Cabbage worms are a real problem here in the midwest. 

If you're growing cabbages and cabbage relatives, read up on these little stinkers. 

Cabbage worms attack these plants:

• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage (including Napa Cabbage)
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Mustard Greens
• Turnips

Cabbage Moths

How to Identify

Cabbage worms are the larvae of small white or pale yellow moths. You've probably noticed them flitting around the...

Sometimes I get inspiration from various gardening Facebook groups for what to write about in my weekly blog article. I look at what people are asking in the group.

Probably the most popular question is something like this:

"Anybody know bug what this is?"

It's a good question to ask! You can't respond effectively to an insect if you don't know what it is!

Now that we have the Internet, it's relatively easy to find out what any...

Organic insecticides use naturally occurring substances to kill insects, or they use simple chemicals that break down without harming the environment. I really don't like to use insecticides of any kind, but sometimes they can help. 

Pests in the organic garden are expected - it's just part of the process. It's pretty remarkable how a healthy plant can resist and recover from an attack from pests. I had read about how healthy plants...

If you grow tomatoes, sooner or later you'll encounter the tomato hornworm. These are hungry caterpillars that love to strip tomato plants clean.

Creepy looking, aren't they? Surely you can see how they got their name! Even though they have that distinctive "spike" on their back ends, they don't sting. 

These pests are masters of disguise. They are the exact color of the tomato foliage, and they position themselves in such...

Growing a successful garden requires skills of observation, assessment, and action. Noticing the little things will enable you to identify problems before they become devastating. 

At times, we are so absorbed in our minds or on our phone screens that we can't see what's going on around us. Observation is an important skill for a gardener, and when you're at the garden, put aside your distractions and concentrate on...

If you like vegetables, you can bet that animals and insects like them too. And this is is why we have garden pests.

Since I am an organic gardener, pest control is not exactly easy. I prefer not to use insecticides for the bugs or poisons for the small animals. Nevertheless, there are many things you can do to protect your vegetables to avoid problems with pests. I choose a multi-faceted approach.