My garden so far is completely organic. Meaning, that I don’t use any chemicals of any kind. And that’s the way I’d like to keep it. But as the summer goes on, I’m finding more and more bugs and pests in and around my garden. Luckily for me, and those of you who also want to keep your gardens chemical free, there are a variety of plants and flowers that will do the same job as pesticides - only without harming our delicious fruits and vegetables.

Here is a list of 20 plants you need to have in your vegetable garden. These plants may surprise you! I had no idea that these plants not only looked beautiful and tasted wonderful, but also can help deter pests and bugs from the garden.

1. Basil - A favorite herb of mine anyway - and I already had some in my garden of course! Basil repels aphids, flies, mosquitos, and mites. It also has fungicidal properties. If you plant basil around your tomato plants, you won’t have to worry about icky hornworms.
2. Borage - This one I was really not familiar with, but found out that it is an herb sometimes called the starflower. The leaves taste like fresh cucumber and are used in salads and soups especially in Germany. The flowers are sweet like honey and are often used as edible decoration. It is also good for planting around your tomatos as it repels tomato worms.
3. Catnip - Cats love it, but ants, fleas and mosquitoes hate it! I see this herb in the supermarket and until now have just passed it by not knowing what to use it for. Next time I see it, I’m buying it!
4. Chamomile - Great for a relaxing pre-bedtime tea, the camomile plant keeps cabbage moths out of your garden.
5. Chives - A baked potato isn’t the same without them, but aphids don’t feel the same! Plant chives especially around your roses and lettuce.
6. Feverfew - A really pretty flower that almost looks like a daisy, and found in old gardens. It is often used as a medicinal herb. For my purposes, it is known to keep moths away. I’ll put some in pots by my front door and see if it truly works!
7. Lavender - Smells fantastic, great for making relaxation teas AND keeps slugs out of the garden. Excellent news as I am not a slug fan at all.
8. Marigolds - These are traditional flowers that my mom always planted among our vegetable plants in the gardens we had as kids. Bugs cannot stand the smell of marigolds, so plant them liberally around your garden. French and African varieties also keep nematodes out of the soil.
9. Mint - Another great herb that no kitchen garden should be without anyway. But did you know that mint plants repel aphids, cabbage moths, and cabbage worms? I sure didn’t!
10. Nasturtium - A plant I’ve read about in magazines but didn’t realize is quite prevalent. This pretty little flowering plants keeps away aphids and whiteflies. Be sure to plant these around fruit trees, cucumbers and squash.
11. Onion - If you love to cook, you love the onion. We have lots of wild onions in our neck of the woods. Onions keep ants at bay. Which is good because we also have lots of those!
12. Oregano - Growing up half Italian, I believe I have oregano streaming through my blood. Either way, its great in tomato sauce and italian dressing, and oregano plants keep away cucumber beetles.
13. Pennyroyal - In the mint family, pennyroyal leaves have a strong spearmint smell. Ants don’t like it, so I definitely do!
14. Petunia - I knew a little girl named Petunia once…but I digress. Pretty flowers and the added benefit of repelling aphids, leafhoppers, and Mexican bean beetles.
15. Radish - A great entry for salad ingredients, the radish is smartly planted around cucumbers and squash to keep away beetles.
16. Rosemary - I love rosemary bread and so always have fresh rosemary around. Plant this in your garden to ward off the cabbage moth, bean beetle and carrot fly.
17. Rue - As in “you’ll rue the day” I guess, because this medicinal herb smells terrible! But it does keep away Japanese beetles (and gardeners…yuck!). ***GOOD TO KNOW: don’t plant rue anywhere near your basil - they don’t play well, and so neither plant will grow.
18. Tansy - Another pretty little flower, Tansy is disagreeable to ants.
19. Thyme - One of the herbs we can’t do without, Thyme plants deter cabbage worms and slugs.
20. Tomato - Yep, you’ve probably got these in your garden already. And if you also have asparagus, plant them together. The tomato plants will ward off asparagus beetles.

If any of this information surprises you, you’re not alone. We’ve always had gardens and while we knew about some of these helpful plants, we were surprised by a great many too.

If you have any great garden tips, please send them to us using our handy contact form or by leaving a comment on this post. We’d love to hear from you!

Just today the FDA announced that even more states are susceptible to the outbreak of salmonella (salmonellosis) infected tomatoes. On their list of don’t eats include raw: Roma, Round Red and Plum tomatoes. You should also not eat any products containing these raw tomatoes.

As someone who loves tomatoes, I’m in shock. Although I live in Tennessee, a so-called “cleared” state, I’m not so anxious to buy any tomatos in the grocery store. (Other cleared states and regions: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas in its traceback investigation. Imported tomatoes from Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, The Netherlands and Puerto Rico also have been cleared).

If you live here, or buy tomatoes that come from any of these areas, you are affected: Two significant sources in production at that time that have not been cleared by the federal agencies are Florida and Mexico. New Mexico Department of Health officials have said that its investigators are looking closely at product from Mexico. States reporting the highest sicknesses (no deaths have been reported yet): Texas (56), New Mexico (39), Illinois (17) and Arizona (12).

Other states affected are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Given all of this, I am glad that I decided to grow my own tomatoes (and zucchini and cucumbers and fresh herbs), although my plants are not quite to the bearing fruit stages yet. Stil I would recommend anyone who intends on eating fresh, uncooked vegetables anytime in the future, that you grow your own. It’s not hard to do, with our guide to growing tomatoes and other vegetables, you have all the information and sources you need. It’s not expensive, if you frequent our vendors, you’ll find some of the best prices around for seeds, seedlings and starter plants. Space isn’t an issue as most vegetables can grow in containers if that is all you have room for, and tomatoes are especially accomodating as they can actually grow upside-down,
hanging from a basket!

Don’t wait for the FDA to tell you that today’s supermarket produce is not actually the best thing for you, and often carries diseases, germs and other unpleasantness - such as high price tags. Take the bull by the horns and start your own vegetable garden today! See our recent post: Planting Vegetables 101

Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow - if you know how, so check out our new tomato growing guide to be sure you know all you need to about tomato plant care, fertilizer, optimum growing area, as well as how to ward off pests and diseases.


Tomatoes are a favorite of any kitchen garden. And don’t worry about growing too many luscious, juicy, brilliant tomatoes…your many friends, neighbors and relatives will be standing by to take them off of your hands - especially with the way store bought tomatoes have been going up in price, and often down in quality.

That’s one reason why having a kitchen garden this year is a great idea. As supermarket costs go up, you’ll only pay pennies on the dollar to grow your own fabulous veggies and herbs. Check out our vegetables page for more information.

Vegetable gardening is something the whole family can enjoy and do together. Teach the kids how to weed and water. And keep checking back right here on BornToGarden.com for all the information you need to make all of your gardens simply gorgeous!

Read our tomato growing guide now!