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only go through one generation per year instead of two, so if you wait out the borers, your late plantings of squash should be pristine.
    Succession planting is handy with other types of vegetables as well, although the strategy only works if you choose varieties that put out a big harvest right away. For example, I succession plant bush beans rather than growing runner beans since the former provide lots of green beans before the bean beetles move in to dine. On the other hand, succession planting wouldn't be a good choice for tomatoes since even determinate varieties require months of growth before they ripen their first fruit.
    Another benefit of succession planting comes when the food reaches our table. A few studies have suggested that cucurbits (and perhaps other vegetables) have more micronutrients on hand when they mature their first fruits, so the earliest harvest often tastes best. Some gourmet farmers pull out their squash vines after the first harvest as a matter of course, figuring it's better to maximize flavor rather than yield. So maybe the borers are trying to do me a favor by prompting me to eat the most nutrient-rich and tasty vegetables possible?
     
    Cicadas
    Periodic cicadas can wreak havoc on new plantings of fruit trees.
     
    I learned my next lesson on timing the hard way. In 2012, periodic cicadas crawled out of the ground and regaled us with their ocean-like symphony. I was intrigued by the natural occurrence and enjoyed feeding these protein-rich insects to our chickens, so at first I thought the periodic cicadas were a boon to our farm. Then I saw this:
     
    Female cicadas lay their eggs on the twigs of young fruit trees, creating extensive scars.
    It turns out that cicadas lay their eggs in tender twigs of young trees, and seem to preferentially choose fruiting species over wild saplings. When the young cicadas hatch from their twig homes, the nymphs drop to the ground and tunnel down to feed on the tree's roots. While the root sucking may be a long-term problem, the real issue is that the nymphs damage fruit-tree twigs so much while coming out of their eggs that the branches often break off and die.
     

    Brian Cooper shared these photos of cicada killer wasps "taking cicadas right out of the air."
     
    Of course, even cicadas have natural predators, but the insects' periodic nature is designed to keep predation to a minimum. Cicada killers and other animals that preferentially feed on cicadas can only survive at low population levels most of the time since their food is scarce. Every 13 to 17 years, the periodic cicadas come out of the ground and provide a feast, but by then, the predator levels are so low that the majority of the cicadas survive untouched. That's why we have to get a bit more wily when dealing with these insects—periodic cicadas have outwitted their natural enemies and we can't count on help from nature.
    The short-term solution to cicada damage is to net adult cicadas away from the twigs as soon as you hear periodic cicadas calling. But smarter orchardists also plan around cicada cycles. If you go to http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/databases/magicicada/magi_search.php, you can choose your state and county and then find out when periodic cicadas have emerged in your region recently. Add the appropriate number of years to those emergence dates and you'll know when the next brood will be out looking for baby fruit trees.
    In a perfect world, you'd plant fruit trees no more than two years before cicada-emergence dates since cicadas aren't as interested in older trees. Orchardists also choose not to winter prune fruit trees during a year when periodic cicadas are due to emerge, knowing the cicadas will do some of their pruning for them. That's true permaculture gardening at work!
     
     

Chapter 6: Choosing resistant plants
    In addition to timing, variety selection can go a long way toward reducing insect pressure in the garden. In fact, choosing resistant