Many home gardeners are expressing concern about the use of pesticides. Costs of spray materials, lack of proper application equipment, regard for the environment, and small acreage have been incentives to explore alternative means of pest management.
Many gardeners become frustrated, however, when pests ruin a crop or render fruit inedible.
Growing fruits is very challenging. Tree fruits, in particular, are notorious for requiring a rigorous spray schedule. It is possible to grow berries using little or no spray material, especially if you judiciously choose appropriate crops and resistant varieties. This fact sheet ranks the berry crops in order of ease of growing ecologically. Blueberries should be the easiest berry crop to grow ecologically.