GARDEN BUGS BE GONE!

WHY TILL THE GARDEN TWICE?
Yes! As soon as it freezes at night I will till the garden deeply one more time with my smaller garden tiller for three reasons:

1. SLUGS
Two years ago we had a wet summer and I had quite a few slugs in the tomatoes and beets. That fall I put out pieces of metal, large stones and pails, lifting them every morning and sprinkling salt on the slugs that had gathered.
This year I found one slug and I killed him on the spot. But they say that a second tilling can bring up any slugs that have gone down to hibernate and then at night if it freezes, they will die. It’s not hard to take these extra measures to keep the garden free of these pests.

2. POTATO BUGS
The same idea is great for the potato bugs. That second tilling will also bring them to the surface and the frost at night will kill them.

Our niece gave us a new idea to try this year. Her friend plants a dried brown bean in with the piece of potato and she claims never to have potato bugs. So I will try this in a few weeks when we plant potatoes. She said it has to be brown beans!

3. PREPARE THE GARDEN FOR SPRING PLANTING
One more reason for tilling the second time is because the first time it was done quite rough with the cultivator. The second time I will use my tiller which leaves the garden nice a smooth; ready for spring planting.