Pesticides

Trying to grow plants really makes me appreciate pesticides.

I haven't used any, and probably won't. So far tomato hornworms killed my tomato plant, cabbage white butterflies have destroyed my collard greens, rolly polys are eating most of my large strawberries and leaf hoppers cover a half dozen other plants.

It probably doesn't help that the best predator I have been able to attract is the brown widow spider. Since it is both invasive and poisonous I have been killing them on sight.

All this trouble despite being as far from a monoculture as is possible. Most of my plants are the only one of their type in the yard. In a large monoculture like most modern farms are I can see how everything would be eaten in no time.