A gardener is showing the world a simple way to maximize your garden's yield without any toxins.
The method is highlighted in an Instagram Reel by Aaron Letourneau (@gourdfarmer1), who has 15,800 followers and describes himself as "a hobby gourd farmer, artist and dog dad from Maine."
The scoop
The video starts with an image of a modern birdhouse on what appears to be a wooden pole. A bird flies into it as Letourneau tells us that "the best pest control for my garden is a nesting pair of wild birds."
He goes on to explain how these birds eat the insects that destroy his garden. Even though the birds do eat some of his strawberries, Letourneau calls this "a fair tradeoff" for having them protect his garden.
How it's helping
Natural methods like the one in this Reel can be just as effective in keeping insects away from your garden as the use of pesticides and are much better for our health, the health of our garden, and that of the planet as a whole.
For one, traditional pesticides can be very harmful to pets and often do not even reach the intended pest. They can seep into the soil and find their way into groundwater, which may end up in our drinking water.
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Also, many insect-killing solutions come in plastic containers.
Americans throw out about 40 million tons of plastic each year, and only about 5% of that gets recycled. Around 80% of all marine pollution consists of plastic, about 11 million tons of which end up in the ocean each year.
Attracting birds, which naturally eat insects, is a simpler, cleaner alternative to using poison in your garden.
What everyone's saying
Commenters seemed curious, intrigued, and fascinated.
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"This looks so cool," one person wrote.
"Wait! What? That is too cool. Can you show how you clean out the gourds to make them into bird houses?" another commenter asked, to which Letourneau answered: "Making a birdhouse for the spring birds. Growing gourds in Maine."
Another person wanted to highlight the fact that "birds and bees are essential for organic gardeners."
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