As every gardener knows to his regret, some destructive bugs will destroy his vegetables and flowers. One report says that "lost crop yields has nearly doubled due to insects" since 1945.

Toxic chemical sprays have been used by many, but there are many disadvantages to them. They are expensive and the costs continue to rise. They are dangerous and kill the good bugs along with the harmful bugs, perhaps causing more harm than help. Insects are showing a resistance to these pesticides, with as many as 500 species developing resistance. These pesticides also present a danger to people, as washed vegetables can still contain some of the chemicals. There is a better alternative.

Deliberately introducing beneficial insects to the garden to destroy the harmful insects is an old, successful means of pest control. It has many advantages. They leave the good insects alone. They are harmless to people and animals and save the plants by capturing and eating the pest insects. They can be used in gardens, green houses, orchards, farms, and stables. It is necessary to read and do research on the pests that are a problem and then to find the most effective way to control them. Hand-picking or washing with water can sometimes help if the problem is not severe. Some plants attract the beneficial insects - cosmos, and some herbs like fennel, calendula, coriander, and dill. With these, you may attract helpful insects without having to buy them. Some of the beneficial insects or bugs are bumble bees, pollinating bees, fungus gnat predators, lacewings, Trichogramma wasps (most effective), and others. Nature can help.

Sweet peppers are a versatile, colorful, delicious vegetable. They can be used in many different ways, both cooked and raw. They are used alone or in combination with many other vegetables. They are healthy, great for a diet, and a favorite of many people.

There is a variety of mild peppers called bell peppers for their shape. They come in several bright colors - green, yellow, orange, red, brown, purple, and red. The red ones are green peppers that have ripened for a longer time. The texture of the pepper is crisp and juicy. Soaking them in cold ice water before serving will increase their crispness. There are a number of varieties with interesting names such as bullhorn, sweet banana, European sweet, and Cubanelle. When buying peppers, look for firm ones with no wrinkles or black spots. They will stay fresh for about a week.

If you wish to use them cooked, they can be stewed, baked, grilled, roasted, or broiled. There are many delicious recipes for them on the Internet - everything from soup to use with pasta, with roasted potatoes and onions, stuffed peppers, a favorite of many, or in salads where their color and texture add to the beauty of the dish. They can be chilled, sliced, and cut in strips, using several different colors, and placed around a platter with a dip or cottage cheese in the middle - perfect finger food or appetizer.

Peppers can be grown easily in your back garden or in a container garden. Even a small balcony or deck will give you room for a container with peppers planted in it. It is an upright plant and is attractive. Have fun experimenting with them.

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Now that the gardening season is winding down is no time to rest on your laurels.  There are still plenty of gardening tasks that can be done now that will help keep your garden healthy and give you a jump start on next year's growing season. 

In the vegetable garden, destroy the foliage and roots of any crops that had insect or disease damage during the growing season.  This will help prevent eggs from hatching in your garden and disease from taking hold in next year's garden.  Don't add this to your compost pile unless you practice strict controls that keep your compost cooking at 120 degrees F for at least two or three weeks.  That's hot enough to kill insect eggs, weed seeds and disease organisms.  Otherwise, bag it and drag it to the curb.  Undamaged foliage can be composted regardless of how hot your compost pile gets.

Make a rough sketch of your vegetable garden to assist in rotating crops the following spring.  Once you've emptied the garden beds, till them under.  These steps also help to minimize insect and disease problems. This would be a good time to amend your garden soil by adding compost.  Mulch beds of perennial vegetables such as asparagus to protect them from winter heaving. 

A thick layer of leaves left on the lawn will damage it.  Rake them up and run a lawn mower over them a couple of times to create a splendid addition to your compost pile.  Trim back perennial flower foliage unless you intend to leave seed heads such as echinacea for birds to feed on over the winter.  As you remove foliage, set marked stakes in the ground to remind you of what and where these plants will be in the spring.  Lift tender bulbs such as canna and dahlias, allow them to dry out, trim back the foliage and store them in moistened sand or perlite in a cool, dry area such as an unheated basement.

Remove damaged foliage and canes such as roses with black spot or peonies and discard it.  When removing annual plants, shake out the seed heads to give the hardier seeds a jump start on the next season.  They may not breed true if they're hybrids, but will doubtless be lovely nonetheless and will spare you the expense of buying all-new seed next year.

Make a sketch of your flower garden.  This will be helpful when poring over seed catalogs during the winter to choose new plants that you want to try.

This is the time of year to plant your spring-blooming bulbs.  For more information on this topic, please watch the video.

For the benefit of family, friends and loyal readers (because by this time, frankly, I've forgotten who I've told what), I'm checking in with an update on the surgery that I had a few week ago to remove a couple of large tumors, and how it's been affecting me.

The stitches will be coming out tomorrow.  The swelling and bruising are fading, and sensation is starting to return to the right side of my face.  The eyebrow and lid are still a little droopy.  My mouth is still slightly paralyzed on one side of my face.  This is less visibly noticeable than the brow and lid, but bothers me more.  It makes eating and especially drinking more of a challenge.  I'm having a little difficulty with certain consonants when I speak, although people who know me well say they can't tell.  I can.  

There's no way of telling, yet, if these minor problems are temporary or permanent.  One friend opined that even if the verbal difficulty persists, in time my body will probably find a way to adapt so that I'm not constantly aware of the issue.  I hope he's right.  I tend to be an opinionated chatterbox, and right now I'm feeling self-conscious.

I've been out in public a couple of times with a pretty scarf wrapped around my face, Grace Kelly-style.  I've even gotten complimented on how chic and stylish it looks.  In the mid-90 degree weather we've been having here in Michigan, I only wear it reluctantly, and wonder how in the world Indian and Muslim women can stand wearing similar headgear all the time.  A Muslim friend tells me that Muslim women only wear the full headgear in public, but even so...  I find it stiflingly hot.

Once the scars heal and the bruises disappear, I won't feel the need to cover up.  The hair that got shaved for the operation will grow back.  If this is as bad as it gets, I can live with the drooping without feeling hideous.  It's not like big, lumpy tumors are all that attractive either.  So it could be worse, and it might get better.  I'll let you know.

My husband collected model trains from the time he was a child, starting with the venerable Lionel trains as a boy and switching to HO scale replicas as an adult.  He spent endless hours pouring over magazines or some of the hundreds of books or thousands of photographs he'd collected over the years.  If a model wasn't historically accurate, then it wasn't worth collecting, as far as he was concerned.

Although I never shared his passion, I good-naturedly accompanied him to many of the model train shows he frequented, so I saw firsthand how many thousands of people attended these events.  Honestly, I wouldn't have believed how popular this hobby was it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.  He would have loved this website, so in his memory, I'm encouraging one and all to check it out.