not
harm you know um
not harm the the bugs as much as
possible um because at the end of the
day if it’s good food everybody wants it
right the
moment the moment the insects stop
wanting it it means that your food isn’t
good for you to eat either you
know so even like with de or something I
know once um when I had a really bad
case of cucumber beetles um even if you
do use de put like a a bag or something
like that over it you know in the
evening and then um so so it doesn’t you
know other insects and stuff don’t sit
on it so it’s important to be a little
bit um responsible yeah good I’m going
to do something like that then I I think
the one thing I waited till all my
Citrus was done flowering and then I
could see the fruits come on and then
and then that now I went and went after
that just that one is the problem the
other ones don’t seem to have it which
I’m kind of but it’s I’ve isolated the
plant and I’ve covered it and just
monitoring to see if it is successful
but I keep it from blowing to other
places I think I willover it yeah yeah
well and there’s also another reason to
be spraying like your insecticides or
like your fertilizers in the evening is
that uh for the for for the fertilizer
purpose is that the stomas actually open
up like they’ve they’ve shown studies
that the the folar feeding can actually
absorb more micronutrients than regular
ferti granular fertilizer so I I have
had really good results doing my folar
feeding with ferti like micr lifee Ocean
Harvest or whatever in the evening you
can use like Alaskan whatever the foler
feed uh but I i’ I’ve had really good
success in the evenings and I really I
really haven’t burned anything up so
that’s it’s weird um that’s great a
quick question and and I’ve gotten a
bunch of these questions this this year
has it been a bad roly poly season for
everybody this year oh my gosh yes I’ve
got slugs and snails too I get a million
roly poly questions every week do y’all
have pill buug problems I don’t have the
I don’t have a problem oh my God
see I I I don’t I don’t find it problem
because usually they’re just going after
decaying material usually if if
everybody that’s everybody that’s
commented like I when I get DMS or
questions you know people say hey
someone’s eating my plant well do you
know exactly what’s eating your plant
you know and someone was like oh I had
roly Poley eating my plant well was it
already sick was it already looking
terrible had something else already
eating it up and then the roly py roly
py are kind of just a cleanup crew you
know they’re typically
unless like like was it skip or who was
it is it I think it was skip rter saying
that uh unless there’s so much of a
population of roly Poes that they run
out of like decaying material to eat and
now they’re going after good stuff
because there just so many of them wow
literally seen yeah doing it really yes
I have and I can even show you exactly
what the nibble marks look like I’ll try
and take a picture for you later I’m not
kidding I have this problem right now I
had it last year too I literally
actually saw them eating the tomatoes
like the Tomato stems around the base
yeah wow they eat tomatoes and tomato
stem they at the stem yes wow I was like
they don’t like climb up the plant
necessarily but they take enough nibbles
out of the base of the plant that like
suddenly I was like oh I didn’t I I
really despise roly poy now I I just I
just don’t know what you would put down
to affect the roly poy they wouldn’t
affect everything else you know what I
mean because they’re so in the soil that
if you put something down that’s going
to penetrate the sh the problem with
like stuff like cucumber beetles and
roly Poes and snails is you got to put
down something that’s going to penetrate
the exos skeleton or the shell and so if
they’re in the ground and you’re putting
something in the ground that’s going to
kill the roly poy what are they going do
with the earthworms what are they going
to do to everything else and so I I
don’t I don’t have an answer for what
how to get rid of roly
poliy I like this I want to go for this
the C how do you how do you spell it
again it’s on page 127
127 let me
clip but um oh yes the bird my
yeah cuz that was the comment when I
posted about they like can’t be given
away for free can’t be given away for
free kill and play there’s no there’s
too much info in here we could do this
the rest of the episode wouldn’t
be re has all the answers we can just
end the we can end the live now we just
go get her book now you go ahead last 15
minutes tell us everything but you know
but you know I wanted to tell you like
you had started this um recording the
podcast with talking about soil right
and how important good soil was and when
I first started my gardening Journey
I’m a selftaught gardener and I didn’t
know anything about the importance of
soil and um I had hired a landscaper to
build really small race beds for me and
he had filled it probably with soil from
some sort of a construction site like it
had rocks in it it was like it was awful
it was just so bad and so you know poor
all me I didn’t know better and so I’m
like why isn’t everything growing and
not just that but when you have bad soil
the plants cannot be healthy and that
was attracting so many pests and bugs
and um it was just a disaster like my my
husband would be like this is ridiculous
all you do is spend hours in the garden
looking at the underside of
leaves
like and I’m like like you don’t
understand that’s why I have my book now
because I’m like I I can recognize the
best and I know what to do about it
right some some would say you did the
groundw work to get it right I did it I
I found them and I did it right well and
you and when you’re when you’re having
pest problems you definitely I wouldn’t
go for just a indiscriminate killer
don’t go for an indiscriminate killer
find out you know when people send me
dams like they say something’s eating my
Peppers what do you know what’s eating
your peppers because there’s a million
things that could be eating your peppers
could be a deer could be a deer and I
can’t help you um I think yeah number
one it’s important to you know ID the
pth and number two do always start with
the you know the easiest option which
for me is always like spray them off
with a jet of water that’s the easiest
thing to do it doesn’t harm anything and
that’s my first line of action always
and you know there is a really nice
little um uh small little book it’s
called good bugs bad bugs I don’t know
if you’ve heard of that I think it’s by
the University of Illinois if or the
extension you know from the University
of Illinois have that well I don’t I I I
have I have this one I have this one and
it is yeah go ahead oh so mine is a
really small little book it’s got like
it’s probably spiral bound or something
and it has a picture of the the pest and
behind it it says you know what you can
do to you know to take care of it um and
so there’s so many bugs out there
obviously there’s so many that we don’t
even know of so that’s really helpful
yeah is that it good yeah I think so is
it the University of Illinois um one of
their uh agricultural extensions or
something I’ll have to I’ll have to
scroll down here now this one’s
horticulturist Jessica walliser maybe
she was there oh Jess is yeah Jess is um
the editor for my book oh really awesome
yes with a Pittsburgh Tribune Review
okay check that out Jessica Hendricks no
no Jessica walliser yeah got you okay
but no but this one this good bug bad
bug um it’s a small little um like like
almost a a cheat sheet diary or
something like that I probably have it
upstairs um I’m in my basement right now
so if you guys want I can run up and get
post it post it in your stories later I
will actually I’ll do that and I’ll tag
you yeah yeah yeah post uh that’s a good
point like I I don’t worry about
spidermites cuz I just they don’t like
um they don’t like wetness and so like I
I literally will just go in my
greenhouse and I’ll just spray it down
in the morning I’ll missed it all it
kind of cools it off I miss the ground
and make sure it’s all wet and then I
have not worried about them and if I
have seen them I just do that and they
don’t like it yeah yeah totally yeah
because spidermites usually they occur
the most when it’s dry and hot right so
yeah but then there’s so much of all
this conflicting advice at the same time
they say oh you shouldn’t get your
leaves wet you should just you know
water at the soil level and then when
you do spray your leaves with water to
get rid of the bugs you’re like am I
doing something wrong like you know I
guess you just do your best right that’s
what it is and you do what works yeah
yep and for your area like what works
for like me and the humid Southeast it
wouldn’t be different for some parts of
Texas Texas seems to have every climate
because it’s gigantic and then oh Lord
yeah Dez is like Dez is in a pretty dry
area sure play stays pretty they don’t
they don’t get a whole lot of rain in
Austin yeah unfortunately we haven’t
been getting a lot of rain lately it’s
so funny the people from California
moved to Austin and then it stopped
raining in Austin yep that’s exactly
right that’s what happened and they
guess what it started raining in
La a lot of them moved to North Carolina
too dub they did yeah that was crazy
flooding that crazy right I saw pictures
people cars floating in uh car garages
like in the wild yeah parking garages
crazy but you know Dubai it’s so
interesting because um I know in these
um areas in the Middle East and
everything they have these rain clouds
that they actually um the rainfalls it’s
actually automated you know where they
control the system so it’s it’s very
interesting yeah so so so places like
Dubai and Abu Dhabi they have uh they
have like Air Forces right and they they
they find like I for what was it cumulus
clouds or whatever in the area like and
they they up and they do something yeah
they they uh they find the cloud and
they like kind of Trail it over and they
make it rain like once a week in Abu
Dhabi it’s weird what yes it is it’s
true it is amazing the uh the the
technology actually in I’m this is not a
conspiracy
podcast but but but the te the
technology got developed in Vietnam the
US the US government used to make it
rain on like the northern Vietnamese
area so they couldn’t get
supplies um that they would use through
certain things like that wow look it up
Google it I’m not Eddie Bravo but Google
it you know Google it I have to Google
it yes yeah so it’s pretty wild there’s
some crazy stuff going on in the world
nowadays you know it’s it’s flooding in
Dubai I don’t think anyone’s ever said
that yeah God every so often I guess cuz
you know if it does rain that that
ground is not designed to uh absorb
phobic exactly it’s and it’s it’s so
Sandy that it can’t you know absorb it
and they don’t have such good um they
have a you know they don’t have such
drainage system like we do because
obviously we expect the rain so it’s
different um and so that’s why the
flooding happened because you know yeah
I feel so bad for all their Ferraris
flooding in their parking garages and
their Mansions they were saying like the
police officers in like Dubai like drive
like Ferraris and Lamborghinis and stuff
probably it’s a very wealthy place in
the world very wealthy place that that
oil
money where where’s everyone’s status
with like their gardening and their
plants like Rush are you do you have
everything in the ground a are you pass
your last frost and freeze no not yet
our last frost is May 15th um yeah so
it’s about a month to go so what I have
yeah so what I have in the ground is
really all my cool seasoned veggies
I have like um my peas and carrots I
have bok choy lettuce I even planted um
some some fennel this year I’m growing
something different because I’ve never
tried I’ve never tried growing it I love
the fronds you know they look so pretty
um and so yeah I have a lot of my cool
seasoned veggies right now what about
your favorite plant kale I know your
favorite plant is kale my favorite plant
is always kale I I love you know I love
growing a lot of different Vari ities
there is the curly kale the blue Cur
Scotch kale is one of my favorites and
actually you know the curly kale doesn’t
attract pest as much as the dino kill
which is more flat um I’ve noticed that
it’s very interesting so I have the dino
kale I have red Russian kale I have the
blue Cur Scotch kale you ask me what
kale I can talk about it all day long
well now I’m excited because I have a a
bunch of the blue kale cuz my Dino kale
by miday it’s getting smoked by bugs
like I just give up on it and I chop I
chop its stem off and I wait for it to
come back in the fall cuz it’s not worth
it um but this I’m excited that the
curly kale it will be a at least a
little more sustainable and for me it’s
just something I grow over winter it’s
like it’s it’s it’s just something I
grow over winter with my cabbage and
stuff because right right now it would I
mean everything’s all my brascas and
stuff already bolted oh yeah and
cilantro gone we haven’t hit 90 yet but
we’ve been close 87 today you know it
was 87 here today yeah oh wow it’s it’s
um I think we had a high of
57
lucky get that nice long spr
fascinating yeah it was so fascinating
for me um last year I planted uh
broccoli and kale I usually you know
grow a fall winter garden and I cover it
with hoops and farm grade plastic and
things like that but I planted my
broccoli and kale last year August 23rd
that’s what the tag says which was I
think a little bit late I usually should
have planted it by you know end of July
early August and it was shocking I
nothing grew like the broccoli didn’t
form heads and the kale was a little bit
small but this spring like in Feb I had
in February which is so unusual right
it’s still cold here I had broccoli
heads growing and I harvested like four
big broccoli heads wow broccoli florets
and massive k um and and it’s like you
know this is what I mean when I say easy
gardening that you know I don’t even
water my garden in winter it’s autopilot
and nature just wants to grow and
survive and so you have to just give it
that chance and um just try you know
don’t pull things out just give it a try
it’s very cool absolutely that’s really
cool now uh winter gardening should be
easy because you’re it’s that’s the
that’s the time when we take a little
bit of a break you know so so when do
you like start your tomatoes and like
when do you start Tomatoes like me so
usually I used to start them in um midm
March before but now I have started
growing my tomatoes a little bit later
because you know they tend to grow so
fast any which way and I and one of the
things I noticed is with tomatoes
peppers and all these warm seasoned
veggies if you plant them out when
nighttime temperatures you know average
about 50 to 55° fah they actually do
better so you can plant your Tomatoes
you know on Mother’s Day like for us you
know last frost date I have tried
pushing back planting tomatoes even
Memorial Day weekend which is you know
pretty late like two to three it’s crazy
and they catch up and they do so great
um and and so I feel like it’s fine so
i’ I’ve just recently planted um I put
my tomato seeds in into soil blocks I’m
into soil blocking these days you’re one
of those that that’s so fun
some people I’m going to have to try
that at some point I you have to try it
it is just shocking it’s just so much
easier to put them in like the I got
those really like indestructible like
trays you know so I I would love to try
this as an experiment just you you just
have to try it I’m telling you I was so
blown away because the blocks are and my
blocks are just two Ines by 2 in so
you’re saving on so much soil because
when you like I used to grow them in
Solo cups before
and you’re putting in almost three times
or four times the amount of soil in one
solo cup to grow one seedling as you
would in like a 2 in by 2 in soil block
so you’re using less soil you’re using
less plastic you know or rather no
plastic at all and even instead of 1020
trays I’ve started growing my soil
blocks in um I put them in these baking
sheets you know which are like washable
and then I know with my Solo cups I used
to have to wash them at the you know
once the plants are planted I obviously
want to reuse my plastic cups so I
wouldn’t throw them away but I would
like wash them clean it’s such a chore
and this time I’m like I just have to
wash one tray that’s it you know it’s um
it’s really cool I love it um I saw your
recent video too so if anybody’s
watching this she just posted a video
about this on her page and I was
watching it earlier it was such a good
video I’m
inspired I always think it’s really cool
when like you see the soil blockers they
take like the one by one little one
stick it into the middle of the like I
was like that looks cool that looks fun
yes um I I was going to tell Phil this
cuz I he has he has some of the same
trays that I have those propagation
trays I actually put my trays in the
dishwasher I I hose them off and then M
are tell me that yeah mine are
dishwasher safe like minine are the ones
I’ve got from all about the garden um
which there’s a link in my bio uh Link
in my bio as well yes Link in link
Phil’s bio as well
um but coer they’re they’re not made
they’re not they’re not made in China
they’re made out of 100% recycled
materials and their uh their dishwasher
safe I I literally put them in the
dishwasher and then I store them in my
garage it’s it’s they changed my
perspective on like uh propagating figs
and that’s where like when I saw you use
them Destin I couldn’t believe like how
close you can get things together and it
and little I can relate to you it’s a
little sketch but like I can use less
soil and I can get the system going
that’s why I can relate to you Russ like
using less soil you can be more
efficient with your time and then I can
just up poot them as needed and just go
to the next round round round round plus
I I love gadgets I love the little punch
I love that like I just want that and I
just want to do it I want to it is so
satisfying I’m telling you um yeah it’s
really fun I’ve been enjoying that a lot
and you know one of the interesting
things I I don’t know if you’re running
out of time or anything no no we got
time oh okay so one of the interesting
things though with soil blocking I used
to think that you know if your container
size or your seed cell is really small
then uh your seedling ends up being
stunted because it doesn’t have space to
grow a and that is absolutely true when
you’re growing in seed cells or
containers but what is shocking with
soil blocking is even though it’s so
small 2 inches by two inches the
seedlings are like humongous and I’m
like how is that how is it not stunted
it’s it’s called air pruning right air
the air prun yeah so it’s so cool The
Roots get air pruned and so when you
know it comes in contact with the air
they don’t grow anymore and so the plant
sends out new roots and so it’s growing
stronger and healthier and bigger and
I’m like this is
amazing it’s very cool that’s so cool
that is awesome no I no I’m definitely
going to try it I I’ve I’ve I’ve done so
many things like that I would normally
not but I I do stuff for Content like I
I did the the electric for Content I’ll
do that I did the ladybugs for Content
um which I won’t do that again don’t buy
ladybugs it doesn’t work um uh you know
but like I I I’ll do the soul blocking
and I bet I’ll like it the only thing I
don’t like I don’t always like getting
my hands dirty I don’t like always
getting like my hands like nasty like
you know what I mean it but it comes
from I well I used I used I still have
dirt in my nails in the dirt yeah I used
to I I us I used to wear contacts and so
having to take them out I would my eyes
all nasty but I don’t wear contacts
anymore so it’s gotten so much better I
don’t wear gloves most of the time now
so like it’s so much so much nicer yeah
but yes I would love to try um y’all got
15 more minutes Phil you gotta run
anything like that you got 15 more more
minutes 15 minutes I can do 15 minutes
yeah yeah we’ll do 15 more minutes um
reason I asked this is because uh
someone’s asking about Vine borers
squash Vine BS so i r you’re the most
furthest North so you probably get you
probably get the same amount of pressure
but in a compact amount of time so like
what do what do you do for vine BS like
what is your number one tactic you know
to be honest they can decimate your
plans so quickly and you need to first
of all um perform some sort of a surgery
this is what I say I know it doesn’t
sound good if you feel icky about it
wear your gloves or you know get your
hubby or somebody else to do it but you
need to you know you’ll see it it starts
turning like this yellowish thing you
know at the base of your stem especially
with zucchini plants or even this is
after they’re already infected this is
after they’re already exactly after
they’re already infected um because
sometimes you you know you you take the
best of precautions but it can happen
it’s very common but so you need to
slice that part where you think the
squash wine borer has you know gone in
the stem especially the zucchini the
stems can be pretty thick right so you
do that and you have to extract that uh
the wine borer out and bury the stem
under the soil so you know um that’s
what I suggest but other than that I I
know people say you know having these
collars and everything around the Bas at
the time of planting I mean you could
try that but I don’t know how effective
it is um but yeah you know it’s it’s
funny you were saying you that once you
cut a squash I’ve actually had a squash
that the base where I I direct seated it
I planted it and it came up and then I
must have had a squash boore or
something cuz the one end like the the
towards the middle of it got infected
but it kept growing they they will grow
roots you know I after I saw it was like
infected I went ahead and buried it and
the squash plant will actually grow
roots and continue to grow even even if
the original root system is destroyed
yes that’s that’s absolutely true it’s
absolutely true especially with the
zucchini varieties there the zucchini
varieties they th the ones like throw
out tendrils like your Patty pans um
they’re a little more hairy and they
will definitely throw out roots oh yeah
you know with zucchini also um I like to
grow sometimes I like to grow my squash
vertically upward I don’t know if you’ve
ever tried that um I mean it’s just a
cover of my book I don’t know if you can
see but that’s that yellow thing that’s
actually a lemon squash you mean this
Bally vegetable gardening Made Easy by r
g no but that’s you see that yellow
behind me that’s the leemon squash
growing vertically I say I don’t have
space listen I have a small garden so
just you know keep them off the ground
that’s a great reminder to grow things
think three-dimensionally you can grow
things upwards yeah it saves it saves
space you know like like I was saying a
lot of like the zucchinis like I know
particularly like the uh the Patty pans
or the flying squ the Flying Saucer
squash have tendrils not all squash have
tendrils but the ones that don’t you can
weave them in and out like a cattle
panel or something like that um I I tend
to tell people to be more preventative
yeah rather than reactive typically once
you see that moth flying around it’s
already too late you know if you see him
if you see that moth that it’s such a
what sucks is it’s such a cool looking
moth like the the squash moth is the
squash bug moth is really cool looking
it’s yellow it’s blue and orange um and
so I tend to be Pro active so I’m as
soon as my squash which I direct seated
this year it starts coming up and
producing blooms I’m going to start
spraying like almost immediately NE oil
once a week um going up underneath the
leaves and around the base uh if you’ve
had issues with Vine bers in the past
you need to clean up your raised beds
because the larvae will hang out in the
leaf litter and and the the bark and all
the wood chips and stuff so you got to
be kind of pre precautious not proactive
rather than reactive when it comes to
squash bugs in my opinion and I’ve had
I’ve had very little squash bug squash
Vine board damage I’ve had squash bug
damage uh but not squash fine border
damage in quite a while using that
Weekly NE oil method but like I said in
the beginning of the podcast I’m
spraying very very late in the evenings
like almost Darkness I’m spraying NE oil
and I have not had issues with
pollinators um but you just want to be
careful yeah no and I find that
especially you know with brass
and if you’re growing kale or you know
even with cucumbers as well to to
prevent those cucumber beetles for
example I really find that covering your
seedlings like when you plant them in
the ground cover them it is literally
you know that’s the best method to keep
majority of the bugs away uh put in some
hoops you can get these ladders from you
know Home Depot as well if you want to
um uh and just cover it with like insect
netting um egg fabric whatever you have
you know and that allows the rain and
the air to go through but prevents those
you know um those butterflies or those
bugs from laying their eggs on top of
your plants and I think that is really
you know the covers work so wonderfully
well especially at the time you know at
the time of planting the seedling um
once you see flowers and with cucumbers
of course once you see flowers and your
squash or cucumbers Etc you want to take
the covers off at that point so they can
get pollinated and um with cucumbers you
also have you know these self ating
varieties um like beat Alpha as well
which is so cool number one variety ba
Alpha yeah yeah exactly so yeah I would
say covers are the best bet you know if
you don’t want to spray anything yeah
right and and also know that stuff like
you know just because it’s called a
cucumber Beetle doesn’t mean it only
eats cucumbers just because it’s just
because it’s called a squash BR doesn’t
mean it only eat squash bugs you know uh
the the the one insect that I can never
beat
is the leaf footed bug I can I cannot
beat it no matter what I do um Leaf
footed bugs they’re often confused with
stink bugs um when you squash them they
smell the same uh but they will they
they take my little they take my gr my
cherry tomatoes and they’ll just suck
them dry they’ll suck the the liquid out
of them and uh I had an infestation of
them if you have a lot of mulch around
you’re going to have them I I I I I talk
to skip about that because I I I cannot
beat those
guys I I started uh I learned how to
identify their egg trails and I started
squashing them or cutting that leaf away
um and then throwing it away in another
County and it worked great Dr another
[Laughter]
County being factious but yeah well I
mean and people need to know like you
know like if you’re going to be like an
organic Gardener you’re going to work a
lot harder you’re going to work you’re
going to just have to pay the nature tax
a little bit
well it’s it’s a war it’s not a it’s not
one battle it’s a war you know it’s it’s
but you can also inter like intertwine
with with the you know the other
soldiers you know like yeah it’s no I I
grow organically and I tell my clients
and you know anyone else who’s listening
like use um you know use companion
plants it really does help especially
garlic and onions I mean people say
garlic can you know keep away vampires I
mean literally plant a border of garlic
around uh your garden around your
vegetable garden it does help the smell
does repel a lot of pest even you know
around your Tomatoes garlic and tomatoes
um are great companion plants so um
having you know Rosemary oregano all
these things that give out this really
you know nice smells do tend to keep
those you know pests away and um also
you know plant like pollinator Gardens
and flowers and things like that that
can attract the good bugs you know that
can take care of the problem for you as
well so you have your soldiers in the
garden that’s what
I’m I Tred to do that with like I have
like 15 green onion plants and they’re
just like all strewn in there and I’m
hoping that that does the trick I’m
newer with that strategy but fingers
crust yes Shives green onions garlic all
that helps a great deal for sure yeah
the the better yeah yeah odiferous I’m
using big words like that yeah okay well
that makes sense well
I
melodious I’ve been I’ve been playing a
bunch of basil and a bunch of stuff like
that this year I’m kind of nervous
because I put it in my raised bed and it
was next to another pot and I’m already
seeing basil pot up in other spots
especially like the it’s basil can
spread pretty easily I’m finding out
yeah I love that actually it’s my
favorite when I find a volunteer I pick
it up I put it somewhere else it’s my
favorite I’m just like oh look at you’re
out of place let me just take you and
put you over here you can stay here you
can never have too much basil yeah true
we we eat pesto like twice a week in my
household and maybe because I’m Italian
but Italian I agree with that statement
yeah
oh we love pesto oh my God pesto my I
sneak spinach into it my kids eat it
they don’t they don’t have clue they
they don’t you know I I make pesto not
just from basil um but you know Phil no
you know I know Italians love their
basil pesto but you should try making
pesto from Carrot Tops you know the
greens of carrots oh it tastes so
delicious just mix that up with you know
put that the green carrot greens or The
Carrot Tops whatever you call them with
some pistachio some olive oil parmesan
garlic salt and some lemon juice you’re
making me it is so good oh my God yeah
do like to use um I’ll use instead of
Parmesan I’ll use peino and it’s a
little saltier and I you fancy you fancy
Mi oh you blend it the blend and you
know we make pesto also out of garlic
Scapes I don’t know if you’ve tried that
GAR no but that would be really good oh
those are so so good new level unlock
I’m going to try to get some exp points
do so grow you know what in Fall just
plant some hard neck garlic and that’s a
variety and if you plant hard neck
garlic they grow Scapes and so for us um
it’s around this time like I would say
may or so about a month before the
garlic is ready to be harvested the
Scapes uh grow and then you cut those
off let the garlic continue to grow and
then use the Scapes to make the most
delicious garlic scape pesto oh it’s so
good I’ve seen I’ve seen people frying
them up in like stir fries as well using
the Scapes so do you have do you have to
cut the Scapes off of garlic or can you
leave them because I know they bloom
right they’ll start to bloom they will
Bloom yes it’s ideal from the bulb right
exactly exactly sorry about I knew I
knew y’all would get along I knew y’all
get along totally right yeah exactly so
if you Garden I probably get along with
you yeah but yeah oh my goodness yeah
well guys I know got uh got to go make
some pesto so we’ll go ahead and uh
we’ll shut it down but real quick Dez
where can everybody find you uh you can
find me everywhere you can find me on
Instagram YouTube Tik Tok gardening with
Dez two Z’s however onesie on Facebook
because somebody stole my username you
guys are all tagged in the live you’re
all tagged in this um go find me I’m
talking about pollinators I got a great
butterfly video coming up
awesome yes you will frequently find her
hunting down caterpillars and cocoons in
her backyard and possibly feeding
squirrel’s peanuts basically any
bug I love
bugs oh my goodness re thank you so much
for coming on let uh let everybody know
where they can find your book and what
you got coming up thanks so much um my
book vegetable gardening Made Easy you
can find it on Amazon Barnes & Noble
Target Walmart in Indigo bookshop.org so
lots of different places but um you can
find me personally on Instagram that’s
where I’m most um um most popular I
would say um my handle is R Gala which
is r s h g l a and um you can also find
uh me on my website and reach out to me
that way if you wish that’s
www.r gala.com
simple enough great Gala everywhere yes
absolutely Mr Phil’s fig the Fig daddy
the config where can we find the config
you can find me anything if you type in
Phil’s figs on the internet I will pop
up uh but you can find me a lot on
Instagram and YouTube I have a channel
there and uh you can find me at Phils
figs.com I will have fig trees by the
end of the month and I’m actually going
to be having a giveaway coming up
details soon y if you don’t follow Phil
on YouTube you definitely should because
he he will do giveaways from time to
time he definitely does giveaways in the
comment section of his videos uh any of
you go have events coming up or anything
like that any like this weekend at the
Eagles D in Wilmington North Carolina
we’re doing an Earth Day event and I’m
doing with the plant ecologist Gabriella
do soza and I’ll be selling fig trees
there and then if anybody is in
Wilmington in May I will be presenting
on figs at the Tidewater chamelia Club
in May so come put links to that in the
comment section after after the live
absolutely yeah re anything like that
any book signings you had a book signing
not too long ago I’s all that I just had
a book signing last weekend you know at
my local gym which was awesome we
actually sold out all the books like I
could not believe it it was just
amazing um so just really happy so I
have another book signing coming up at
barnon Noble in Bridgewater um and then
I’ll be doing another signing probably
in uh June at mayor Nick kitchen which
is in Pompton Lakes in New Jersey yeah
awesome and I’ll be putting those dates
up soon yeah yes yeah if you and if you
uh have anything right now put it in the
comment section of this uh Dez any are
you g to come to Belleville this weekend
and come to come to our thing you know
you want to drive to Belleville it’s not
that far from Austin I know it’s not
that far from Austin I don’t know that
this weekend is the weekend though yeah
I uh I so to yeah I know you need come
see me in jge so I am Texas Garden guy
Destin Noak and I will be at Belleville
Garden Center or sorry Bellflower Garden
Center in Belleville Texas uh there’s
links to everything in my bio um and I
will have fig trees for sale $20 one
gallon figs um so we will be uh I’m I’m
running out of room for fig trees I’m
running out of room I’ve got uh brown
turkey Italian black I got a bunch of
LSU purple um so I I’ll have quite a few
with me I’ll bring about 20 or so with
me so $20 preferably cash um and we’ll
see yall there we’ll be there from 10 to
two