Year of the Beetle

Eggplant Leaf destroyed by flea beetles

I had beautiful plans for the best vegetable garden ever this year.

And row after row, nothing came up -- or something would sprout, but be gone in a day. I blamed the weather or old seeds.
I replanted.

Flea Beetle on Nasturtium

Then I noticed the eggplants.

And not just the eggplants. The tomatoes were drooping, the peppers were stunted, and the kale, arugula, beets, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, spinach and bok choy were non-existent in spite of several plantings.

The internet diagnosed Flea Beetles. I had never heard of them. This has never been a problem! But stepping back into my garden, now I saw them everywhere, on nearly everything.

What to do? I hurried to the farm store and spent $30 on beneficial nematodes to destroy the larvae feasting on the plant roots.
I bought a large bag of diatomaceous earth to annoy a large variety of insect pests, including the ants who had developed a regular track through the garden, and I suspect were "farming" some of these pests for their benefit.
And I bought a spray bottle of Neem oil, figuring this would send them packing.
I added some fly paper to trap some critters.

It's been four weeks. The latest re-planting efforts have been moderately successful.

At this point I have decided to rejoice that the lettuce is thriving, the peas and beans don't seem to mind being chomped a little, and absolutely NOTHING bothered the zucchini this year.

Next year, I will re-apply the beneficial nematodes before planting, bleach my row covers and spread the diatomaceous earth on everything after planting.

If anyone has more ideas for me, I would LOVE to hear them!