Gone Fishing in the Garden

Posted by Sally Odum Jun 23, 2006

I took my steaming cup of Colombian coffee outside this cool afternoon to look at the vegetable garden. A light rain had fallen earlier and the drops were still on the plants.

Looking at a vegetable garden while sipping good coffee reminds me of Henry David Thoreau's quote, "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."

It's soothing to look at a thriving vegetable garden. It's emotionally and physically rewarding. Gardening relieves stress!

I recently toured a home that had such a well landscaped yard, I asked my hostess who was the one with the green thumb. "Oh, my husband is the one who gardens. He says it is therapeutic."

Bingo.

At the garden, I discovered the collards had worms on them, munching away on the tender leaves. What to do? When it gets dry and the wind is not blowing, I could add a light dusting of Seven Dust®. I am getting more and more concerned with the overuse of chemical pesticides harming our world environment, so I use it sparingly.

I could easily use a natural herbal blend as a pesticide. Sometimes people don't use the natural alternatives because they simply don't know about them.

For natural pest control methods and herbal spray formulas, check my article, Organic Pest Control and Pesticide. It includes recipes to make your own, tips, plus links to buy pre-mixed sprays online.

Here's one great natural spray recipe that kills aphids, mosquitoes, and onion flies.

Garlic Spray: Soak 3 to 4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for one day. Dissolve 1 tsp of fish emulsion in a pint of water and add it to your solution. Stir. Strain the liquid and store it in a glass container - not metal! Dilute your solution with 1 part solution to every 20 parts of water.

Other Uses for Garlic

• If you plant garlic with tomatoes, it will keep away red spider mites.

• If you plant garlic around fruit trees, it will repel borers.

• If you spray the garlic pesticide on sweet potato leaves, it will repel rabbits.

• Spray ponds with a garlic-based oil to kill mosquitoes.