Insect Spray Concentrate:
Ingredients:
3 unpeeled garlic heads
3 ounces liquid paraffin
1 tablespoon grated oil based soap (or Ivory Snow)
2 cups hot water
Directions:
- Crush garlic heads and add to paraffin in a small bowl. Let stand for 24 hours.
- Melt soap in hot water. Allow to cool.
- Add soap mixture to garlic mixture.
- Strain into a glass jar and store in refrigerator.
Use: To use insect spray, dilute 4 tablespoons of concentrate in 4 pints of water. Spray at least every two weeks.
Wormwood Spray:
Ingredients:
8 ounces wormwood leaves
3 pints water
1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid
2 cups hot water
Directions: Simmer wormwood leaves in 3 pints of water for 30 minutes. Stir, strain, and leave to cool. Add dishwashing liquid in 2 cups of hot water. Add to wormwood water.
Use: This spray is best used against caterpillars.
Red Pepper Spray Concentrate:
Ingredients:
1 unpeeled onion
1 unpeeled head of garlic
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 pints water
Directions: Chop onion and garlic and combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer 20 minutes. Cool and store in jars in the refrigerator for 6 weeks. Strain and store in jars.
Use: To use, dilute 8 tablespoons of concentrate per gallon of water. Add 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid. Red pepper spray is a good general insect spray and is an effective repellent against insects and animals.
Comfrey Foliar Feed:
Ingredients:
2 plastic buckets
Comfrey leaves
Plate
Brick or other heavy object that fits inside bucket
Flower pot that fits inside bucket
Directions: Cut holes into the bottom of a plastic bucket. Fill bucket 3/4 full with comfrey leaves. Pack down tightly. Place a plate on top of the leaves and weigh it down with a brick or other heavy object. Place an upside down flower pot inside another bucket. Set the bucket containing comfrey leaves on top of the flower pot. After 3 weeks, there should be a brown liquid in the bottom of the lower bucket. Bottle this liquid, an place the contents of the top bucket in the compost heap.
Use: To use comfrey spray, dilute 1 tablespoon with 2 pints of water. Add a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid to the contents.
Organic Weed Killer:
I just want to share a simple recipe for an herbicide that works far better than Roundup ever has.
Ingredients:
1 gallon 20% straight vinegar, Do not add water
2 of Orange Oil
1 tsp Dish soap
To 1 gallon of 20% Vinegar add 2 oz Orange Oil, 1 tsp or so of dish soap Mix in a sprayer and wet down the foliage. It will quickly kill ANY green living plant. On a sunny day you can see results in just a couple of hours.
Weeds will be brown and crispy in 24hrs. I have even used a paint brush to apply it to weeds in beds of other plants. It has no residual effect in the ground…so I can plant the area as soon as the offending weeds/grass are dead. The key is to use 20% vinegar…the less concentrated types are not nearly as effective. I buy it at a local nursery, along with the orange oil.
I have been completely converted to “organic” controls for most every problem. I am amazed at the increase in beneficial insects…and the complete success of these methods. I just want to share these ideas, we could all do with a few less toxic things in our environment.
You can get the Orange oil online from Erath Earth directly http://www.erathearth.com/ or at a good nursery that carries organic controls. The 20% vinegar is NOT regular grocery store stuff. It’s much stronger. I get it at a nursery…but agricultural suppliers will also carry it. It will be labeled as 20% Vinegar.
Submitted by: Kimberly Keith — San Antonio, TX; Zone 8b
