Natural Pest Control

Nothing quite like having your garden munched on and/ or destroyed by uninvited guests like aphids, ants, birds and the like. Here are some suggestions for keeping your garden free of pests!

First off, if you can find praying mantis anywhere, capture them in a jar and transport them to your property ~ they destroy numerous pesky bugs that love to eat your garden. The same goes for Orioles, Wrens, Tanagers and Purple Martins ~ I've found that Orioles and Wrens are much easier to attract than Martins by simply putting several ordinary hummingbird feeders around your property, especially near the garden. Usually if you attract Orioles, Tanagers will follow suit. Orioles and Red Headed Woodpeckers LOVE to eat from hummingbird feeders and once they have found this foodsource, they will not be going anywhere anytime soon ~ meaning they will most likely nest and procede to gobble up every bug in sight (not to mention all the heavy activity from Orioles and Hummingbirds makes other birds like Starlings and Crows that love to demolish a garden get lost in a hurry). Wrens are sweet songbirds that eat up bugs as well ~ purchase or build several wren houses and you'll have a wren family in no time! It also helps to have a birdbath and a decent amount of trees and shrubs nearby for habitat.

I'll also mention that having a tom cat around helps tremendously if you are dealing with Voles (not to mention other rodents) and also love to eat grasshoppers! 

Toads are also very beneficial to a garden and do their share of insect eating ~ some folks create a "toad house"  by turning over a broken flowerpot in a shady place near the garden to encourage the toad population.

Tree frogs also eat all sorts of pests like mosquitos, cabbage moths and other flying pests, if you feel so inclined to transport some to your property (if they're not already there).

If you're not too turned off by bats, they are wonderful at keeping the insect population down and can be attracted by building a bat house near your property (we have some bats and i love to watch them at sundown!).

Plant Zennias in with your tomatoes to detour tomatoe worms and other pests ~ i know some people swear by marigolds, and i agree they help some, but zennias planting right alongside your tomatoes not only eliminate the worms, but also hold up your plants to the point that you may not even need tomatoe cages.

If you want to keep CATS out of your garden, try laying down some thorny branches, orange or lemon peels (cats hate citrus) or sprinkle some cayenne pepper around the areas they are visiting.

If you want to keep DOGS away, pour or spray ammonia near the area you want them to stay away from (but NOT directly in your garden or on your plants).

To kill ANTS mix some borax with sugar and set out in little piles near their hills, this will destroy the colony when the ants bring it back and feed it to the rest of the hill. To prevent ants from climbing up stalks or getting onto hummingbird feeders, use a little patroleum jelly on the bottom of stalks (won't harm plants) or the hanger of your feeders, this stops them instatly!

SQUASH BUGS are foiled by cedar chips in combination with terpentine soaked newspapers.

SLUGS love beer ~ dig a small hole and sink a cup about half full of stale beer into the ground. The slugs go for the beer, fall in and drown.

CUTWORMS are discouraged by sprinkling wood ash in your garden.

APHIDS really drive people nuts, but I have'nt had issues with them ever because of the ladybugs that were brought in to stamp out their population ~ which worked in a big way, but now the ladybugs drive everyone here crazy!  lol

HERBS that detour pests include:

Aster ~ most insects

Basil ~ repels flies and mosquitos

Borage ~ detours tomato worm and improves the growth and taste of tomatoes

Calendula ~ most insects

Catnip ~ deters fly beetle

Celery ~ cabbage white butterfly

Mums ~ most insects

Dead Nettle ~ potato bug. improves growth and flavor of potatoes

Eggplant & Flax ~ colorado potato beetle

Garlic ~ japanese beetle, other insects and blight

Geranium ~ most insects

Horseraddish ~ plant at corners to prevent potato bug

Henbit ~ general insect repellant

Hyssop ~ cabbage moth

Marigolds ~ mexican bean beetle, nematodes and other insects

Mint ~ white cabbage moth and ants

Mole plant ~ deters moles and mice when plants here and there

Nasturtiums ~ aphids, squash bugs and striped pumpkin bugs

Onion family ~ most bugs and pests

Petunia ~ protects beans

Pot Marigold ~ deters asparagus beetle, tomatoe worms and general garden pests

Peppermint ~ plant near cabbages to prevent cabbage moth

Raddish ~ cucumber beetle

Rosemary ~ cabbage moth, bean beetle and carrot fly

Rue ~ japanese beetle

Sage ~ cabbage moth and carrot fly

Salsify ~ carrot fly

Southernwood ~ cabbage moth

Summer Savory ~ bean beetle

Tansy ~ flying insects, japanese beetle, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs and ants

Thyme ~ cabbage worm

Wormwood ~ carrot fly, white cabbage butterfly, black flea beetle

Raised Bed Gardening

Have you always longed for a garden that never had to be tilled? Have you got up at 4am to hoe your garden just to avoid the intense heat of a midsummers day (those mornings when it's maybe 75 degrees in the wee hours of morning, but as soon as that sun pops up the temp climbs within the hour to 95+) or better yet, hoed in the day while mr. sunshine on your shoulders burned you up? Well, I have....I've called around asking someone to come out and till up a place for the garden...then called around some more trying to borrow a tiller....then meticulously planted my seedling, only to have them destroyed by a washout in a rainstorm due to erosion....or eaten from the ground up by voles...Grrrrrr!!!!!!!!! 

Gardening has always been and always will be hard work, but it's very rewarding and I find it to be very relaxing, but I've had bad experiences with the traditional garden, as where I live the soil is mostly mostly clay, and where it's not clay it is sloped so when it rains it washes away most anything you try to plant. I've orded soil before and had it hauled to the house, only to find out it's chock full of every weed imaginable (and i'm not talking about the dandelion ~ i'm talking jimson weed, thistles, cockleburs and all the other lovelies that not only have massive taproots you need a backhoe to dig up, but also have thorns and grow to the size of shrubs) ~ So this year I made it a mission to put in a raised bed or two, as I love container gardening and have always had great luck with planting in flower pots, barrels and anything else that would hold soil! These beds were a lot of work to put in, for the sheer reason that I had to haul the soil myself and for anyone who's carried bags and bags of topsoil, it can get a little daunting ~ especially when it took about 30 bags to full two 4' x 4' square raised beds. I lined the beds on the bottom with landscape fabric, to detour both weeds and critters and made them out of 2 x 12 treated lumber. Although raised beds take a lot of inital labor to get started, they are well worth the effort due to the fact that they are easier to weed (you can pluck any intruder in the bud, any weed growing in a raised bed has started from the top down, not the ground up which makes weeding about 95% faster and easier!) and you know the origions of the soil. I also built a trellis from a recycled handrail that was in our house when we moved in, just staked up with some T posts. The other container beside the garden beds are recycled pallets, lined on the bottom and sides with landscape fabric (just used a staplegun to tack it on) ~ I planted strawberries in one and cabbage, lettuce and spinch in the other ~ this works great for crops that don't require a lot of room for their root structure!

Moon Signs for Gardening

Though considered by some to be hocus pocus, planting and harvesting by the moon is an ancient practice that many an old farmer swears by. So you want to plant by the moon....you go down to your local general store....you buy a copy of the old farmers almanac..you go home....you read....and reread.....and check the appendix....hmmmmm....what exactly does all of this mean? Moon in Virgo? Cusp of Capricorn? Void of Course? Retrograde? Ingress? To plant or not to plant, that is the question! First a few definitions:

Sun Sign: around the 20th of every month, the sun enters a new sign, which is where your "sign"comes from (i'm a virgo, born august 28th) ~ this sign is sort of like a breakdown of how you appear to others and how you represent yourself to the world.

Moon Sign: the moon rules over growth, which is why we use pay attention to it's sign when gardening. Unlike the sun, the moon changes it's sign about every 2 1/2 days, going through all the signs of the zodiac 29 1/2 days ~ your moon sign represents your inner self, which may not be so apparent to others. This is what indicates WHAT you should plant. Examples are:

Moon in Aquarius: Time to enjoy harvest with your family!

Moon in Pisces: things planted in this sign will grow at a very fast pace

Moon in Aries: good time for planting onions ~ kill weeds and pests

Moon in Taurus: good for planting root crops and seedlings

Moon in Gemini: not a great time for planting

Moon in Cancer: best zodiac sign for planting! very fertile moon, great time for cultivating and transplanting, especially above ground crops

Moon in Leo: most barren, dry sign ~ good time for killing pests and weeds

Moon in Virgo: good time for organizing and planning your garden

Moon in Libra: good moon for planting flowers and ornamental trees

Moon in Scorpio: good for all planting and pruning to stimulate growth

Moon in Sagittarius: take the day off to relax in your garden

Moon in Capricorn: good time for planting root crops

(You will see the sign the moon is in on many calenders in the form of an illustration called glyphs)

Full Moon: Moon is at it's peak (won't get any bigger), good time to harvest

New Moon: Moon is completely dark (can't get any smaller) good time to banish weeds and pests

Waxing: the moon is getting BIGGER (turning into a full moon)

Waning: the moon is getting SMALLER (turning into a new moon)

Quarter Moon: the moon is "half full" of "half empty" (depending on how you look at it), it's in the halfway point between the full moon or the new moon

Ingress ( ---->): indicates when the sun, moon and other planets move into a new sign

Cusp: when a sign is right on the edge of moving into another sign

Void of Course: when the moon is between signs. Said to take place from the last significant lunar aspect in each sign until the moon enters a new sign (this is a lot like the "cusp", but thought I should mention both definitions).

I've used moon phases for just about every aspect of my life for many years and have always had excellent results ~ Hope this helps anyone with questions on planting by the moon!

Homemade Salad Dressing

Ah, Spring!! Fresh herbs are popping up in the garden and it's the perfect opportunity to make some homemade herbal oils! For this oil I have used (from bottom to top) Creeping Thyme, Oregano, Chives, Garlic and Sage ~ covered in extra virgin olive oil ~ will let this set for about 4 weeks, then combine it with some basalmic vinegar and black pepper for a delicious salad dressing, just in time for all those lovely greens in the garden :D You don't have to add basalmic vinegar to this oil, it can be enjoyed all by itself as well!

How to make a Tincture

Tincture making is incredibly simple and is a great way to make the most of your herbs! Not only does if increase the shelflife of your herbs by capturing their potency ~ they last for years and cost pennies on the dollar. Tinctures are more efficient than taking pills/capsules because they don't have to be broken down by the body like whole herbs, and you can get all the benefits you might get from a handful of whole herb in just 1 teaspoon once a day!

To make your tincture you will need: alcohol (in my experience, it does'nt matter whether it's cheap or expensive, so long as it's CLEAR ~ vodka being the substance of choice for most ~ though I have used everclear before, which gets a little pricey (you can usually get more for your money going with a big ol' gallon bottle of vodka than a regular 5th of everclear) ~ ~ you will also need your container, some folks like to make a lot of tincture at a time, and i think this is a great way to go especially if you harvest your own and will be using fresh (dried herbs take up a lot of space on your shelf and if you won't be using them relatively soon, they can and will lose much of their original potency!) Keep in mind that if you make, say a gallon of tincture, this is obviousy WAY too much for one household to consume in a few years time (depending on how big your household is, i suppose!), but your tinc will keep for a very long time (some say no longer than 2 years, but I know expereinced herbalists that have had jars of tinc sitting in their cupboard for almost a decade!) plus, this gives you the opportunity to share with others :D  ~

If you're going to work with fresh herb, fill your jar generously, about 3 quarters full (don't pack too tight, as you could break the jar!) ~ if working with dried, fill about half full ~ pour liquid in slowly, allowing the alcohol to steep into the herb ~ fill liquid up the just above the shoulder of the jar, not too full, but not leaving enough room for the herb to "bob", so to speak ~ ~ tinctures are best if let to stand for about 6 weeks or longer in a cool, dry, dark place ~ General tincture dosage is 1 teaspoon (about 40 drops) into a beverage of choice once a day (placed in a hot drink, alcohol content will evaporate, eliminating the chances of getting "buzzed" :)   ~

Immune boosting, Cold Fighting Infusion

Ever searched the internet for an all natural cure for a cold? How about scouring books trying find a cheap, easy to make immune booster? Well, here's a great combination of some of the best cure alls for the sniffles, coughing and body aches!  

You will need: 1 steralized container with airtight lid ~ 3 cups honey, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 3 heads garlic broken into cloves & peeled, 1 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp lemon juice ~ good for cold symptoms, sore throats, cough and even arthritis ~ pour all ingredients into a jar, cap and shake to stir ~ ready for consumption in just 24 hrs ~ take by teaspoon every few hours for cold, 2 tsp twice a day to support immune system ~ does'nt have to be refridgerated (shelf-life is the same as normal honey) ~ keep in a cool, dark place.

Benefits of Dandelion!

There are SO many incredible healing benefits that can be obtained from the use of this diuretic herb. Dandelion flowers, leaves and roots posess qualities that include: weight loss ~ by stimulating the stomachs natural secretions, thereby aiding in digestion PLUS stimulating the livers bile production which helps delay fat obsorbtion during digestion. It's less abrasive than many herbal liver stimulants, which is a plus for those with gallbladder issues, hepatitis C or other problems with liver inflamation. Daily intake of dandelion tea, tincture or vinegar also helps to dilute bile, hence reducing the development of gallstones. This is one example ~ dandelion vinegar. Much like a tincture (soaking herbs in alcohol), making herbal vinegars is a simple way to enjoy the benefits of wild harvested herbs year round while at the same time expanding their relatively limited shelflife (approximately 1 year (for medicinal purposes) , if stored properly).

To make this infusion, you will need a sanitized container with an airtight lid, your herb of choice (obviously, this time we're using dandelion) and a good quality brand of apple cider vinegar (always buy good quality vinegar!) ~  Remember when you are using fresh herbs, you're going to need to fill your container with considerably MORE herb when you are working with the fresh product...not so much because fresh is'nt as potent as dried (quite the opposite!), but fresh takes up a lot more space than dried, therefore......you need to fill it about 3 quarters full of whatever fresh herb you're using.

Pick a nice day (preferably on a full moon or the quarter of a waxing moon, when flora is reaching it's peak of potency), find a good spot where you're certain no one has been spraying the lawn/field and gather about 4 cups (this fills up a 12oz mason jar quite well) of yellow dandelion blossoms (leaves and stems are fine, as well as roots if you're so inclined!) ~ when you're happy with your harvest, simply pour your vinegar slowly, so the liquid can seep nicely into the herb, until the entire jar is filled to the "shoulder" of the jar (does'nt have to be filled to the very tip top) ~ let this sit in a cool, dry place for about 4 weeks (if not longer, this does not have to be refriderated and has the shelf life of normal vinegar) ~ before using, pour through a strainer/cheesecloth/coffee filter and store either in the same jar or a nice oil bottle ~ delicous on salads, breads, pasta and beans!