Wow, it's October, and time to put in some Spring/Summer vegies down here in the Southern Hemisphere. Here are some photos of a garden with tomato plants with marigolds to keep the bugs at bay. My productive planting teachers says it's important to practice companion planting, ie mix up the plants and annoy the feisty pests with wormwood, mint, tansy, nasturtiums and marigolds, just to name a few. There is a wide range of plants to combine with a vegetable garden, all having different functions, whether it be to confuse the insects with their strange smell, draw the good bugs (lure plants), or repel the bad ones.
If the vegies are planted in tidy rows as per the picture (reminiscent of broad-acre farming), the critters are more likely to have a field day (pardon the pun). I'm told the bugs don't look that hard, and if they see something that resembles a squashed friend, they tend to stay away, thinking it's 'Curtains for cute bug' time. I am going out to put some broken egg-shells around the leafy green vegies, as this is something the slugs and snails don't approve of!
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