Bugs and the Garden
Gardening in some areas of the country is difficult because of overwhelming bug and pest infestation. I have been investigating a few organic methods of treating my gardens. Here is a bit of information about natural sprays and how you can save your garden organically!

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2006

One of the simplest methods of fighting pests, ones that you know are in your area or in your garden is going to be by growing plants that are disease and pest resistant. This will save you time and energy in the long run. Spraying the garden is simple- with a bit of hot pepper spray. This is what you have to do: cut peppers up into tiny minced pieces. You can use jalapeno, cayenne pepper or chili peppers, the hottest peppers you can get a hold of! Putting about 8 oz of water in a spray bottle, soak these peppers overnight in the water. Spray this mixture right on your garden. Pepper juices are irritating to most pests (not to mention humans!)

Onion or garlic sprays are also methods using the same recipe as above to spray on the garden and rid pests from your most delicate plants. Of course, if it rains you will need to reapply these sprays in the garden to keep those little critters away.

Here is another one that I haven’t tried yet, but is said to work: gather up as many little bugs and insects that you can. Blend up these little bugs together (but not in a kitchen appliance that you would prepare food in) and mix in a cup of water. You will need to strain out the bug ‘parts’ so you can spray this mixture on your garden properly. Not sure if I want to try this one either, but there are many gardeners who do!

This spray is a bit easier to make. Using leaves from tomatoes, put them in a pan with a quart of boiling water. Soak the leaves for a while, just as if you were making tea. After about two hours, pull the leaves out of the cooled water and spray this mixture on your garden. Rhubarb sprays are made just like the tomato leaf spray is, but you are actually going to use the rhubarb vegetable itself and you only need to soak the rhubarb in the boiling water for about thirty minutes. After your mixture has cooled, pull out the largest pieces and you can spray this on your garden for great results. Experiment with other vegetables or flowers that are known to be ‘stinky’ and this natural scent will keep the bugs and insects from overtaking your garden!