Bees declared to be fish in California

[Catherine]

Marigolds repel insects. So would Rosemary. I am sure there are many natural ways of protecting your garden.
I never use any sprays. My local birds eat the aphids on my roses. You are so much further south, so I don't know what pests you have to deal with.
You should be able to grow just about anything. 

Right now Zinnias are popular and all the garden centers have them. The big bright flowers attract all the local pollinators. They would make you garden look pretty.

We never sprayed our garden when I was growing up and we had an acre of land. That is a lot of vegetables. We probably did plant things in a way that was companion gardening. I do remember planting zinnias, so maybe they help protect a garden. I suspect we were a bit pest tolerant too. I don't worry about slugs eating a bit of stuff. I can share a bit. My local birds eat the slugs too. If you work with nature, nature works with you.