Want Fewer Mosquitoes in Your Garden?

Want Less Mosquitoes in Your Garden?

Growing up in my father’s garden, I learned to love bats as much as grow lettuce, sing songs and save seeds. 

Bats play an astonishing role in our world. We would not enjoy mango, banana, chocolate or tequila (from agave) were it not for millions of bats pollinating them each night. Keystone species in nearly every ecosystem, the 1,200+ species of bat account for nearly 20% of mammals on earth. Even if you aren’t cultivating guavas in your garden, there are so many reasons to welcome them.

Why Bats in Your Garden?

-Bats eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes per hour, often consuming their weight in insects overnight

-Bats also eat Cucumber Beetles, the primary vectors of bacterial wilt.

-Bat guano (dung) is rich, well-balanced fertilizer for your garden. Did you know guano was Texas’s largest mineral export before oil? 

-Watching bats fly above the garden at twilight always takes my breath away. They are incredible acrobats (teehee), deftly maneuvering with somersaults and spirals as they chase their prey. And contrary to popular belief, they do everything they can to avoid contact with humans. 

Put Up a Bat House!

Late winter is the ideal time to put up a bat house. Enjoy my video for more details! You’ll find more info here. 

Bats are woefully misunderstood and absolutely marvelous. Organic gardening is about celebrating community, ecology and biodiversity, building soil and cultivating abundance for all species. Welcoming bats into your garden is a simple way to amplify the abundance we all share…

…unless, perhaps, you’re a mosquito