A gardener is showing the world an interesting hack for keeping pests away from your strawberry plants.
Instagrammer Nicole Johnsey Burke (@gardenaryco), who offers unique gardening tips on her page that has more than 450,000 followers, uploaded a Reel that shows how to prevent insects from ruining your strawberry harvest.
"Using plants to protect plants is one of my favorite organic gardening methods," she says in the video.
The scoop
The video begins with Burke standing in her garden, explaining she has managed to keep bugs out of her strawberry plants during the peak of pest season, and the best way to do this is to "plant onion bulbs right in between your strawberry plants."
She tells viewers that "the onions don't do any kind of magic, they just put off a scent that repels the pests that are most drawn to strawberries."
How it's helping
There are many benefits to growing your own food, including saving you lots of money in the long run.
In the U.S., for example, a pound of organic tomatoes from Whole Foods costs around $3, while a package of organic, heirloom tomato seeds, which can yield numerous tomato plants over a long period of time, costs around $4.
Just one tomato plant may equal 10 to 30 pounds of tomatoes, according to Investopedia.
For gardeners, toxin-free methods for keeping pests out of your garden, like the one shown by Burke, can be highly beneficial in many ways. Conventional insecticides can pose serious dangers to pets and don't always eliminate pests.
These chemicals also have the potential to infiltrate the soil, eventually entering groundwater, which could then potentially contaminate our sources of drinking water and introduce a host of other environmental problems.
What everyone's saying
Viewers of the Reel had plenty to say and ask.
"What sort of pests do onions repel? Wondering if I should interplant with some of my flowers too," one person asked.
The popular Instagrammer replied by explaining how "they repel aphids, beetles, and cabbage moths. Maybe more, but those are the ones I know of."
Another commenter admitted this was "one of my favorite organic gardening methods."
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
