Hey all,
At this time of year on the homestead, we are looking at a plague of grasshoppers about to start up. George started noticing grasshopper nymphs in January because our winter was so mild. A few years ago, a similar plague all but wiped out the garden. Oklahoma isn’t the only state where grasshoppers can become a problem. But what can you do if you are wanting to keep your garden as free of pesticides as possible? Must you go buy a bunch of sprays to take out the grasshoppers?
My family learned about Semaspore in 2009. on a gardening forum Semaspore has Nosema Loscutae. According the the people who produce it:
Right now is when the Semaspore needs to be put out. It’s made it so that we have been able to still have crops in years where we had lots of grasshoppers. Aside from Semaspore, we have also used a shop vacuum in the very early hours of the morning to go vacuum up hordes of grasshoppers which we then put into a deep freezer and freeze to later feed to our chickens. One of the nice things about Semaspore is that the grasshoppers that die and don’t get cannibalized by other grasshoppers, can be safely eaten by your chickens or poultry and it won’t hurt them. Because it’s a protozoa that is specie specific, it is considered an organic grasshopper control method that won’t hurt any of your animals or your crops.
Until next time,
Homestead in health ya’ll!
Emily
