Standard Process Inc.
Beneficial Insects Save the Day
October 2008 News From The Farm SP News Article
Christine Mason,
Farm Manager
As I write this newsletter article we are pressing the last load of buckwheat at the Standard Process Farm for 2008. Buckwheat is our largest goal, and between the successive planting and successive harvesting it consumes much of our time every day from May through early September. So when it is over for the year, all of a sudden life feels kind of slow and simple around here!
The benefits of growing buckwheat are many and diverse. To me, one of the most interesting benefits of having buckwheat growing in so many areas is the diversity of good bugs it brings to the farm.
Beneficial insects are constantly on the move in search of prey, and they tend to stop and hunt in areas that are flowering and buckwheat is a pretty steady bloomer. We have a lot of buckwheat, so we have a steady influx of good-guy bugs. Have you ever noticed increased insect activity in your home garden when dill or coriander is blooming? These are the good guys, moving in to save the day.
Lady beetles are one of the Farm's
beneficial insects
Beneficial insects are extremely diverse. Some of the most obvious beneficials are pollinators, such as bees. None of us would have food on the table if the pollinators stopped doing their jobs. Some of the less obvious beneficials are the ones that I appreciate the most–the carnivores, or the T. rexes of the garden or farm. I think everyone is familiar with lady beetles or the praying mantis, but what about all of the beneficial wasps, which come in when the garden is flowering, or how about the syrphid and tachinid flies? These are extremely beneficial visitors to your garden or farm, and it would be worth doing a Google¨ search to see what some of them look like! You may have a garden full of beneficials and you don't even realize it!
We are diligent in our rotational schedules at Standard Process, and I think that has a great deal to do with our success without using chemical insecticides. But I also have to give credit to these beneficial insects which I find in abundance in every field every time I scout.
Plants with small flowers and exposed nectar and pollen seem to attract the most beneficial insects, as well as umbels such as coriander, dill, fennel, and caraway. Plant a row of buckwheat, alyssum, or dill in your garden and when they start to flower take time to notice what comes to dinner!