Trap crop

“What’s a trap crop,” you ask? Trap cropping is when you purposefully add plant varieties that you know will attract pests in order to keep them off a more prized plant.

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Mustard isn’t our favorite thing to eat, but it grows well in our cool season. And while I don’t love it, aphids do! It’s one of the first plants they go for, and thus keeps some other plants, like swiss chard, safe from their destruction. 

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Once you’ve trapped them you can decide to just let them keep living on the mustard or you can choose to treat them more easily because they are in one spot. You can cut off infected leaves and put them in soapy water. Neem oil is another option. Most often I just kinda squish them against leaves by rubbing my thumb on them and then spray them off with a hose.

If you have had problems with pests in the past consider adding a sacrificial plant to your raised garden bed. Here are a few choices that you can pick up at the nursery and plant this week.

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Mustard will attract aphids

Dill will attract tomato hornworm

Nasturtium attracts both aphids and flea beetles

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Go grow something!