First, best, and most important, do EVERYTHING you can to encourage all the beneficials!!!!!
Second, make your own compost and use it liberally.
REMEMBER, when you poison the bad guys you also poison the good guys!
Happy gardening!

Very true. Two years ago the wife ran for the spray when aphids were on her roses. I stopped her, then showed her the bright orange larva on the roses; Lady Bug larva. Within a week; no more aphids.

Except for slug bait; I have only used wasp killer on a couple under-eave nests. I've seen Yellowjackets plucking cabbage worms off plants and spiders galore. Frogs, toads and lizards are pampered. The last couple years; tent caterpillars raised havoc; but I just cut the nests and burned. Checked the trees in the fall for egg cases. This last season was almost pest free; except for the ever present slugs

Go to your nearest
starbucks and ask for "Grounds for the garden." Scatter the used coffee grounds very thinly on the soil surface for the slugs/snails. It works, but keep a watch and repeat as needed. Use only fresh grounds for the slugs. Any extra grounds can be used in the compost with GREAT results. Coffee grounds are considered "greens" in the compost.
Check out the Starbucks link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Starbucks coffee grounds

I will try the coffee grounds. Do use homemade compost but can't make enough for the garden. Am using horse manure by the truckload and compost from the city recycling center.

My garden is in a high sandy area of town with lots of fire ants. Fire ants and aphids love each other! Maybe I will try using DE for the ants. We use it at work for filtering beer and it is a hazardous substance to breath. So I am reluctent to use it.

Maybe I can have a professional ant bait the yard and leave the garden alone?

Of course what my neighbors and friends see in my garden, and what I see is not the same thing. I see all the problems and they see a beautiful vegetable garden.

I've been picking ching-gan-cai, shan-cai, baby bai-cai, ta tsai-cai, and luo-bo.

My luo-bo had the infestation of aphids and sprayed the whole garden with dish wash detergent. The luo-bo did not like the dish soap but the rest was ok.

Next time I will not be so lazy and go to home depot and buy some insecticidal soap.

So what asian veggies has anyone else been picking lately?

I'm planting some vegetables organically and have avoided using chemicals.. lately fire ants attacked my chili pepper (capsicum annum) and resulting in curl leaves and wilt.. I have tried dish wash detergent but the ants are coming back.

Any idea to get rid of ants without killing the beneficials?

Try Advion, Amdro, or Maxforce ant bait for fire ants (Solenopsis invicta).

try using DE for the ants

hankua, I do not know whether or not you recognize the importance and relevance of your opening statements. It is fascinating that my grandparents did so many things right in the kitchen and flower gardens; and look at the produce!

But they washed and cooked those products. Organisms, both beneficial and harmless will thrive in an organic environment. A doctor once asserted that it was a good thing that "Guyanese overcook food." The over cooking destroyed harmful bacteria. I read and believe that the 'stir fry' cuisine had a similar origin.