Operation Gardening : The Ladybug Experiment

I have been growing my own vegetables for the past 4 months, and let me tell you-- it is such an excitement when your own vegetables spring up!  But when all of a sudden your precious plants become infested with aphids.. all hell breaks loose!  I didn't want to buy pesticides because I am trying to stay as organic as I can, since I will be consuming the vegetables myself.  I did my research and came to find out that ladybugs were a great way to get rid of those plant eating devils!  I purchased my own lady bugs and boy was that a thrill!  Here are some photos of my experiment:

Crawling around the pot

 

The result: No more plant eating aphids! It worked!

However, yes those pretty little ladies will soon fly off and venture into another garden, so you will need a backup plan:

Another method you can do if ladybugs aren't your forte, is 1/2 cup distilled vinegar with 1/2 cup water, mix it and put it in a spray bottle container. This will kill the aphids and larvae on contact.  Be careful- Some plants may react horribly with vinegar.

Hope that helps, friends!

P.S. While watching over my ladybug friends, I caught a bee on my basil flowers and had to snap a shot:


 
& here's a few of my garden plants, they are growing so fast!
I get so excited when I get to harvest more veggies!

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Basil

Jalapeno

Serrano Pepper

Lemon Tree

Bell Pepper

Little baby basil leaves

Do you have a garden? What is your favorite vegetable or fruit to grow?

xo- Lisa