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Prepping 101

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100 Prepping Tasks You Can Do In 5 Minutes or Less

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100 Prepping Tasks You Can Do In 5 Minutes or Less by Karen Morris – The Organic Prepper

We are all busy people.  Despite all of our time-saving gadgets, our days fill to overflowing so quickly.  We all want to keep up with our prepping tasks, but there are aspects to preparedness that just take time, and there’s no way around them.

If you are going to pressure can meat, you’re going to have to have at least a two-hour chunk of time that you can be in or near enough to your kitchen to keep an eye on the weight of your pressure canner. If you want to install a clothesline, it’s going to take several hours of hard work digging holes for the posts, mixing and pouring the concrete, setting up the lines once the concrete has hardened. If you want to start a garden, you either have to build raised beds or fill the ground.  Both of those take TIME.

I think that is where preppers sometimes get hung up.  They think that any and all preparedness activities take that much time, but they don’t.  Today, I’m giving you a list of 100 prepping tasks that you can do in 5 minutes or less (or maybe just SLIGHTLY more, but not much).

Print out the list.  Cross off the one time items that you’ve already done, like teaching your children their phone number – if you have done that.  Then use this list to do at least ONE thing toward your preparedness efforts every day.  Then on those days that you do have more time, head out and tackle some of those more time-consuming items off your list.

Prepping in the Kitchen

  • Print out CPR Directions and post them inside a cupboard.
  • Plan a meal from your pantry.
  • Find a new food storage recipe.
  • Declutter one shelf in your pantry.
  • Jot down an inventory of your pantry.
  • Create a menu using mostly items already in your pantry.
  • Write down as many breakfast ideas as you can come up with.  Involve your family.  If you need suggestions you could find somehere and here.
  • Write down as many lunch ideas as you can come up with.  Need some suggestions?  I have some here.
  • Write down as many dinner ideas as you can come up with.   You can find dinner suggestions here.
  • On each list, put a star by the meals that make good food storage meals.
  • Copy these onto another piece of paper.  This is the basis for your short-term food storage.
  • List out the ingredients for one meal at a time in five-minute segments.
  • Once you list out the ingredients for each meal, in five minutes at a time, compile the ingredients into one list.
  •  Add one flat of ONE of the compiled ingredients to your cart each time you go to the store.  For example, if one ingredient you need 36 cans of black beans for ALL of your menu items, make sure you pick up at least one flat or 12 cans one time you go to the grocery store.  The next time, either pick up 12 more cans of black beans or maybe pick up a flat of chunked pineapple for another meal you plan to make.
  • Organize your pantry.
  • Declutter your spices.
  • Declutter your kitchen gadget drawer.
  • Make your own shelf stable whipped cream.
  • Choose a second new food storage recipe.
  • Swap a planned meal for a food storage meal.

Prepping in the House

  • Declutter 1 shelf in your garage.
  • Declutter 1 movie from your stash.
  • Declutter 1 stained, soiled, or torn outfit to the trash.
  • List one item that you no longer wear for sale on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist.
  • List one video game that you no longer wear for sale on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist.
  • Distribute any preparedness items you’ve purchased, but haven’t put them in their place yet.
  • Organize your tools.
  • Declutter your bookshelves.

With the Family

  • Print out family phone numbers for kids.  Post them inside a cupboard.
  • Help your young child learn their phone number.
  • Help your young child learn their address.
  • Help your young child learn their mom’s name.
  • Help your young child learn their dad’s name.
  • Run a fire drill with your kids.
  • Run a tornado drill with your kids.
  • Plan for a bug-out drill.  Make a list of items that HAVE to come with you if you need to bug out.
  • As much as possible, put these items into easily grabbed totes.
  • Assign each item to a child(ren) as appropriate.
  • Assign buddies for the bug out drill.  Each buddy must make sure that their buddy is in the vehicle.
  • Run the bug-out drill.
  • Run it again.  Try to improve your time.
  • Take pictures of each of your children and print them out.  Keep them in your Preparedness binder.
  • On the back of the printed pictures of your children tape a strand of their hair and write any identifying marks they have.
  • Write out a series of questions to ask an older family member or friend who has lived through a time without today’s modern conveniences.

In the Garden

Physical Fitness Prepping

  • Take a short walk.
  • Do 20 jumping jacks.
  • Do 20 squats.
  • Do 10 push-ups, modified push-ups, or wall push-ups.

Preparedness Planning

  • Determine how much water your family would need for three days, a week, and Month.  Here’s a worksheet to help you figure your water plan out.
  • Decide how you’ll provide your family with three days of water.
  • …a week of water.
  • …a month of water (attach family water plan worksheet).

Educational Prepping

Prepping the Cell Phone

  • Download the pl@ntnet app to your phone.  It’s a plant identification app.
  • Download the Useful Knots app to your phone.
  • Download the Red Cross First Aid app to your phone.
  • Download the MyNature Tracks Lite app to your phone.
  • Download the US Army Survival Guide to your phone.
  • Take 5 minutes to peruse each app to know for what all they can be used.

Prepping Activities

  • Save broken crayons to make fire starters.
  • Peel the paper off broken crayons to make fire starters.
  • Save dryer lint to make fire starters
  • Make your own fire starters.
  • Find a route out of town which doesn’t involve using a highway or a road from which you can enter/exit a highway.
  • Pull up your home on Google Maps and look for the nearest river or body of water.  It might be closer than you think!
  • Search for a preparedness book in your local library’s online card catalog.
  • Do an online search for period homes/towns/plantations that you can visit and learn how people used to live hundreds of years ago.
  • Start a fire using steel wool and a 9-volt battery.
  • Start a fire using a magnifying glass.
  • Start a fire using a baggie and water.
  • Learn how to tie two basic knots and why you would use them.
  • Practice hand sewing a button.
  • Practice hand sewing a seam.
  • Walk through your house and find two ways out of each room.  If one of those ways is a second story window, make sure that you purchase a ladder for that specific purpose.
  • Check and/or change the batteries in a smoke detector.
  • Declutter your vehicle.
  • Inventory the preparedness items that you keep in your car.  Keep a list of their locations in your vehicle in an app on your phone.  I use the list feature on my Cozi app.
  • Create a wish list of items for preparedness.
  • Order your wish list in order of most important to least important.
  • Discuss the list with your significant other and get their input.
  • Create a plan for purchasing the items on your wish list.

What About You?

What other five-minute preparedness activities do you do?  Can you think of other items that should be added to this list?  What do you think should be removed?  I’d love to hear!  Leave a comment section below.

Source Link – The Organic Prepper

Karen Morris

Karen Morris has survived some life-changing events, like the Ferguson riots, an armed standoff with a knife-wielding man during my family’s time at a local homeschool chess club, and an F-4 tornado, Each of these events taught her a new level of self-sufficiency and preparedness. From there, her journey to self-sufficiency started with food storage and grew beyond her wildest imaginings. Find out more about Karen Morris: Her books:  A Year Without the Grocery Store and A Year Without the Grocery Store Companion WorkbookHer website: AYearWithouttheGroceryStore.com

from:    https://thedailycoin.org/2018/07/27/100-prepping-tasks-you-can-do-in-5-minutes-or-less/

Some Edible Flowers

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Eating Edible Flowers

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The culinary use of edible flowers is not a recent trend; it can be traced back thousands of years to the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. Flowers were traditionally incorporated into many various cuisines –from Asian and East Indian to European, Victorian English, and Middle Eastern. Think of the lush rose petals in Indian food and the bright squash blossoms in the Italian meals.

Edible flowers fell out of grace, but they are making a huge come-back, not only as a fancy garnish, but also as an effective seasoning. Of course, flowers are not everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to cooking. The secret is to learn to pick the right ones and to combine them properly with other ingredients.

The buds and blooms of different plants offer a wide range of flavour, colour, and a tinge of whimsy. Some are irresistibly fragrant and tasty, others are spicy and sharp. Some are lemony or weedy while others are floral or herbaceous. The rich palette of taste and colour make edible flowers a perfect addition to almost every dish. Spruce up the regular meal with these surprisingly delicious blooms.

Not All Flowers Are Edible

Not every flower that you have in your garden is edible. Even though the buds may not be poisonous, they don’t all taste good! Luckily, most of the blooms of fruits, veggies, and herbs work just as great as their fully-grown counterparts.  It’s advisable to consume only plants that have been grown without pesticides or with such that are suitable for edible crops. If you buy flowers from expert gardeners, a nursery or garden centres, check to see if they are labelled as edible. Make sure you are not allergic to a certain type of plant before you use it. That said, here are a couple of tips on how to harvest and store your edible flowers.

  • Pick the blooms and buds just before you use them for the best flavour
  • Harvest during the cool of the day, after the dew evaporates
  • Brush off any soil and remove any insects hiding within
  • Wash the flowers gently and let them air-dry over a paper towel
  • If not used right away, keep them in the fridge for no longer than 10 days
  • They can be dried, frozen or preserved in vinegar or oil

Some Flowers You Can Grow and Eat

You can choose from a variety of annuals, biennials, and perennials that will look gorgeous in your garden and will add unique taste to your meals. Planting some of these flowers can introduce benefits both to your garden and your cooking routine. If you are looking for your next gardening projects, here are a couple of ideas you might want to consider:

Nasturtium

nasturtium flower

There are many reasons to consider planting nasturtium in your garden. These vibrant and versatile annuals serve a double duty – as an exquisite culinary delight and as a natural pest control. The sun-loving greenery will bloom from midsummer until the first frost. Its peppery tasting flowers can be added to fresh salads or used in your favourite pesto recipe. You can also skip the mustard, and stuff the spicy petals into your sandwiches with creamy cheese and sliced tomatoes.

Squash Blossoms

male squash blossom flower

These are probably some of the most widely used edible flowers, especially in the Italian cuisine. Squash blossoms are the flowers of the late-season pumpkins, zucchini, summer squash, and winter squash. The orange and yellow buds can be used raw in a salad or stuffed with cheese. They taste like a more delicate version of squash and can be fried or cooked with creamy rice.

Dill

Dill Flower

Dill offers remarkable benefits for both your health and your garden. It contains enzymes that help reduce the free radicals and carcinogens in the human body. Plus it prevents bone loss and has anti-bacterial properties. According to the gardening experts, the blossoms can attract pollinators and beneficial insects into your backyard. The flowers have light dill flavour and are usually added to jars with cucumber pickles.

Chives Blossoms

Chive flower

Chives don’t require any garden maintenance or efforts. Your site is probably filled with these lavender-pink flowers, so why not try them out? Toss them in a fresh salad, add them in a casserole, or cook them with fresh vegetables. Their taste resembles onions so don’t use too many of these pungent flowers.

Violet

african violet flower

Viola odorata or sweet violet is an all time classic when it comes to cooking with edible flowers. It was a favourite treat of English royalty and a popular ingredient during the Victorian era. The taste of this flower pairs well with lemon and chocolate. You can use it in different recipes – from crèmes and desserts to tarts and salads.  Violets can be quite challenging when it comes to cooking, because you will need a lot of them to extract enough flavour.

from:    http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/eating-edible-flowers

Some Great Gardening Tips

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16 Gardening Tricks That Every Gardener Should Know About

by CODY TM

With the new season of gardening among us, there are multiple beginners just starting to grow their first plants. Gardening can seem complicated at times, but luckily, there are an abundance of tricks and tips to help you get started!

1. Homemade Weed Killer
To create your own weed killer, the recipe calls for 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1 cup of table salt, and 1 tbsp of liquid dish soap. No one really has time to pull weeds all day. Chances are, you already have these ingredients lying around your kitchen, so whipping up a batch of weed killer wouldn’t take too long.

–Be careful because this solution can be harmful to grass as well, so it’s best used in sidewalk cracks, landscape borders, and other areas with unwanted grass or flowers, and not spots where the spray may be harmful to your other plants. Also, if you spray the weeds when they are exposed to direct sunlight, it works its magic a lot faster.

2. Dry Creek Bed Garden
To break up a large portion of the yard, consider a dry creek bed for added visual interest. It not only looks fabulous, but it’s also great for landscape drainage and redirecting rain water on a slope. With the added benefit of the creek being low maintenance.

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3. Homemade Rain Barrel
Rain barrels are easy to assemble and only take around 30 minutes or less to build. Collect the rain directly from your gutter spouts, and use it to water your garden, lawn, and potted plants. You will just need a heavy duty trash can, a drill, a pair of pliers, and a few other basic tools. There are even kits The Rain Barrel Depot can provide you as well.

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4. Keep The Pets Out
Animals, especially cats, view the entire garden as one huge pooping station. This can cause you to pull out your hair from all the little surprises found around your garden. To stop these pesky little friends from pooping everywhere, strategically place a few plastic forks around your plants to deter them from destroying your fresh herbs, fruits, and veggies.

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5. Rubbermaid Container Garden
If you have the lack of a backyard, do not worry! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Using Rubbermaid storage containers, fill the bottom with packing peanuts and a layer of garden fabric so that they are easy to move. This method could even work on an apartment balcony.Screen Shot 2015-04-30 at 10.12.33 PM

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6. Give Your Garden A Calcium Boost
Just like grinding your food makes it easier to digest, grinding eggshells makes it easy for your garden to absorb the calcium egg shells provide. Acting like a nutritious snack or breakfast for your garden!

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7. Epsom Salt in the Garden
Epsom salt has a lot of uses. Epsom salt is rich in magnesium and sulfate which are crucial to plant life. For potted plants, mix a couple of tablespoons of the salt into your watering can once or twice a month. Even sprinkle it in your garden’s soil to help your seeds germinate better. Tomatoes and peppers benefit the most because they both tend to have a magnesium deficiency. Add a tablespoon or so in with the soil when first planting, and then sprinkle more into the soil once mature.

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8. Fertilize Your Plants
Be sure to save your vegetable cooking water! The water has a lot of nutrients that your garden thrives on. Wait for the water to cool down first, and then use it to “fertilize” your garden or potted plants. This makes for a green and happy garden! I don’t recommend drinking the water or pouring the water over your plants while the water is still boiling. You may accidentally cook your plants!Screen Shot 2015-04-30 at 10.14.23 PM

9. Pinch Your Herbs
Pinch the upper portions of your herb plant stems off  to encourage new leaf growth. Herbs have a natural instinct to stay alive so when they are pinched, they send a signal to the dormant leaf buds to grow.Screen Shot 2015-04-30 at 10.16.02 PM

10. Pot-in-Pot Landscaping

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of redoing the landscaping every time the seasons change. Dig a hole for your seasonal plants and fill it with an empty plastic pot. Now you can just drop your seasonal flowers in there and easily switch them out once they’re ready to retire.

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11. Line Pots with Coffee Filters
This is a wonderful method for indoor plants. Most of the time when you water indoor plants in the sink, you can lose a lot of the soil down the drain. Not to mention the mess it makes under the pot. Coffee filters allow the water to still drain, but keep the dirt contained.

 

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12. Eggshell Starters
Get your garden started early by planting your seeds in eggshells indoors before the weather permits outdoor growth. There are several reasons why eggshells are the perfect pot for this, but the biggest is that they are cheap. Or if you own chickens then the eggs are obviously free. Eggs are full of calcium to give your seedlings that extra boost and easy to plant in the garden when ready.

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13. Roses in Spuds
Just a quick tip, rose bushes or any bush, can be re-planted just by having the trimmings of the previous bush you want to grow from. Push the bottom ends of your rose trimmings into a small potato to help it retain moisture as it develops roots.

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14. Stop Invasive Plants
Cut the bottom off of a plastic pot and bury it in the ground! Use it for invasive plants that tend to grow too large and take over your garden. This simple garden technique limits the growth of the root system, giving you better control over the size of the plant once it reaches maturity, and also protects the plants around it. This method is great if you’re planning on growing blackberries.Screen Shot 2015-04-30 at 10.15.19 PM

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15. Plastic Pot Watering System
Place a sink pot in the middle of your garden to create a well for easier and deeper root watering. This is especially helpful for squash. As the roots mature, they get deeper and deeper into the ground’s soil, making it harder for the water to reach in a dry climate.

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16. DIY Mini Greenhouse
Get your seedlings off to a good start with their very own little greenhouse! The bottom 3/4 part of a plastic soda bottle makes for the perfect little dome to cover your little pots with. This is also a great way to get the kiddos interested in gardening.

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There you have it, 16 tricks of the trade for gardening. Good luck out there in the dirt!

 

Sources: listotic

from:    http://www.realfarmacy.com/16-gardening-tricks-every-gardener/

Grow Your Own Turmeric

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How to Grow your own turmeric. It is FAR better than buying it

Posted on by Anya V

 

Turmeric is one of the world’s healthiest foods. Turmeric’s antiseptic and antibacterial properties make it great for cleaning and treating wounds, and its anti-inflammatory properties work well against joint pain and are effective for treating arthritis. Experts believe that turmeric may even have over 600 potential preventive and therapeutic applications and 175 distinct beneficial physiological effects. Turmeric has been found to replace man pharmaceutical drugs such as ibuprofen.

Turmeric can be  easily grown indoors. Turmeric is grown from rhizomes (root cuttings) similar to ginger. Turmeric does not propagate seeds. So all you need is one turmeric root which you can find at health stores (Whole Foods or Indian stores.)

How to Grow your own turmeric. It is FAR better than buying it

To grow turmeric indoors, just follow these simple steps:

1. Break a larger rhizome into  a small rhizome piece that has two or three buds.

2. Fill the pots with rich organic soil, which is lightly moist but well drained. The ideal pH should range from 4.5 to 7.5

3. Place it about two inches below the surface of the soil, with the buds facing up.

3. Water the container.

That’s all there is to it!

Turmeric likes water. So try watering it once in 2 days.  Keep the soil of the turmeric plant  moist, but not too wet.

How to Harvest Turmeric

Turmeric takes between 6 to 10 months for the edible rhizomes to mature.  Harvesting is easy, just dig up the entire plant including the roots.

Cut the needed amount off a finger at the edge of the pot and then return the soil.
Turmeric is a perennial herb plant that re-shoots every spring; it will continue to produce roots.
from:    http://livingtraditionally.com/how-to-grow-your-own-turmeric-it-is-far-better-than-buying-it/

 

Food, Food Prices, & Gardening

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Why Are Food Prices So High?

Click image to enlarge

Holly Deyo
Activist Post

Everyone is complaining about sky high food prices. Why are they going nuts? The fault is mostly due to harsh weather conditions of drought, vicious storms, floods, soggy soil, hail, frost and ice, and ferocious winds. Escalating extremes have beaten fruits, vegetables and farm animals to death around the world and we’re paying for it – literally. In the last 3 years, America was slammed with 32 multi-billion dollar disasters that for the most part, hit during crop-growing seasons. The 2012 Drought / Heatwave alone took a $30 billion bite out of peoples’ pockets.

For the past three years drought has decimated Texas cattle herds by over 2 million head. Now California’s cattle are getting smacked. This is small potatoes by comparison, but last year South Dakota lost 30,000 head – frozen in a single November blizzard. Our neighbor to the south, Mexico, lost 1.7 million head in 2011 due to drought. There are other cattle losses as well, but there’s not time to document them all.

It used to be that cattle herds took about 3 years to replenish. Experts stated this week it could take the rest of this decade – 6 years – to rebuild America’s beef and dairy livestock. That’s double the norm. Meanwhile, food prices continue to ramp up. That’s if no more catastrophes descend. How much do you want to bet on a lucky break? In the first 3 months of this year, 1/3 of the U.S. is in USDA-declared crop disaster areas.

Gas prices are moving up again with Brent Crude kissing a $100/barrel yesterday. It costs more money to move produce, dairy and meat from farmer to fork. Also, more countries are eating better so farmers ship more food to other nations. This puts a squeeze on our supply. Then there’s the idiocy of bio-fuels, which takes another bite from food stocks. However, the most direct and dire cause of rising food prices is unquestionably weather disasters.

MITIGATION

Having your own garden helps counteract rocketing food prices. All you need is a bit of space, some know-how and a little time. Frankly, I’d rather be outside messing in the garden, soaking up the Sun, doing what we can to provide in the face of Nature’s fury, and helping plants spring to life than read depressing news. It’s like my girlfriend’s phone recording: “Hey, I’m out playing in the dirt. Leave a message!”

You don’t need to have this much space dedicated to veggies. Generally speaking, all that is needed is one 4×4 bed for salad greens and one 4×4 bed for vegetables for each adult. See? It requires little space for the basics. However, in light of ever-darkening current events, worsening weather and escalating grocery prices, we’re taking out our own food insurance for pennies on the dollar. Since the world is now a global food store, everyone’s pain is our pain and we all feel it at the grocery store. If you’re a newbie gardener or are bleary-eyed from reading news, here’s a look at our layout for this year’s crops.

DESIGNING YOUR GARDEN GOLD

Stan and I practice what we preach and have greatly expanded our veggie gardens this year. In fact, from 8 years ago, they’ve doubled in size. Some of the harvest will be canned, some frozen, some eaten fresh, some given to friends and some taken to the homeless shelter. Nothing will go to waste. We see hard times coming this year and having an ample garden is one way to fight back.

Image: This year we really concentrated on what we like to eat and grow just that. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the layout of this year’s gardens. We’ve expanded them considerably in light of much higher food prices. It will save money in the long run. See the first article in this series, How to Beat Coming Killer Food Shortages. Since we grow organically, we won’t fall victim to repeated fruit and veggie recalls due to E. Coli, listeria and salmonella contamination. Numbers in red are the weeks that successive crops will be planted.

For example, the first lettuce, carrot, radish and spinach seeds were sown on March 29. Second crop will be planted April 12 and the 3rd crop on April 26. For radishes, since they only take about a month to harvest, the 4th planting on May 10 will go where the March 29 seeds were and so on. For peas and other lettuces, we’ll plant for Fall crops.

THINK WITH THE BRAIN, NOT THE BELLY

Last year, we had tons too many tomatoes, summer squash and zucchini and ended up giving away more than half of everything. Neighbors were happy to help us with this!

We still have plenty of Jalapeños, Serranos and Big Jim/Nu Mex in the freezer from 2013, so this year, the garden will just grow Santa Fe chilies.

Bell Peppers have a ton of uses whether they’re eaten fresh or grilled or included in salads, omelettes and kabobs. Extras at the end of season can be Ziplocked and frozen to make colorful tasty additions to soups and stews.

Zucchinis over-produce for our use, so there will be just a couple of seedlings planted. Since we adore baked Acorn and Butternut squash we’ve allowed for plenty. They store for months and are super versatile.

My favorite method is to slice them in half lengthwise, scoop out the seed goo, add a bit of butter, white wine and seasoning like Lawry’s or even better, Red Robin. The flavor of a little sweet wine mixed with a hint of Red Robin zing? Yum. Bake them in water about 1/3 of the way up the squash until fork-tender. Baste occasionally. A clone for Red Robin Seasoning goes like this:

Red Robin Seasoning

  • 3 tablespoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon instant tomato soup mix (Knorr tomato with basil works great)
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Store in a covered container. Makes 1/3 cup.

Stan is a major fan of small watermelons, so we’re planting a bunch of Sugar Babies. Ditto for Holly on cantaloupe. The best ever is grown just a few miles away – Rocky Ford. Yes, this is the same ‘loupe involved in the 2011 listeria outbreak. Regardless, they are the sweetest cantaloupes on the planet. To be clear, Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado that was responsible for the listeria drama is not the same as Rocky Ford Grower’s Assn. They are 100 miles apart. To further confuse things, Rocky Ford is both a place and the name of these luscious ‘loupes.

Image: The dotted line represents two different growing areas. The two ‘old beds’ on the left are out by the orchard and the two ‘new beds’ are about 50 feet off the back deck.

We love Snap and Snow Peas and Green Beans and have been known to munch them straight off the vine. 🙂 Plus, they freeze well. Since beans and peas are something we consume regularly, we’re planting a bunch.

And then there’s Pinto Beans. Stan and I must have Hispanic roots somewhere “in another life” because Tex-Mex is our favorite food bar none. Nothing beats a hair-raising, nosebleed-bitingly flavorful bit of really southern tucker. This brings us to that weird patch of cilantro in Figure 1. It is integral to many Tex-Mex meals. This stuff simply won’t die out. It grew throughout winter with no water in sub-freezing temps. So for its faithfulness, we let it live, otherwise I’d dig up this herb and replace it with a veggie.

TIP: Spices can take up as much room as veggies. Economically speaking, it’s more cost-effective to buy them in bulk from Tone’s and save your space for fruits and vegetables. Besides Tone’s for dried bulk buys, check McCormick, Frontier Natural Products Co-op, Monterey Bay Spice Company and My Spice Sage. We’ve purchased most of ours from the first three, not the last two. However, nothing beats the fragrance and flavor of fresh herbs and spices.

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM

Four years ago, we put in an asparagus bed with 47 crowns. You’d think that’d be plenty and then some. Mistakenly we thought multiple varieties would be clever. Not so. The Martha Washington, Jersey Giant and Jersey Knights were ready at different times. Some were thicker and some thinner, which meant they steamed at different times. There wasn’t a single instance when more than 4 or 5 stalks were ready to harvest simultaneously. Not exactly a side dish for 2. It was a nice stalk here, 2 more there. Since we live in the high desert, it was a perpetual uphill fight to get them going productively, like pushing a boulder along with a toothpick. Plus, you’re not supposed to harvest the first year’s crop. More waiting. Florence, a town just 30 minutes west of us, has them growing wild by the Arkansas River. When our neighbor lived there his mom sent Jerry nightly to pick all they needed – for free. Lucky dog!

If in having a practical, usable garden, some things are just too difficult and expensive to cultivate, yell calf rope! Enough already! This year, the asparagus patch now holds melons, cucumbers, broccoli and celery.

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER, NOT OBAMA’S “HOPE & CHANGE”

Don’t be surprised if, over the years, your garden beds morph. This is what we started with in 2007: 6 – 4×4-foot beds. The strawberry bed is history. They didn’t produce enough at the same time (like the asparagus) to warrant the space. Unless you have time every week to cut off runners, the bed soon becomes an overgrown, tangled mess. For fruit, these plants were replaced by raspberry, blueberry, grape and elderberry bushes on a berm not pictured. Also in the fruit department are 15 trees consisting of varieties of apple, peach, plum, pear and cherry.

Photo: In eight years our gardens have changed considerably and doubled in size.

The cedar beds (pictured above) didn’t weather well in Colorado’s high altitude and strong UV. Gone are the chicken wire walls and cages. Where the 4 – 4×4 beds were on the left are now 2 – 4×4’s and 1 – 4×8. The two decorative brick beds on the right have morphed into two more 4×8’s. Our total bed space is this: 4 – 4×4’s, 4 – 4×8’s and one goofy-sized 6×7. We use recycled plastic and natural fiber board raised beds from Frame-It-All with nifty animal barriers. They also sell very cool attachable greenhouse tops and trellises.

The image below of a Frame-It-All 4×8 bed is their older model for the animal barrier. Now where “A” is, it has a cap like on “B”. This allows for multiple 2-foot additions of animal barriers – in case you have tall invaders! Numerous other companies manufacture similar raised bed kits. We just happened to land on Frame It All and stuck with them for continuity. You can also build your own as detailed in Garden Gold.

All of our beds are 12″ deep, which makes rotating crops no problem. If you use only a 4″ or 6″ high board, which holds just 3-5 inches of Super Soil, it makes growing potatoes, carrots and some other root veggies nearly impossible, so it greatly cuts down on the ability to rotate crops. With extra depth, there is always flexibility. It’s vital that crops are rotated yearly to naturally prevent bug infestations. Not every bug likes the same veggie so if they’ve visited cauliflower one year, next year’s crop of cauliflower needs to go in a different area. This is one of the main natural preventative techniques used by organic farmers.

SIDEBAR TIP: Also changed is the 500-gallon propane tank pictured above. No, it’s not gone. When natural gas was made available to our area, we chose to go with it. However, we’ve kept the propane tank – always filled – for back-up fuel. In the event of a prolonged power outage – as in months – gas appliances can be switched back to propane. You can’t believe how much less expensive it is to refill your BBQ canisters from this big tank. It’s always available so if you’re cooking and the 20-gallon BBQ tank is unexpectedly empty, it’s easy-peasy-cheapy to fill up.

Back to gardening. Areas around the beds are now grassed in. That, combined with the Chinese bio-intensive growing method of planting everything close together keeps weeds at bay as there’s no place for them to take root. In case you’ve read our accounts and saw this video of massive tumbleweed issues in southern Colorado, it’s best not to give their seeds a place to land. It’s also easier on the feet and knees than surrounding beds with sharp, decorative rock. All it takes is a quick go with the Weedeater to keep grass in line.

from:    http://www.activistpost.com/2014/04/why-are-food-prices-so-high.html

Some Notes about Soil fr/Dr. Elaine Ingram

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Giving Soil the Respect it Deserves

 

Posted by: Susan Handjian, 8:11 PM GMT on February 25, 2013 +1

“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”
-Wendell Berry

Soil is a largely overlooked and misunderstood part of the garden ecosystem, and as a result is often mistreated, or ignored, even abused. As with all dynamic ecosystems, there is interaction and interdependence in the garden. Much more is happening out of sight than we can ever know. This is particularly true of soil, which is about as out of sight as it’s possible to be. The importance of soil goes well beyond the fact that it supplies anchorage for plants and holds a reservoir of water on which roots can draw. It is a complex amalgam of mineral particles and organic matter developed over millennia and is inhabited by a universe of soil dwelling animals and billions of good and bad fungal and bacterial microorganisms that are essentially in an ongoing battle for balance. As hard as it may be to believe, a pinch of soil may contain as many as 100 billion bacteria, comparable to the number of stars in the galaxy.

Soil begins with the physical deterioration of bare rock, worn or broken off by the force of temperature, rain or wave action, and wind to form a loose aggregation. Chemical decomposition of the aggregates then occurs, beginning the process called weathering. When weathering reaches a point where a seed might germinate and take root, webs of relationships begin to develop between plant and the microscopic life underground. Several factors are at play in this process. The parent material, climate, topography, and types of organisms present evolve over time to create the multitude of soil types the world over, whether it’s the dense, humus rich soils of the great forests to the lean, dry and sandy soils of desert lands.

Soils can be residual, forming in place, or depositional, transported from elsewhere by gravity, or rivers or wind. They are named for their texture, which remains unchanged. Texture is the result of the combination of mineral particles, sand, silt, and clay that they contain. The ideal soil is loam, an optimum mixture of the three. It contains a healthy population of soil-dwelling organisms, has minerals, air pores for root growth, and excellent water retention. Since natural loam is elusive for most of us, we have to improve the soil structure, fortunately a quite achievable goal. Our soils are identified by the proportion of their mineral components, sand, silt, and clay. How these different types behave is fairly predictable. Clay soils, with greater surface area of their tiny particles, can easily become gooey and waterlogged, while the larger sand particles give water less to cling to and as a result dry out very quickly. Texture also determines how well soil holds onto nutrients and how quickly or slowly it will warm up in the spring.

Gardeners are often puzzled about what to do with their soil. As tempting as it is to believe the ubiquitous television advertisements that show a dejected man digging one bag of soil conditioner into poor, depleted soil only to joyously see a complete transformation take place immediately, we know this is not how things work.

When we discuss soil development, we’re talking about geologic time. Many of the old notions of soil improvement achieved by adding great quantities of organic material by deep digging, tilling, and otherwise disturbing the soil are falling out of favor. Let me say now that for edibles, these techniques are necessary and effective. Vegetable and fruit crops are heavy feeders and require additional organic material incorporated in the soil to take care of their intense nutritional needs during the growing season.

In gardens that support mostly ornamentals, the double-digging and tilling simply aren’t necessary, and the application of organic materials from the top down are becoming widely accepted as a benign and effective method of soil improvement. If you favor native plants, they are adapted to both climate and soil. Often, over-amended soil is detrimental to them. Believe it or not, you already have most of what is needed to improve your soil in your garden itself. You can gently loosen the soil by inserting and rocking a garden fork back and forth to allow better air circulation, but other than digging planting holes, there’s already an underground army at your disposal to make things better. All you have to do is supply the raw material.

Remember, an ecosystem works in cycles. Nothing is static. The leaves falling from your trees, the spent flowers from annuals or perennial plants, twigs, branches, these all are fodder for the compost that will nourish the life in the soil. To be sure, there are imbalances that may need to be addressed with specific fertilizers or amendments. Some plants require additional nutrients that compost alone may not provide. Knowing this comes with experience. But providing plants with healthy soil brimming with microorganisms is always at the heart of a thriving garden.

Remember, an ecosystem works in cycles. Nothing is static. The leaves falling from your trees, the spent flowers from annuals or perennial plants, twigs, branches, these all are fodder for the compost that will nourish the life in the soil. To be sure, there are imbalances that may need to be addressed with specific fertilizers or amendments. Some plants require additional nutrients that compost alone may not provide. Knowing this comes with experience. But providing plants with healthy soil brimming with microorganisms is always at the heart of a thriving garden.

Now, the natural processes that create this ideal situation are not nearly as attractive and effortless as that man working with his bag of magic soil improver. Just as above ground, there’s a food chain in the life of the soil. What we’re talking about is decomposition. In a continuous cycle of life and death, plants, flowers, and animals live and die. What remains is either eaten by a huge array of microorganisms living underground or carried there by animals like pill bugs, worms, or beetles, where it continues to break down further and further. Decomposers attract predators. Bacteria are eaten by protozoa, fungi trap and eat nematodes but are then eaten themselves. Larger animal like earthworms, large in the sense that you may be able to see them with the naked eye, not only transport decaying organic material but eat it themselves. You can begin to see that a balance is being achieved by soil biota with little assistance from us. Further, nutrients that are created from the decomposition processes are dissolved when water is added to the soil, providing roots with a constant supply of nourishment over time.

It’s when we deprive the ecosystem of the raw materials for decomposition that we run into problems. The desire for “clean” garden beds, raked clear of any and all organic materials, has an unintended negative consequence. Soil biota cannot survive without dead and decaying plants, which are the raw materials necessary for their work and will simply move away or die. Nutrient recycling will stop, and the garden will then have to be supported artificially by applications of fertilizers. Fertilizers derived from petrochemicals very effectively keep soil microorganisms from ever returning to your garden. The answer? Feed the soil, not the plants. This general rule will bring results that may surprise and achieve a peace you’ve never had with your soil.

Fortunately, there are many resources for learning how to make soil better. I’ll be the first to admit that there are some soils so difficult the only solution is to avoid planting in them. In these cases, using raised beds or building mounds may be the only alternative. Before giving up completely, though, give some remedial methods a try. To learn more about helping your ordinary garden soil be its best, here are some suggestions:

The Soil Food Web

The concept of the Soil Food Web was developed by Dr. Elaine Ingham. Her research and methodology has opened up a whole new way of looking at the soil, and I can’t recommend her methods strongly enough. She is a proponent of the benefits of compost and compost tea to improve normal soil and remediate problem soils. You can find out more about her at:

Soil Food Web about the work of Dr. Elaine Ingham

from:    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/gardencoach/show.html?entrynum=14

 

 

Tips on Successful Veggie Growing

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How to Grow The Top 10 Most Nutritious Vegetables in Your Garden

By Colleen Vanderlinden

Treehugger

A perfectly ripe, juicy tomato, still warm from the sun. Sweet carrots, pulled from the garden minutes (or even seconds!) before they’re eaten. Growing your own vegetables is one of those activities that balances practicality and indulgence. In addition to the convenience of having the fixings for a salad or light supper right outside your door (or on your windowsill), when you grow your own vegetables, you’re getting the most nutritional bang for your buck as well. Vegetables start losing nutrients as soon as they’re harvested, and quality diminishes as sugars are turned into starches. For the tastiest veggies with the best nutrition, try growing a few of these nutrient-dense foods in your own garden.

And don’t let the lack of a yard stop you – all of them can be grown in containers as well.

1. Broccoli

Broccoli is high in calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as Vitamin A, B6, and C. In fact, one cup of raw broccoli florets provides 130% of your daily Vitamin C requirement.

  • How to Grow Broccoli
  • Grow Broccoli in Containers: One broccoli plant per pot, pots should be 12 to 16 inches deep.
  • What to Watch Out For: Cabbage worm. If you start seeing pretty white butterflies fluttering around your broccoli, you’re guaranteed to start seeing little green worms all over your broccoli plants. To avoid this, cover your broccoli plants with floating row cover or lightweight bed sheets. If you start seeing cabbage worms, simply pick them off by hand.

2. Peas

There is nothing like peas grown right in your own garden – the tender sweetness of a snap pea just plucked from the vine is unlike anything you can buy in at a store. Aside from being absolutely delicious, peas are high in fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and Vitamin A, B6, and C.

  • How to Grow Peas
  • Grow Peas in Containers: Sow peas approximately 2 inches apart in a pot that is at least 10 inches deep. Provide support for peas to climb up.
  • What to Watch Out For: Hot weather. Once the weather turns hot, pea production will pretty much shut down. Grow peas in early spring and late summer/autumn, or any time of year when temperatures are consistently between 40 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Beans (especially navy beans, great northern beans, kidney beans)

While snap beans (green beans/wax beans) are a great addition to any garden, it’s the beans we grow as dried beans that are real nutritional powerhouses. Dry beans, in general, are high in iron, fiber, manganese, and phosphorous.

  • How to Grow Beans
  • Grow Beans in Containers: Bush beans are your best option for growing in containers. Plant beans four inches apart in a container that is at least 12 inches deep.
  • What to Watch Out For: Harvest at the right time. Harvest dry beans when the pods have completely dried on the vine. The pods should be light brown, and you should be able to feel the hard beans inside. Shell the beans, and let them sit out a few days to ensure that they’re completely dry before storing them in jars in a cool, dark, dry place.

4. Brussels Sprouts

The bane of many a childhood, Brussels sprouts get a bad wrap mostly due to overcooking. When prepared right, Brussels sprouts are sweet, tender, and delicious. They also provide tons of fiber, magnesium, potassium, and riboflavin, as well as high levels of Vitamins A, B6, and C.

  • How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
  • Grow Brussels Sprouts in Containers: Grow one plant per 16-inch deep container.
  • What to Watch Out For: Cabbage worms (see “Broccoli, above.)

5. Tomatoes

Fresh, homegrown tomatoes are the reason many gardeners get into vegetable gardening in the first place. There’s just nothing that compares to eating a perfectly ripe tomato, still warm from the sun. Tomatoes are also incredibly good for us, packing plenty of fiber, iron, magnesium, niacin, potassium, and Vitamin A, B6, and C. They’re also a great source of the antioxidant lycopene.

  • How to Grow Tomatoes
  • Grow Tomatoes in Containers: Container sizes will vary depending on the variety you’re growing. If you’re growing an indeterminate variety, your container will need to be at least 18 inches deep. For determinate varieties, 12 inches is a good depth, and for dwarf or “patio” type tomatoes, 8 inches is perfect. One tomato plant per pot.
  • What to Watch Out For: Tomato horn worm can be a problem in many areas – these large caterpillars should be removed by hand whenever you see them. Also watch out for signs of blight, which is a real problem in many parts of the U.S.

6. Red Bell Peppers

Red bell peppers are high in potassium, riboflavin, and Vitamins A, B6, and C – in fact, one cup of red bell pepper packs an amazing 317% of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C and 93% of the recommended Vitamin A.

7. Beets

Beets are a great “two-fer” crop – you can harvest the beet roots, of course, but you can also harvest and eat the greens. Young beet greens are delicious when added raw to a salad, and larger beet greens can be sauteed as a quick side dish or used the way you’d use other greens such as spinach. Beet roots are very high in iron, potassium, and vitamin C. Beet greens are even better, as they are high in iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and Vitamins A, B6, and C.

  • How to Grow Beets
  • Grow Beets in Containers: Plant beet seeds three inches apart in a container that is twelve inches deep. Because each beet seed is actually a cluster of seeds, be sure to thin the seedlings to one per cluster. Thinnings can be added to salads or sandwiches.
  • What to Watch Out For: Knowing when to harvest. Beet roots are at their best when they are harvested small – between one and two inches across. At this size, they are sweet and tender. Larger beets tend to be kind of woody and less flavorful.

8. Leaf Amaranth

Leaf amaranth is a less-common vegetable that is well worth a try in your own garden. The leaves have a sweet and slightly tangy flavor that works well in a variety of dishes, from stir-fries and soups to simply steaming it all by itself. As a bonus, leaf amaranth is one of the few heat-tolerant greens. It won’t bolt in the heat of summer the way spinach and kale are prone to. Nutritionally, leaf amaranth is very high in calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, zinc, and Vitamins A, B6, and C. Everyone should be growing this!

  • How to Grow Leaf Amaranth
  • Growing Leaf Amaranth in Containers: Scatter the tiny seeds over the soil’s surface in a pot that is at least 8 inches deep. Harvest the leaves when they are two to four inches tall. You will be able to get at least two or three harvest before you’ll have to sow more seeds.
  • What to Watch Out For: Leaf amaranth is fairly easy to grow, and relatively problem-free. Rarely, leaf miners can become a problem.

9. Carrots

Carrots are at their sweetest, crunchiest best when freshly harvested from the garden. These icons of healthy eating deserve their “good-for-you” rep – they’re very high in fiber, manganese, niacin, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6, and C. Their only drawback is that they do tend to be high in sugar, so if you’re watching your carb intake, you’ll want to limit the amount of carrots you eat.

  • How to Grow Carrots
  • Grow Carrots in Containers: Sow carrot seeds two to three inches apart in a pot that is at least twelve inches deep. Look for shorter varieties, such as ‘Thumbelina,’ or ‘Danver’s Half Long.’
  • What to Watch Out For: Harvesting at the perfect size. Carrots are at their tastiest when harvested small. Leaving them in the ground too long can result in overly large, woody carrots. You’ll also want to make sure to keep your carrots evenly moist, as letting the soil dry out too often can also result in somewhat bitter, fibrous carrots.

10. Leafy Greens

OK, I cheated here. I can’t recommend just ONE leafy green, because they are all incredibly good for us, as well as delicious — kale, collards, spinach, turnip or dandelion greens — how can you possibly choose just one? In general, the “green leafies” contain high amounts of calcium, iron, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6, and C.

  • How to Grow Kale and Other Leafy Greens
  • Grow Greens in Containers: Grow one kale or collard plant per ten inch deep pot. Other greens can be grown a few plants to a pot — they should be planted at least 4 inches apart and harvested small.
  • What to Watch Out For: Heat and cabbage worms. Most leafy greens are cool-weather crops, so they’re best grown in spring and fall in most areas – hot weather will cause them to bolt. In addition, many of these greens are members of the Brassicas family, which means they are prone to cabbage worm infestations. Control them with the same methods outlined in the “Broccoli” section, above.

Try growing one or two (or all!) of these nutrient-dense, delicious vegetables in your own garden, and you’ll get double the health benefits: healthy food and time spent outdoors, nurturing your plants

from:    http://wakeup-world.com/2011/06/17/how-to-grow-the-top-10-most-nutritious-vegetables-in-your-garden/

Organic Pest Controls

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Spring is just around the corner, and your thoughts might be turning to planting.  If you are a gardener concerned about toxins in your foods, here is a list of organic pest control options:

Extensive List of Organic Pest Control Remedies

List compiled by Australian Organic Gardening

ORGANIC BUG SPRAY FROM ONION SCRAPS

You can make your own organic bug spray from kitchen leftovers! Simply save your onion skins, peels and ends then refrigerate in an empty margarine-sized tub or ziplock bag until the container is full. Once you have enough, place the onion pieces in a pail and fill with warm water. Soak for a few days, up to a week. You can keep this on the patio in the sun to steep but this is optional. After one week, strain the onion bits out and store the onion water in spray bottles.

Bury the onion bits around plants that are prone to aphids, spiders and other pests. Just spray both house and garden plants with the water to fight aphids and pests. You can also mix your garlic trimmings in with the onion pieces, bugs hate garlic too!

CURE FOR WHITE/BLACK SPOT (mildew)
Add *1 litre of FULL cream milk to an *8 litre watering can, watered on Roses or mildew attracting plants, will kill white/black spot

SCALES

Make the oil spray by blending two cups of vegetable oil with one cup of pure liquid soap, and mix it until it turns white.

Dilute one tablespoon of the emulsion to one litre of water and spray all affected areas thoroughly. Do this during mild weather, because if it’s hot it may burn the plant’s leaves.

Scales shoot a sweet substance called honeydew. Ants literally farm the scale to feed on the honeydew. They’ll pick them up and they’ll move them all over the tree. Honeydew also leads to sooty mould, a black dusty fungus that grows over the leaves and stems. Controlling the scale will also get rid of the sooty mould.

If you only have a small amount of scale, scrape it off with a fingernail or toothbrush. Larger infestations can be controlled by spraying with an oil to suffocate them.

http://heartgarden.com.au/Pests.asp

To keep APHIDS and OTHER PESTS off your roses: Finely chop 1 onion and 2 medium cloves of garlic. Put ingredients into a blender with 2 cups of water and blend on high. Strain out pulp. Pour liquid into spray bottle. Spray a fine mist on rose bushes, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves.

GARLIC SPRAY

Chop 90 grams of garlic, cover with mineral oil let soak over night, strain, add 1 litre of soapy water and store in a glass jar with a sealed lid. Dilute one part garlic to 50 parts water for use in spraying.

ALUMINUM FOIL “FOILS” APHIDS

Use an aluminum foil much around the base of plants such as tomatoes. The reflection confuses the insects and drives them away.

GENERAL PESTICIDE

3 hot green peppers (canned or fresh) 2 or 3 cloves garlic 3/4 tsp liquid soap 3 cups water Puree the peppers and garlic cloves in a blender. Pour into a spray bottle and add the liquid soap and water. Let stand 24 hours. Strain out pulp and spray onto infested plants, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves.

AGAINST INSECT PESTS

1. Soapy water (NOT detergent). Try to find one based on caustic potash, rather than caustic soda and mix well with water until frothy (you’ll need more soap in hard water areas). For aphids and other soft-shelled insects

2. Oil sprays suffocate insects. Boil 1 kg soap with 8L of oil, stirring until dissolved. Dilute 1:20 with water just before use. Spray on cool days only.

3. Tomato leaf spray (very poisonous). Cover leaves with water, boil and cool. Use immediately as a general insecticide.

4. Pyrethrum spray. Pick almost-open flowers of Tanacetum cinerariifolium and dry in a cool place. Cover a few tablespoons of flowers with cheap sherry, steep overnight and mix with a litre of hot soapy water. Cool and use within a few days as a general insecticide. Store in a dark place.

5. Wormwood spray. Infuse leaves in boiling water and leave for a few hours. Dilute 1:4 and use for sap-sucking insects.

6. Chilli spray – equal volumes chilli and water blended and sprayed fresh onto caterpillars. (Prevent contact with eyes and skin.)

7. Lapsang Souchong tea – a strong brew (1 tbspn in a pot) deters possums from nipping rose tips

8. Many other materials can be used to make insect sprays. Depending on what you have available, try -quassia, garlic, marigolds, melaleuca, parsnips, turnips, eucalyptus, larkspur, elder, white cedar (Melia azaderach) or rhubarb (Please note: larkspur, elder (except for ripe berries) white cedar and rhubarb leaves are all highly toxic to humans.)

AGAINST FUNGAL DISEASES

The following plants reportedly contain antifungal or antibacterial chemicals that you can extract via infusion to spray onto crops:Chamomile, chives, sheoak (Allocasuarina), elder, eucalyptus, garlic, horseradish, hyssop, melaleuca (tea-tree), neem (Azadirachta indica), nettle (Urtica dioica), and thyme.

ANTI FUNGALS:

1. Milk spray: a 1:1 mix of milk and water reportedly controls black spot on roses and fungal diseases on other plants

2. Fresh urine (a healthy person’s urine is sterile)

3. Condy’s Crystals: 1gram/L of potassium permanganate. Use immediately.

4. Washing soda: 110g dissolved in 5.5L water. Add 56g soap and use immediately.

5. Bordeaux mixture: In a bucket completely dissolve 90g of copper sulphate in 6.5L water. In another bucket, thoroughly mix 125g brickies lime with 2.5L water and strain into first bucket. Mix well and use immediately. 6. Dusting sulphur

BORDEAUX MIXTURE

This is a standard organic fungicide used to treat a wide range of rots, mildews, and blights. Mix 90g of copper sulphate (bluestone) with 4.5 litres of hot water in a non metallic container and leave overnight. Next day mix 125g slaked lime with 4.5 litres of cold water in a non metallic container. Combine both mixtures by stirring vigorously. Use immediately. An oil like Codacide can be added to increase its effectiveness. Bordeaux spray may clog nozzles. Also, if over-used, it may lead to a build up of copper in the soil and associated toxicity.

OTHER PEST CONTROL HINTS

1. Use companion plants that mask the scent or appearance of desirable crops. Many highly aromatic plants contain chemicals designed to make them unattractive to pests. Camphor, mints, scented pelargoniums, wormwood, southernwood, lavender, balm of Gilead, rosemary, sage and many other herbs have spicy/bitter scents rather than sweet ones. When actively growing amongst desirable crops, these herbs can confuse pest insects by masking attractive scents.

2. Use companion plants that act as trap, sacrifice or indicator crops. Some plants, including nasturtium, mustard and Chinese cabbage, can be used as decoys so that pests attack them rather than your crop. Roses planted along the edges of vineyards deter human predators but also provide early warning of mildew disease!3. Use Physical Pest ControlsThe good ol’ “see ’em and squash ’em” technique still works a treat for snails and slugs. Attract them with beer in a jar sunk into the ground, or lay a wooden plank a centimetre above the ground – they’ll shelter underneath it and you can squash them in the morning. Yellow boards painted with sticky oil will attract aphids. Control ants to reduce aphid and scale infestations on trees – a band of grease will stop them climbing the trunk. Codling moth can also be reduced by banding trees with corrugated cardboard soaked in derris spray.

ORGANIC SPRAY. Quarter fill your spray bottle with vinegar, a teaspoon each of molasses (melt down in a cup of hot water) and liquid soap, top up with tap water.

BUG JUICE

Collect by hand the nuisance pest, bug, grub or snail from your garden. Place the bug(s) into a blender, cover with fresh water and switch on. DON’T FORGET THE LID. Then strain, dilute 1 part to 20 parts of water into a spray bottle. Spray the juice on the underside of the leaves as well as on top.

MILK

Milk is effective against a range of mildews on peas, pumpkins and cucumber leaves. Use equal parts milk and water and spray every couple of days until the mildew is under control. If the mildew is out of control remove the affected leaves to avoid the mildew from spreading and do not water at night, try watering in the mornings.

MOLASSES SPRAY

Molasses is a good deterrent sticky spray, ideal for cabbage moths and grubs on the Brassicas. Blend 1 tablespoon of molasses with 1 litre of hot water until the colour of weak tea, then mix in one tea spoon of detergent, which will help the molasses to stick to the leaves, spray top and under side of the leaves. You could also add vinegar to this brew to make it more potent.

VINEGAR SPRAY

For cabbage moths and grubs on the Brassicas. Blend 1/4 vinegar with 3/4 of water, then mix in one tea spoon of detergent, which will help the vinegar to stick to the grubs, bugs and leaves of the plant, spray top and under side of the leaves. You can also add molasses to this brew.

VEGETABLE OIL

1 table spoon of dishwashing detergent & 1 cup of vegetable oil. Mix together and store in an air tight bottle. When required add 1 to 2 ½ tea spoons of brew to 1 cup of water in a spray bottle, spray on plants covering all leaf and stem surfaces.

CHAMOMILE TEA

Is a mild fungicide. Pour boiling water over a chamomile tea bag, leave to steep for ten minutes, when cool use as a spray.

PYRETHRUM.

(Harmless to animals and humans) Two heaped tablespoon pyrethrum flowers, stand in one litre of hot soapy water for one hour, strain and use (the soap will help the spray to stick on the plants). Do not inhale the fumes as they are toxic.

CHILLI PEPPER

Blend fresh chillies in water, add pure soap, strain and spray. Acts as a stomach poison and can be used against caterpillars. Spray along ant trails or kitchen shelves as an ant repellent. Used by beekeepers to keep ants from hives.

WORMWOOD.

Cover leaves in boiling water, infuse several hours. Dilute 1 part brew 4 parts water, use as a spray. It has very pungent qualities which makes it useful against soft bodied insects. Good aphid and fly spray. General repellent for fleas, flies, housemoth, ants and snakes.

RHUBARB.

A spray made from rhubarb leaves is harmless to bees and breaks down quickly, but it is harmful to humans, so be sure to keep it out of the reach of children. Boil 1 kilogram of leaves in 3 litres of water for half an hour, strain, add some soap. Dilute with equal parts of water before spraying.

VEGETABLE OIL

Spray recipe Mix 1 tbsp of liquid soap with 1 cup of vegetable oil. Dilute as required using 1-2.5 tsp of the mixture to 1 cup of water.Oil sprays can cause burning when applied to sensitive plants. If in doubt, test a plant sample first and wait 2-3 days to see if burning results. Oil sprays can also cause burning if applied when shade temperatures exceed 29 degrees celcius or when applied within 4 weeks of a sulfur spray such as wettable sulfur or lime sulfur.

INSECTICIDAL POTASSIUM SOAP

Insecticidal potassium soap has a high salt content which when sprayed on susceptible insects desiccates and kills them. Being a contact insecticide, the target insect must come into direct contact with the spray, so good coverage is essential for optimum results. Susceptible insects include aphids, mealybug, some mite species, thrip and whitefly. Potassium based soap products available on the home garden market include, ‘Moeco Neemtech’, ‘Yates Green Earth aphid-mite spray’, ‘Multicrop BugGuard’ and ‘Spraytech or Yates Naturasoap’.

PURE SOAP

Pure soap when mixed with water can be used as a natural insecticide for the control of some sap-sucking insect pests, including aphids and mealy bugs. It is a contact insecticide and works by breaking down the insect’s exoskeleton, causing it to dehydrate and die.

SULPHUR

Sulfur is registered as a protectant and erradicant fungicide for the control of powdery mildew on vegetables and ornamentals, rust on vegetables and various fungal diseases on stonefruit. Sulfur is also registered as an insecticide, for the control of mites on vegetables and ornamentals, grape leaf rust mite and grape leaf blister mite on grapes and white louse scale, citrus rust mite and citrus bud mite on citrus. Sulfur should not be applied 21 days before or after an oil spray, in combination with an oil spray or when temperatures are expected to exceed 25 degrees celcius. Sulfur can be purchased as ‘Sulfur spray’, ‘Dusting sulfur’, ‘Powdered sulfur’ or ‘Wettable sulfur’ and can be found in various other products in combination with ‘mancozeb’, ‘copper oxychloride’, ‘rotenone’ and ‘carbaryl’.

LIME SULPHUR

Lime sulfur is registered to control powdery mildew on ornamentals and various diseases on stonefruit and apples. It is also registered as an insecticide for the control of some scale and mite species on various fruit trees, ornamentals and tomatoes.Lime sulfur should not be applied when the air temperature is over 32 degrees celsius, after a copper spray in the same season or within 2 weeks of an oil spray.

CONDIES CRYSTALS (potassium permanganate)

Condies crystals can be mixed with water and sprayed onto plant foliage to control powdery mildew. They may also be useful as a contact spray for the control of aphids and slugs.Condies crystal spray recipe Mix 30g of condies crystals, 9L of warm water and 30 ml of petroleum oil. Spray undiluted.

MOLASSES Molasses spray can be used as a feeding deterrent for chewing insects such as caterpillars and grasshoppers.Molasses spray recipe Mix 1 tbsp of molasses and 5 g of pure soap flakes in 1 L of water. Apply undiluted as required.Molasses applied to soil infested with nematodes may reduce root galling and nematode reproduction. Molasses soil treatmentApply 38 ml of molasses per litre of water per square metre of soil per week.

MILK Spraying equal parts full cream milk and water every 2 days may help control the fungal disease powdery mildew. Powdery mildew can be a problem in pea, tomato, capsicum and cucurbit crops.

VINEGAR Vinegar spray may be useful in controlling caterpillars and sap-sucking insects such as stink bugs, aphids, and mealybugs. Vinegar spray recipe Mix 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water and add 5 g of pure soap flakes.

CHILLI SPRAY FOR APHIDS ON ROSES

5 garlic cloves 3 hot chillies 2 litres of boiling water Steep overnight. Use in all garden sprayers.

GARLIC SPRAY

general pest deterrent 10 garlic cloves 5 small hot chillies 3 medium onions 1 litre of water

Mix all ingredients together, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.Let stand overnight then add 2 tbsp. of milk. Store in labelled glass jars.Use by diluting 1 cup of the mixture to 9 litres of water. Use in all garden sprayers.

TO ERADICATE MILLIPEDES OR EARWIGS.

10 ml Eucalyptus Oil 10 ml Biodegradable Hair Shampoo 80 ml water Mix all ingredients together and spray around on the ground at night.

POSSUM DETERRENT

300 grams of Quassia Chips, (Surinam Tree:- wood, bark or root of this and other trees yielding bitter medicinal decoction) to 1 litre of water.

Boil chips for 5 minutes. Strain and collect water mixture. Spray on ground when cool.

SUFFOCATING SPRAYS

Many small insects, especially thrips and aphids, can be suffocated by being sprayed with a weak solution of water soluble glue. Fine clay mixed with water has a similar effect but tends to clog spray nozzles.

LANTANA/WORMWOOD SPRAY

Boil 500g of lantana leaves in 1 litre of water- for 20 minutes. Cool and strain. Spray liberally on affected plants. Most effective against aphids. A stronger spray can he made by substituting wormwood for lantana.

Please note : All Natural sprays can be dangerous, so LABEL well, and keep out of reach of children. Also overuse of deterants can jepordise the natural balance, so use sprays of any sort, sparingly

Source – Australian Organic Gardening

from:    http://wakeup-world.com/2011/12/06/extensive-list-of-organic-pest-control-remedies/