From droughts to flooding and heat waves, the weather has been tough all across the country recently. Did you know that pests can significantly reduce your garden yield? According to the Connecticut State Agricultural Experiment Station, you could be dealing with several kinds of pests that drastically impact your garden. Some are perennial pests, like plum curculio that attack peaches or striped cucumber beetles that eat up your cucumber plants. Other pests are influenced by the weather, including aphids, mites and scale insects. Finally, you have “boom and bust” type pests that come in waves of infestation, such as tent caterpillars and spongy moths (colloquially misnomered as the gypsy moth). Here is how to deal with pest pressure of each type in your garden, without using chemical pesticides.…