"Ah, OK, so an example of a "systemic pesticide" would be RosePride, which you work into the soil and the plant takes it up and thereby fights off funguses as well as insects, etc.  Good stuff and I use it because it isn't…"

"LOL it's true, buying "good bugs" from a catalog is useless!  Especially ladybugs.  Not only do they fly away to better hunting grounds, sometimes they also bring diseases to your existing good-bug population.  Besides,…"

"LOL I totally know about how discouraging it can be to try to garden organically!  It really can't be done in the few hours you have after work and on weekends - it's a full-time, hands-on job.  I try to avoid petrochemicals as…"

"I have gardener friends in Texas and I am always praying for you guys - especially after spending a week in San Antonio on business.  People who complain about rain have always astounded me - I have always considered it a major blessing and…"

"Oh, I am quit confident that GM foods are safe, though like all foods, the more we work to make them cosmetically perfect and hyper-productive, the less flavor they have.  My concern with GM is not safety per se, but the fact that if/when…"

"LOL my chickens won't eat food made with GM corn, either (for instance, breakfast cereal or corn-chips - which they used to gobble up before GM corn was in everything) so maybe there's something to that instinctive aversion to GM foods!"

"Haven't tried that yet, but I will next year.  Sounds plausible - if the adult moths don't like dill and avoid it.  We'll have to see!  And if it doesn't work, at least I have lots of use for dill!"

"Yah I know what you mean about bees - around here they're in such a precarious state that I hate to spray anything, even DE, for fear of hurting them.  Especially on plants such as squash where they actually spend the night inside the…"

"LOL yah I learned the hard way that you do NOT want to raise baby chicks inside your home - not if you want to entertain human guests in your home ever again, anyway.  Chicks make a LOT of dust, and you don't want to think about what that…"

"Sharon and Leslie: you both may be seeing squash bugs, not squash-vine-borers (which are rarely actually seen.)  Squash bugs are also a pain, but not nearly as destructive.  The white bugs Sharon is seeing might be squash bugs in their…"

"Hmm, don't know what that could've been, turning the stems black and all.  Possibly fungus gnats?  Probably not borers, though - though the adults do fly.  SVB adults look kind of like smallish wasps - somewhere between the…"

"I'll be happy to share some of BOB's seeds with you and see how they do - sending you a friend request now so I can ask where to send them!"

"Yes, sadly, all pumpkins are also a favorite host of Squash Vine Borers.  You have to look at the horticultural ("latin") names of any squash you plan to plant.  (If a seed company doesn't use horticultural names, don't…"

"How is the Spinosad used?  Is it sprayed or injected or what?  I was thinking of using GardensAlive!'s broad-spectrum grub-eating nematodes on the soil next spring. It sounds like they might kill the larvae of the critters that eat up…"

"For only 3 chicks, I'd just keep them in a box in the spare bathroom when not snuggling them all the time! :)"