Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture

Subjects:

Insects and Urban Agriculture

City Farmer's Bugshops - The "5Ps" : Slideshow

"Pollinators, Predators, Processors, Pests, Parasitoids. Photos © by Maria Keating" Posted October 4, 2005

Insect Life at 2150 Maple Street

"At City Farmer, we show visitors both beneficial and pest bugs as part of our "natural yard care" tour of the garden. By introducing people to the fascinating life of a wide variety of insects, we believe people will come to appreciate rather than fear them. Less than 1 percent of garden insects actually damage plants." Posted May 15, 2005

A Bug Lady's Observations at Vancouver's Compost Demonstration Garden

"Today I saw mothflies in the composter. They are neither moths nor flies, but are members of the the same order as aphids. In the compost they are not considered pests, but their numbers can skyrocket. When that happens the best thing to do when opening the lid is to keep your mouth closed. To reduce the numbers, cover the top layer of the compost with baking soda and a newspaper." Updated September 28, 2005

Arachnophobia in the Garden of Food and Flowers

"Then I turned the page to the real horror show - the three monsters known as House Spiders. In university I called them the Cheap Basement Suite Spiders. The first of this group is the Barn Funnel Weaver. This is the guy making those thick webs in dark, damp basements and in the corners of old house windows in horror movies. The Hobo Spider has an "alarmingly ugly bite" and the Giant House Spider, which is in the author's words "quite frankly, the creepiest bug in the whole darn province of BC." " Posted March 19, 2003

How the Wasp was Done

"I have some sympathy and admiration for wasps, I truly do. The non-union worker females bust a gut on gruelling 17 hour day flying missions gathering various insects - many of which are plant parasites - for the high protein diet needed by the larvae, and making paper from plant material such as dead weed stalks. The stings aren't mainly for our benefit but to subdue any large prey reluctant to become baby food." Posted July 15, 2000

History of Corry's Slug & Snail Death

"My father recalls working in the Durrance Road basement, helping his elder sister package the formula." Posted April 16, 2000

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