The Linnaeus Fruit and Vegetable Garden is the place to be to learn how to safely manage pests, see the latest gardening techniques, and check out new and exciting fruit and vegetable varieties.

Looper worm on a cabbage leaf

Managing Pests

Yes, we have holes in our cabbages.

But we manage everything in the Linnaeus Garden as organically as possible.  To control the cabbage looper, a small green worm currently enjoying our cabbage and cauliflower leaves, we are using B.t. (Bacillus thuringiensis).  This bacterial insecticide is non-toxic to pets, people and beneficial insects, but will cause the worms to stop eating and die. 

One of the best pest-management techniques is to plant insect resistant plants, such as tomato plants labeled VFTN indicating resistance to verticillium and fusarium wilts, tobacco mosaic virus and nematodes.

Other techniques include tossing infested plants or controlling the infestation with non-toxic methods when possible. This spring we are again planting our tomatoes in tubs so that we can easily tip them and spray away spider mites with pressurized streams of water.

Curator Larry Rogers works with container-grown garlic

Some predators such as the tomato horn worm are large and easily visible.  The best method to control these is to ask your husband to pick them off and place on the shoulder of someone leaving the garden.

Introducing natural beneficial predators is also a control technique. The Linnaeus Garden has a new purple martin house that we hope will attract many pest-eating birds

Growing Techniques

The Linnaeus Veggie Garden uses raised beds full of mushroom compost and chicken manure.  Raised beds have excellent drainage and warm up faster in the spring.  They are easier for gardeners to work in.  Mushroom compost is an excellent soil amender.  It's the byproduct of the mushroom growing industry. It's rich in nutrients and adds good workability to garden soil. 

Nitrogen-fixing legumes such as green beans will be planted in beds with non-amended soil. Too much fertilizer for these types of vegetables causes them to put all their energy into leaf production. We will also be trying some high-yield, smaller green bean varieties grown in containers.

Gourds growing on a garden trellis

Check out the gourds and other crops that will be growing in profusion over the trellises that curve from one bed to another.  Our Asian Pears along the fence are another good example of how to produce much from a small area.

New Varieties and Experiments

“This year is going to be all about containers”, says Vegetable Garden Curator Larry Rogers. “We want to demonstrate how to grow excellent vegetables for people who don’t have a lot of room, plants that are both showy and edible.”

Plans are to try dwarf Hansel eggplants which grow 3-4” long and are great for grilling, as well as to grow miniature potatoes and watermelons. We’ll bring back some of the favorites from last year such as the showy black pearl pepper, real-live cotton, and millet which is not only useful for bird feed but decorative as well, all grown in containers.

"We would also like to try the new method of planting tomatoes upside-down", says Rogers. "The stem will start growing down, and then turn up toward the light. It makes the tomatoes easy to water and harvest. And we are going to use red plastic, which has been proven to increase yield, around the base of some plants."

Along with mass plantings of spinach, mustard, and turnip greens, leaf lettuce and okra varieties, we are also going to try some vegetable and annual mixes to show home owners what can be done. Some of these combinations, such as using purple basil mixed with tomatoes, will not only be attractive but will help keep down pests.

The Linnaeus Teaching Gardens' Fruit and Vegetable Garden should be a fun place to visit often this year.