A blanket solution New product ‘The Germinator’ gives effective protection from garden pests I AM the sort of fellow who prefers the literary rather than the literal approach when it comes to kiiling birds with stones. This being the case, 1 thought I might use today’s column to hit upon two separate subjects raised in recent letters. The first letter was from a Mr. K. who seems just about ready to give up on trying to grow beets for beet tops in our area. It seems that in previous attempts, he was more successful growing lunch for leaf-rminers and other pests than he was in getting greens from the garden. A Gazdener’s Guide: 1:: Pest Prevention and Controi in the Home and Garden, put out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, is a very useful book despite its rather long-winded title. Here is its council on leaf- miners in beets: “Keep garden free of ‘lambs- quarter’ weed. Pick beet leaves with blotchy mines and dispose of them in the garbage. This breaks the life cycle by preventing devel- opment to the fly stage. Malathion 50% EC at I mlI/! of water will kill the flies. Several applications at four-day intervals may be needed to obtain full con- trol.”’ I can see why Mr. K. is on the verge of abandoning the beet. If the only way that { could get good beet tops was to spray ‘‘several applications’’ of the organo- phosphate Malathion on my food, I would abandon them, too. Luckily for Mr. K’s beets and my column, there is an alter- native. Most of our pest problems ar- tive in the vegetable garden in the form of an airborne assault. Flies Geoff Tobiasson os OVER THE GARDEN GATE and/or butterflies sneak in while we are not looking and deposit their eggs which soon hatch into the little cating machines that cause all the damage. It would therefore seem logical that first consideration should be given to installing an effective air defence system that prevents these insects from laying their eggs near your plants. Well, imagine a force field that will allow light, water and air to reach your plants but keep the bugs out. This is the best description I can give to the pro- duct known as ‘‘The Germinator’’ by Reemay. This spunbonded polyester fabric is so amazingly light (0.6 ounces per square yard) that you can cover your crops with a force field-like blanket without having to mess with supporting hoops ===" 53-65% OFF and more! RETAIL sbaxdo 25aC00 spexpo 163600 SIZE 4x6 7x10 3x5 §x8 DESCRIPTION China Super 60 Persian Bakhtiar Pakistan Bokhara Parsian Traibal NOW 399.00 999.00 199.00 599.02 #8 WATER STREET, GASTOWN (across from Spaghetti Factory) HOURS: MONDAY - SATURDAY 10 - 7 P.M. > SUNDAY 11 - 6 PM. 681-6440 44 It is the perfect environment for the healthy and speedy germination of seed in the lawn and garden.99 and wire frames. You simply rol! it out, loosely over your newly seeded crop. Even though pegs are provided, scoop some dirt onto the edges to hold it down. The developing foliage will provide all the support required to lift the crop cover as your plants grow. This material can provide an ef- fective method of control for other nuisances as well. Pests such as carrot rust fly, cabbage maggot (the main cause of riddled radishes), caterpillars and loopers, plus many more, are held at bay. You may need to lift the sides every once in a while to pick the ocd weed that manages to sneak under the blanket. This is the best time for you to check that the fabric has not become stretched tco tightly over the plants. The end results will surely be a qvick, healthy crop of home- grown vegetables without pesticide residues and no bugs in your beets. I say quick because of the other letter I received. Mrs. L. was very concerned by one of my recent articles which suggested that it was far too early to plant her lettuce and was wor- ried that it would not survive. As we can now see, the unusually warm days we experienced early in spring were no guarantee that we had escaped the more common cold. This ties in very nicely with the lawn and garden blankets men- tioned. You see, they not only protect your plants from bugs, they will also fend off an unex- pected attack of cold, even frosty weather. These blankets offer the same sort of protection as that supplied by the garcener’s old friends, the cloche and the cold frame. Their improved air circulation, increased availability of water and provision of an effective barrier io pests af- fords us with extra benefits to these gardener’s aids. As the product name suggests, this is the perfect environment for the healthy and speedy germina- tion of seed in the lawn and garden. About the only thing I find questionable concerning this pro- duct is the labelling. Reemay seems to have focused their mar- keting entirely on this product’s qualities as a germinator blanket for lawn seed and ignored its im- portance in the vegetable garden. While I must admit that it has the ability to get lawn seed off to a lightning-fast start as well as to protect the seed and seedling: from those birds, it is too valuable a product to be limited to this function. One season of healthy, pesticide-free vegetables out of your garden will prove me right. Beautiful, affordable and maintenance free retaining walls you can build yourself! Retaining Walls available in» SANDBOX SAND e FILL SAND © CRUSHED & ROUND STONE ¢ RIVERSTONE ¢ TOP SOIL e BARK MULCH ® LAVA ROCK AVAILABLE FOR DELIVERY ONLY © concrete block * used railway ties ® nressure treated timbers * treated landscape ties