Thinking I might have found the bright side of the garlic grass that's invaded most of my gardens, I went googling for "plants that repel voles" and found a promising article on Elsevier (they publish research journal articles). The goal of the study was to find plants that kept voles out of orchards. The method was to see what deterred them from eating their favorite food, applesauce, when it was mixed with different concentrations of the various plants under consideration. I'm not positive that these results actually imply a repellent, but for what it's worth, here are the results: Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis Sieb. and Zucc.), boxwood (Buxus sempervirens L.), daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus L.), and crownvetch (Coronilla varia L.) were the most effective. The abstract is at the link below. I can probably get a PDF of the full text from the WHOI library system if anyone wants to see it, but I'm hoping to find something more apropos (I really don't *want* pachysandra everywhere - or anywhere.) Here is a link that might be useful: Crop Protection abstract

Wait until you've gone through a plague of locusts. I've lived through a few 17 year cicada hatches in my lifetime. Not as bad as some of you have described but the sound of them singing was deafening some nights. Still, that was part of growing up in the South so we never knew any different. Still, the cicadas didn't really bother plants, to my knowledge. It was the grasshopper (locust) hatchouts that did that. Rhonda, I can't believe what you're saying about the mayflies and the plows. Wow. And I thought FL had bug problems! The closest I've seen to that is when we had a bad red tide and they had to bring in front end loaders to get all the dead fish and seaweed off the beaches.

Where in the world are you? Start with a good reliable soil test for soil pH and major nutrients and perhaps these simple soil test (which you have already alluded to) may be of some help. 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. These will be of some help in guiding you to what the soil needs to grow strong and healthy plants. kimmq is kimmsr

There's a degree of truth in what your husband says about turning it over and freezing the bugs, but he's got it a little convoluted. In turning things over, you're burying the plant debris. It's the plant debris the bugs, insect and pathogens, winter on and in/around, and turning it under creates an environment that the bugs don't find hospitable. He's got the idea, just missed on how it's effective. I'll let you decide how to tell him. When I was going through high school, locally no-till farming (on a large scale) was becoming popular. There was a period of time when we could buy large moldboard plows for less than the price of scrap iron...sometimes, you'd buy them just for the hydraulics and scrap the rest. Long way of saying, twenty years later, people started parking the no-till equipment and pulling the moldboards back out...especially those who in our area grew beans and beets. The reason? disease management, mostly. Nothing's so new it wasn't old some time ago, and ideas go in and out of favor. I grew up on a farm that used alfalfa as part of the rotation. When it was time to put the next crop in, we just plowed it. Granted, grasses are different than alfalfa, but all you're looking for is enough of a head start to get to the end of the year without feeling like you'd be better off slinking off into the corner. Between some plowing when you feel it's needed, and some extra thick mulching, you should be able to get things to where you feel you can manage them. How do you that? everyone has a different answer, and everyone agrees that their answer is the best, who cares what others say.