Eco-Friendly Garden Recipes
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - 3:07pm
Fertilizers
Weed Tea
Fill a rain barrel with rain water or non-chlorinated water and add chopped up weeds and green material. Let the mixture stand in the sun for several days. Drain the liquid off the top and dilute it with 5 parts water. Spray your weed fertilizer on plants or use it as a soil drench.
Compost Tea
Use the same process as with weed tea, but use compost rather than weeds.
Seedling Starter Solution
Mix 1/2 cup fish emulsion with 1/2 cup seaweed extract in a container. Store in a sealed container in a cool, dark place. To use, add 3 Tbsp. of starter solution to 4 litres of water. Use as a soil drench or as a spray for leaf feeding.
Swiss Chard Cocktail
Place 2 cups chopped swiss chard leaves in a blender. Add enough hot water to fill the blender and blend thoroughly. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. Place the leaves around the base of plants and use the liquid as a soil drench around plants.
Let those grass clippings lie!
By letting your grass clippings compost directly on your lawn, you save yourself time and money and are fertilizing your lawn at the same time.
PEST CONTROL
Bug Salsa
INGREDIENTS:
2lb. ripe, blemished tomatoes
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
Weed Tea
Fill a rain barrel with rain water or non-chlorinated water and add chopped up weeds and green material. Let the mixture stand in the sun for several days. Drain the liquid off the top and dilute it with 5 parts water. Spray your weed fertilizer on plants or use it as a soil drench.
Compost Tea
Use the same process as with weed tea, but use compost rather than weeds.
Seedling Starter Solution
Mix 1/2 cup fish emulsion with 1/2 cup seaweed extract in a container. Store in a sealed container in a cool, dark place. To use, add 3 Tbsp. of starter solution to 4 litres of water. Use as a soil drench or as a spray for leaf feeding.
Swiss Chard Cocktail
Place 2 cups chopped swiss chard leaves in a blender. Add enough hot water to fill the blender and blend thoroughly. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. Place the leaves around the base of plants and use the liquid as a soil drench around plants.
Let those grass clippings lie!
By letting your grass clippings compost directly on your lawn, you save yourself time and money and are fertilizing your lawn at the same time.
PEST CONTROL
Bug Salsa
INGREDIENTS:
2lb. ripe, blemished tomatoes
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1lb. fresh chili peppers
1 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp. pepper
Blend ingredients until liquefied. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. Pour the liquid into a spray bottle. Spray the solution directly on pests that you spot in your garden. This spray will paralyze most insects. It can be irritating if it gets in your eyes or mouth so don't spray on windy days and wear proper protection.
Pest Patrol Bucket Blend
INGREDIENTS:
1 litre water
1 small bucket
1 tsp. dish soap
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
Put 2 to 3 inches of water in bucket. Add dish soap and oil. Gather unwanted insects and toss into bucket. The oil means that the insects cannot crawl out and the dish soap breaks down the insect's outer covering, speeding its demise.
Garlic Extract
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 whole bulbs of garlic
1 litre water
4-5 drops dish soap
Place the garlic (unpeeled) in a blender with 1 cup water. Chop well. Add the rest of the water and dish soap; blend until liquefied. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. Store in a sealed glass jar. To use: Dilute 1 part extract with 10 parts water. Put in a spray bottle and spray plants that are under attack or are likely to come under attack. NOTE: Beneficial insects also don't like garlic so be selective of where you spray this.
Slug Feed
#1: Slugs are attracted to beer and will literally drink themselves to death in it. Set out low dishes of beer and watch the slugs come.
#2: Soak ordinary dog food in just enough water to make it slightly sqishy. Put small piles of the bait on the paths in your garden. Later that night, the slugs will be clustered around teh dog food so it is easy to scoop them and dispose of them however you want.
#3: Place a few slices of cucumber into a small pie tin and place on the ground in your garden. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
Slug Dissolving Spray
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups non-sudsing ammonia
1 1/2 cups water
Pour the water and ammonia into a spray bottle. Shake gently to mix. Spray the mixture on plants where small slugs appear to be active.
1 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp. pepper
Blend ingredients until liquefied. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. Pour the liquid into a spray bottle. Spray the solution directly on pests that you spot in your garden. This spray will paralyze most insects. It can be irritating if it gets in your eyes or mouth so don't spray on windy days and wear proper protection.
Pest Patrol Bucket Blend
INGREDIENTS:
1 litre water
1 small bucket
1 tsp. dish soap
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
Put 2 to 3 inches of water in bucket. Add dish soap and oil. Gather unwanted insects and toss into bucket. The oil means that the insects cannot crawl out and the dish soap breaks down the insect's outer covering, speeding its demise.
Garlic Extract
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 whole bulbs of garlic
1 litre water
4-5 drops dish soap
Place the garlic (unpeeled) in a blender with 1 cup water. Chop well. Add the rest of the water and dish soap; blend until liquefied. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. Store in a sealed glass jar. To use: Dilute 1 part extract with 10 parts water. Put in a spray bottle and spray plants that are under attack or are likely to come under attack. NOTE: Beneficial insects also don't like garlic so be selective of where you spray this.
Slug Feed
#1: Slugs are attracted to beer and will literally drink themselves to death in it. Set out low dishes of beer and watch the slugs come.
#2: Soak ordinary dog food in just enough water to make it slightly sqishy. Put small piles of the bait on the paths in your garden. Later that night, the slugs will be clustered around teh dog food so it is easy to scoop them and dispose of them however you want.
#3: Place a few slices of cucumber into a small pie tin and place on the ground in your garden. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
Slug Dissolving Spray
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups non-sudsing ammonia
1 1/2 cups water
Pour the water and ammonia into a spray bottle. Shake gently to mix. Spray the mixture on plants where small slugs appear to be active.
Ant Control
#1: Ants are attracted to nutritionally poor, dry soil, low in organic matter. If you increase the organic matter in your soil by top dressing with compost, your soil will retain more moisture and the ant problem will take care of itself.
#2: Sprinkle red chili pepper at the point of entry.
#3: Make a syrup of 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 Tbsp. borax in 2 Tbsp. water. Place in flat dish near infestation.
#1: Ants are attracted to nutritionally poor, dry soil, low in organic matter. If you increase the organic matter in your soil by top dressing with compost, your soil will retain more moisture and the ant problem will take care of itself.
#2: Sprinkle red chili pepper at the point of entry.
#3: Make a syrup of 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 Tbsp. borax in 2 Tbsp. water. Place in flat dish near infestation.
Citrus Killer for Aphids
INGREDIENTS:
1 litre water
rind from 1 lemon, orange, or grapefruit (grated)
Boil the water and add the citrus rind. Remove from heat and steep the mixture overnight. Strain through a cheesecloth and store in a spray bottle. Spray leaves that are being attacked by aphids or other soft bodied insects.
Killer Cooking Oil (aphids, white flies and spider mites)
Boil the water and add the citrus rind. Remove from heat and steep the mixture overnight. Strain through a cheesecloth and store in a spray bottle. Spray leaves that are being attacked by aphids or other soft bodied insects.
Killer Cooking Oil (aphids, white flies and spider mites)
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp. dish soap
1 cup vegetable oil
Mix the two ingredients. To use: mix 1-2 1/2 tsp. of the mixture with 1 cup water. Spray both sides of leaves once a week. NOTE: the oil can burn some plants such as cabbage, cauliflower and squash. On these plants, use less of the soap/oil mixture.
Cabbage Loopers
To keep cabbage loopers and cabbage worms from attacking your broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower plants, surround the seedlings with a ring of onion sets.
Rhubarb Leaves: The All-Around Pest Killer
This spray made from rhubarb leaves works well on all types of insects as well as fungal diseases and some weeds. CAUTION: This is very toxic to everything? Make it in a container that will not be used for food or water and store it well out of reach of children or pets. Keep pets and children away from areas that have recently been sprayed. Be careful where you spray as this brew can even kill trees if it is brewed strong enough.
Rhubarb Leaves: The All-Around Pest Killer
This spray made from rhubarb leaves works well on all types of insects as well as fungal diseases and some weeds. CAUTION: This is very toxic to everything? Make it in a container that will not be used for food or water and store it well out of reach of children or pets. Keep pets and children away from areas that have recently been sprayed. Be careful where you spray as this brew can even kill trees if it is brewed strong enough.
Place 1/2 cup crushed rhubarb leaves in 3 litres of boiling water. Steep the leaves for at least an hour. Strain the leaves through cheesecloth and pour it in a spray bottle. Label the bottle well. Tu use, spray plants thoroughly.
Weed Control
The best way to deal with weeds is on a one-to-one basis -- by digging them out individually. The following methods will kill weeds, but they can also damage other plants and grass so be careful where you use them. Always store your mixtures out of the reach of children and pets, and clearly label your containers.
The best way to deal with weeds is on a one-to-one basis -- by digging them out individually. The following methods will kill weeds, but they can also damage other plants and grass so be careful where you use them. Always store your mixtures out of the reach of children and pets, and clearly label your containers.
Vinegar - mix together 3 parts vinegar to 1 part liquid dish soap. Spray the mixture in a narrow stream on the weed's leaves and at the base of the plant.
Alcohol - Mix 1 Tbsp. rubbing alcohol with 1 litre of water. Spray the mixture on the weeds thoroughly but lightly. For tougher weeds, increase the amount of alcohol you use.
Making Mulch:
A Short-Cut to Compost that helps to protect your soil, using materials already on hand.
Grass clippings are often abundant and always easy to use as mulch. Let dry first so they will be easy to spread. Avoid using this method of mulch is you treat the lawn with herbicides, as herbicide residue will harm garden plants.
Newspapers (black and white ink only) between plants or in paths control weeds.
Chopped Branches and shredded leaves from chipper/shredder machines make a wonderful mulch. Let sit for six months or add extra nitrogen.
A Short-Cut to Compost that helps to protect your soil, using materials already on hand.
Grass clippings are often abundant and always easy to use as mulch. Let dry first so they will be easy to spread. Avoid using this method of mulch is you treat the lawn with herbicides, as herbicide residue will harm garden plants.
Newspapers (black and white ink only) between plants or in paths control weeds.
Chopped Branches and shredded leaves from chipper/shredder machines make a wonderful mulch. Let sit for six months or add extra nitrogen.
