31/12/2024
Happy New Year to the billions of bugs in healthy soli and to you. May 2025 be kinder to all
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Questions from followers: “Hey Meg, I have all these huge white grubs in my vege garden. A friend said they will eat all my plant roots. How do I get rid of them? Cheers, Sonia.”
Hi Sonia, those grubs are beetle larvae and grow up to be beautiful creatures like this one. Christmas beetles used to be so common when I was a child that we could carefully collect them and position them as living ornaments in the garden. Now it’s rare to see them, thanks to all the poisoning.
It’s true that beetle larvae eat organic matter, including roots, but if you have plenty of organic matter in your soil this isn’t a problem. Add compost to the surface of your garden and these little creatures will help to dig it in for you, aerating the soil and leaving beneficial micro-manure as they go.
You might also like to plant some chop-and-drop species nearby, so you can keep adding fresh organic matter when you don’t have compost.
Healthy soil contains billions of life forms. Yes, literally billions. Everything is connected in an intricate dance, more complex than anything the human mind can conceive. We disrupt it at our peril. Working WITH nature means becoming part of a forest system, where we help to build and maintain dynamic equilibrium. Adding organic matter to your soil is replicating what happens in a forest over time. Accelerating this pattern is one of the greatest gifts we can give to the earth.
