My kid knows everything about bugs. It’s my fault really; when he was just a toddler I used to tell him that whales were insects and giraffes lived in the ocean and all sorts of nonsense. I never expected him to believe this stuff but when he started school and found out I’d been messing with his head he set out to find his own answers rather than asking me. Well, it’s paid off because now when I come across some insect in the back yard I just drag him away from the video games and get him to identify it

“Son, what’s this one? Should I kill it?”

“No Dad. That’s a Patagonian whooping caterpillar…they kill mosquitoes and find truffles. People pay good money for these”

“Oh …How ‘bout this one?

“That’s the dog, Dad. Not an insect,”

“Are you sure? He looks kinda shifty…”

“Yeah…See, the collar? That’s our phone number there…it’s a dead giveaway”

“That’s our old number…that’s why I thought….”

“Trust me”

I think he’s just getting revenge on me. If you don’t have a entomologist for a son, or just don’t trust the little monster this DVD could help. It’s 50 minutes long and was made by filmmaker who also is a organic gardener. It teaches you which bugs are which and which ones are helpful and which ones will eat your socks. The Garden Insect DVD is available from Clean Air Gardening for $24.99

What better way to get your kid interested in plants; a plant that eats stuff. I had one of these when I was a kid and it was great fun. Venus Flytraps are a native plant of the Carolinas; and actually trap and eat insects unlucky enough to land on them. The trap portion actually secretes mucilage and when something touches the hairs along the edge they snap shut, shutting tighter the more the unfortunate victim struggles; eventually creating a hermetically sealed “stomach” that digests the prey over 10 days.

Venus Flytraps are found in nitrogen poor environments (such as bogs) of if you prefer to not slog around in bogs looking for carnivorous plants they are available from California Carnivores for $7.95. And you thought all those folks out on the west coast were vegetarians.

 Every since I was a kid I’ve been creeped out by wasps.  While exploring my Grandfather’s farm I found an old fallen down farm house with a hand pump water spigot.  Being a curious lad, I had to give it a couple of pumps not realizing that a family of wasps had set up housekeeping in the pump body and were none too happy to be disturbed.  I learned an important lesson that day — wasps are not your friend. 

Sure, if you have a wasp problem there are a plethora of effective poisons you can buy in a spray can to take care of the problem but there is a better solution: These glass wasp traps. 

All you have to do is hang these specially designed glass containers with a bit of fruit juice in the bottom wherever you see the wasps hanging out.  The wasps fly in, can’t find a way out, and eventually drown.  It’s an earth friendly solution that is non-toxic, reusable and best of all doesn’t harm the more useful bee population.  You get three glass bottles when you order the Glass Wasp Trap set from Skymall for $24.99

Here’s another great product to help you with your fall gardening chores. Biotal Leafmould / Leaf Compost Maker quickly turns your leaves into quality compost, faster than through a normal decomposition process.

Here’s what they have to say about the product:

Leaves – converts leaves into rich leaf mould in months rather than years

* 10ml of Compost Maker, mixed with a full watering-can, treats about one-and-a-half bin bags of waste.
* Compost ready for use after ten weeks of rotting.
* Can be used to re-activate partially-composted or dead heaps.
* Suitable for use in all types of compost bins

Anybody used this stuff? Does it work?

A citronella candle is a great choice for keeping flying insects away when you are on the porch or the back deck, but they just don’t have much personality.

But now you can get the usefulness of a citronella candle, along with the fun weirdness of a garden gnome, with this Citronella Candle Gnome.

$19 at Clean Air Gardening.

Have any friends who are big into chemical fertilizers and would never try an organic fertilizer because they don’t believe it works?

Well, give them a bottle of this OMRI listed liquid organic lawn fertilizer, and you’ll probably have an organic convert on your hands, because this stuff is awesome.

This organic liquid lawn fertilizer delivers more than just NPK. The fertilizer contains macronutrients, micronutrients, minerals, amino acids and peptides that are readily absorbed by grass and plants. A study by Mississippi State University showed that it outperformed chemical fertilizers.

Although the NPK number appears lower than with a chemical fertilizer, your lawn and plants actually get more nitrogen. Synthetic nitrogen in chemical fertilizers is water-soluable. So what isn’t immediately absorbed by the plants with a chemical fertilizer runs off into ground water, streams or lakes. And if too much chemical fertilizer is applied, it will burn your plants.

The nutrients in this liquid OMRI listed organic fertilizer remain as solid amino acids in the soil, so they break down naturally until the roots absorb them all. An impressive 97 percent of the nutrients from this liquid organic lawn fertilizer can be absorbed by plants, compared to a mere 20 percent with typical chemical fertilizers.

Available from Clean Air Gardening.

Here’s a fun organic fertilizer gift for someone who loves their houseplants! It is an OMRI listed organic fertilizer with an NPK of 4-2-3. Comes in two 1 1/2 pound bottles.

Available from Clean Air Gardening.

Park’s Seed is now offering a wide selection of organic products for the garden called Pharm Solutions. They’ve got products for roses, veggies, and all variety of garden plants. Keep Your Garden Healthy the Natural Way with Pharm Solutions!

Tree Guard is a safe product that will keep deers away from your trees. It is made of an extremely bitter substance that deers dislike. This is a latex-based products that dries clear. Safe for pets, the environment, and people.

MycoMinerals™ Garden Fertilizer is a natural fertilizer that will help you grow healthy plants through mycorrhiza, tiny beneficial organisms that attach to the roots of your plants, helping them absorb important nutrients and minerals. This product also contains volcanic minerals, meaning that your plants will have plenty of trace minerals to thrive, without the use of chemical fertilizers.