I'm trying to be as natural as I can with my garden. I had a couple of reasons for gardening. One was so that we can have veggies as chemical-free as possible. Check. The second was to save money by growing it myself. Bedding plants, seeds, and fencing purchased (but yet to be installed). Hmmm. I don't think the money-saving part is working out very well.
I am using the spot my MIL used to plant and had to reclaim it from years of non-use. So far I have reclaimed about 25 feet x 25 feet. There's more to be had once I get those horrid bush/tree things down. Turns out they're camphor trees and are at the top of Florida's invasive species list, however, nurseries still sell them!! Why?!! Anyway, digging out the bamboo aerated the dirt. Then hubby brought in the tractor and dumped about 4 inches of manure/stall shavings compost which I worked in. My pH is good but I'm still getting low fertility reading on my soil tester. I guess I need more compost. I'll look up the French Intensive method and see what that's about. I'll move some mint to the garden but I'm still keeping some on the deck because it just smells so good!
The butterflies and I have come to a peace agreement. I have no proof their kids ate my plants. Prime suspects now are nocturnal moths, and I may try scattering some moth balls around for their (dis)pleasure.
I heard a guy in a YouTube video say that juvenile turkeys will eat the insects from the plants but won't scratch up the dirt like chickens will. I could try that after the fencing is up, then eat the turkeys at Thanksgiving! Win-win!
It's been a great learning experience so far, and I'm looking forward to the fall version which looks like will include many of the things that bunnies like, i.e., salad stuff, and then here we go again!